A Journey Beginning at Platform 9 3/4

The darkness receded, and consciousness returned to his body.

When Jerry opened his eyes again, he was no longer at his home in Queens, New York, but at Edward Orphanage in London.

Taking a deep breath, he pulled up the large suitcase he had packed before leaving, placed it on a trolley, then picked up Crookshanks and began pushing the trolley toward the orphanage gates.

Following McGonagall's instructions from a month ago, the current director of Edward Orphanage was already waiting there in a car.

Not every ordinary person could calmly accept the mysterious existence of Wizards.

Many ordinary people of this era, especially elderly people, probably felt more fear and awe than anything else upon learning that Wizards truly existed in this world.

The director of Edward Orphanage was one of them.

So throughout the journey to London King's Cross Station, the director remained almost entirely silent and cautious.

Jerry did not try to speak with the director either, because he felt there was no need.

Winton Town was still some distance from King's Cross Station in London. The drive took more than two hours, and they only barely arrived at the entrance to King's Cross Station close to ten o'clock.

After dropping off Jerry and his suitcase, the director politely said, "Be safe," then hurriedly drove away in his little car.

If he ever needed to take a train in the future, the director probably would not choose King's Cross Station again.

There was actually a platform here specifically for Wizards. It was simply too terrifying!

The ticket showed that the train departed at eleven. It was only a little past ten now, so there was plenty of time.

Jerry was accustomed to doing everything ahead of time. It was better to board the train early than to be delayed by some unexpected accident and miss it because he had no time to deal with it.

Holding the ticket McGonagall had given him, he entered the station without difficulty, then followed the signs to the barrier wall between Platforms Nine and Ten.

"This must be the legendary Platform 9 3/4!"

Standing before the wall, Jerry noticed that every passenger who passed it instinctively went around it, confirming that he had found the right place.

Pushing the trolley, he did not charge straight into it like in the movies. Instead, with a curious expression, he slowly approached the wall.

Why did he have to crash into it?

What if he had the wrong place? Wouldn't he end up with a huge bump on his head? It was not as though he could not get through by walking slowly.

He could also experience the unusual sensation of passing through a wall.

When the trolley touched the wall, it sank in as though it had touched air, meeting no resistance whatsoever.

"Is this Space Magic, or merely a type of Illusion Magic?"

After passing through the wall with Crookshanks and the trolley, a question rose in Jerry's mind.

If it was Space Magic, he had not felt the sense of spatial pressure he had experienced when Teleporting with McGonagall. Yet if it was merely an illusion, it did not seem quite like that either.

Shaking his head, he had only been exposed to magic for a short time. Such profound questions were clearly beyond his ability to figure out.

Beyond the wall stood a five-meter-long wrought-iron archway, with the words "Platform 9 3/4" engraved above it.

As he continued forward with the trolley, the magical Wizard platform gradually unfolded before his eyes.

The first thing he saw was a conspicuous dark-red steam train. A large sign hung on its side: "Hogwarts Express, Eleven O'Clock!"

The open space beside the steam train was packed with Wizards in Wizard Robes and all sorts of magical pets.

Passing through the crowded throng, with farewells and reminders sounding in his ears, Jerry quickly found a relatively empty carriage.

Since he had arrived early, there were still quite a few empty seats in most of the carriages.

He casually opened an empty compartment. After arranging his things, he activated Refreshing Mind, took out Magical Drafts and Potions, and began reading.

To deal with the crisis involving the four armed robbers, Jerry had spent the previous month studying Magical Theory and spells.

Now that the crisis was over, he needed to thoroughly preview his other textbooks before school began as well.

In the magical world of Harry Potter, aside from all those strange and varied spells, Jerry considered potions the most useful.

There was Polyjuice Potion, which could completely transform someone into another person.

Veritaserum, which forced the drinker to tell the truth; Amortentia, the most powerful love potion, which made its user develop intense obsession or infatuation with them.

And Felix Felicis, which granted extraordinary luck and made everything go smoothly after it was consumed.

If he brought these into the Marvel world later, they would definitely be extremely useful.

Therefore, Jerry took Potions very seriously.

Moreover, good potions sold for extremely high prices. If he mastered Potions and became a Potions Master in the future, he basically would not lack money anywhere in the Wizarding World.

Just comparing the poor Lupin with the wealthy Snape showed how important it was to learn Potions well.

In terms of strength, Lupin was not much weaker than Snape. They had been in the same year.

In terms of background, Lupin's father was an official who worked for the Ministry of Magic, while Snape's father was a Muggle—a drunken, bad-tempered Muggle with violent tendencies toward his family.

As time passed, more and more Little Wizards began filling the carriage.

After reading Magical Drafts and Potions for half an hour, Jerry deactivated Refreshing Mind, put away the magic book, and leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed to rest.

Activating Refreshing Mind placed quite a burden on his brain. To prevent himself from falling directly into deep sleep again, he generally used it for half an hour, then waited one or two hours before activating it again once he had fully recovered.

This was not the most efficient method, but it was the safest.

The most efficient method would be to activate it for half an hour, immediately enter deep sleep for half an hour, then activate it for another half hour and enter deep sleep for another half hour, repeating the cycle without end.

However, once he entered deep sleep, he completely lost his vigilance and ability to defend himself. Besides, he simply did not have enough Little Red Stars to sustain that.

One Little Red Star per minute meant he could use it for twelve hours a day. Twelve hours a day would consume seven hundred and twenty Little Red Stars.

He only had a little over six thousand in total, and staying in the Harry Potter world cost one hundred Little Red Stars per day. At that rate, he would have to return after only a few days.

More importantly, even with Refreshing Mind activated, relying solely on self-study behind closed doors was terribly inefficient.

So his plan was to use Little Red Stars as much as possible to maintain the number of days he could stay in this world. He would only use them for studying at crucial moments to help with memorization and comprehension.

Because every time he left this world, there would be a one-month cooldown before he could enter it again.

He could spend as much time as possible in the Small World learning magical knowledge and storing it in his mind. Then, during the cooldown after returning, he could find ways to earn Little Red Stars and use Refreshing Mind more often to summarize and comprehend it.