Chance Encounter

Chu Yang activated his Observation Haki and clearly heard someone cursing, "Muggle." Following the sound, he quickly found the target.

Just then, a bespectacled boy hurried past Chu Yang. Like Chu Yang, he was pushing a luggage trolley with an owl perched on top.

The boy looked around in confusion, as though he had no idea where to go.

Looking at him, Chu Yang was inexplicably compelled to ask, "Are you looking for Platform 9 3/4 too?"

The bespectacled boy spun around, surprise and relief flashing across his face. "You are too?"

"Yeah! Come with me!" Chu Yang led the way, and the bespectacled boy followed close behind.

"You're a new student heading to Hogwarts too?" Seeing that Chu Yang was about the same age as him, the boy immediately became more animated. Smiling, he said, "Hello, I'm Harry Potter. What's your name?"

"Harry... Potter?"

Chu Yang finally understood why he had suddenly felt like speaking to him. This boy, who felt strangely familiar, was actually Harry Potter.

"My name is Chu Yang. You can call me Yang."

"Yang!" Harry smiled and asked curiously, "Are you from an ancient Eastern country? Does Hogwarts accept students from there too?"

"By blood, I really am from there." Chu Yang shrugged. "But I grew up in an orphanage in London!"

"Oh, sorry." Harry felt that he had offended Chu Yang and hurriedly apologized.

Chu Yang waved it off generously, completely unconcerned. "It's fine. Actually, the orphanage isn't as bad as you think. I had lots of friends there, and Headmistress Anna is a nun. She's very kind and treats children well—of course, that's assuming we don't get into trouble."

Sensing the sincerity in Chu Yang's words, Harry showed a look of longing. "The way you describe it, it sounds like a fun place."

Suddenly, Harry became a little dejected. "Actually, I'm an orphan too, but I don't have a single friend."

Perhaps because they were both orphans, Harry naturally began telling Chu Yang about everything he had gone through over the years.

Chu Yang patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him. "The moment you board that train to Hogwarts, it means you've said goodbye to the past. Don't worry. You'll make lots of new friends at school."

Harry immediately felt much better.

At the same time, he became even more eager to get to Hogwarts.

"This is Platform 9 3/4!" Chu Yang pointed at a wall in the middle of the platforms ahead and explained, "It's enchanted. We have to go through it."

"Go through it?" Harry's eyes widened!

Then he watched as Chu Yang pushed his luggage straight at the wall.

Just as Harry was so nervous he was about to cry out...

He saw Chu Yang's figure sink into the wall and vanish without a trace.

"Chu Yang?" Harry called softly, but there was no response.

He immediately took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and pushed his luggage forward in one mad dash.

After a brief moment of darkness, Harry's vision changed. A brand-new platform appeared before him, and the sign overhead clearly read, "Platform 9 3/4."

"Keep up! The train's about to leave!" Chu Yang's urging voice reached Harry's ears. He jolted and hurriedly pushed his luggage after him.

Once aboard the train, Chu Yang and Harry casually found a compartment and sat down. Neither of them lacked money, so when the snack trolley came by, they practically cleared it out.

Chu Yang paid most of it, but to protect Harry's pride, he let him pay a small part.

The seats were piled high with snacks. Chu Yang and Harry both picked through them. Harry was simply curious about all these things he had never seen before, feeling that every item was filled with the mystery of magic.

Chu Yang, meanwhile, was simply a foodie. Compared with the dazzling packaging decorated with magic, he wanted more to know what the snacks inside tasted like.

Their conversation soon turned to family.

After learning that Chu Yang was an orphan like himself, Harry felt an inexplicable sense of closeness toward him.

There was more sympathy and concern in the way Harry looked at Chu Yang, as if he were seeing his former self.

The unpleasant feelings were quickly buried beneath his anticipation for the future.

They had only been eating for a short while when a somewhat scruffy boy appeared in the corridor outside. His clothes were old, and his face was dirty too.

Harry handed the boy a packet of snacks and invited him into the compartment to sit down.

Harry's warmth made the boy happy, and the embarrassment in his heart faded away.

Holding the snacks Harry had given him, the boy ate as he introduced himself. "Hello, my name is Ron Weasley."

Harry smiled. "Hello, I'm Harry Potter!"

Ron's eyes widened as he asked in shock, "You're the famous Harry Potter?"

Harry scratched his head awkwardly. "If there isn't another Potter, then I suppose that's me?"

"Then do you have it? I mean, the one from the rumors!" Ron pointed at his forehead and looked eagerly at Harry.

Harry smiled shyly, then lifted his fringe to reveal the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

"Cool!" Ron cried excitedly!

He then turned his gaze to Chu Yang and asked in surprise, "Mate, are you from an ancient Eastern country?"

Chu Yang had already guessed who he was, so he merely nodded in greeting and lowered his head to continue reading Practical Defense Against the Dark Arts.

This book could be considered an advanced version of Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection. Only upper-year students read it, and it contained a great deal of knowledge about dark creatures—exactly what Chu Yang needed.

If the opportunity arose, Chu Yang would definitely take a stroll through the Forbidden Forest.

As for the lower-year textbooks, Chu Yang already knew them backward and forward, only taking them out occasionally for review.

Chu Yang was enjoying the pleasure of reading, but Ron was a little unhappy. He had greeted him so warmly, yet Chu Yang had only given him a casual nod.

Ron had no idea how familiar Chu Yang was with him—so familiar that Chu Yang had subconsciously failed to greet him properly.

To Ron, who did not particularly enjoy studying, Chu Yang's extraordinary page-turning speed did not look like studying at all. It looked more like he was showing off...

Ron held up a snack and waved it in front of Chu Yang, laughing. "Hey! Mate, there aren't any professors here, so no need to put on an act. Take a break when it's time to rest. Once we get to school, you can start 'seriously' reading again, so the headmaster and teachers will notice!"

Chu Yang immediately knew that Ron had misunderstood.

Most people would probably misunderstand if they saw this.

So Chu Yang merely looked up and smiled without explaining himself, then continued reading the book in his hands.