On the Train

As Harry struggled forward through the crowded throng, dragging his heavy trunk behind him, Wade had already found an empty compartment and sat down. While no one was around, he changed into his school robes and took out Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to read.

Over the past month, Wade had roughly gone through every book he had bought. In terms of content, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them—also known as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them—was his favorite. Of course, that fondness might have been influenced by the author as well—Newt Scamander, the protagonist of another Harry Potter film series, had a deep love for all kinds of magical creatures and possessed a magical suitcase Wade envied immensely.

After a while, the compartment door suddenly opened. A brown-haired little girl stood at the doorway and looked inside before asking with her chin raised, "Excuse me, is anyone else coming?"

Wade's gaze swept over her rather conspicuous pair of front teeth. "No."

"Oh."

The little girl dragged her trunk inside. Once she had sat down, she looked up and said, "Hello, I'm Hermione, Hermione Granger."

Wade put down his book and held out his hand. "Wade Grey."

"You're reading Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them? Then you're a new student this year? Me too! By the way, I've already memorized the whole book—well, all the other textbooks too." Hermione spoke in a rapid stream, with a hint of pride. "Oh, and I've practiced a few simple spells, and they all worked. Like this—[Lumos]!"

A soft glow lit up at the tip of her Wand.

"Although I haven't memorized the textbooks, I can still—" Wade drew his Wand as well. "[Lumos]!"

The two little bulb-like lights reflected one another, as though proving they were of the same kind. Hermione grinned and said softly, somewhat wistfully, "It's amazing, isn't it?"

Wade silently nodded.

Hermione suddenly seemed to remember something and hurriedly explained, "Oh, I'm from an ordinary family... I mean, I'm Muggle-born. No one in my family knows magic. Little tricks like this must be commonplace to you, right?"

"No," Wade said. "My parents can't do magic either."

"Then we can help each other at school." Hermione said happily, "I mean—children from wizarding families must have been learning from their parents since they were little, so they probably know lots of magic, right? I don't want to be the worst student in the class."

"You don't need to worry about that." Wade could not help laughing. "I'm sure hardly anyone has memorized the textbooks. You might even be the only one. That's really impressive, Miss Granger."

"Well, um... it's not really... uh... I mean, some of it was quite difficult, and there were spells I didn't dare try at home, because the books said getting them wrong could have very frightening consequences." Hermione stammered, her face turning red.

Just as she was feeling embarrassed, the compartment door was pushed open again. Hermione sighed in relief and immediately looked toward the doorway.

A round-faced boy stood there hesitantly and asked timidly, "Excuse me, can I sit here?"

"Of course, come in!" Hermione said warmly before anyone else could.

The boy clumsily put away his trunk. After sitting down, he nervously twisted his fingers together, as though he rarely interacted with other people.

Hermione took the initiative. "Hello. I'm Hermione Granger, and he's Wade Grey. We're both new students this year—what's your name?"

"Neville," he said. "My name is Neville Longbottom. Um, I'm a new student too."

"Oh, are you from a non-magical family too?" Hermione asked curiously.

Neville lowered his head. "No... both my parents are wizards."

"Then you must know lots of magic?" Hermione said. "I've only learned a few simple spells, like [Lumos] and [Reparo], but I'm still not sure about the Petrificus Totalus. Is it Petri-ficus To-ta-lus, or Petrifi-cus Tota—lus?"

Neville looked blank. "Pe—Petri what?"

Hermione blinked, as though she did not understand what he was asking.

Neville pulled a miserable face. "I... I haven't even mastered Lumos yet!"

"...Oh." Hermione was a little disappointed, but also a little pleased. She puffed out her chest slightly and said, "Well, that's all right. I can teach you—I mean—we can learn from each other..."

Neville looked as though he was about to cry.

"Neville," Wade suddenly said. "What's moving in your pocket?"

Neville looked down. "Ah, it's my pet. It always likes to run off."

He pulled a blackish-gray toad from his pocket and held it in his palm, happily introducing it to the two of them. "Look, his name is Leif."

Wade and Hermione both leaned back at the same time, trying to put some distance between themselves and the ugly creature without Neville noticing.

The short, fat toad stretched its legs, then suddenly leaped from Neville's hand. Neville had not closed the compartment door when he came in, so Mr. Trevor did not hesitate to make a break for freedom. After two bounces, he vanished from sight.

Neville stared at his empty palm for two seconds before letting out a miserable cry. "Leif!"

He ran after it, and Wade heard the boy accidentally crash into the carriage outside.

The two people in the compartment exchanged a glance.

Hermione whispered, "Even though the letter said so... I originally thought no one would really keep a toad as a pet!"

Wade nodded in wholehearted agreement. He knew some golden, pink, or jade-green toads were indeed rather pretty, but how could anyone truly like something gray and dull, covered in warts?

Neville truly loved his toad.

Quite a while later, the boy returned with tears wiped from his face, sobbing, "I couldn't find him—everyone said they hadn't seen him—"

Wade tried to comfort him. "The train is enclosed. We can look again when we get off. We'll definitely find him." Surely no one would steal a toad.

Neville was not comforted. Tears were still pattering down his cheeks.

Seeing how heartbroken he was, Hermione sighed helplessly and stood up. "I'll help you look."

She looked at Wade questioningly, but Wade shook his head.

Hermione and Neville left, and the compartment, which had been somewhat noisy, immediately fell quiet. Wade looked out the window as the rolling hills slowly drifted backward.

He knew that if he went looking for the toad with Hermione and the others, he would meet Harry and Ron. Eleven-year-old children became friends easily. In that case, the Golden Trio would become a group of four.

But after thinking it over for a long time, Wade still felt there was no need for him to cling to the protagonist. What attracted him was not the adventure story of a childlike primary schooler's battle against a Dark Lord that year. Magic itself was interesting enough.