9, Miranda

Hoffa's expression froze, and so did his body. This person was downright toxic.

He took a deep breath and silently put away the Chocolate Frog. His eager appetite had been thoroughly ruined by this girl. Across two lifetimes, he had never seen anyone so arrogant—she was even more arrogant than Draco Malfoy.

"I think you'll probably be sorted into Slytherin," Hoffa said flatly.

As he spoke, he stuffed the snacks back into his pocket. He had completely lost the desire to stay in this compartment.

"How could that be?" the girl sneered. "How could an eagle soaring through the skies keep company with snakes groveling underground?" The owl on her shoulder gave a proud screech.

The girl said, "There's only one house I could possibly enter. It's the smallest house at Hogwarts, and where intelligent people belong..."

"Whatever makes you happy."

Hoffa packed all the food into his pockets. Then, without looking back, he walked to the door, opened it, shut it behind him, and left.

Hoffa had no interest in listening to her ramble. He did not know which house he would enter, but he already knew which one he least wanted to join. Any house that girl entered was one he did not want to go to.

After leaving his compartment, Hoffa wandered down the corridor while eating snacks. Inside the compartments, all sorts of children laughed and chatted, building friendships with one another.

As he passed a Slytherin compartment, Hoffa saw Tom Riddle reclining in his seat, chatting and laughing with others. Whatever else could be said, the guy's personal charisma was no joke. Those old-fashioned clothes did nothing to hide the aura of leadership around him.

Hoffa felt a little resentful. Come to think of it, he had not made a single friend at Hogwarts yet.

It made sense, though. He was neither born into a wizarding family nor a famous savior like Harry. He was not devastatingly handsome like Tom Riddle either. Of course he could only quietly be an unnoticed nobody.

After wandering for half an hour, he became a little embarrassed.

Hogwarts was almost there, and everyone began pulling shut their compartment curtains, taking off their clothes, and changing into school robes.

Most of the compartments were occupied. Looking at his jeans and T-shirt, Hoffa thought, I can't exactly strip in the corridor, can I?

Going back to change was out of the question. Hoffa did not want to see that silver-haired girl's face at all.

So Hoffa jogged down the corridor, looking for an empty compartment. After searching for a long time, he still could not find a suitable one. The girls' compartments were off-limits, while the crowded ones were packed full.

Hoffa ran all the way from the back of the train to the front.

Only then did he find the one suitable compartment. There was only one person inside: a girl in a long black robe, quietly reading a book.

Though she was also a girl, there was only one of her, and with time running out, Hoffa could not afford to be picky.

Hoffa knocked on the glass door.

The girl looked up and calmly glanced at him.

She was a refined-looking girl with round glasses, fair skin, short chestnut hair, gray eyes, and a slender figure.

Hoffa raised his school robe apologetically. The girl understood, closed her book, stood up, and opened the door.

Hoffa slipped into the compartment and said with a cheerful smile, "Sorry. All the other compartments are full, and I have nowhere to change. Could I borrow yours for a moment?"

The girl nodded. "Go ahead. We'll be there soon."

As she spoke, she pulled up the door curtain for Hoffa, then stepped out of the compartment and leaned against the door.

Hoffa hurriedly changed. Once he was done, he opened the door. "All done. Thanks."

The chestnut-haired girl nodded, returned to the compartment, and continued reading. She did not seem inclined to say much.

A faint floral fragrance filled the compartment. Hoffa thought it might be her natural scent. The only sound was the turning of pages.

After a quiet while.

Hoffa became curious and asked, "All the other compartments are full. Why are you sitting alone in here?"

The girl said, "Because I'm reading, and they don't want to disturb me."

Hoffa looked down and saw the words War and Peace on the yellow cover. He was quite familiar with that book.

"You read Muggle books like War and Peace too?" Hoffa asked.

"Of course." The girl raised her head slightly and glanced at Hoffa, seeming unwilling to continue the subject. She turned a page and asked, "Are you a first-year too?"

"Yes."

Hoffa held out his hand. "Hoffa. Hoffa Bach."

The girl nodded and extended her hand as well. "Miranda Gorshak."

Hoffa found that a little strange. Gorshak?

That proud silver-haired girl had just mentioned someone named Miller Gorshak.

So Hoffa asked, "Do you have a sibling named Miller?"

The girl looked up, adjusted her glasses, and smiled gently. "Sorry, I've never heard of that person."

"Oh."

Hoffa muttered and did not think much of it.

Honestly, he had nearly forgotten that arrogant girl already.

After withdrawing her hand, the chestnut-haired girl took out her wand and casually waved it.

All the clothes Hoffa had taken off folded themselves into a neat stack, square as a block of tofu.

Afterward, she put her book back into her trunk and said to Hoffa, "You don't need to bring your things. Someone will move them for us."

