Neville, Harry, Ron, and Conflict

A chubby, round-faced boy knocked on the compartment door.

"Sorry," he said, his face streaked with tears. "I wanted to ask... have you seen my toad?"

All four of them shook their heads, and he immediately burst into tears. "I've lost him again! He's always trying to run away from me!"

"It's all right. We'll help you look for him," Hermione volunteered, stepping forward.

Then she suddenly remembered something and turned back to ask, "You'll help too, right?"

Of course. That's exactly like Hermione. Thinking this, Ye Ting reluctantly rose to his feet and replied, "Fine, I'll help look too."

Cho Chang and Marietta exchanged looks. They had originally planned to stay out of it, but they both sighed. Not wanting to disappoint their two new friends, they reluctantly joined the search as well.

Seeing this, the round-faced boy was moved to tears. "Thank you! Thank you all! My name is Neville Longbottom. Thank you for helping me find Trevor."

Ye Ting reassuringly patted his head. "It's nothing. We're all classmates, after all. Classmates should help each other. Besides—" He paused, then said with a touch of pride, "when it comes to finding things, you should leave it to a professional."

Under everyone's puzzled gazes, he called out, "Himari!"

With a meow, an adorable little white cat crawled out of his backpack and lightly leaped into the boy's arms.

"What a cute kitty!" Cho Chang and Marietta had not noticed Himari before, but now they were instantly won over by her cuteness.

Ye Ting affectionately stroked the little cat's head.

"Himari, we need to find a toad. He's the toad's owner, understand?" As he spoke, he pointed at Neville Longbottom.

Himari moved closer and sniffed him, then meowed to indicate that she understood.

Ye Ting nodded in satisfaction and set Himari on the floor.

"Then let's go," he ordered.

At his command, Himari gracefully strolled down the train corridor, sniffing the scents in the air as she went.

Ye Ting led Neville Longbottom and the three girls after her.

"Can she really understand what you say?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. Himari has intelligence comparable to a human's, so of course she can understand," Ye Ting answered.

"Then she must be a magical creature," Marietta concluded. "Is she a Kneazle? Or a cat with Kneazle blood?"

"No, Himari is a cat demon," the boy denied.

"I know about cat demons. They're a type of Eastern magical creature called a 'yaoguai,'" Hermione eagerly answered.

"Yes, cat demons are indeed yaoguai." Cho Chang, who was also Chinese, nodded. "My father told me that in the East, any animal or plant can become a yaoguai if given the chance."

"That's terrifying! Why would you keep a yaoguai? I'd never keep one!" Neville Longbottom was startled and involuntarily slowed by two steps, falling to the back of the group.

"What's so scary about that? Himari is so cute."

"That's right, Himari isn't scary at all."

"Coward."

The older girls all looked down on Neville Longbottom. Normally, girls would be more afraid of such strange things than boys, but Himari's cuteness had conquered them. They all declared, "Even if she's a yaoguai, it's fine as long as she's cute, right?"

Sure enough, looks are justice in this world. Ye Ting sighed as he touched his own face. It seems my future is absolutely bright.

After walking down the corridor for a while, Himari suddenly stopped, then turned into a compartment. The five immediately followed her in. Inside, two boys sat facing each other. One had black hair and glasses; the other was a redhead in somewhat shabby clothes. Combined with their appearances, which resembled the movie characters, Ye Ting recognized them at once—the protagonists of the original story, the Boy Who Lived Harry Potter, and his sidekick, Ron Weasley, the one who had landed in cow dung and married Hermione.

The table in the compartment was piled with snacks and wrappers. It looked like the two had been enjoying a feast, but now the black-haired boy was curiously staring at Himari, while the red-haired boy had curled up in terror. One hand clutched a squeaking rat, while the other wildly pointed an old wand at Himari. Green light seemed ready to burst from its tip.

Ye Ting was startled by his actions. In the original story, every time Ron cast spells recklessly, something went wrong.

"Expelliarmus!"

With a flick of his wrist, Ye Ting's purple wand immediately appeared in his hand. A red beam shot from its tip and struck the red-haired boy in an instant.

With a scream, the wand flew from his hand.

Ye Ting casually stretched out his other hand and caught the flying wand with effortless flair.

"Cool!" the bespectacled boy exclaimed.

"You can use magic already! What was that spell called?" Hermione asked excitedly.

Cho Chang and Marietta were also awed by the lightning-fast scene. They applauded him, their eyes full of admiration.

"Thanks." Ye Ting nodded at them, then bent down and returned the shabby wand to Ron Weasley. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that, but next time, please don't point your wand at my Himari."