In truth, children living in the Wizarding World often lead rather boring lives.
The Weasley family Family's The Burrow was nestled among the hills and trees south of Ottery St Catchpole, yet most Muggles never even realized a house was there.
There were only four Wizard residents nearby, with the Diggory Family being the closest, but still several miles away.
Visiting each other required riding a broomstick or using other means.
In fact, the children from these four families rarely interacted.
The Weasley children rarely went to Ottery St Catchpole, much less played with ordinary Muggles.
However, the Twins said their older brother had a Muggle friend, a beautiful girl.
"Muggles are generally difficult to get along with; they always think we're weird, so we usually don't play together, and... my house is quite far from town."
Lee Jordan's situation was even worse; he was the only one in his Family, so sometimes he couldn't even find a playmate.
Albert was much better off than them; he had a younger sister and a pile of books, and occasionally he would play ball with others.
However, he usually didn't play with a bunch of little kids, as it was quite boring.
Although he didn't have any true close friends, Albertwas still quite popular at school.
After all, he had excellent grades, was impressive in all aspects, was relatively easy to talk to, and also knew how to manage relationships.
Albert had asked the three of them, and children in the Wizarding World actually don't attend Muggle schools.
It was truly hard to imagine a Family like the MalfoyFamily sending their children to a Muggle school.
Clearly not.
Of course, some Wizards were exceptions.
However, the Twins had never been; their initial knowledge was taught by their Family members.
"By the way, among Wizard families, is there a Familynamed Smith?" Albert asked.
His grandfather's original Family was Smith.
Later, when he followed his Muggle relatives, he simply changed his name as well.
It was clear how much he hated the person who had abandoned him back then.
"Never heard of them, have you, George?" Fred looked at his Twin brother.
"I haven't heard of them either," Lee Jordan shook his head.
"Is something wrong?"
"Nothing, I just don't know where I heard that surname before." Albert shifted his gaze to the window; visibility was very low, and the sky was gradually darkening.
He hadn't even realized that Lee Jordan was a chatterbox; he loved to talk non-stop.
The three of them didn't find it annoying; the compartment was boring anyway, and listening to him ramble on about things was almost like a lullaby.
Albert reopened his eyes; he felt the train seemed to be slowing down.
"In five minutes, the train will arrive at Hogwarts.
Please leave your luggage on the train; we will deliver it to the school for you." A voice echoed through the train via the loudspeaker.
"merlin's beard, we're finally here." Fred stretched lazily; he was a bit tired after such a long train ride.
George helped clear the snacks from the table and put them into Albert's trunk.
The train finally stopped, and the four of them exited the compartment, jostling with the crowd in the train aisle, all pushing towards the doors.
It was truly chaotic when they disembarked.
They stepped onto a dark, small platform, with cold rain pouring down, and the chill of the night made Albertshiver.
"I hate rain," Albert muttered, pulling out his wand and casting a spell on his pointed hat, "Impervius."
"First years! First years, over here!" a loud voice shouted from the platform.
He waved a lamp over everyone's heads, attracting the attention of the first years.
"What are you doing? Hurry and catch up." Fred reached out and pulled him.
"Just a moment." Albert also cast Impervius on his robes.
He didn't know if the spell would be effective, but having it was better than not.
"Hurry up, Albert," Lee Jordan urged.
"Don't rush, I'm coming.
Lumos." Albert held up his wand and walked towards Hagrid.
He was truly a tall man with a long beard, looking quite intimidating from a distance.
If one didn't know, they might think he was some dangerous individual; his appearance was indeed quite frightening.
"Are there any more first years? Once everyone is here, we'll set off!" Hagrid led them away from the platform.
Losing the Shelter of the platform, the cold rain hitting them made the first years break out in goosebumps all over.
"Watch your step!" Hagrid shouted, but it was no use.
Because of the rain, the path was muddy, and many people slipped and fell several times along the way.
Albert tugged at his pointed hat and robes, wrapping himself more tightly.
Fortunately, the Impervius charm worked, so he didn't end up drenched like the others.
Why didn't I learn to conjure an umbrella with my wand? No, Albert remembered he had a folding umbrella in his trunk.
He was a little annoyed, angry at himself.
Albert decided to take some time to learn that useful spell so he wouldn't have to worry about not having an umbrella when it rained in the future.
"Are you alright?" In front of him, another unlucky person had fallen.
"Thank you, this journey has been quite tough," the girl, who had been helped up, said gratefully.
"Let's go quickly." Albert released her hand, used his wand to light the way, and slowly walked forward.
This was definitely the most miserable batch of first years; many had fallen and were covered in mud.
He also heard Lee Jordan, not far from him, muttering curses; he had just been knocked over by someone next to him.
Albert suddenly felt it was a wise decision to stay at the back, at least he wouldn't be knocked down by others.
"Careful, it's downhill now," Hagrid shouted from the front.
After going down, he waited to the side to prevent any students from slipping while walking down this steep slope.
It proved to be a wise decision indeed, as three unlucky people almost fell, but Hagrid caught them in time.
"Watch out, we'll be at the lake soon."
Once everyone was down the slope, Hagrid led the way again.
They stumbled and turned a corner, finally arriving at a black lake.
On the hillside across the lake, a Castle stood, which was Hogwarts Castle.
Lights twinkled in the Castle windows, particularly noticeable against the dark, rainy night.
"No more than four people per boat.
Remember, no more than four people!" Hagrid shouted to the newcomers, pointing at the small boats by the shore.
"Albert, over here." One of the Twins waved at him.
Lee Jordan was also there; they were both covered in mud and looked very dishevelled.
"Are you two alright?" Albert couldn't help but chuckle a little as he got into the small boat.
"Not at all, I fell once and was knocked over twice."
"All aboard!" Hagrid shouted.
He held up his lamp to make sure no one was overloaded, then took one boat by himself.
"Alright then... forward."
The small boats, without oars, moved automatically, gliding across the lake and heading forward.
Albert looked up at the Castle ahead, feeling a vague, inexplicable excitement.
Hogwarts, I'm here.