On the Train

King's Cross Station.

Will spotted the pillar between platforms nine and ten at once. This was the entrance to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. A charm had been cast on the pillar, and he easily sensed the magic flowing through it—as well as the magic of the wizards scattered among the surrounding crowd.

Carrying his suitcase, Will plunged straight into the pillar.

Just as the original novel had described, the station was noisy and crowded amid the locomotive's steam. Wizards with magic flowing through them bustled about, calling loudly. The rumble of the steam train, the clamor of the crowd, and the cries of animals chasing one another all mingled into a din that displeased Will. He liked quiet.

Will passed through the crowd and spotted quite a few people: a round-faced boy following an elderly woman, a family of redheaded wizards, a girl with bushy hair and slightly oversized front teeth, and, of course, the scrawny Chosen One in black-framed glasses—Harry Potter.

Will walked past them and boarded the train. He finally found an empty compartment on the noisy train and smiled in satisfaction. Sitting by the window, he placed his suitcase on the seat beside him, took out a book, set it on the table, and began reading with relish.

The book was called "Secrets of the Curse—The Life of a Curse-Breaker." Written by a curse-breaker who had graduated from Hogwarts, it recorded what he had seen and heard during his fifteen years working in Egypt, along with his understanding of curses.

Will did not want the professors to discover that he had begun studying dark magic so early, so he had brought none of his dark magic books. Even a book on curses like this one was already skirting the boundaries.

"Egypt has more curses than one could possibly count. The prevailing view is that this is due to the peculiar customs of the Egyptian pharaohs and their eclectic beliefs. Egypt has four sun gods alone.

"Those pharaohs covered their own corpses in all manner of curses, and no wizard wanted anything to do with those mummies. Amusingly, however, some pharaohs targeted only wizards and forgot to add curses against Muggles. Their corpses were subsequently stolen by Muggles and even circulated among Europe's upper-class Muggles as a [rare ingredient]."

[You have acquired new knowledge of curse studies. Curse studies experience +1]

[You have acquired new knowledge of curse studies. Curse studies experience +1]

As the pages turned and his experience increased, someone suddenly opened the compartment door. A girl entered, carrying a leather suitcase of the same style as Will's. Clearly, they had bought them at the same shop.

Her delicate, slightly thin oval face wore a cool expression, and her dark blue dress made her skin look even fairer. All in all, she was very pretty.

"Is anyone sitting here? I couldn't find another compartment." Her voice was cool as well.

Will glanced at the girl and said indifferently, "Help yourself."

Then he returned his attention to the book in his hands. Could a girl possibly be more fascinating than interesting curses? More fascinating than experience points?

The girl did not seem to mind Will's attitude. She put down her luggage and sat opposite him.

The atmosphere in the compartment was chilly. Neither of them spoke as they sat facing each other. Will simply read his book, paying no attention whatsoever to the girl opposite him. Amid this strange silence, the train began to move and left the platform.

That atmosphere was soon broken.

The compartment door opened again, revealing two children, a boy and a girl. The girl had bushy brown hair and rather prominent front teeth. Together with the freckles on her face, they made her look less than pretty.

The boy was slightly chubby, and he actually hid half his body behind the girl, giving an impression of timidity.

Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom.

"Can we come in? The other compartments are nearly all full, and we don't have much luggage." The girl was panting; her suitcase was clearly rather heavy.

Only then did Will lift his head and glance their way.

That glance made Hermione cry out in surprise.

"Will Behrens! What are you doing here? Er, I mean, you're a wizard too?"

She could hardly help being surprised. Will had been her primary school classmate, and his marks had always been better than hers. Hermione had thought she would no longer see him once she was accepted into Hogwarts, but she had run into him here too.

"Hello, Miss Granger." Will looked at the girl opposite him. "I don't mind you coming in, but I don't know what this young lady thinks."

"Feel free." The girl opposite him sounded a little aloof, but her eyes swept up and down Will, as though she were very curious about him.

Will noticed her gaze and looked back. The girl immediately turned her eyes to Neville, seemingly curious about why he was hiding behind Hermione.

