King's Cross Station.
Will immediately spotted the pillar between platforms nine and ten, which was the entrance to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters; a Spell was cast on the pillar, and Will easily detected the flow of magic on it; of course, there were also the Wizards in the surrounding crowd who carried magic.
Will, carrying his trunk, plunged into the pillar.
Just as described in the original novel, amidst the steam of the locomotive, the station was noisy and crowded, with Wizards carrying magic bustling about and shouting loudly; the commotion of the steam train, the chaotic noise of the crowd, the chasing and howling of animals—all this cacophony blended together, making Will somewhat displeased—he liked quiet.
Will moved through the crowd and saw many people: a round-faced boy following an old lady; a family of red-haired Wizards; a girl with messy hair and slightly prominent front teeth; and of course, the scrawny, black-rimmed glasses-wearing savior—Harry Potter.
Will passed by them and went straight onto the train, finally finding an empty compartment amidst the noisy train. He smiled contentedly, sat by the window, placed his suitcase on the adjacent seat, and took out a book from his trunk, placing it on the table and reading it with relish.
The book was titled "Secrets of Curses—The Life of a Curse-Breaker," written by a Curse-Breaker who graduated from Hogwarts. It documented his experiences and insights into Curses during his fifteen years working as a Curse-Breaker in Egypt.
He didn't want the Professors to discover his early contact with Dark Arts, so he hadn't brought any Dark Arts books at all. This type of Curses book was already considered a "borderline book."
"The Curses in Egypt are too numerous to count. It is now generally believed that this is due to the peculiar habits of the Egyptian pharaohs and their mixed beliefs. You must know that Egypt alone has four sun gods.
Those pharaohs covered their bodies with various Curses, and all Wizards were unwilling to deal with those mummies; but humorously, some pharaohs only targeted Wizards and forgot to cast Curses against Muggles, and later their bodies were stolen by Muggles and even became a 'rare ingredient' circulating in the upper echelons of European Muggle society."
You have gained new Curses knowledge, Curses experience +1.
You have gained new Curses knowledge, Curses experience +1.
Between turning pages and gaining experience, the compartment door suddenly opened, and a young girl entered; her leather trunk was the same style as Will's, evidently purchased from the same shop.
Her slightly thin, delicate oval face was cool and serene, and her ink-blue dress made her skin appear even fairer. Overall, she was very beautiful.
"Is anyone here? I couldn't find any other compartments." Her voice was also cool and serene.
Will glanced at the girl, his voice indifferent: "Please do."
Then he turned his attention back to the book in his hand. Could a girl be more attractive than interesting Curses? Could she be more attractive than experience?
The girl seemed not to mind Will's attitude, put down her luggage, and sat opposite Will.
The atmosphere in the compartment was cool, with the two people sitting opposite each other in silence. Will simply read his book, completely ignoring the girl opposite him; in this strange atmosphere, the train began to move, leaving the platform.
So this atmosphere was quickly broken.
The compartment door was pushed open again, and it was a boy and a girl. The girl had a head of messy brown hair and a pair of somewhat prominent front teeth, plus freckles on her face, making her not particularly attractive.
The boy was slightly plump, with half his body actually hiding behind the girl, giving a sense of timidity.
Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom.
"Can we come in? The other compartments are almost full, and we don't have much luggage." The girl was panting, apparently because her suitcase was a bit heavy.
Will finally looked up at this moment and glanced over.
This glance, however, made Hermione exclaim in surprise.
"Will Berens! How are you here, uh, I mean, you're a Wizard too?"
She couldn't help but be surprised. Will was her primary school classmate, always outperforming her in grades. Hermione had thought she wouldn't see him again after being accepted into Hogwarts, but she didn't expect to encounter Will here.
"Hello, Miss Granger." Will looked at the girl opposite him, "I don't mind if you come in, but I don't know what this young lady thinks."
"Please feel free." The girl opposite was a bit cool, but her eyes were scrutinizing Will up and down; she seemed very curious about him.
Will noticed the girl's gaze and looked back; the girl's gaze immediately shifted to Neville, seemingly curious why he was hiding behind the girl.
