"We're not at the station yet, so why is the train slowing down?" Harry frowned slightly.
They had taken the Hogwarts Express plenty of times, and the ride had always been very smooth. It had never slowed down or broken down halfway through a journey.
After all, this was a dedicated railway line, so there was no need to give way to other trains. And extremely sophisticated maintenance magic made the chances of the train itself breaking down infinitesimally close to zero.
"I don't know." Hermione shook her head.
"I'll go and have a look." As Harry spoke, he started to get up to check outside, his wand already in his hand. He was not the only one; Hermione, Ron, and Neville had all picked up their wands at once.
Although last year's Duelling Club had not managed to meet every week because Professor Flitwick was so busy, it had still held quite a few sessions.
The young wizards' wand skills had improved only modestly, but they had more or less learned by heart to raise their wands the moment something happened.
After all, novice young wizards like them were basically useless without their wands.
Well, Harry might have been a little better off. Even barehanded, he could beat up one or two little darlings who did not know better.
But before Harry and the others could open the compartment door, the piercing screech of wheels against rails rang out again, and the train abruptly stopped.
Yes, it had not merely slowed down. It had come to a complete stop.
"What's going on?" Ron, who was near the window, wiped the condensation off the glass, trying to see what was happening outside. Unfortunately, it was pitch-black out there, and he could see nothing.
Hermione wanted to look out of the