Silver light tore through the air like a shooting star, tracing a dazzling arc through the narrow carriage corridor.
Neville saw a blur before his eyes as a dark shape hurtled toward his face on a rush of wind. Terrified out of his wits, he screamed and reeled backward.
Yet in the next instant, something bizarre happened.
The dark shape passed straight through his head, as though he were nothing but a phantom.
Neville's scalp tingled. He froze in place, his eyes as wide as saucers, unable to make a sound.
Hermione, who had been asking questions in the next compartment, heard Neville's scream and immediately came out. She hurried to his side, held his shoulders, and asked urgently, "What happened, Neville? Are you all right?"
Harry, Ron, and Lavender also came out of their compartments and gathered around Neville.
They all looked in the direction his trembling finger pointed.
The end of the corridor was empty, apart from the trolley witch picking out sweets for Goyle and Vincent.
"There's nothing there, is there?" Ron frowned, craning his neck to look around. "What did you see?"
"He flew away!" Neville finally came to his senses, his voice thick with tears as he gestured with both hands to describe what had happened. "My Trevor! He just... he went 'whoosh,' right through me, and then flew over there! Really!"
Lavender's eyes lit up, and she nearly jumped with excitement. "He flew away?! Oh! Maybe Trevor isn't an ordinary toad! Maybe someone put a spell on him, or he's actually a cursed prince!"
Ron couldn't help laughing. "Flew... flew away?! Neville, have you gone mad with fright? If toads can fly, then I'll be a Keeper, I, Ron Weasley!"
Hermione's brows knitted tightly as she offered a calm, rational analysis. "Neville, toads can't fly. They're amphibians. They have no wings, and there is no known magic that can give them the ability to sustain flight."
"You must have seen something else, or he simply jumped very high and very far, making it look like he was flying in the dim light."
"No! He wasn't jumping! He was flying!" Neville shook his head desperately, tracing arcs in the air with both hands. "He was wrapped in a beam of light! That light... it flew over from there, carrying Trevor, and passed through my head as if I didn't exist! Really! I'm not lying!"
They exchanged looks, none of them able to convince the others for the moment.
And while they continued arguing, Draco had already returned silently to his own compartment with Trevor.
Inside, Goyle and Vincent each held a large bag of snacks, their faces sporting foolish grins of utter satisfaction.
The moment they saw Draco return, they stood at attention.
Draco handed the toad to the trolley witch and said mildly, "Madam, I believe this is the missing toad."
The trolley witch was taken aback at first, then broke into a radiant smile. "Oh! Wonderful! You found him! Thank you so much, sir! I'll take him back right away."
Draco nodded, then added, "There's no need to tell him who helped."
The trolley witch blinked and smiled knowingly. "Of course, sir, I understand. I'll say... a gentleman who wished to remain anonymous found him in the corridor."
Draco didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "A gentleman who wished to remain anonymous"-wouldn't that make it obvious it was me?
"No need." Draco waved a hand. "Just say you found him."
The trolley witch quickly shook her head. "How could I? I'd feel terrible. You're the one who helped."
"Failing that, just don't say anything. Tell them the toad's been found and give him back."
Although the trolley witch didn't quite understand, she nodded. "All right, I'll do as you say."
She thought for a moment, then added, "Sir, could you watch the sweets trolley for me for a little while, then? I'll take him back to them."
"No problem." Leaning against the doorway, Draco answered lazily.
Clearly reassured by Draco's willingness to do good without taking credit, the trolley witch carried Trevor briskly toward Neville's compartment.
[Ding-original plot added. Fortune Points +20]
The system notification sounded in his mind. The corners of Draco's mouth lifted slightly, and his mood improved considerably.
Once the trolley witch was far away, Goyle couldn't resist leaning over, looking puzzled. "Boss, didn't you say it was better to help when there were lots of people around? That way, we look even more unfathomable."
"Wrong! Completely wrong!" Draco shook his head with an air of profundity. "What I was doing was... cleaning up the surroundings. Yes, that toad hopping around in front of me was an eyesore! He was interfering with this young master's contemplation of life, so I tidied him away to maintain the compartment's standards."
Enlightened, Goyle nodded firmly. "Oh... an eyesore..."
Draco nodded in satisfaction, wearing an expression that said, "You can be taught."
Vincent asked another question. "Then why stay anonymous? Back on the platform, didn't you take the initiative to help the Granger family?"
"At least you remembered the 'anonymous' part." Draco spoke mildly. "Doing good without leaving your name is called avoiding unnecessary trouble afterward."
