On the morning of his return to school, all the children at the orphanage came to see Roy off. Harry was there too. Before leaving, Roy gave Harry's shoulder a meaningful pat.
"I think in a couple of years, the two of us should become schoolmates."
Harry had heard that Roy attended some aristocratic school out of town, one that supposedly admitted only the most outstanding students. How could a nobody like Harry, a student who was useless at both sports and academics, possibly receive an invitation from such a school?
Seeing Harry's disbelieving expression, Roy said nothing more. After bidding farewell to the children, he Apparated to the opposite side of King's Cross Station.
He made his way through Platform Nine and Three-Quarters with practiced ease, and the familiar red train came into view once more.
The atmosphere on the platform was quite bleak, and combined with the gloomy weather, it felt suffocating.
The holidays were over, yet the criminal responsible for the terrorist attack at school still had not been caught. Roy noticed that quite a few young wizards burst into tears while saying goodbye to their parents.
Pulling his luggage along, Roy headed straight onto the train and found an empty compartment to sit in.
He glanced at the overcast sky beyond the window, his face turning serious as he fell into thought.
Before long, the compartment door opened. Roy turned his head and saw Cedric.
"Good morning."
After casually greeting him, Cedric sat down opposite Roy.
"I thought you'd return directly from Hogsmeade."
Neither of them was in high spirits. Connor's case still had not been resolved. No one spoke of it, but it had been weighing on everyone's mind.
Cedric was the first to bring up Connor.
"Looks like your ear is fine now. I