HP: Wormwood and Lightning Wood

West and Harry staggered out of the wand shop, their heads buzzing as if a swarm of bees were colliding inside them.

The "person" Mr. Ollivander spoke of, the lightning-struck wood, the Thestrals, and so on, were like phantoms in the mist to them, vague and mysterious. But with Snape present, the two could only keep their doubts to themselves.

With some time still remaining before the start of the school term, the two of them had no choice but to return to the Dursleys' house and continue their stay for a while longer.

West refused to take the Knight Bus, so he and Harry bought train tickets back to Privet Drive instead.

When they returned to the Dursleys' house, night had fallen, and the stars twinkled in the sky.

When they opened the door, the Dursleys pretended not to see them.

Dudley would hide as quickly as a mouse seeing a cat whenever he saw them, Uncle Vernon no longer roared at them as he used to, and Aunt Petunia stopped forcing them to do chores.

West would still cook for Aunt Petunia, and the rest of the time he and Harry would curl up in their room, flipping through books for the new term.

All of this was full of endless novelty for them.

The magical world was a completely new world they had never explored before.

Harry read through the history of magic and found a name for his little snow owl from it—Hedwig.

West named his kitten Ilora.

While he held Ilora in his arms and groomed her, he studied "Charms and the Breaking of Charms," ​​which he had bought while Snape wasn't looking. It contained many strange and mischievous spells (hair loss, tongue binding, etc.).

With their initial understanding of the magical world, the Potter brothers began to look forward to the start of the school year.

On September 1st, Uncle Vernon offered to take them to the train station.

Judging from his pale face, he probably wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible to avoid the "strange people" coming to cause trouble again.

"There's no platform 9¾ at King's Cross Station," he said, grinning mischievously as he escorted West and Harry to the station. "You'll have to look for it yourselves."

He laughed heartily, then turned and left.

West and Harry pushed the luggage on the trolley to the middle of Platform 9 and Platform 10.

Their unusual luggage had already attracted a lot of curious glances, and now, standing there hesitating, they became even more conspicuous in the crowd.

Harry awkwardly clasped his hands together, while West casually looked around to see if anyone (or rather, a wizard) could help them.

They were quite lucky.

A group of people passed by them, including four red-haired boys pushing suitcases just like theirs, and each carrying an owl.

A short, plump woman was talking to them; she was probably their mother.

West and Harry pushed the cart and followed them.

The oldest boy suddenly walked towards the space between platforms nine and ten and went straight through the wall.

West and Harry held their breath, their eyes wide, watching the dreamlike and magical scene before them.

"West, I'm a little nervous." Harry's throat tightened as he watched the four boys go in one by one.

Vester took Harry's hand and whispered, "Don't be afraid, follow them."

With firm steps and their eyes tightly closed, they rushed inside.

However, they did not sense anything unusual, but when they opened their eyes, they found themselves in front of a platform they had never seen before, with the words "Platform 9¾" clearly written on the archway.

They followed their luggage and other children, about the same size as them, into a deep red steam locomotive with a sign that gleamed with the words: The Hogwarts Express.

West and Harry walked for a while through the chattering crowd and found an empty carriage.

They sat in their seats, watching the buzzing crowd outside the window.

The woman I had just met said goodbye to the four children, holding the hand of a little girl, and stood on the platform waving.

The train started moving.

The door to the private compartment was opened, and the red-haired boy they had seen on the platform walked in.

"May I sit here?" he asked, pointing to the seats opposite West and Harry.

"Of course." Harry glanced at West, and seeing that West had no objection, nodded.

The boy sat down and greeted the two men, "Ron Weasley."

"Hello, Harry Potter, this is my twin brother, West Potter."

"Ah! You're the Potter brothers!" Ron, who hadn't been sitting for long, jumped up again. "You're Harry Potter!"

Harry looked completely bewildered.

It seems the children in wizarding families all know about him and Harry? That's a good opportunity to gather information.

A smile suddenly appeared on West's lips.

"And your forehead..."

Harry brushed his bangs aside, revealing a lightning bolt-shaped scar. "You mean this?"

"Merlin?" Ron's eyes widened. "This is the scar left by Mystic?"

