The train needed an entire afternoon to reach Hogwarts.
Morris had plenty of time to chat with the enthusiastic older students.
"Hogwarts has four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Gryffindor is the best. By the way, your entrance exam involves facing a ten-foot-tall Troll with two heads. You have to defeat it before you can officially study at Hogwarts..."
Lee Jordan seemed to be a restless chatterbox, constantly telling Morris about Hogwarts.
Morris did not believe those last few remarks, though.
Morris had read about Hogwarts in books and knew a little about the four houses.
In truth, he did not particularly care which house he would be sorted into.
Even if he did care, it would be pointless-he could not decide that anyway.
During their conversation, George also shared a strange toffee with Morris.
After Morris ate it, his tongue swelled enormously as though it had been inflated, leaving his speech slurred.
The effect lasted nearly half a minute.
At the comical sight, George and Fred clapped their hands, looking excited.
"Success! A stable effect and a precise duration!" Fred cheered.
"What kind of sweet is this?" Morris asked, smacking his lips, a trace of sweetness still lingering in his mouth.
George explained with a grin, "Ton-Tongue Toffee. A prank product we invented. You've already seen what it does."
"Then what's it useful for?" Morris asked curiously.
At this question, the twins exchanged a glance.
George shrugged and answered as though it were obvious, "Playing pranks."
Fred added, "Honestly, it isn't much use. It won't help you pass your Potions Class exam or make your wand shine any brighter... but it's fun, isn't it?"
He spread his arms, his face brimming with pure joy. "So, Morris, want to join our prank club?"
Lee Jordan looked baffled. "Does Hogwarts have a club like that?"
"That doesn't matter," Fred said unabashedly. "We've only just decided to start it."
Lee Jordan decided to ignore the two idiots. Lowering his voice, he told Morris with a touch of glee at their misfortune, "Don't be fooled by how pleased with themselves they look now. These two idiots spent the whole of last term's final exams tinkering with Ton-Tongue Toffee. Their grades ended up being almost all Ps and Ds."
Although he spoke quietly, the twins seemed to catch the key words anyway and indignantly started scuffling with him.
These three really are interesting, Morris thought.
"Plop, plop..."
At some point, a toad had appeared in their compartment and was hopping about on the floor.
"Hey, whose toad is this?" Lee Jordan asked in surprise.
"Er... didn't you bring it in?" Morris asked, puzzled. "It's been hopping around here for ten minutes."
"We'd never keep an ugly toad as a pet," Fred retorted. "These creatures are useless except as test subjects for spells. And they actually cost as much as owls!"
Poor toads. They really did have a lowly status.
George tried to catch the toad.
Yet the instant he reached out, the seemingly clumsy toad kicked off with its hind legs and leaped with astonishing agility, landing right on his head.
Then it began bouncing all over the compartment, moving with frightening nimbleness.
Even the three third-years working together could not catch it.
"Wow," Morris marveled.
As expected of a toad from the Wizarding World. It really is different.
Suddenly, the toad changed direction and flew straight at Morris's face!
"Wailing Curse!"
In the heat of the moment, Morris tried using a spell he knew on the toad.
One advantage of curse-type spells was that they automatically selected targets within range according to the caster's will.
Against a fast-moving target, this was the best choice.
Almost the instant he finished the incantation, the toad landed on the floor with a splat.
Its body shook violently, its limbs twitching uncontrollably as white foam kept spilling from the corners of its mouth. A trace of bewilderment following a tremendous mental shock lingered in its bulging eyes.
Morris was a little surprised.
Although the target was only a toad, the Wailing Curse's effect still exceeded his expectations.
When he had used it on Guantou and Yanhua before, the results had not been nearly so dramatic.
Could his two pets have greater resistance to this sort of magic?
Lee Jordan's eyes widened. He looked at the toad, still twitching faintly on the floor, then at the calm-faced Morris, and could not help exclaiming, "Cool, mate. What spell did you just use? How come I've never heard that incantation before? Wait, did you do that without a wand?"
His questions came in rapid succession. Fred and George immediately gathered around too, focusing their attention on Morris.
"Er..." Morris had not expected the three to be so surprised. He explained, "A strange spell I found in an old book. I just wanted to test its effect. It seems to work pretty well."
He paused, then changed the subject. "Speaking of which, is using magic without a wand very strange?"
For a moment, Morris's lack of common knowledge left all three rather speechless.
"Let me explain, Morris," George said seriously. "Only the most powerful, experienced wizards can cast spells without relying on a wand."
"Maybe it was just a blind cat stumbling across a dead mouse?" Morris shrugged.
"I like that comparison." Fred chuckled. "But, Morris, could you try again? Let us see what you can do."
Morris looked at the poor toad on the floor, which had only just stopped twitching and still looked rather listless.
"Oh, of course."
He once again stretched out his hand toward the toad, putting on an expression of intense concentration as he made up an incantation at random.
Better not stand out too much...
"Upsy Daisy Makka Pakka!"
Morris had no idea what corner of his mind he had dug that jumble of words out of, but he recited it.
Naturally, the toad on the floor showed no reaction. It remained sprawled there in a daze and gave a feeble croak.
"Hmm..." Morris put on a regretful expression. "Doesn't seem to work."
If anything, this result seemed easier for the twins and Lee Jordan to accept.
"Just as I thought, wandless magic isn't that simple," George said as though it were only natural.
A first-year who could reliably perform wandless magic would have been far too shocking.
Morris brought the discussion of his spellcasting abilities to a timely end and turned his attention back to the toad on the floor. "So, whose toad is this, anyway? Is it wild?"