Oh, Hogwarts, My Home

On the train to Hogwarts, Harry stuffed her trunk beneath the seat and leaned against the window with a long sigh of relief.

Sunlight filtered through the glass, casting dappled light and shadow over her newly bought black trousers.

Harry was in a good mood. Now that she was going to Hogwarts and leaving her aunt's family behind, she finally wouldn't have to put up with those flimsy, fluttering skirts.

Heaven knew how hard it was for her, an adult man, to accept the skirts her aunt had bought her.

She had just settled Hedwig's cage when someone knocked softly on the compartment door.

"Excuse me, is there a seat available here?"

The elegant drawl made the hairs on the back of Harry's neck stand on end.

Draco Malfoy stood in the doorway, his platinum-blond hair combed neatly back and his gray eyes carrying just the right amount of politeness. Behind him stood two rosy-cheeked boys, clearly younger versions of Crabbe and Goyle.

Crabbe and Goyle's elders were Death Eaters, so it was no surprise that they were friends from the start.

But...

Why won't he leave me alone?

He wasn't this much of a clingy nuisance in my last life, was he?

"Sorry, someone's already sitting here," Harry replied quickly, her voice even stiffer than she had expected.

A flicker of regret passed through Draco's eyes, but he quickly recovered his proper smile. "Of course. Sorry to have disturbed you."

He inclined his head slightly, the movement as smooth as if he were attending an aristocratic ball. "Have a pleasant journey, Miss Potter."

Harry shuddered as she watched the flash of gold disappear down the corridor.

This perfectly polite Malfoy was even creepier than the arrogant bastard from her last life.

If only Ron and Hermione would hurry up and show up. He didn't want Draco coming back after searching the train to say he couldn't find another compartment. As she thought this, Harry bought some snacks from a passing attendant and put them in the compartment.

"There's someone outside your door. Do you know him?"

A clear female voice suddenly rang out.

Harry turned to see Hermione Granger, her brown hair bushy, tugging at someone's sleeve.

The red-haired boy she had pulled out looked as though he wanted to bury his face in his collar.

Harry stared expressionlessly at her best friend. The tips of Ron Weasley's ears were so red they looked ready to bleed.

"Uh... hello." Ron's voice sounded as though he were forcing the words through clenched teeth. "The other compartments are all full... Can I sit here?"

Ron, who had barged into her compartment without a care in her last life, was now as shy as a girl attending her first ball.

Harry stood there, watching Ron's neck grow visibly redder.

"Of course," she finally said, watching Ron collapse into the seat opposite her with relief.

Hermione sat down briskly as well, her straight back radiating the confidence of a top student. "I'm Hermione Granger." She held out her hand. "And you?"

"Ron Weasley," Ron said, giving his name in a somewhat uncertain voice, just as he had at the beginning of their last life.

"Harry Potter," Harry said calmly.

No one could blame her. She really couldn't forget Ron's exaggerated reaction in her last life, and now that she had a chance to see it again, of course she couldn't pass it up.

"You're the-" Ron's head shot up, his blue eyes wide and round. "The Girl Who Lived?"

Harry pushed back the red hair over her forehead, revealing the lightning-shaped scar. Sunlight fell on it, making it look as though it were glowing.

"Wow!" Ron gasped and leaned halfway across the compartment. "Was that really You-Know-Who-"

"Ron!" Hermione interrupted him.

Everyone in the Wizarding World knew about Harry Potter. There was no need to bring it up again and remind Harry of her parents' deaths.

"That's so rude!" She turned to Harry, her cheeks flushed with excitement. "Sorry, I don't think he meant to offend you."

Ron sank back into his seat, belatedly remembering that You-Know-Who was the one responsible for murdering Harry's parents. His ears turned red again. "I just... I'm sorry. It must be really painful for you."

"It's all right." Harry let her hair fall. Ron had been acting without thinking for more than a day or two; he had nothing to mind.

Besides...

A sly smile curled her lips. "Want to touch it?"

Ron's face turned red all the way down to his neck. He recoiled like a startled Niffler, nearly slipping off his seat.

"N-no, that's all right!" he stammered.

Harry couldn't help laughing and deliberately leaned a little closer.

Her ruby-red hair fell in front of Ron, carrying the faint scent of strawberry shampoo. "Are you sure? Maybe you'll discover it's actually a fake scar, and I'm a fake Harry Potter, an impostor."

Ron was clearly intrigued, his blue eyes shining with a mix of panic and anticipation.

Just then, Hermione suddenly leaned in from the side and grabbed Ron's wrist as he reached for Harry's forehead.

"That's not very appropriate."

She seemed to realize she had lost her composure and hurriedly let go, a faint blush rising on her cheeks. "I mean... we've only just met, and doing that... isn't very hygienic."

Harry: ?

Ron: ?

Perhaps feeling that her excuse was too forced and unreasonable, Hermione coughed awkwardly.

She tentatively raised a hand and touched the scar on Harry's forehead.

