The steam locomotive stood amid vast forests and fields, thick smoke billowing from its engine and curling through the air. Crowds had already gathered around it, mostly students of varying ages in their teens, along with a few adults. Cats of every color weaved between people's feet, while owls hooted one after another.
After taking in the bustling scene for a moment, Li Mu turned back around. Behind him stood a thick, grayish-brown stone wall... He found it hard to imagine that this very wall connected to a stone pillar at a railway platform in central London, at least a hundred miles away, forming a passage that spanned space.
What principle lay behind it?... This was precisely the power he hoped to master, and one of the reasons he had traveled all the way to England.
He waited at the exit for quite a while before Harry Potter finally appeared, pushing his luggage trolley.
"How was it?" Li Mu asked with a smile, studying the utterly ordinary-looking stone wall. He guessed the wall had some special screening function to prevent ordinary people from stumbling in by accident. "You might have just been too nervous..."
Harry smiled as well, but before he could speak, several people suddenly emerged behind him and hurried toward the train. They chatted as they walked, and Li Mu and Harry could clearly hear them.
"Fred, George, if you dare cause that kind of trouble again this year... I will definitely exercise my authority as a prefect..."
Li Mu froze and turned to look. There were four of them, all with flaming red hair. Walking in front was a tall, thin older boy with a stern expression. Behind him came a pair of indistinguishable twins, followed by a smaller, thinner child.
There was no need to think further. One look at their fiery red hair and freckled faces told Li Mu who they were: the four Weasley brothers. The one in front was Percy Weasley, followed by the twins Fred Weasley and George Weasley, as well as another major character from the books—Ron Weasley.
They were all pushing trunks nearly identical to Harry's.
The scene before him was naturally Percy asserting both his authority as an older brother and as a prefect. They had already passed Li Mu and Harry, but Percy's lecture continued. "Ron is a new student this year. You should set him a good example, just like Bill and Charlie, just like me..."
"Yes, yes, our esteemed prefect," the two voices answered messily. Yet there was nothing respectful in their tone; it was full of mockery instead.
One of the twins continued, "Ron, to celebrate your starting school, perhaps we should give you a little present."
"How about a huge bag of spiders? Lee Jordan said he'd get a bag of flying glider spiders from the South American jungle over the summer," the other immediately added in perfect sync.
"Uh... no!" Ron's face went deathly pale, as though he were about to throw up at once.
"You two!" Percy called out with a frown, while the indistinguishable brothers Fred and George burst into laughter and ran ahead.
Woooo— The train whistle sounded at that moment. It was a warning for everyone on the platform to board quickly; departure time was nearly here.
"Quick, let's go." Li Mu and Harry had no time to say anything else. Pushing their luggage, they followed behind Percy and Ron and rushed toward the train.
Li Mu regretted not seeing Molly Weasley and Ginny Weasley. The plot seemed to have diverged slightly from the original description; they had not entered the platform with the others. But that no longer mattered. Right now, the first priority was getting onto the train as quickly as possible.
They were close now. Very soon, the scarlet, old-fashioned steam locomotive loomed right before them. Most of the students who had gathered by the platform had already boarded, while several adults who were clearly parents still lingered there, seeing their children off until they disappeared from sight.
Once aboard, they heard Percy instructing his younger brother. "Listen, Ron. I'll help you put your luggage up on the rack in a moment, then you need to find yourself a compartment and sit quietly—I have to go to the front, where there's a separate compartment reserved for prefects."
There was no lack of bragging in his tone, and Li Mu saw Ron curl his lip in annoyance.
The compartments at the front were already full, and the luggage racks were crammed as well. They walked all the way toward the rear before finally finding an empty rack.
Percy stopped to help Ron with his luggage, then noticed Li Mu and Harry. "You two are new students too, right? Your luggage looks pretty heavy. Need a hand?"
"Oh, thank you."
Li Mu felt capable of carrying all the luggage himself; all those years of training had not been for nothing. Still, having an extra free pair of hands was certainly a good thing.
The four of them easily got the luggage aboard. Harry hurriedly thanked Percy again, but Percy suddenly cried out, "Look! What's this?"
Li Mu followed the direction of his finger and saw a lightning-shaped scar faintly visible beneath Harry's messy hair. Having finished reading European Modern Magical History over the past few days, he understood immediately.
That book had devoted an entire chapter to Harry Potter and placed special emphasis on the shape of his lightning scar.
Harry asked blankly, "Hm? What?"
He clearly had not caught on yet.
"That scar..." Percy pointed it out to Ron and Li Mu, while Li Mu merely smiled calmly.
Ron saw it too, and his face suddenly filled with astonishment. "Then does that mean you're...?"
Seeing that Harry still looked completely lost, Li Mu smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "That's right, he is..."
"He is what...?"
"Harry Potter?!" In the end, Percy was the one who shouted it out. He was almost certain now, so excited that every freckle on his face seemed to turn red.
"Oh, that... no, I mean... I am." Harry finally understood, though he still was not used to being a savior. It was difficult for him to equate himself with the savior people spoke of, but he had no choice but to admit that he really was Harry Potter.
Hagrid had said so, Li Mu had said so, and even the scar on his head could not be faked...
Percy grew even more excited and eagerly invited Harry to join him at the front, where he could enjoy the peace and comfort of the prefects' compartment.
But Harry Potter politely declined. Looking uneasy and uncomfortable, he slipped away almost as if fleeing. Li Mu followed him helplessly. Most compartments were already occupied, and their occupants clearly already knew one another and were chatting enthusiastically.
Yet they really did find an empty compartment, then quickly sat down side by side.
They had barely settled into their seats when the whistle roared again. The train really was about to depart.
The contract was officially signed. This was my third novel signed with Chuangshi. How should I put it... I had so many feelings.
The income from my previous two novels combined had not been high, not even equal to a month's salary, yet I had still written painstakingly and persevered. Without everyone's support, I could not have done it. Every recommendation vote and every comment, though they did not bring any tangible earnings, still... as long as I knew someone was reading my words, it brought me some comfort.
Please continue supporting me!
(End of chapter)
Before you continue