"Think about it. If that boy came running over in tears to thank me, do you think we'd still be able to rest in peace?"
The two exchanged a glance and nodded in wholehearted agreement.
Vincent sighed with genuine admiration. "You really do think of everything, boss."
Listening to his underling's flattery, Draco closed his eyes as he leaned against the door, feeling unusually relaxed.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in Hermione and the others' compartment was entirely different.
Their disbelief had turned Neville's suppressed sniffling into intermittent sobs.
He held his head and curled into a ball, muttering over and over, "I really saw it... he flew away... I wasn't lying..."
Hermione's brows drew tighter and tighter, her gaze moving between the corridor and Neville. She was clearly trying hard to explain everything through logic, yet could find no reasonable answer.
Ron had already given up making remarks and sprawled in his seat, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Harry kept scanning the gaps in the floorboards, as though Trevor might emerge from some corner out of thin air.
Just then, the compartment door slid open with a swish.
"Good news, dear!" The trolley witch's beaming face and cheerful voice cut in like a ray of sunshine, breaking through the oppressive atmosphere. "Your toad's been found!"
Carefully held in her hand was a dusty-gray toad kicking his legs in bewilderment. It was Trevor.
"A kind passerby picked him up in the corridor and asked me to bring him to you. Hold on to him, and keep a closer eye on him next time!"
Time seemed to stop for a second.
Then-
"Trevor!!!"
Neville shot out of his seat like a cannonball and lunged toward the witch. His trembling hands all but snatched the toad from her before pressing him tightly against his chest.
Great sobs poured from his throat, but this time they were filled with pure, overwhelming ecstasy and relief.
He pressed his tear-soaked face against Trevor's cool skin, mumbling incoherently, "Thank you... thank you... oh, Merlin... and that kind stranger... thank you..."
"Merlin's fattest underpants!" Ron let out an enormous breath and slumped into his seat, a foolish grin of relief on his face. "Finally! I thought we'd have to listen to that crying all the way to Hogwarts!"
Harry broke into a bright smile and patted the still-trembling Neville on the shoulder.
Then he turned to the trolley witch, his green eyes filled with sincere gratitude and curiosity. "Madam, may I ask who... found him? We'd like to thank him in person."
Neville nodded hurriedly and choked out, "Y-yes, I'd like... I'd like to go and thank him."
The trolley witch smiled understandingly and cut off their questions, following Draco's earlier instructions. "Someone who wished to remain anonymous found him in the corridor. He only said to return him to his owner. Well, all's well that ends well!"
She nodded to them all, neatly shut the door, and left.
The instant the door closed, Lavender said excitedly, "Oh! This is so wonderful! A kind stranger who won't leave his name! On the train! It's just like something out of The Tales of Beedle the Bard! He must be humble and kind, and perhaps a little mysterious..."
Hermione looked down at her book, but her thoughts raced. He wouldn't leave his name. Was it really because he was humble? Or was it because... he didn't want certain people to know he had helped?
"Oh, come off it, Lavender." Ron rolled his eyes. "Maybe he's just someone who hates trouble, thought Neville was crying too loudly, and tossed the toad to the trolley witch to be done with it. A 'mysterious kind stranger,' honestly..."
He deliberately pitched his voice to imitate Lavender's tone, then shuddered. "I've got goosebumps."
As it happened, Ron had actually guessed right. Draco simply wanted to avoid trouble.
And Draco knew perfectly well what Hermione was like, with her knack for imagining things and her preconceived prejudices against him.
Once she learned Draco had intervened, she would certainly suspect he had some ulterior motive, and might even take it as evidence of his "hypocrisy" and "pretending to be nice."
Rather than that, it was better simply to stay anonymous and avoid further complications.
"No! He must be a good person! A really, really good person!" Neville held Trevor even tighter and buried his face against the toad's rough skin again, his voice muffled. "He saved Trevor... I'll always pray for him..."
Sitting beside Neville, Harry smiled gently. "Whoever he is, he really did help us a lot. Perhaps he really is a kind person."
Hermione, however, raised her head and brought the little discussion to a close in a voice so calm it was almost rigid:
"Regardless, the problem has been solved. We should focus on Hogwarts, where we'll soon be arriving, rather than a stranger whose motives we cannot verify."
She paused and looked at Neville. "Neville, please make absolutely sure you keep an eye on your toad."
As her words fell, the compartment grew quiet.
Outside the window, the scenery gradually changed from open country to rolling hills, with the outlines of towering mountains faintly visible in the distance.