Hermione picked up her heavy trunk, wanting to put it away, but it seemed difficult to lift the heavy trunk onto the luggage rack. Will watched her panting and struggling to lift the trunk. Will pulled out his wand and waved it, and the trunk floated up as if it had a will of its own, automatically lying down on the compartment's luggage rack; Neville's trunk followed suit.
At this, the three young Wizards looked at Will in surprise.
"You've already learned magic? I mean, I also experimented with a few simple Spells at home, and they all had some effect, like Lumos and such, and of course, some failed; but how did you do it? You didn't even speak the Spell?" Hermione's words were like a barrage. Will hadn't known her for the first time, he knew her impetuous nature.
Her gaze shifted to the book in Will's hand: "Are you reading? 'Among the Curses of Egypt, the most terrifying is the Curse of Tutankhamun...' I don't remember this passage, I mean I've already memorized all of this year's textbooks, isn't this book what we're supposed to learn this year?" Hermione didn't give anyone a chance to reply. Will had a headache; this was very Hermione.
And the girl in the ink-blue dress, hearing Hermione had memorized all the textbooks, couldn't help but look at Hermione with some surprise; Neville's jaw almost dropped in astonishment. He was, after all, a forgetful child, and he couldn't imagine how difficult it would be to memorize all the textbooks.
"It's simple, silent casting; this book is about Curses and is available at Flourish and Blotts." Will said calmly, then lowered his head to focus on the book in his hand, quickly becoming engrossed in it, seemingly finding the three people in front of him completely uninteresting.
"That's not simple at all. Silent casting is an advanced spellcasting technique. You know, many adult Wizards who graduated from Hogwarts can't do that." The girl sitting opposite Will spoke. She now seemed to be interested in Will again, her bright eyes fixed on him, but seeing Will already immersed in his book, her eyes showed some displeasure.
"Berens..." The girl seemed very interested in Will's surname.
"I haven't heard of this Wizard family. Has anyone here heard of them?" She was clearly from a pure-blood family.
Neville, who had just sat down next to Will, scratched his head and thought for a moment, finally speaking with an uncertain tone: "I don't remember Grandma telling me about this family, it seems, there really isn't one, right?"
"So, you two are children from Wizarding families?" Hermione interjected, asking.
"Yes, my whole family are Wizards. You can call me Neville, Neville Longbottom." Neville sat down next to Will, deliberately keeping some distance from Will so as not to disturb him from continuing to read.
The girl nodded: "I am from the Lestrange Family. You can call me Sylvia; you haven't said your situation yet."
Hermione then realized she hadn't introduced herself, but compared to just now, her demeanor was a bit lacking: "I'm Hermione Granger. Both my parents are what you call 'Muggles.' No one in my family understands magic, so when we received the Hogwarts acceptance letter, everyone at home was extremely surprised; you are all children from Wizarding families, so you must have mastered a lot of magic?"
Her tone was somewhat dejected.
"Actually... I don't know any magic. Grandma absolutely won't let me mess with my wand." Neville's face turned red, and he seemed on the verge of tears, "I must be the worst student at Hogwarts."
"Oh..." Hermione suddenly felt a little happy, but she didn't show it: "But we can learn together."
"You don't need to worry about anything. In fact, most young Wizards don't know any magic before going to Hogwarts." Sylvia explained: "Almost all young Wizards bought their wands this summer, and before they had wands, they shouldn't have learned magic at all."
Sylvia turned to look at Hermione, not minding her background: "You must be one of the few Witches among the new students who has already learned Spells. Your progress is very advanced; and, you seem to know this Mr. Berens."
"He's my primary school classmate. Before today, I didn't know he was a Wizard too." Hermione's confidence grew even stronger; at the same time, she noticed that Sylvia seemed very interested in Will, but looking back at Will, he was just staring at the book in his hand.
She had a strong sense of déjà vu about this scene. In primary school, girls always liked to gather around Will, but unfortunately, Will never paid them any attention.
And this guy, Will, as soon as he started reading, he would ignore his surroundings, almost more like a bookworm than she was.
She didn't know what was so great about this guy. Hermione was now very curious about how Will had learned magic, but looking at Will, he seemed completely uninterested in talking to anyone, so she could only wait for him to finish reading.
Someone is curious about you, Charm experience +1.
Someone has a good impression of you, Charm experience +1.