Back in the original compartment.
Harry leaned against the seat and raised a hand to rub his forehead.
At what point had things started going wrong?
Probably with that phone.
On the last night of his previous life, he had been lying in bed, scrolling on his phone.
He held the screen above his face, growing more awake the longer he watched, while his hands grew increasingly sore.
Then his grip loosened.
Smack!
The phone slammed squarely into his forehead. (It really hurts, so please don't try this, everyone~)
The pain had barely reached his brain when his vision went black, before he could even swear.
Whether the phone had broken, he had no idea.
He, at any rate, had shut down first.
When he woke again, he was lying in a cramped storage cupboard.
He went out and found a mirror. The person reflected in it wore round glasses, had messy black hair, and now sported a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.
He had become Harry Potter.
He spent ages feeling his face in front of the mirror.
Good news: the injury from the phone was gone. Bad news: it had been replaced with something much harder to keep quiet.
Was that how that damned phone's airplane mode worked?!
What followed had been roughly the same as what he knew.
An owl delivering a letter, Hagrid coming to the door, shopping in Diagon Alley.
Until Malfoy stood before him with two female lackeys.
Harry glanced at the now-closed compartment door and sighed.
It seemed relying on memory alone really wasn't all that safe.
Luckily, he had something else.
With a thought, a pale blue panel unfolded before his eyes.
[Magic Learning Panel] [Magic mastered: Lumos] [Current level: beginner] [Proficiency: 17/100]
This panel had appeared when he received his wand.
It had also come with a bonus beginner's gift pack.
[Advanced Magic Perception.] [Basic Spell: Lumos.]
The former allowed him to sense the magic flowing through his body, while the latter had stuffed the incantation and the essentials of casting it straight into his brain.
Of course, knowing how to do something and actually doing it were two different things.
On his first attempt, his wand tip had merely flashed.
On his second, it had barely stayed lit for two seconds.
After all his practice so far, he could finally use it as a flashlight.
The panel pointed out problems with pronunciation, wand movements, and magic control, while effective practice increased proficiency.
Every spell had four levels: beginner, practiced, expert, and perfection.
Reaching expert level directly unlocked Nonverbal Spellcasting.
There would be no need to recite the incantation anymore; a wave of the wand would release the spell.
And as proficiency continued to rise, the spell's power would increase along with it.
Take the simplest spell, Lumos, for example.
At beginner level, it was a flashlight at best, but what if he trained it to perfection?
Then he would only need a gentle wave of his wand.
Boom! Holy light descended!
Voldemort? Death Eaters?
Whatever kind of dark wizard you are, I'll blind your damned eyes!
At that thought, Harry finally felt a little better. I've got cheats, after all.
"Harry?"
Ron's voice pulled him back to reality.
"You keep rubbing your forehead. Does your scar hurt?"
"It's nothing. Just thinking about some things from the past."
Ron glanced at the compartment door.
"Are you still thinking about Malfoy?"
Harry was just about to explain when the door slid open again.
A brown-haired girl stood in the doorway, her bushy hair somewhat untidy, but her speech crisp.
"Have you seen a toad? Neville's lost his."
Behind her, a round-faced boy poked his head out awkwardly.
"His name's Trevor."
Harry looked at the girl, then at the boy, and couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief.
Good.
This pair was normal, for now.
"Haven't seen him," Ron said. "But you could look under the seats."
The round-faced boy's shoulders immediately slumped.
"I've already searched several compartments..."
"Don't worry. Let's have another look."
Harry moved aside the snack boxes by his feet and took out his wand.
The evening light had already dimmed, and it was even darker beneath the seats.
He focused on the tip of his wand and raised it gently.
"Lumos."
A soft white light shone.
[Effective casting, proficiency +1.] [Lumos: beginner (18/100).]
Harry extended his wand beneath the seat.
Nothing.
Ron lowered his head too, doing his best to help peer inside.
"That's a pretty handy spell."
"Your movements are very steady when you cast," the girl in the doorway said, watching his wand tip. "I've tried a few simple spells myself, and they've all worked quite well. What others do you know?"
"Just this one for now."
"Then you could try the other spells in the textbooks. I've already read through all the books and even made notes in some places."
Ron slowly raised his head.
"All of them?"
