As the door swung open, a little blonde girl darted into the compartment like a lively little rabbit.
"Little bro, didn't expect this, did you? I found you first." Draco held a crystal ball, looking as proud as a little champion who had won a competition.
"Draco! How did you find me?" Herman was quite surprised to see the blonde girl. After all, the Hogwarts Express was huge, and he was no celebrity like Harry, whom people would always notice and excitedly point out.
How did Draco find me? Did she check every compartment one by one?
But thinking of her personality, Herman felt that was certainly possible.
Draco smugly took out a crystal ball and held it up like a little money-grubber showing off her treasure, proudly explaining, "It was all thanks to my treasure, my finding crystal ball. As long as you're within a certain range, just think of the person or thing you want to find, and it'll point you in the right direction."
"It's that amazing?" Herman looked utterly astonished, as though he had discovered a new continent, while privately wondering whether Voldemort could have avoided risking a raid on Gringotts if he had one of these.
Voldemort could have used the crystal ball to scout things out first. At the very least, he would have known whether the Philosopher's Stone was inside, rather than exposing his objective in advance and ending up empty-handed.
But Harry spoke coldly then, a trace of disdain in her voice. "It's just a little toy. All it can do is find young witches and wizards or small objects in the confined space of this train. In reality, it's just a magic detector. A little concealment is enough to block its search easily."
Hearing Harry belittle the crystal ball she treasured so much, Draco's little eyebrows instantly shot up. Puffing up like an irritated little hedgehog, she raised her voice in protest. "Who says it's a little toy? It's really useful! I've found loads of treasures with it!"
Harry mercilessly exposed the truth, her words like a needle eager to burst Draco's little balloon of pride. "Your parents prepared all those treasures for you in advance, didn't they?"
"You, you..." Draco's cheeks flushed red with anger. For a moment, she could not get a word out and could only glare, with nowhere to vent her indignation and anger.
Watching these two gender-swapped characters still at each other's throats just like in the original, neither willing to yield, Herman could not help marveling at how strange fate was. Some things seemed destined to happen, impossible to avoid no matter what.
Seeing that the two were about to argue and the atmosphere was tense, Ron hurriedly tried to smooth things over. "Um, we're all new students. We might even end up sharing a dormitory, so let's not spoil things over something this small."
As she spoke, she looked at Draco's crystal ball and offered sincere praise. "It's quite pretty, too."
With someone praising her crystal ball, Draco's attention instantly shifted. Like a cheerful little bird, she excitedly sat down right beside Ron and began proudly introducing her crystal ball. "My mum bought this for me as a starting-school present. Besides this, I got a birthday present, too."
As she spoke, she took a small box out of the little bag at her waist.
Ron was clearly an excellent listener. Her attentive manner so thoroughly satisfied Draco's desire to talk that Draco even forgot about Herman beside her, despite having originally come looking for her "little bro."
Herman was happy to be left in peace, though, and privately breathed a sigh of relief. After all, Harry currently knew only Draco's first name, not that her surname was Malfoy.
However the world changed, the fact that Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater had not changed.
With Harry's current ruthless disposition, she might seek revenge on Draco on the spot if she found out.
Unfortunately, the compartment's former peace and quiet was gone for good. Draco's incessant chatter echoed throughout it. Her voice was not unpleasant, though, and Herman even found her tsundere tone rather cute.
But every now and then, Harry would abruptly throw in a sarcastic remark, giving Herman no end of headaches. He had to stay ready to put out fires, afraid the flames might accidentally spread to him, leaving him mentally exhausted.
Little by little, the sky darkened. Once again, sounds came from outside the door. This time, they began in the neighboring compartments, as though someone was asking questions one compartment at a time.
Soon, footsteps reached their compartment, followed by a knock. "Come in," Herman answered.
Then the compartment door slowly opened, revealing two young boys outside. One of them was someone Herman knew: Hugo.
The moment Hugo saw Herman, his eyes lit up, and he immediately greeted him excitedly. "Herman, here you are! I spent ages looking for you after I got on. Guess who I met?"
Herman looked at the boy beside Hugo. He had neatly cropped hair, an upright bearing, and a confident smile. He looked somewhat familiar and was probably a character from the original who had not been radically altered. But Herman had only watched the films a few times, and aside from the main characters, none had left much of an impression. He could not place him right away.
Seeing that Herman could not guess, Hugo eagerly said, "It's the Son of the Champion, Neville Longbottom! His parents were the ones who defeated You-Know-Who."
"Neville!" Although he was not that excited, Herman obligingly exclaimed for Hugo's sake.
Clearly, Neville received completely different treatment in different worlds.
In this world, Neville had become something like the Chosen One. After all, Dumbledore had ultimately told the public that Neville's parents had sacrificed themselves to defeat Voldemort. Naturally, Neville, the child they had left behind, had become the Son of the Champion and received a great deal of attention.
In an earlier issue of the Daily Prophet, Herman had even seen a special report commemorating the anniversary of the Longbottoms' sacrifice, including an interview specifically with Neville and his grandmother.
But one thing worth mentioning was that, according to the various sources Herman had found, Dumbledore had announced that the Longbottoms had sacrificed themselves to defeat Voldemort. He had explicitly used the word "defeat," never saying they had "killed" Voldemort.
For precisely that reason, some people still firmly believed Voldemort was alive, merely gathering his strength in the shadows as he waited for the day he would return.
Neville, who had come to their compartment, had not become arrogant in the slightest because of the empty title of "Son of the Champion." First, he gave them a very friendly smile, then politely asked:
"Hello, has anyone seen my toad? He likes wandering off."
Looks like losing the toad is a fixed scene, too. Even with a different protagonist, this missing-toad plot hasn't budged an inch.
Herman glanced at Harry beside him. Harry showed no intention of speaking at all, merely staring intently at Neville, her thoughts unknown.
It seemed he would have to answer himself. Herman was just about to speak when Draco, sitting opposite him, suddenly said:
"You've lost something? That's wonderful!"