The Trio's First Gathering

"Toot, toot—"

"Excuse me, are there any seats left in here?"

At the knock and the question, Lucien and Hermione, who were both reading, looked up at the same time.

Before either of them could answer, the door was yanked open with a clatter.

Two little boys stood in the doorway. One had messy black hair, a pair of round glasses perched on his nose with an obvious crack in them, and was sneaking glances into the compartment at Lucien and Hermione with emerald-green almond eyes.

The other had bright red hair, a big nose, blue eyes, a face full of freckles, and was just as thin as the black-haired boy.

The two boys looked at each other, and in the end, the red-haired one spoke first.

"Ahem, sorry to bother you. All the other compartments are full."

"Could you let the two of us sit in here?"

His expression was awkward, and his voice was very soft.

Hearing the question, Hermione did not answer right away.

She felt that it was rather nice with just her and Lucien, reading together, and did not really want anyone disturbing the quiet atmosphere.

She glanced over the two standing there. The black-haired boy with glasses seemed all right, quiet enough, but as for the red-haired one...

He just felt loud somehow.

Even though it was their first time meeting, Hermione already felt that she and the red-haired boy would not get along.

But Hermione merely turned to Lucien, wanting to ask what he thought.

Lucien, however, was currently sizing up the two boys in the doorway, the corner of his mouth curved in a half-smile, and did not notice Hermione's look.

Black hair and round glasses, plus green eyes; red hair and freckles.

Well, well, wasn't this the Savior and his good bro?

What a coincidence. The trio had ended up gathering after all.

Perfect. He could observe in advance. Later, he would still have to keep an eye on Harry Potter, find the Philosopher's Stone, and then refine his potion.

To repay the Qilin loan, Lucien needed to use the Philosopher's Stone to refine a potion.

The easiest way to find the Philosopher's Stone was to follow Harry through the plot.

Lucien believed Dumbledore had already arranged everything. Harry was guaranteed to get his hands on the Philosopher's Stone.

Could I encourage Harry to go look for the Philosopher's Stone a little earlier? Then I could start refining the potion earlier too, and pay off the loan as soon as possible.

Just as Harry was starting to feel uneasy under Lucien's scrutiny, Lucien looked away. His smile became more obvious, but it still stayed within the bounds of politeness.

"Please, come in."

Hearing Lucien's words, Harry and Ron quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Hermione also stood up and moved over to sit on Lucien's side.

Harry and Ron quickly and nimbly put away their luggage.

"Hello, I'm Ron Weasley."

Ron rubbed his messy red hair and introduced himself to the others.

Lucien and Hermione greeted him in turn and introduced their own names.

Finally, the three of them looked at Harry. This thin, introverted-looking boy was the only one who had not spoken yet.

Being stared at made Harry feel somewhat uncomfortable. In the past, his aunt's family and the people around him had always kept him at a distance and discriminated against him. This was also the first time he had met so many of his "own kind." Logically speaking, they were the same as him and could all use that strange ability called magic.

Harry adjusted his glasses and mustered his courage.

"Hello. I, I'm Harry. Harry Potter."

Hearing Harry's name, Lucien merely nodded, having expected it.

But Hermione and Ron reacted strongly, especially the latter.

"You're Harry Potter!"

"You're the boy who lived!?"

After all, Hermione came from a Muggle family and had only read some books about the wizarding world over the summer, learning that such a person existed.

But Ron was different. His surname was Weasley; however hard up they were, they were still one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight.

To Ron, Harry's name was truly famous enough to thunder in his ears.

"Do you... really, really have that scar?"

Ron looked at Harry with shining eyes.

Harry nodded, lifting the fringe on his forehead to reveal a thin, lightning-shaped scar.

Now Ron grew even more excited and began talking nonstop about the rumors concerning Harry.

Many of them left Harry himself completely baffled, with no idea there had ever been such stories.

Listening to Ron's endless "speech," Hermione curled her lip. At first, she had found it a little interesting, but the more she listened, the more ridiculous it became. Now she only wanted to read quietly for a while.

This redhead really was noisy!

Just as Hermione was about to interrupt Ron, a saleswoman arrived at the compartment door.

"Would you like to buy something to eat, children?"

Ron stared straight at the dazzling array of snacks on the trolley and swallowed.

But then he turned his head, pulled a lump of unidentifiable food from his pocket.

In a small, mumbling voice, he said, "No, thanks. I brought my own."

The Weasley family was indeed an ancient pure-blood family, but they really were strapped for cash, too.

And Ron had five older brothers above him, three of whom were still in school, and a younger sister below him, so the pocket money that made it to him was truly limited.

"I'll take some."

The one who spoke was Lucien. He took out a few Galleons and Sickles and handed them to the saleswoman.

Ron's eyes went wide at the sight. Just what he pulled out so casually was more than Ron got in a whole year!

"Th-then I'll have some too."

Harry also took out a few Galleons, which left Ron even more stunned.

How come he did not even have a single Sickle or Knut? Did he really know how much a Galleon was worth?

Was the Potter Family really that rich? Did selling shampoo make that much money?

Actually, Ron's guess was not wrong. Selling shampoo really did make money, especially when the Potter Family's shampoo worked so well that it had practically monopolized the wizarding world's shampoo market.

Once you had a monopoly, what could you sell that would not make money?

Of course, the main reason was also that Harry was the Potter Family's only seedling now, so the entire family fortune was concentrated in this one boy's hands.

Lucien and Harry basically bought out an entire trolley of snacks.

Looking at the pile of snacks heaped on the folding table, Ron swallowed again.

He really wanted to eat some, but he really was too embarrassed to ask.

"Take whatever you want."

As Lucien spoke, he lightly waved his wand, and the snacks flew toward Harry and the other two.

Kids were easy to win over anyway. Give them something to eat and something to play with, and you could lure them away.

First, he would build a good relationship with the trio. When they found clues related to the Philosopher's Stone, they would think of coming to him to discuss it.

If there were any developments in the meantime, he could also keep an eye on them in time.

In Ron's ears, Lucien's voice sounded almost heavenly.

Especially the generosity with which he handed out snacks, paired with that handsome face—he was practically an angel!

So much so that Ron subconsciously ignored Lucien's wandwork, forgetting what a rare thing it was for a new young wizard to be able to use the Levitation Charm so skillfully.

Harry also shared his snacks with Lucien and the others, but since he did not know magic, he could only pass them over one by one by hand.

Ron took Harry's snacks and thanked him too, but he was still not as moved as he had been by Lucien, who had given him snacks first.

Lucien opened a box of Chocolate Frogs.

The frog inside leaped up the instant the lid opened, trying to rush toward freedom.

But he grabbed it, refining it in an instant!

Chewing the Chocolate Frog in his mouth, Lucien flipped over the card inside the box.

Every Chocolate Frog came with a card, each depicting a portrait of a different wizard and introducing that wizard's deeds and contributions.

He glanced at the portrait on the card.

Uh, the old bat.

Snape's cold, deep-set eyes looked through his greasy, straight black hair and met Lucien's gaze.

Tsk, tsk, tsk. Time to wash your hair.

The corner of Lucien's mouth twitched into a grin as he wondered whether he could send Snape a bottle of shampoo or something in the future.

He looked at the back of the card, where Snape's achievements were introduced: systematically improved Veritaserum, optimized bezoar extraction techniques...

"Um, um..."

Lucien looked toward the voice and saw a plump little boy with a round face and a sturdy build standing anxiously in the doorway.

"Have you seen my toad? It's called Trevor."