Hoo, hoo~ hoo, hoo~
In Lynn's bedroom, the sound of his steady breathing echoed. Cleaning up the "mess" left by Old White last night had truly exhausted him.
Beep, beep, beep~ Beep, beep, beep~ Beep, beep, beep~
A series of rapid, sharp ringing sounds rang out like a death knell, breaking the silence of the early morning—or rather, noon.
Lynn fumbled groggily at the bedside, finally managing to grab the vibrating mobile phone. He pressed the answer button without even opening his eyes.
"Hello... who is it..." His voice was heavy with sleep and the annoyance of being disturbed.
"Why do you sound so groggy? Lynn! You haven't woken up yet, have you?!" Edgar's familiar voice immediately exploded from the receiver, his tone filled with disbelief.
"Yeah... what's wrong?"
Still not realizing the seriousness of the situation, Lynn rolled over, buried his face in the pillow, and responded vaguely.
"You're asking what's wrong?! School starts today!
The Hogwarts Express leaves at eleven o'clock! It's almost damn noon now!
I was wondering why I hadn't seen a sign of you after waiting at the station for ages! Are you still playing dead at home?!"
"School starts... the train... eleven o'clock..." These keywords were like ice water poured over Lynn's head. He jolted awake, springing up from the bed in an instant, his sleepiness completely gone!
He turned to look out the window; the sun was hanging brightly in the sky, and judging by its height, it was definitely past noon!
It's over! The train departs at eleven o'clock sharp; it must have left by now!
It's all that bastard Old White's fault! Yesterday, cleaning up the mess left by his group of "girlfriends" without using magic—doing it all manually—had lasted until the middle of the night, causing him to sleep straight through!
"Old White! Where the hell are you?! Quick, quick, quick! Get in the trunk!"
Lynn shouted into the room while frantically pulling on his robes.
Not bothering to wash up properly, he stuffed his essentials into the undetectable extension trunk at top speed, did a final check on his wand, then grabbed his modified, high-performance broomstick and rushed out the door.
Reaching the open space in the yard, Lynn mounted the broom and injected magic into it.
The propulsion runes at the tail of the broom instantly lit up, emitting a low hum.
Bang! Whoosh—!
Lynn shot into the sky on his broom, chasing after the Hogwarts Express at full speed!
In the air, Lynn felt the surging power from the broom. The gale whistled in his ears, blowing his sleep-mussed hair into an even wilder state.
The towns, fields, and mountains below streaked backward like a fast-forwarded movie. This extreme sense of speed sent his adrenaline soaring, and he couldn't help but shout excitedly, "Wahoo—!!!"
Meanwhile, on the ground—
"Did you guys hear something? It sounds like someone is shouting?" a passerby looked up at the sky in confusion.
"What sound? I didn't hear anything. You must be hallucinating, right?" his companion dismissed it.
"F*ck! There's someone flying on a broom in the sky!" another sharp-eyed person exclaimed, pointing upward.
"Where? Where? There's nothing..."
By the time the others looked in the direction he was pointing, only a faint trace remained in the sky.
[Beep~, auxiliary Disillusionment Charm activated.]
The broom's built-in intelligent system issued a prompt.
Lynn breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew~ that was close to being discovered."
It was also thanks to his broom's compact size and extreme speed, combined with the timely activation of the Disillusionment Charm, that few people saw him.
Even if they did see something, they would most likely think it was the sun glaring in their eyes or that they were imagining things.
Beep, beep, beep~
The mobile phone rang again.
Lynn steadied the broom with one hand and answered with the other.
"Hey! Lynn, where are you? We're all on the train... What the f—?!" Edgar's voice was anxious at first, then turned into an exclamation, clearly having seen what Lynn was doing through the phone.
"You... you're chasing the train on a broom?! Merlin's fattest underwear!"
"Yeah, I should be catching up to your carriage soon. See you in a bit." Lynn hung up the phone decisively before Edgar could finish.
You can't answer the phone while driving, and it's the same for flying a broom! Who told Lynn he was a law-abiding model wizard? Safe driving is everyone's responsibility!
...Inside a certain carriage of the Hogwarts Express.
"Look out the window!!" a student suddenly screamed, pointing outside.
Many students flocked to the window at the sound. They saw a figure wearing Hufflepuff robes, riding a broomstick, flying steadily outside the window at the exact same speed as the rushing train, his robes flapping loudly in the wind.
"Merlin! Who is that?"
"Looks like a Hufflepuff!"
"Is he crazy?! This is too dangerous!"
Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, Lynn precisely located the carriage where Edgar and the others were.
He controlled the broom to move slightly closer and then reached out—
Knock, knock, knock~
Lynn gently tapped on the closed window.
Inside the carriage, Edgar, William, and Ollie stared dumbfounded at the guy grinning at them through the window.
William snapped out of it and hurriedly worked with a few other students to pull the window open.
Lynn timed it perfectly, whooshing in through the window and landing on the carriage floor, putting his broom away as he did so.
"Whew~ finally caught up!"
Lynn brushed the dust off his clothes and gave his three roommates, who wore various expressions, a bright and punchable smile.
"How is it, everyone? Haven't seen you for a whole holiday—did you miss me?"
"Hmm~ it seems our new Alchemy competition champion from Hufflepuff and 'future Quidditch champion'... was so eager to see his classmates that he chose such a... unique way of making an entrance."
When Lynn heard this voice, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
This voice was so familiar.
Lynn stiffly turned his head and, sure enough, saw Snape standing at the door of the compartment.
Behind Snape, Cass Carrow was poking half his body out, grinning maliciously without concealment, his face full of "you're finished" schadenfreude.
Wait?! Why is Snape on the train too?!
"What? Our 'future Quidditch champion' seems very surprised by the appearance of a professor?
Or do you believe the windows of the Hogwarts Express are a convenient entrance specially prepared for students like you... who are keen on grandstanding?"
He didn't give Lynn any chance to explain and directly pronounced the sentence:
"In view of Mr. Lynn's extremely dangerous behavior and serious violation of school rules, fifty points will be deducted from Hufflepuff."
But that wasn't all.
Snape continued, "Plus... a week's detention.
I imagine Professor Sprout will have no objection to the... minor punishment her 'outstanding' student has earned."
After saying this, Snape left the compartment without looking back.
As soon as Snape left, Carrow immediately jumped out impatiently, pointing at Lynn and mocking him in that annoying tone of his:
"Haha! Serves you right! Alchemy champion? Just a brute! Wait until you're scrubbing flobberworms in detention until you puke, Mud—"
Before he could finish the last word, he saw Lynn pull his wand from his robes.
The smugness on Carrow's face instantly froze and turned into terror.
The subsequent insulting words were forced back down his throat, turning into a short gasp.
"You... you just wait!" He threw out a toothless threat with false bravado and then scurried out of the compartment, running faster than a Golden Snitch.
The compartment became quiet again.
Edgar, William, and Ollie all looked at Lynn sympathetically.
William pushed up his glasses and sighed. "First day of school... fifty points and a week's detention. Lynn... good luck."
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