Hermione lifted her heavy suitcase, trying to put it away, but she seemed to have trouble raising it onto the luggage rack. Watching her pant as she struggled to lift it, Will took out his wand and gave it a wave. The suitcase floated up as though it had a mind of its own and settled onto the compartment's luggage rack, along with Neville's.

All three young wizards stared at Will in surprise.

"You've already learned magic? I mean, I tried a few simple spells at home too, and some of them worked, like Lumos. Of course, some failed, but how did you do that? You didn't even say an incantation!" Hermione's words came like rapid gunfire. Will had not met her only yesterday; he knew her whirlwind temperament.

Her gaze shifted to the book in Will's hands. "Are you reading? 'Of all the curses in Egypt, the most terrifying is the curse of Tutankhamun...' Why don't I remember that passage? I mean, I've already memorized all our textbooks for this year. Isn't this book part of what we're studying?" Hermione gave him no chance to reply. Will felt a headache coming on. This was typical Hermione.

When the girl in the dark blue dress heard that Hermione had memorized all the textbooks, she could not help giving her a surprised look. Neville's jaw nearly dropped. He was a forgetful child, after all, and could not imagine how difficult it would be to memorize every textbook.

"It's simple. Say it silently. This is a book on curse studies. They sell it at Flourish and Blotts," Will said calmly. Then he lowered his head and focused on his book, soon becoming absorbed in it, as though the three people before him held no appeal whatsoever.

"That's hardly simple. Nonverbal spellcasting is an advanced technique. Plenty of adult wizards who have graduated from Hogwarts can't do it." The girl opposite Will spoke up. She seemed interested in him again, her bright eyes fixed on him, but when she saw that he was already lost in his book, a hint of displeasure appeared in them.

"Behrens..." The girl seemed very interested in Will's surname.

"I haven't heard of that wizarding family. Have either of you?" She clearly came from a pure-blood family.

Neville, who had just sat down beside Will, scratched his head and thought for a moment before saying uncertainly, "I don't remember Gran telling me about that family. I don't think there is one, is there?"

"So both of you come from wizarding families?" Hermione interjected.

"Yes, everyone in my family is a wizard. You can call me Neville. Neville Longbottom." Neville settled beside Will, deliberately leaving some space between them so he would not disturb Will's reading.

The girl nodded. "I'm from the Lestrange family. You can call me Sylvia. You haven't told us about yourself yet."

Only then did Hermione realize she had not introduced herself, but she sounded less confident than before. "I'm Hermione Granger. My parents are both what you call 'Muggles.' No one in my family knows magic, so we were all terribly surprised when I received my letter from Hogwarts. Since you're both from wizarding families, you must already know lots of spells?"

She sounded a little dispirited.

"Actually... I don't know a single spell. Gran won't let me experiment with my wand." Neville's face turned red, and he looked on the verge of tears. "I'm sure I'll be the worst student at Hogwarts."

"Oh..." Hermione suddenly felt a little pleased, though she did not show it. "But we can study together."

"You don't need to worry. Most young wizards don't know a single spell before they go to Hogwarts," Sylvia explained. "Almost all of them only bought their wands this summer, and before they had wands, they probably hadn't studied magic at all."

Sylvia turned to Hermione, unconcerned about her background. "You must be one of the few witches among the new students who has already learned spells. You're well ahead. And you seem to know this Mr. Behrens."

"He was my primary school classmate. Until today, I didn't know he was a wizard too." Hermione's confidence grew. At the same time, she noticed that Sylvia seemed very interested in Will, yet when she looked at him, he was still staring at his book.

The scene felt intensely familiar. Back in primary school, the girls had always liked gathering around Will, but unfortunately, he had never paid them any attention.

Besides, whenever Will started reading, he ignored everything around him. He was even more of a bookworm than she was.

She had no idea what was so great about him. Right now, Hermione was very curious about how Will had learned magic, but he seemed completely unwilling to engage with any of them. She could only wait until he finished reading.

[Someone has become curious about you. Charisma experience +1]

[Someone has developed a favorable impression of you. Charisma experience +1]