"I mean, if you'd like..."
Hermione clutched the book in her arms tightly, her eyes darting around, somewhat afraid to look at Silan.
This was quite a warm invitation for the little girl.
"If your parents are willing, I will definitely go," Silan nodded in agreement.
"Of course!" Hermione replied quickly. "My mom said before that she hoped you could come. You know, my mom and dad both like you very much."
Actually, the sentence above has a second part: I like you very much too.
Of course, some shy girls didn't dare to say it aloud.
The Mr. and Mrs. Granger had no objection to this.
Because they weren't even there.
Hermione had already asked them that question in her mind.
They remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.
The snow started falling again, and the Christmas holidays arrived as the little girl had been eagerly anticipating.
After Ron woke up, he jumped out of bed.
Today is the Christmas holiday.
A letter came from home saying they hoped Silan would stay at their house for two days so they could go back together.
Harry pushed the door open and came in, seeing Ron stuffing his luggage into his Suitcase.
Why are you packing your bags at this time?
"My mom wrote and said we should come home with Silan; he'll probably stay with us for a few days," Ron said, stuffing his luggage. "My mom can't wait to see him."
"If they hadn't already planned to visit Charlie Weasley in Romania, they definitely would have kept Silan at our house for Christmas." Ron stuffed the last piece of luggage inside and said goodbye to Harry.
Goodbye, Harry.
"But I'll be back when my parents go to Romania. Then we can spend Christmas together."
"Uh..." Harry hesitated before speaking, "But your brother is already gone."
"Gone?" Ron was taken aback.
"I saw them leave Hogwarts together and head towards Hogsmeade Station."
"They forgot about me?!"
Ron shouted angrily, "I'm their brother, not their luggage!"
George and Fred, who were already on the Hogwarts Express, also realized what was happening.
George slapped his forehead. "We forgot to bring Ron."
"Oh well, let's just consider it a piece of luggage he can't take with him."
Fred popped a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans into his mouth, his face contorting in disgust. "Oh, it tastes like dragon dung."
After swallowing the dragon dung- Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans in his mouth, Fred spoke again, "Good thing I forgot about Ron."
"Otherwise, we won't have enough room to sit down."
The Weasley Twins, Silan, and Hermione were seated in the box.
"Hey, then we can go to the Prefect's box," George grinned. "Our dear Percy Weasley, Prefect, will surely welcome us."
"Yes."
Fred, mimicking Percy Weasley, touched the Prefect Badge on his chest that didn't actually exist.
George, on the other hand, wore a stern face and smugly imitated Percy Weasley's tone.
"Prefect, I am the Prefect."
The two men's comical actions and lifelike expressions were hilarious.
"Oh, he spent the whole summer polishing his Prefect Badge; I was afraid he'd erase all the patterns on it."
"Is he taking this car back too?" Silan asked.
After the start of the school year, he hardly saw Percy Weasley.
"No," George and Fred said in unison, "He told us he was going to stay in school and study."
After saying this, the two winked at Silan and Hermione.
"Of course, he had another purpose..."
They started to speak, then chuckled to themselves.
Hermione didn't understand what they meant, while Silan pretended not to understand and looked out the window.
The white steam billowing from the train dissipated in the winter wind, and the sound of it passing over the tracks echoed the cold wind blowing through the mountains and forests.
The sun set behind them, its golden rays bathing the train like a warm little hand pushing it forward.
Hermione sat close to Silan, reading a book.
Fred and George were discussing their research progress with Silan.
"We've already ruined seven or eight quill pens in our hands," George, somewhat distressed about the cost.
Fred handed a half-finished quill to Silan: "This quill already has an automatic spell correction function, but the problem is that its magic flow is extremely unstable, and it will break down in no time."
"Can't we enhance the quill pen?" Silan asked.
"It's difficult. It's probably because our technique was too rough, causing the quill pen to be mostly worn out by the time it had its automatic spelling function."
"What if we engraved Ancient Runes on it to guide and solidify the material?"
Silan offered his own suggestions.
George rubbed his temples, a slight headache in his eyes. "Ancient Runes class... that's an elective for upperclassmen, we haven't even started learning it yet."
Silan was somewhat helpless.
He's just started learning Ancient Runes and hasn't even gotten started yet, so there's no good solution for him in the short term.
"In short, let's try strengthening the quill pen and reducing wear first."
Sensing the somewhat somber atmosphere, Fred put away his quill and spoke with a smile.
"I'm sure Mom is already waiting for us at the station."
George made a face at Silan and teased, "Mom was waiting for Silan; we were just there incidentally."
They were right; Molly did indeed arrive at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters at King's Cross Station quite early.
"Molly, do you want to rest for a while?"
Arthur Weasley handed one cup of hot coffee to Ginny and the other to Molly.
"Have some drink, it'll warm you up."
They had received a reply from George and Fred before they arrived, saying that their cousin Silan would be coming back with them.
This made Molly ecstatic.
She got up very early today and cleaned the Burrow from top to bottom, inside and out.
She even cleaned up the Ghoul in the attic thoroughly with [Scourgify].
He was furious for a long time after suddenly losing the Ghoul that had accumulated decades of old mud on his body.
"I'm sorry, Arthur Weasley, I..." Molly stopped pacing and took the coffee. "I was just too nervous."
"Indeed." Arthur Weasley chuckled and stuck out his tongue. "They really put a lot of salt in today's food. I'm so thirsty I want to run to the Black Lake and drink it all dry."
Molly blushed at his words and playfully punched his chest.
"You mustn't tell Silan about this."
"That depends on you. As long as you don't put too much salt in his dinner, I guarantee he won't know."
After talking for a while, Molly's tense mood eased a lot.
"Don't worry, darling." Arthur Weasley put his arm around Molly's shoulder and patted her hard. "George and Fred said in their letter that Silan is easy to get along with."
"They're good friends now, so there won't be any problems."
Nevertheless, Molly would occasionally go up to the platform and gaze into the distance along the tracks.
Or you might simply hold your breath, hoping to hear the train whistle.
Ginny, wearing thick woolen gloves, covered her ears, which were red from the cold, and looked at her mother with a helpless expression.
The old guard at the station had emphasized to her several times that the train wouldn't arrive until evening.
But Molly stubbornly stood on the platform, gazing into the distance again and again.
"Arthur Weasley!" Molly suddenly called out.
"What's wrong? I'm here." Arthur Weasley was standing next to Ginny, shielding her from the wind.
Molly took a few steps toward him, adjusting her clothes somewhat uneasily.
"Look at me, is there anything wrong with me?"
No, everything is fine.
Arthur Weasley's words did not reassure Molly, as the train slowly pulled into the station.
Her heartbeat was as loud as the clatter of a train passing over the tracks.