Zhang Xiao looked at the thin, rather uncertain Ron and beckoned him over.
"Of course." He glanced at Ron's empty hands. Clearly, his brothers had already told him he could stow his luggage in a separate compartment beforehand.
Ron sat down awkwardly. His eyes darted toward Harry's forehead, then away again, while his hands clutched the hem of his clothes.
If it had been just him and Harry, Ron might have worked up the courage to strike up a conversation.
But with Zhang Xiao there too, Ron's social anxiety had clearly kicked in. He had no idea how to start talking.
Looking at the awkward scene before him, Zhang Xiao could only sigh inwardly and take on the job of breaking the ice.
"Hi, I'm Zhang Xiao. You can call me Zhang. This is Harry, Harry Potter. We only just met too."
Ron relaxed and hurried to introduce himself.
"Hi, I'm Ron, Ron Weasley."
He hesitated, then gathered his courage and asked Harry:
"Are you really Harry Potter?"
Harry also breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, they had reached familiar territory.
As for why Zhang Xiao hadn't been interested, Harry had found a reasonable explanation for his new friend: China and Britain were thousands of miles apart.
Harry nodded and, with practiced ease, lifted the long hair off his forehead to reveal his lightning-shaped scar.
"Sorry. I know you're interested, but apart from a lot of green light, I really don't remember anything."
After that, the three of them finally settled into a more natural conversation. Ron was very interested in both Harry and Zhang Xiao, while Harry was interested in everything.
As for Zhang Xiao, he chatted with the children while comparing what Ron said with what he knew, checking for any differences.
Fortunately, Ron still had five older brothers and a younger sister, and still lived at the Burrow. When he talked about his family, he sounded distinctly resentful.
Old clothes, old school supplies, an old wand-everything was old. His brothers were so outstanding, too, which put him under enormous pressure.
Neither Zhang Xiao nor Harry had any intention of laughing at him. Harry's life had been even harder, and Zhang Xiao had lived that way in his previous life too. He understood how miserable it could be.
Ron was actually quite a decent person at heart. Most people would have buckled under that pressure long ago. He was more like a reflection of the many readers: kind and upright, but also insecure, prone to jealousy, and flawed. Nobody was perfect, though, and his faults didn't outweigh his virtues.
After the young wizards got to know one another, Harry and Ron already regarded Zhang Xiao as a friend. Ron soon fell under Dragon Ball's spell as well.
He just kept poking the characters with his wand, trying to make them move.
"This is so cool! I never thought comics that don't move could be this interesting."
As Ron flipped through the manga Harry had just finished, he asked what all the strange things in it were for.
He only half understood the answers, but that didn't stop him from reading with relish.
Time always flew when reading comics. A loud rattling noise came from the corridor.
A smiling, dimpled woman opened the compartment door and asked, "Anything off the trolley, dears?"
Harry hadn't eaten anything that morning, so he jumped straight to his feet. Ron's ears turned bright red, and he muttered:
"No, thanks. My mum made me sandwiches."
He pulled a large, tightly wrapped bundle of sandwiches out of his clothes and shrugged.
Zhang Xiao tugged at young Master Harry, who was about to buy out the trolley, and spoke with genuine admiration to the red-faced Ron.
"Mate, you're really lucky. Those are sandwiches your mum made!"
Only someone who had been through it understood how precious a mother's cooking was. With that one remark, Zhang Xiao had struck a chord with Harry, who had been orphaned as a baby.
How Harry wished he had a mother who could make him a sandwich herself.
Harry's nose stung and his eyes reddened slightly. He nodded in sincere agreement.
"Zhang's right. If I had a mum to cook for me, I wouldn't trade it even for the most delicious food in the whole world!"
Ron's face visibly brightened. There was a hint of emotion in his eyes as he looked at Zhang Xiao and Harry, and he brought out the sandwiches without hesitation.
"If you don't mind tinned corned beef, shall we share?"
Zhang Xiao told them to wait a moment, then hurried out of the compartment and bought a little of everything.
To be honest, he had been itching to try these strange snacks for ages, especially Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Super Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, and Chocolate Frogs.
In fact, he had even used Super Drooble's Best Blowing Gum as his username in plenty of games in his previous life.
