"Follow me, students!" a booming voice rang out.
Dressed like a wild man in a thick fur coat and carrying a lantern, Hagrid waited for them on the pitch-black platform like a burly giant.
To students who did not know Hagrid's true nature, he looked extremely intimidating. The previously noisy students immediately fell silent and followed Hagrid down the platform.
Many pitch-black carriages stood in a wide clearing, dim yellow lamps hanging from either side. Some of the carriages even swayed slightly.
The students climbed into the carriages one after another. Wade and the others walked forward together when they suddenly heard someone call out, "Hey, Wade, guys, this carriage is empty!"
They looked up to see Hermione, Padma, Parvati, and Neville all sitting in the same carriage. Padma had spoken, and she pointed beside her at an empty carriage covered in straw.
They climbed into the carriage one after another. Michael was the first to wave. "Hi! Did you have a good holiday?"
"Wonderful, except someone kept ignoring the Book of Friends," Hermione said. "I thought it would be easier to discuss problems through the Book of Friends! Especially while studying the Disarming Charm—"
"Oh, Hermione, wait a little. School hasn't even started yet!" Padma stopped her with a pained expression. "Tomorrow, okay? We can talk about studying tomorrow."
Even as a Ravenclaw, she found Hermione's enthusiasm for studying rather frightening.
"Let's meet in the library tomorrow afternoon!" Wade suggested. "I need to borrow some new books anyway."
Hermione could only sit back down regretfully. Beside her, Parvati quietly let out a sigh of relief—
Although no one urged her to study, whenever she listened to the top students discussing their lessons while she could not understand or join in at all, she felt as though she were trapped