From beginning to end, Miranda had been as gentle as polished jade. She was neither impatient nor irritable, and she did not show off at all. This was the kind of person suited to being a friend.

During the final few minutes on the train, Hoffa and Miranda chatted casually. The topic first-years talked about most was the houses, but Miranda seemed indifferent about which house she would enter.

"Actually, apart from the locations of their common rooms, the houses are all pretty much the same. The classes are the same too," Miranda said.

Hoffa asked curiously, "You seem to know a lot about Hogwarts."

Miranda smiled. "Someone in my family works here. I visited Hogwarts when I was three."

Hoffa felt that the surname Gorshak sounded familiar.

He quickly reached into his pocket. Sure enough, on his first-year admission notice, he saw the signature of Adbe Gorshak, the deputy headmaster.

"The deputy headmaster, Adbe Gorshak, he's your..."

"He's my grandfather," Miranda sighed. "Could we not talk about this?"

Ten minutes later, it was completely dark outside. The train slowly pulled into a tiny, pitch-black station.

The young passengers jostled one another as they crowded toward the doors.

Hoffa got off the train alongside the important connection he had just made. The night chill made him shiver. Old horse lamps swayed above the students' heads. He had thought he would see Hagrid here, but he did not.

Instead, there was an old one-eyed hunter on horseback. He turned his horse around and shouted imposingly.

"First-years, follow me!"

He had to be the gamekeeper too, Hoffa thought. Probably Hagrid's predecessor.

As for Hagrid, he was probably only nine years old now. He would not enroll for another two years.

They passed through a pitch-black forest path.

The one-eyed gamekeeper led the chattering children to the shore of a dark lake. Rows of small wooden boats sat by the water.

On the far side of the lake, atop a high slope, stood a towering castle. Its spires rose thickly into the sky, and its windows glimmered beneath the stars.

Aside from the people, this Hogwarts was almost exactly like the one described in the original work.

System.

Ding!

[Wizard Secret Realm Discovered—Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry]

Complete 50% exploration of the secret realm—you will receive [One-Third Spell Fragment]

(One-Third Spell Fragment: contains peculiar energy. After obtaining three fragments, you can upgrade one of your spell abilities. Current collection: 2/3)

Complete 100% exploration of the secret realm—you will receive [Knowledge of a Great God]

(Knowledge of a Great God: mysterious and unfathomable. Before possessing it, you have no idea what power it may hold)

Rarely, Hoffa ignored the system's notification. Looking at that castle, his heart surged. Having a dream come true felt like nothing more than this.

The gamekeeper jumped down from his horse, picked up his bow and lantern, and shouted, "Four to a boat. No fighting."

The children noisily climbed aboard.

Miranda sat beside Hoffa, while two unfamiliar students sat across from him, chatting and laughing. He breathed a sigh of relief. That silver-haired girl who haunted him had not followed. No news could have been better.

Once everyone was seated, the boats began moving across the Black Lake on their own.

The children nearby pointed at the surrounding sights, most of them wildly excited.

Hoffa dipped his hand into the icy lake water.

The sound of splashing water made him feel wonderfully refreshed.

Suddenly, a faint sting pricked his finger. When he raised his hand to look, Hoffa jumped in fright.

A tiny mermaid was curled around his finger. She looked like Thumbelina, except her lower body was a fish tail. Once discovered, the little mermaid sprayed a jet of water into his face.

Hoffa quickly plunged his hand back into the Black Lake. The mermaid left his finger.

Miranda smiled. "A Scottish lake fairy. A magical creature. Once grown, they can become as large as humans. There are many here."

Hoffa pursed his lips and did not put his hand into the lake again.

As the castle drew closer and closer, everyone held their breath. Only the sound of water remained. They passed beneath several bridge arches covered in dense ivy, followed a pitch-black tunnel that seemed to lead beneath the castle, and finally reached something like an underground dock before climbing onto a stretch of gravel and small pebbles.

They had arrived on the far side of the lake, at the foot of Hogwarts.

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but the school was far larger than he had expected. The black castle walls stretched endlessly, with no end in sight. The towers at the highest points seemed almost to pierce the clouds.

At the entrance, Hoffa noticed something different. He remembered the original work describing the castle gates as oak doors, but the gates before him were entirely forged from black metal, engraved with all kinds of strange patterns and writing. They looked ancient and solemn.

Had some unknown changes occurred over the past half century? Hoffa wondered silently, stroking his chin.

The gates opened on their own, revealing grand marble stairs as the crowd filed inside.

The old one-eyed man dismounted at the foot of the stairs and followed the first-years.

In the entrance hall, he held out his hand to stop them. "Wait here. Don't talk."

But his words had little effect. How could a group of children huddled together possibly stay quiet?

Everyone whispered, laughed, and chatted.

Hoffa wanted to talk to Miranda too, but she merely kept her lips closed and gave a slight shake of her head, signaling for him not to talk like the others.