Under Harry's and Ron's astonished gazes, Zhang Xiao scattered the armful of treats across the little table and said brightly:
"We Chinese believe in returning a kindness. Don't be shy-let's all share. Harry and I are curious about these snacks anyway. Ron, could you tell us about them?"
Harry nodded hastily. "I am too."
To prove it, Harry picked up a packet containing a Chocolate Frog first and asked Ron, "They aren't real frogs, are they?"
"Of course not," said Ron. "Have a look at the card inside. I'm missing Agrippa. Chocolate Frogs come with cards you can collect."
Zhang Xiao opened a Chocolate Frog, turned over the card for a look, and handed it to Ron.
"Here. Agrippa."
Ron's mouth fell open wide enough to fit a duck egg.
"It's really Agrippa? Mate, do you know how rare this card is?"
"The Daily Prophet did a survey. Agrippa's the rarest! It's only turned up a few times so far! Someone even offered forty Galleons for one!"
Forty Galleons? That's pretty cheap, then. Zhang Xiao smiled and said:
"But it's only worth something in the hands of someone who really likes it, isn't it?"
"Take it, Ron."
Ron bit his lip so hard he almost cried. He nodded firmly and carefully tucked the card away in his pocket.
Watching this, Harry thought Dudley was a hundred times worse than Zhang Xiao!
No, Harry thought, inwardly shaking his head. Far more than a hundred times. Dudley probably wouldn't even give me something worth a single Knut.
Over the next stretch of the journey, Zhang Xiao finally tasted the Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans he had been longing for-orange, pineapple, pea, and even stinky tofu?-along with Super Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, which blew enormous bubbles.
Perhaps because he had helped Neville find Trevor earlier, Hermione hadn't brought him around to ask in every compartment. Zhang Xiao was a little disappointed. He had wanted to see whether Hermione was as cute and pretty as she was in the films.
Ron slapped his forehead and pulled a sleeping rat from his pocket.
"Oh, I nearly forgot Scabbers. He's still asleep. I wanted to give him an Every Flavour Bean."
Zhang Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the rat who had practically set the entire plot in motion single-handedly. A deeply tempting thought suddenly occurred to him: What if I killed him right now?
After considering it for a while, Zhang Xiao gave up on the idea. Mainly, it wouldn't make sense, and he couldn't explain it. Still, he couldn't just do nothing.
"This rat's pretty old, isn't he? My family has an Eastern spell that can make him a little healthier. Want to try it?" Zhang Xiao lied without batting an eyelid.
Ron handed Scabbers over without hesitation.
"That would be brilliant. Honestly, I'm always worried this stupid rat will fall asleep one day and never wake up."
Taking a talisman from his waist pouch, Zhang Xiao wrapped it around Peter, who was pretending to sleep. Ignoring his struggles, he followed his father's instructions and waited a moment. A faint light flickered across the talisman, and the talisman script on it flowed like water, seeping into Peter's body.
It was the most basic Tracking Talisman. Even an ordinary person could use it. Foolproof and extremely handy.
Scabbers struggled free of the yellow paper and flailed his short forelegs wildly. Zhang Xiao could actually see fear and bewilderment in his tiny eyes.
Seeing Scabbers, who had been "fast asleep" just moments ago, now bouncing about full of energy, Ron and Harry applauded together.
"Amazing Eastern powers! Zhang, my leg's been hurting lately. Could you use one on me?"
Zhang Xiao said, "...My power is limited. It only works on small animals, not people."
Both boys looked disappointed, but soon put the matter out of their minds and happily went back to eating snacks and reading manga.
Outside, darkness had fallen without them noticing. Zhang Xiao looked through the window at the mountains and woods beneath the deep purple sky.
The train seemed to be slowing down. A member of the train staff shouted from outside, "We'll be arriving at Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train. We'll take it to the school for you."
"Children, put your robes on now and pack up your things. Hurry, hurry, hurry!"
The three exchanged glances, took off their outer clothes, and changed into black robes.
Ron's robes were a little short, leaving his trainers exposed beneath them. Harry kept swallowing and looked as though he might throw up at any moment. Ron's face had gone pale beneath his freckles too.
Though Zhang Xiao wasn't reacting as dramatically as they were, he was growing nervous as well, mainly because he didn't know which house he would be sorted into.
They stuffed the remaining sweets into their pockets and joined the crowd surging forward along the corridor.
At last, the train came to a complete stop. They had reached their destination.
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