The girl's fingertips rubbed against Harry's forehead, tickling her and making her lean back a little.

"All right, we've confirmed it's a real scar," Hermione said, withdrawing her hand.

Ron opened his mouth. He wanted to touch the scar too, but under the threat of Hermione's look, which said she would tear him apart if he dared move a hand or open his mouth, he ultimately said nothing.

The atmosphere in the compartment eased a little, and Hermione took out Hogwarts: A History and enthusiastically told Harry interesting things from the book.

Harry listened with interest. He still remembered that, after they had gotten to know each other in their last life, Hermione had told him and Ron that she had read up on the school's history at first to make friends.

Ron secretly rolled his eyes, uninterested in the bookworm's showing off. Beside them, he quietly folded the portrait of Dumbledore on a Chocolate Frog Card into a paper airplane, considering whether to throw it out the window.

Suddenly, a familiar drawl came from the doorway:

"It seems Miss Chosen One's friends have arrived?"

Draco Malfoy had appeared in the doorway again at some point, his pale fingers idly tracing the compartment door's sliding track.

His gray-blue eyes swept over Ron and Hermione with contempt before settling on Harry's face, a mocking smile on his lips.

Ron immediately jumped up like a cat with its fur on end. "Draco Malfoy! The awful Malfoy family."

"At least I'm not like your Weasley family." Draco adjusted his cuffs unhurriedly. "Your whole family crammed into one shabby house, unable to afford a decent robe."

"What did you say?!" Ron's face turned scarlet in an instant, and his fists clenched.

Draco was about to say something else when Ron's fist landed on his face.

Harry rubbed her temples.

She had almost forgotten just how childish eleven-year-old boys could be, although she and Malfoy had been the same in her last life, ready to fight after just a few disagreeable words.

Hermione snapped her book shut and stood up. "If you came here just to pick a fight, then nobody here welcomes you, Malfoy."

Draco's gaze rested on Hermione's face for a second. After recalling which new student she was, his lips curled maliciously. "A Mudblood thinks she's worthy-"

"Enough!" Harry stood up, placing herself protectively in front of Hermione and slightly to one side. "Draco Malfoy, Miss Hermione is my friend. Insulting her is the same as insulting me."

"You can leave and go find your friends. After all, you don't think much of any of the three of us, do you?"

The moment the words left her mouth, a frightening silence fell over the compartment.

Ron's mouth fell open, and Hermione's eyelashes fluttered rapidly.

Draco's expression turned blank, as though he couldn't understand why Harry would protect that Mudblood. He blinked, looking a little aggrieved.

It made him look as if he were bullying a child.

Harry felt a little awkward and sighed inwardly.

This was for the best. Making herself absolutely clear would save her from further pestering by this arrogant young master.

He was Harry Potter, who had survived a great calamity, the Chosen One. In their last life, Malfoy had also tried to win him over and become his friend.

Only after being rejected had Malfoy come to see him as a thorn in his side.

She was about to sit down when she saw Draco take a deep breath.

"...Sorry." The word sounded as though it had been forced through his teeth. Draco turned to Hermione. "I shouldn't have said that."

After speaking, Draco stood stiffly in the doorway, the tips of his ears slightly red beneath his blond hair.

Harry stared at him in disbelief. For a moment, the four of them fell into a strange silence.

"Uh..." In the end, Ron broke the silence. He scratched his nose. "Why don't... you sit down?"

Even he looked incredulous at his own words.

If Ms. Molly found out he had actually invited Draco to sit in the same compartment, she might think he had gone mad.

Draco hesitated, then finally came in awkwardly and sat in the corner farthest from Harry. He held his back so straight that it looked as though there were needles on the seat, but at least he had sat down.

Hermione gave Draco a wary look and edged closer to Harry. Ron, meanwhile, watched Draco's every move like a dragon guarding its treasure.

Harry looked at the strange scene and suddenly felt it was a little too fantastical.

People who had started fighting whenever they met at school in her last life were now somehow sitting together, however awkwardly. Sunlight streamed through the window, casting dappled light and shadow among the four of them.

"So..." Harry cleared her throat, trying to ease the awkwardness. "Which house do you think you'll be sorted into?"

"Gryffindor!" Ron answered at once, then looked warily at Draco. "Unlike certain people, who are bound to go to Slytherin."

"That's right." Draco admitted it with unexpected calm. "My whole family is in Slytherin." His gaze flickered toward Harry, a hint of expectation in his expression. "What about you? Slytherin?"

...No, I'm not going to Slytherin. Even if I went to Azkaban, I wouldn't go to Slytherin. Slytherin is nothing special, and every classmate there is harder to deal with than the last.

Hermione keenly noticed the way Draco looked at Harry. She frowned unconsciously and took over the conversation. "I hope I get into Ravenclaw. I hear it has the most complete library."

...Ah, that's not true. Everyone shares one library.

The four of them began chatting awkwardly.