"Of course. If you're coming to school, you ought to prepare in advance, shouldn't you?"
Ron looked at Harry, and Harry looked back at him.
Their eyes briefly met.
Right.
That was the familiar flavor.
"Oh, I'm Hermione Granger. What are your names?"
"Ron Weasley."
"Harry Potter."
Hermione's gaze immediately landed on his forehead.
"Is it really you? I've read about you in books."
Before Harry could answer, a sound suddenly came from beside them:
"Croak."
All four looked down at once.
Neville's bulging coat pocket shifted.
Harry slowly moved his glowing wand tip toward it, and a head poked out over the edge of the pocket.
"Trevor!"
Neville hurriedly cupped the toad in his hands, the dejection on his face instantly turning into delighted surprise.
Ron's mouth hung open as he looked at the toad, then at him.
"So... you carried him around while looking for him the whole way?"
Neville blushed.
"I-I thought he'd hopped away."
"At least you've found him now." Harry smiled and put away his wand.
Neville nodded repeatedly, holding the very restless toad tight.
"Thank you, Harry."
Hermione stopped asking questions too, instead reminding them to get ready to change into their robes. With that, she took Neville to the next compartment to tell the others who were still helping search.
The door closed again, and Ron looked down at the remaining snacks.
"She really read all the textbooks?"
"Heh, if it's her, I reckon she could read them all again."
Ron silently unwrapped a sweet.
Harry leaned back against his seat, feeling a little more reassured.
A red-haired Ron who loved snacks and lost his energy at the mention of studying; a Hermione who finished the textbooks in advance and could check other people's schoolwork along the way.
And a Neville who carried his toad around while searching for it.
At least so far, the only major problem seemed to be on Malfoy's side.
He recalled that pretty face flushed red with anger, and the two female bodyguards standing ramrod straight behind her.
Forget it.
If Malfoy's a young lady, so be it.
I just hope... Voldemort isn't a mature beauty.
The instant a noseless face framed by flowing long hair appeared in Harry's mind, he drove it out.
No.
That was a little too far ahead of its time!
By the time the train slowed down, it was completely dark outside the window.
The two changed into their robes and got off with the jostling crowd.
The night wind slipped into his collar, and Ron shivered. Harry had barely found his footing when he heard a familiar, booming voice.
"First years, over here!"
Lantern light swung across a large, hairy face.
Hagrid stood beside the crowd, towering over everyone around him, carrying a lantern in one hand and waving to them with the other.
"Harry, over here!"
Harry pulled Ron along and walked over.
Not far away, long platinum hair flashed in the lamplight.
Malfoy stood between Crabbe and Goyle, looking down as she straightened her robe sleeves.
She raised her head, meeting Harry's gaze.
Her gray-green eyes immediately glared at him.
Before Harry could nod, she turned her face away, her long hair swinging with quite a bit of force.
"Stay close, and watch your step!"
Hagrid led the first years away from the platform and down a narrow path.
The ground was a little damp, and their surroundings were dark. Harry could hear footsteps treading over the earth, along with the hushed conversations of the students behind him.
Ron walked beside him, looking around the whole way.
As they rounded the last clump of trees, the view suddenly opened up.
A broad lake spread out beneath the night sky, with a row of small boats waiting along the shore.
"Four to a boat! Sit tight, and don't stand up!"
Harry and Ron boarded the same boat, and Hermione and Neville sat down opposite them right afterward.
At Hagrid's command, the little boat rocked gently and left the shore on its own.
No one rowed. The lake water parted against the hull, its gentle splashing especially clear in the night.
Harry reached out to grip the side of the boat as the icy night wind brushed his cheeks.
"Look over there..."
Ron suddenly spoke in a low voice.
Harry looked up.
At the far end of the lake, an enormous castle stood high on a hillside.
The pointed tops of its towers pierced the night sky, and warm yellow light shone from countless windows. The castle's outline was reflected in the pitch-black lake, swaying gently with the ripples.
Harry's grip on the side of the boat slowly tightened.
He had seen this castle on a screen before.
But on the screen, there had been no cold wind blowing against his face, no lake water rocking beneath the boat, and none of the pounding in his chest that he could not suppress now.
The little boat carried them onward.
Those lit windows drew closer, little by little.
Hogwarts.
He had really come.
Before you continue