Chapter 13
"Neville, we've already done that." Hermione said with a sigh, if she hadn't started looking for Harry and Ron, maybe then she would have secured an empty compartment to sit in, but right now the only compartment where both of them could sit comfortably was right in front of their eyes.
"You two, come in; don't stand behind the door like that." Alan said with a smile, "Someone will think I have given you two some kind of punishment."
Hermione and Neville, hearing that, finally slid open the door and walked in. "Thank you, professor. You're a professor, right?" Hermione asked.
"That's right." Alan said and then introduced himself, putting down the newspaper.
Hearing Alan's name, there was a knowing look on Hermione's face, then she introduced herself, "My name is Hermione Granger." And since Neville wasn't going to introduce himself any time soon, she did his part too: "And his name is Neville Longbottom. We belong to the Gryffindor house. Can we sit?" Hermione, in a breath, concluded all of her words.
"Of course, you two can." Alan said, waving his wand, making his luggage fly on the shelf, and making way for both of them to sit. These two people were important figures in the story, though in the initial parts their capabilities were quite low, but these two were the ones who had seen more growth by the end of the story.
"Professor, do you know Ron Weasley?" Hermione asked; she had received a letter from Ron a few days back, telling her about the new combat professor that had visited his house for dinner and how different he was from all the other professors, but since she directly couldn't ask whether he was the same person, she chose another approach.
"Ron Weasley? I know him since I have a good relationship with his family. Why"? Alan replied, looking back toward Hermione.
Realizing that this was the same person Ron had mentioned in his letter, Hermione's expression brightened a little as she said, "Actually, Ron and Harry had mentioned you in a recent letter."
"Oh, I hope everything they wrote about me was praise." Alan joked, however, noticing Neville getting tensed up, Alan smiled and said, "I am joking, no need to look like that. Anyway, I too have heard praises about you, Miss Granger. Both of them have told me that you are the brightest witch among your peers."
Though at the same time, Alan felt a little different about that fact, as till now she's only book smart, which sometimes proves to be a hindrance in real-life scenarios and causes rifts in the group, but knowing that she'll change in the future, Alan wasn't worried about it that much.
"Thank you, professor, but I think they exaggerated it a little bit." Hermione, whose ears had turned from the praise, tried to act ignorant of it. And Alan gracefully ignored the little act Hermione put forward, focusing on Neville, as this guy needed a little push more than anyone.
"Mr. Longbottom, why do you look so nervous?" Alan asked, putting a little pressure on the boy, "You act just like how
Your grandma has mentioned you in her letters."
Since Alan's parents were members of the Order of the Phoenix, many of the members of the group still held good relations with him, and Neville's grandmother was one of them.
Neville, hearing her grandmother's name, suddenly began to look a little more active as he said, "Professor, you know my grandmother?"
"Of course, I know her." Alan raised a brow and said, "Why, didn't your grandma mention me to you?"
Neville simply shook his head at Alan's question, making Alan ponder the intention of that old woman. But either way, Neville, who initially looked like a dog caught in a cage, now looked a little more relaxed around him.
With the mood in the compartment growing lighter, time began to pass by, and Alan even bought some snacks from the food trolley for the kids to eat, while he picked up a chocolate frog, which gave him Dumbledore's old chocolate frog card.
However, this bright mood didn't hold on long in the compartment, as suddenly an owl with the Daily Prophet to deliver knocked on the window, and as Hermione opened the newspaper to read, a gasping sound escaped out of her lips.
"What's wrong, Hermione?" Neville, who was munching on a pumpkin-flavored candy, asked, looking at Hermione, whose expression suddenly seemed grim.
"Look at this." Hermione pushed the Daily Prophet toward Neville so he too could read what she had seen just now.
"Ford Anglia flies in the sky, shocking few muggles."
Neville read aloud the headline, but his expression remained calm, and then, looking at Hermione, he asked, "But why do you look so concerned about this? Do you know the owner of this car?"
"This…" Hermione looked at Neville, pondering whether to tell him or not, but then realizing that since the matter has been published in the Daily Prophet, there is a chance that he will know who the owner of this car is, so she said, "I think this car belongs to Mr. Weasley. I think Ron had mentioned this car to me in a letter."
"Really? How can they do something like this?" Neville, whose mind slowly organized everything Hermione had said, gasped in horror.
Hermione, ignoring Novel's mumbling, began to ponder the matter, as it was highly likely that it was either Ron or Harry who was driving that car, since Mr. Weasley is a law-abiding citizen and definitely would not do something risky like this.
Alan, on the other side, looked at the two kids who were looking too anxious. Hermione, at the moment, looked like an angry mother who wanted to thrash her naughty kids.
Just then the door to the compartment opened; it was Fred and George who walked in with an excited expression on their faces.
"What did you just say, Hermione?" Fred asked to confirm whether he had heard right or not.
"If this is true, then why didn't they call us back?" George followed with an angry expression.