Although Ron and Draco traded barbs from time to time, and Hermione kept rolling her eyes as though she couldn't stand the boys' stupidity, at least they didn't fight again.

Harry watched the scenery race past outside the window, the corners of her mouth lifting without her noticing.

This was a scene he could never have imagined in his last life. Unlike using a time-turner, this was a world line genuinely developing anew.

It was possible that he really could save the people who had died because of Voldemort.

Everyone had a bright future.

It would have been even better if she hadn't had to change gender and wear those damned skirts.

As they chatted, Ron suddenly said, "Fred taught me an amazing spell!"

He pulled a battered old wand from his pocket and waved it excitedly. "It can turn a rat yellow!"

A fat brown rat in his other hand squeaked in terror, desperately trying to burrow back into his pocket.

It's Peter Pettigrew.

Harry said inwardly.

His betrayal had led to her parents' deaths, and it was also he who had framed Sirius and sent him to Azkaban.

But there was no hurry now. He was still useful.

Ron cleared his throat and waved his wand with great solemnity under everyone's expectant gazes. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow!"

A faint shower of sparks flashed, singeing a few of Scabbers's whiskers, but his fur remained a dull gray.

"Pfft-" Draco immediately snickered. "Weasley, are you sure you're not holding a chopstick?"

Draco's mockery, delivered in his characteristic drawl, made Hermione cover her mouth, but her shoulders were already shaking uncontrollably.

Harry's cheeks ached from holding back her laughter too. She knew this feeling all too well; Ron had always had mishaps like this in their last life.

Whether it was him or his wand.

Though this time it had little to do with Ron's wand. Fred was simply up to no good.

Fred, you're responsible for every bad thing under the sun!

"What are you laughing at?!" Ron's ears were as red as his hair. "If you're so capable, try it yourselves!"

Draco raised one eyebrow elegantly. "Mr. Weasley, performing tricks is usually a circus clown's job."

"You don't know any spells at all!" Ron said angrily. "You just know how to run your mouth!"

An adult Draco might not have fallen for such a provocation, but Draco Malfoy was only an eleven-year-old boy now. With just a little goading from Ron, he took the bait. "Are you sure you want to provoke a Malfoy?"

Harry was about to stop him when she saw that Draco had already drawn his hawthorn wand.

Too late.

Harry covered her face.

"Ah!"

Ron cried out. His red hair suddenly exploded into an exaggerated frizzy puff, every strand sticking stubbornly straight up.

Hermione finally failed to hold it in and burst out laughing. She clutched her stomach, her brown curls bouncing with her laughter. Although Harry thought her good friend had it a little rough, she couldn't hold back either and collapsed laughing onto her seat.

In their last life, they might already have started fighting, but now...

Ron, I've had professional training. Normally I wouldn't laugh, but this time I really couldn't help it!

"How do I look?" Ron asked miserably, reaching up to touch his exploded hair.

"Like you've been kissed by a Thunderbird." Hermione thought for a moment and offered what she considered a reasonably fair assessment, even though she had only read about Thunderbirds and had never actually seen one.

"First years! This way!" Hagrid's booming voice rang out especially clearly in the night. His enormous figure stood by the lake, carrying a swaying lamp, his beard moving gently in the breeze.

Harry followed the crowd toward the lake, the night wind brushing through her red hair and carrying the Black Lake's distinctive damp scent.

Draco walked on her left, Ron chattered on her right with his exploded hair, and Hermione followed close behind.

Compared with Ron and Draco, who were already part of the Wizarding World, Hermione seemed more reserved and a little more curious about Hogwarts.

"Four to a boat!" Hagrid directed.

Harry had just stepped into a rocking boat when she felt it sink beside her; Draco had already nimbly climbed in and sat down. Not to be outdone, Ron squeezed in on the other side, leaving Hermione no choice but to sit helplessly in the stern.

The boat glided silently toward the middle of the lake, moonlight spreading a silver sheen across the water. Beyond the cliffs on the opposite shore, the outline of Hogwarts slowly appeared.

The brightly lit castle stood beneath the starry sky, its spires rising in clusters and the warm light from its windows reflected on the lake. Harry's breath caught. Though she had seen it countless times before, the sight was still just as breathtaking in this moment.

"Wow..." Ron's mouth hung open, his exploded hair trembling gently in the night wind.

The castle lights shone in Hermione's eyes, making them sparkle. "It's even more magnificent than the description in Hogwarts: A History!"

Even the normally reserved Draco's eyes widened slightly. He had heard about Hogwarts from his parents and seen it in photographs at home, but seeing it with his own eyes was even more magnificent.

Harry gazed at the castle as it drew closer, her heart pounding in her chest.

This was her home. She had come home.

The boat gently reached the shore, and exclamations of wonder rose from the new students. Hagrid's booming voice called for them to gather in the distance, but Harry was still lost in thought, until Draco gently touched her elbow.

"Let's go, Potter," he said quietly.