Reunion with Hermione at the Station

Hearing that familiar voice, Hermione stiffened, wondering if she had missed Silan so much that she was imagining his voice here.

As if to confirm her suspicion, Silan's voice rang out again.

"Let me help you."

"Silan?! What are you doing here?!"

Hearing that incredibly familiar voice again, Hermione was certain she had not misheard. She spun around sharply, and upon seeing Silan, her mouth fell open in shock.

She had never imagined she would run into Silan here.

Weren't all the people here Hogwarts students?

Why was he here? Could he be a new student too?

Countless questions swirled through Hermione's mind, but she could not figure out where to begin. All she could do was stare at Silan with her mouth open in astonishment.

"We can talk later. Let's get the luggage inside first. We're blocking people from boarding."

"Oh, okay."

Hermione blankly loosened her grip on the handle of her trunk, and together with Silan, carried her things into the train.

To be honest, Hermione's trunk was not light. On top of that, the luggage rack was a little high for children their age, so getting it up there was no easy task.

Seeing Hermione fretting, Silan took out his wand, gave it a flick, and cast a Levitation Charm.

The trunk on the ground floated up as though lifted by a pair of invisible hands, then obediently settled onto the luggage rack.

The young wizards passing by stared in amazement, and the way they looked at Silan grew far more respectful.

They assumed Silan was an older student who merely looked young.

Someone who could use spells so proficiently could not possibly be a first-year, right?

"Silan, you've already learned the Levitation Charm?" Hermione looked at the luggage, and her mouth, which had only just closed, fell open again. "I tried a few spells at home too, but unfortunately, only [Lumos] and [Reparo] worked."

"I tried the Levitation Charm too, but I could only barely make a feather float. You can make something this heavy float? How did you do it?"

"If you got an admission letter too, you should have told me earlier. I thought it would be a long time before I saw you again. Oh... you didn't know I received an admission letter from Hogwarts. Sorry, I didn't tell you before."

Once her curiosity and thirst for knowledge had been stirred, her words became as long as Merlin's beard.

"Let's find somewhere to sit and talk slowly."

Silan was already used to seeing Hermione like this.

"I only found out when Professor McGonagall came to see me. I never expected the distant school you mentioned to be Hogwarts."

"So we get to be classmates again?"

"Apparently so."

Silan turned back and smiled at Hermione, then opened the compartment door and made a welcoming gesture. But after Hermione glanced inside, she did not enter immediately, instead fiddling with her hair.

"You sit first, Silan."

"Sure."

Though he found it a little strange, Silan did not refuse. He sat down by the window.

Hermione's lively eyes discreetly swept over the seat opposite Silan.

"Silan, can you explain the key points of the Levitation Charm to me?" As she spoke, the little girl naturally sat beside Silan, pressed close against him, as though the seat across from them were already full.

"Of course. When casting the Levitation Charm, you need to pay attention to the gesture and the intonation..."

With Hermione's intelligence, a simple little spell like this only required a few more attempts.

She was merely taking the opportunity to sit beside Silan and stay with him a little longer.

"When you have time later, just practice more. Yawn..."

Silan could not help yawning as he spoke. He had spent the past few days reading and practicing spells. Now that he was sitting on the train's cushioned seat, with warm sunlight streaming in through the window, he truly felt rather sleepy.

"Are you tired? Get some rest," Hermione said.

"Okay."

Silan leaned back against the seat, then tilted his head toward Hermione and rested it on her shoulder.

He was not actually tired to that extent, but what was wrong with a man having a little scheming?

The little girl stiffly turned her head and glanced at Silan, who had closed his eyes, from the corner of her eye.

The corners of Hermione's lips lifted unconsciously, and she hurriedly covered them with her hand. She looked outside, and only after confirming that no one was paying attention did she relax. Then she took out a book and began reading.

Silan was not actually asleep. Instead, he summoned the panel in his mind and checked the guilt points he had obtained earlier.

He had used up quite a few of the guilt points he had accumulated before in exchange for [Spell Inspiration], but he had gained a fair amount at the station just now—enough to exchange for another trait.

Upon seeing the panel, Silan was surprised to discover that the exchangeable traits had refreshed.

[Perpetual Guilt]

[Description: You did nothing wrong! It's all the world's fault! Everyone feels guilty toward you. Within the time limit (one day remaining), collect guilt points to exchange for trait tags.]

[Current guilt points: 207]

The currently exchangeable trait tags had refreshed:

[Soundless Concealment: Shh! No one is looking at you. Your presence is slightly reduced, making you less likely to attract attention. (Cost: 180)]

[Potion Prodigy: There's no such thing as genius. I merely spend the time others use to drink coffee practicing potion-making. You are more likely to gain inspiration while brewing potions, and your chance of creating perfect-quality potions is slightly increased. (Cost: 200)]

[Potion Dependence: Potions are here! Give them to me! Gulp gulp gulp! You have stronger resistance to the side effects of potions. (Cost: 190)]

Tsk.

Had this Vanishing Act become a permanent fixture?

Why was it still there after the refresh?

This trait was not actually useless.

When wandering around the school late at night because he could not sleep—thereby breaking school rules—it would be extremely useful for avoiding the caretaker.

But there were clearly better choices before him now.

Between [Potion Prodigy] and [Potion Dependence], Silan chose [Potion Prodigy] without hesitation.

He did not need to play Shennong right now, so there was no rush to increase his resistance to potions' negative effects.

The corridor was still somewhat noisy, with students squeezing past one another and all kinds of sounds blending together.

"Um... sorry. May I ask... c-can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

A round-faced boy carefully pulled open the door, poked his head in halfway, and asked somewhat awkwardly.

"Shh. Sit."

Hermione put a finger to her lips, telling him to keep his voice down so he would not wake Silan, then gestured for him to sit opposite them.

"Oh, thank you."

Neville carefully pulled the door open halfway, squeezed through the gap on tiptoe, and silently sat down opposite Silan.

He cautiously observed his two classmates. Seeing Silan resting on Hermione's shoulder, he thought the two of them must be very close.

He felt that he ought to introduce himself.

But Hermione had just reminded him not to wake the boy who was sleeping, leaving him at a loss. His palms kept rubbing against his robe.

Just as Neville hesitated over whether to speak.

The boy opposite him slowly opened his eyes.