"Who is the mysterious person?" West finally asked, seizing on this frequently mentioned question.

Under the questioning gazes of the two men, Ron became even more excited.

"What!" he yelled, "You don't know—" his voice abruptly cut short, like a chick suddenly grabbed by the neck, "—the mysterious man?"

Harry shook his head and explained, "We used to live with my aunt and uncle, and they never told us anything about the wizarding world."

"It seems your aunt and uncle are Muggles—I simply can't believe it—"

Then Ron explained to them many words they didn't understand, such as Mystic, Merlin, and Muggle.

West, after reviewing the information provided by Ron, drew the following conclusions:

The mysterious man is a dark wizard whose existence has plunged the wizarding world into long-term fear, to the point that they dare not even utter his name.

Because he believed a prophecy, the mysterious man believed that the two brothers would kill him in the future, so he killed their parents in an attempt to end their lives. However, he disappeared after attacking Harry and has not been seen since.

West and Harry remained silent for a long time, feeling both angry and pained.

Because of a rumor, whether true or false, Voldemort was able to poison the two of them and kill their parents as a result.

"Then why is it only Harry who has a scar on his forehead?" West asked.

He actually had a scar, but it was on his arm, a crescent-shaped scar, but he didn't mention it.

"Who knows? The adults say Harry defeated Dark Lord—" Ron pondered, "Maybe Dark Lord wanted to kill Harry first and then you, but ended up getting seriously injured by Harry."

Ron was a little out of breath after giving his long explanation.

At that moment, a woman pushed open the door to the private room and asked, "Does anyone want to buy food?"

Ron's ears suddenly turned red. "No need, I brought one..."

Harry jumped up. "West, I'm hungry! Pay up!"

West reluctantly took out his money.

With Ron's recommendation, Harry bought a little of almost everything—after all, he was really hungry and had never eaten wizard food before.

After Harry finished choosing, West paid the saleswoman two silver sieves.

"Ron, come eat with us," West said, gesturing to Ron, who was staring intently at Harry. "Or perhaps we could switch?"

Ron pulled out a bulging cardboard box containing some sandwiches. "You might not like this..."

"Who says? We both love it." Harry picked up a pie and some snacks and swapped two sandwiches with Ron, giving one to West.

After filling their stomachs, all three of them felt great.

Harry opened the Chocolate Frog; inside was a picture card.

"Ah, it's Dumbledore. I already have many copies," said Ron.

Dumbledore smiled kindly at them from the picture, beckoning them, but when they flipped the picture over, Dumbledore had vanished—a novel experience for West and Harry.

"Does this include Professor Snape?" West asked, picking up a box of Chocolate Frogs, looking somewhat eager.

"What? Snape? Potions professor? He's not qualified." Ron said.

"I heard from my two twin brothers that Snape was very biased towards students from their house and often deducted points from students from other houses."

West, feeling bored, tossed the chocolate frog to Harry.

"That's really short-sighted."

Just then, a little witch pushed open the door to their box, followed by a round-faced boy with teary eyes.

"Have you seen Neville's toad?" she said, her tone arrogant and disdainful, her thick brown curls tossing in the air. "Hermione Granger, this is Neville Longbottom."

Hermione didn't react much when she heard Harry's introduction, but she knew Harry's name because she had read all her textbooks and some extra books during the holidays, and several of them mentioned the Potter brothers.

West and Harry were taken aback and found it unbelievable.

Hermione launched into a long explanation, stating her ambition: "I've already inquired, and Gryffindor is the best house. I think I'll get in. Anyway, right now I need to help Neville find the toad."

After saying that, she left with Neville.

"She's a bit annoying," Ron muttered, "but all my brothers are Gryffindor, and I guess I am too—anyway, as long as they're not Slytherin, it doesn't matter."

"Why?" Harry asked curiously.

"That's where the Mystic was! Slytherin!"

Ron lowered his voice, as if afraid of being overheard, "All the bad wizards are in Slytherin!"

As they chatted, the train slowly came to a stop. The students pushed and shoved their way off the train.

Hogwarts, the temple of magic, has finally arrived.