A Minor Conflict

September 1st.

The family arrived at King's Cross Station at ten thirty. Sean pushed his cart to the third pillar between Platform Nine and Platform Ten. Quite a few Ministry of Magic officials were stationed there, ensuring that Muggles would not notice anything unusual and that the Young Wizards could board the train smoothly.

Seeing that there was still time, Sean stood before the pillar and chatted with his father and mother. Although Hogwarts had a Christmas break when he could return home, there were still several months ahead of them, and the feeling of parting was strong.

The family of three chatted nearby until Sean saw the Red-haired family arrive before Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and enter the pillar one after another. Then, a frail, short Black-haired Green-eyed Boy wearing glasses followed them into the pillar. Sean knew there was not much time left and that he should go in.

"It's about time. I'm going in," Sean said to his parents as he straightened the things on his cart.

Yad checked the time and knew it was time to part. Yet unlike Martha, he did not feel terribly sad. Smiling, he said to Sean, "Be careful on the way. Follow the arrangements of the Hogwarts professors in everything."

"Remember, remember to write to us often."

Looking at his smiling father and his mother's reddened eyes, Sean hugged them and said, "I'll write. The two of you can take this chance to spend more time alone together. I'd quite like a younger brother or sister."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Sean pushed his cart into the pillar before his father and mother could react. The instant he passed through it, he seemed to hear their laughing curses behind him. With a knowing smile, he looked at the Hogwarts Express waiting at the platform and, seeing there were still empty compartments, pushed his luggage aboard.

After putting away his luggage, Sean sat in a window seat. With nothing else to do, he took out Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration and began reading. He had already gone through this book and the textbooks for the other subjects many times, and had committed much of their contents to memory. But without a teacher nearby to guide him, he could not easily experiment at home, so he had only tried a few of the most basic spells.

His self-study in Transfiguration had never been particularly successful, so recently Sean had been focusing on Elementary Transfiguration Guide.

Perhaps it was his aura, or perhaps because his compartment was at the end of the train, but no one came to Sean's compartment looking for a seat until the train started moving.

Sean was happy enough with the peace and quiet. At the end of the day, he was not truly an eleven-year-old child. His mental age was no longer young, and he naturally preferred quiet. Having friends he got along with would be nice, of course, but without them, he could still spend the next seven years by himself. Besides, he did not want to get caught up in the conflict between the Savior and the Noseless Freak. The best outcome would be to be sorted into Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff and remain an unnoticed nobody.

The train slowly accelerated, and the scenery outside gradually came alive. As the Middle-aged Vendor pushed his snack-filled cart back and forth through the train, the Hogwarts Young Wizards inside became more animated as well.

Before long, three or five Young Wizards had already run past Sean's compartment.

Some of them saw Sean sitting inside and wanted to get to know him, but the moment they noticed the book in his hands, they immediately kept their distance. For children their age, books were truly quite terrifying things.

"So this is where you are!"

A voice filled with anger sounded from the compartment door.

Sean raised his head and looked at Millicent standing outside the compartment. His brows lifted slightly. "Looks like you deliberately searched the train for me. What is it? Do you need something?"

"The Pure White Pocket Watch! Give me back my Pure White Pocket Watch, and I can pretend nothing happened before. Otherwise, I'll make you pay! A son of a Squib—do you really think you can become a member of the Bulstrode family?" Her words were far from polite, but Sean did not care.

One look at Millicent told Sean that she had most likely not been sent by anyone else. She was simply acting out of a child's possessiveness and protectiveness toward something that should have belonged to her. As for the Pure White Pocket Watch, it was indeed a good item, but what it represented behind the scenes was somewhat ill-intentioned.

As one of the Twenty-Eight Pure-blood Families, the Bulstrode family had a long history and extensive connections. Even if they could not compare with the Malfoy family's status as the richest family in the Magical World, they certainly possessed considerable wealth. For a family like that, could the Pure White Pocket Watch really be the only magical item they could give their younger descendants?

Of course not!

The only reason Gavin, the head of the Bulstrode family, had given him the Pure White Pocket Watch under the guise of an apology was that it had originally been meant for Millicent.

As for Gavin's intentions, eighty percent of it was probably to use Sean as motivation for Millicent, while the remaining twenty percent was to ease Sean's relationship with the family. Such were the methods of great families that had endured for generations.

Even knowing that, however, Sean had no intention of giving the item to Millicent. The Pure White Pocket Watch had a good effect, and once Sean had set his eyes on it, he had no plans to hand it over.

"I can't give you the item. Grandfather gave it to me. You should know that."

Millicent looked at Sean, her eyelids lowering slightly. Pure-bloods possessed great power from birth, and because of that, they knew more and were bolder. Watching Sean turn back to his book, she felt that she could easily subdue this son of a Squib and calmly take the Pure White Pocket Watch. At worst, she simply would not hurt him. As long as he was not injured, even if someone found out, it would only be a minor matter!

With that thought, Millicent suddenly pulled out her Wand and aimed it at Sean, about to cast a spell.

But at that very moment, Millicent discovered in horror that Sean had already drawn his Wand. Light was already flickering at its tip as it pointed at her.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Grayish-white light instantly spread across Millicent's entire body, turning her into a statue that slowly toppled to the floor.

The sudden change immediately drew everyone's attention. Soon, some older students rushed over and promptly removed the Petrifying Charm on Millicent.

The moment the spell was lifted, Millicent sprang up from the floor, raised her Wand, and prepared to cast a spell at Sean. At the same time, she shouted, "You damned son of a Squib! I'll make you regret this!"

Millicent's movements were stopped by the older students. Just as she was about to say something else, she suddenly spotted someone familiar. The unfinished words in her mouth were immediately swallowed, and she obediently stood to one side.

When that person came up beside her, Millicent said somewhat timidly, "O-Oliver, why are you here?"