Laughter and Cheer

"Wow! You're amazing, Li Mu." Ron watched the backs of Malfoy and his cronies disappear into the distance, clicking his tongue in amazement.

Ron had, of course, heard of the Malfoy family long ago.

In fact, his father, Arthur Weasley, and mother, Molly Weasley, had mentioned the venomous, vampiric, and villainous Malfoys to their children more than once. He both loathed and feared the Malfoys, so seeing Draco get the short end of the stick made him particularly excited.

"What kind of kung fu is that... Oh, you cast magic without a wand! Is that the Celestial Dynasty's... I mean, Celestial Dynasty magic?"

"This isn't magic," Li Mu said with a smile, shaking his head. "It's a secret."

Harry finally snapped out of his daze from the earlier scene, also looking delighted, and joined in the praise. Neville took the toad from Li Mu's hand, thanking him profusely.

Amidst the cheerful atmosphere, only Hermione frowned.

"Oh, that's not good," she said softly, but no one paid any attention to her words.

Finally, at Li Mu's suggestion, the five of them, having become slightly acquainted through their shared "enemy," squeezed into the compartment where Harry and Ron had originally been sitting.

Once they settled down, they began to chat about their past lives. Of course, most of the time, Harry and the others were asking Li Mu about the state of the Celestial Dynasty's magical world.

Although the famous savior Harry Potter was more eye-catching, his deeds were already well-known. In contrast, the Celestial Dynasty's magical world was more interesting to the students. To them, everything about the Celestial Dynasty was too distant and mysterious.

Li Mu also learned from them that the magical communities were very closed off from each other, even more so than the divide between the magical and Muggle worlds.

Time flew by amidst chatting and laughter, and the door of the compartment suddenly opened again.

A saleswoman with dimples that appeared when she smiled poked half her body into the compartment and said to them, "It's lunchtime, children. Would you like to buy something tasty?"

Li Mu saw that she was pushing a small cart filled with a variety of tempting treats.

Ron's ears turned inexplicably red. "I... well, I brought sandwiches."

Neville, however, was rummaging through every pocket on his person. "Oh! Where's my wallet?... Oh dear... I forgot my wallet with Grandma when I got on the train!"

Everyone stared speechlessly at Neville, whose face was also turning red.

"Harry, the millionaire... I think we should let you treat us," Li Mu said to Harry with a chuckle.

"Oh..." Harry honestly started to reach for his money bag, then suddenly realized, "You seem to be the millionaire. Why are you making me pay?"

"Because you're more famous than me..."

In the end, Harry and Li Mu both paid, buying a large pile of food amidst the saleswoman's happy smile, mostly cakes, pies, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, and other sweets.

"Oh, thank you, thank you..." Neville and Ron mumbled their thanks. Ron's gaze was fixed on the snacks, with a rather complex mix of emotions.

He couldn't quite tell whether there was more envy or jealousy in that emotion.

Hermione was also staring at the food, still frowning slightly, earnestly advising, "You guys—it's not good to eat too many sweets!"

But in the end, Hermione, whose parents were both dentists, couldn't resist the temptation of the delicious food and began to devour a Red Bean Pie.

With food in hand, the atmosphere in the compartment became even more lively. Ron and Neville were intensely discussing their card-collecting experiences with Chocolate Frogs, occasionally exclaiming things like, "Oh! I have at least seven Dumbledore Cards!"

The remaining three listened while cautiously trying the novel foods they had never even heard of before.

Indeed, not only Hermione and Harry, who had grown up in ordinary families, but also Li Mu, who had been rooted in the Celestial Dynasty's magical world since childhood, had only eaten ordinary foods like stir-fried vegetables, tofu, and twice-cooked pork.

He knew about some of these bizarre foods from the Western magical world, but he had never experienced them.

"Ugh, yuck, yuck! These Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans are really weird. The last one was watermelon flavored, but why is this one so salty... I suspect they just put a chunk of salt in it." After eating another bean, Li Mu immediately couldn't help but spit it out.

"Ha, you're doing alright. Fred told me that Percy once ate one that tasted like boogers..." Ron interjected, and the expressions of Li Mu and the others gave him a sense of superiority from being 'well-informed'.

"Oh, no! Why do I feel like it's jumping around in my stomach?" Hermione's high-pitched voice also rang out—she had just endured intense nausea to try a Chocolate Frog, and now she felt even worse.

"Harry, how was the candy you ate?" Li Mu popped another bean into his mouth and suddenly remembered to ask Harry, who hadn't said much since the beginning. "Hey, Harry? Harry!"

Harry painfully pointed at his mouth with his finger, struggling to pull back his lips. His upper and lower lips seemed to be glued together with 502 glue.

"Wow! How could you eat a 'Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans'?" This was Ron's voice. "Looks like your mouth will need a while to open."

Everyone looked at Harry's extremely depressed appearance and burst into laughter.

Amidst the laughter, the scarlet Hogwarts Express was still speeding along. Time slowly passed, and the sun illuminating the earth gradually tilted from east to west.

Finally, as the last bit of sunset glow at the end of the western horizon was about to disappear, Hermione Granger came back to her senses and raised her wrist to check her watch—this mechanical watch was also a magical thing in the eyes of Ron and Neville.

"You'd better hurry up and change into your robes. I think we're almost there," she reminded loudly. A girl's voice was already more crisp and sharp, and whenever Hermione raised her volume, she could become the focus of the crowd.

Fortunately, the companions who had just become close didn't resent her reminder.

"Um... okay... um, could you please go out and wait for a bit?" Ron even took the lead in answering her, with a lively Chocolate Frog still in his mouth.

The light of dusk shone on the faces of the five people in the carriage, golden and filled with joy and hope.

Tomorrow will be better, right. Li Mu looked at his companions in the carriage, feeling warmth all over his body.

At this moment, he truly felt a connection to the magical world of Harry Potter. He felt that he had truly integrated into this world.