Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 11 On the Hogwarts Express

By the end of August, Loren had slowly finished the first-grade textbook he had brought back. He treated the subsequent "Standard Spells" as a storybook and dared not attempt to practice them.

Bates also got used to Loren's somewhat obsessive practice of magic, and many household chores were replaced by Loren's safe housework spells.

He spends his days doing nothing, tugging at his beard, clicking his teeth, and sipping the wine that Loren conjures from water.

Finally, Bates couldn't take it anymore. They packed their bags, entrusted the sheep to the mayor, and set off for London a few days early.

Having a few days of free time, Loren wanted to visit Harry or Hermione beforehand. However, he couldn't remember their addresses.

Harry seems to live on Privet Drive, but he has no idea where Privet Drive is. The Grangers run a dental clinic, but he doesn't know where that is either.

Perhaps the little spectacled owl could deliver the message to Hermione, with him following behind. But that would be too silly, so Loren decided against it; school was starting soon anyway.

Bates walked down the bustling street again; it had been decades since he last saw such a scene. London was no longer the London of decades ago; it felt like a lifetime had passed.

After wandering around for a few days, Bates secretly made another decision that only he knew about, without revealing anything to Loren.

The two had a great time for a few days and bought a lot of clothes.

Bates always thought that even if wizarding schools had uniforms, it was always good to have a few extra layers underneath, and to have winter clothes too. This continued until Loren's two large trunks were filled.

The day of the first day of school finally arrived. The two got up very early, had breakfast, and rushed to King's Cross Station.

Bates looked at the bustling station, feeling it was no different from any other station. He muttered, "Platform 9¾, weird."

Loren stopped at platform nine.

Bates then noticed the somewhat dejected little boy beside him, and guessed that this must be the place.

"Hey! Kid, cheer up!" Bates showed no sign of sadness at parting.

Loren sniffed: "I was just thinking about what to say to comfort you, old man."

"I don't need your comforting words, you little rascal. You've been able to take care of yourself since you were a kid. I'm not worried about you at all," Bates grinned.

Loren was speechless.

"Remember to write back. Well then, let's say goodbye here, little one." Seeing this, Bates' tone softened.

"I'll miss you, Grandpa Bates!" Loren thought this sentence sounded like something a child would say, and after saying it, he pushed the cart towards the ticket gate.

Bates watched as the child crashed into the wall and disappeared, and no one around reacted.

"What an amazing guy!" Bates said with a touch of admiration.

He turned around, and his once straight body and shoulders slumped down, his expression becoming somewhat sorrowful.

After walking a few steps, he wondered if Loren could see him through the ticket gate. So he mustered his spirits and walked out of the station.

Bates slumped onto a bench outside the station, tears streaming down his face. He covered his face with his hands, saying, "It's awful! You've made this old man look so bad."

……

Carefree, Loren walked through the ticket gate and followed the flow of people onto the deep red steam locomotive, putting away his luggage with a somewhat heavy heart. He found an empty carriage, sat down by the window, and looked around.

He saw two red-haired twins shoving each other as they walked by, and a chubby little boy carefully walking by with a toad in his hand... Some of the people matched his impressions from distant memories, though not exactly the same, but with distinct features.

After watching for a while, and seeing that no one came to share a cubicle with him, Loren closed his eyes, intending to fall asleep.

It's an old habit of mine to sleep as soon as I get on the bus and get off when I arrive at my destination, feeling refreshed and relaxed. Plus, I don't have to worry about pickpockets or thieves here, so it would be a shame not to sleep.

When I wake up, I'll see if I can catch the Hogwarts special "peanuts, melon seeds, and mineral water." Loren is very interested in magical snacks.

She had only been dozing for a moment when someone patted her face with a sleeve, waking her up. Opening her eyes, she saw Hermione with a puffed-up face in front of her.

"Loren Morgan! We've finally found you!"

"More than a month! I waited for your letter every day, but you didn't write to me until the start of the semester!" Hermione said, pulling the sleeve of her robe over Loren's head.

Loren quickly grabbed Hermione's hand, warning that if they continued fighting, Hermione would lose her hair prematurely.

"An unexpected situation! The little owl is still unfamiliar with its surroundings after we just bought it. We need to take it to Hogwarts so the other owls can teach it." Loren pointed at the little spectacled owl and made up some nonsense to appease the situation for now.

The poor cat was pecking at bread crumbs on the shelf when it was suddenly caught in the crossfire. But it couldn't argue back; it could only tilt its head.

Cat head looking aggrieved.jpg

Hermione believed it. After all, carrier pigeons need to be trained, cats and dogs need to be trained, and owls need to be trained to deliver messages. It made perfect sense.

She sat down opposite Loren, intending to exchange the knowledge she had learned in advance, as well as some things she had learned about the magical world.

Before she could speak, Loren preemptively veered off-topic: "Do you think the Hogwarts Express is powered by magic or machinery? What's its power source?"

Hermione's attention was indeed diverted, and she began to explain her conjecture.

Loren responded intermittently, occasionally spouting nonsense and then trying to justify it.

"I think we should use coal, and it has to be refined coal; washed coal won't do."

"This washed coal..."

Whenever Hermione asked a question that Loren couldn't answer, he would start to shift the focus. This tactic was called "If I shift the focus fast enough, my teammates' question marks can't keep up with me."

Seeing Hermione's bright eyes staring at him, and finding a semblance of logic in his nonsense, Loren's vanity and perverse sense of humor were greatly satisfied. Was this the joy of teasing children? He understood, he understood.

He didn't care about the consequences; he just wanted to be happy.

The little cart that Loren had been looking forward to finally arrived. He took out his money and bought a little of everything, inviting Hermione to taste it with him.

Hermione resisted this wasteful spending, and she had snacks prepared by her mother. But she was still a child, and ultimately couldn't resist the temptation and succumbed to temptation. That bad boy, Loren, is awful.

Although Hermione had fallen into depravity with Loren, she still insisted on paying him half the money, despite his repeated refusals.

From Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and pumpkin pie to licorice wands and other strange and wonderful foods, the two enjoyed themselves immensely.

Loren expressed his disappointment that the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans didn't taste any strange booger flavor.

When it came to the Chocolate Frog, Hermione had a hard time accepting it; it looked just like a real frog.

When Loren tore one open and bit off half of the frog's head, its hind legs still twitching, she almost screamed.

Hermione's mouth had barely opened when, before she could even scream, Loren shoved a frog leg into her mouth; the severed limb was still twitching even inside her mouth.

She wanted to spit it out, but the chocolate immediately melted in her mouth, and the sweet taste and aroma filled her mouth.

Hermione's resistance failed, and she eventually accepted the food, agreeing that it was quite delicious. She was also very interested in the wizarding pictures that were displayed.

The story didn't end there. When Hermione saw Loren pull a cockroach out of the box and stuff it into his mouth, the bursting white juice splattering onto the corner of his mouth, she finally broke down and cried out.

"Ah!" Hermione screamed, but then immediately remembered the scene of being stuffed with chocolate frogs, covered her mouth tightly, and tears almost flowed out.

Seeing the little witch like this, Loren couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Outside the cubicle, Neville, who was searching for the toad, saw this scene: a very unrestrained boy was laughing extremely evilly, and the little witch was standing next to him, wanting to cry but not daring to.

Thinking of his grandmother's teachings and his parents' glory, his fist hardened.

(End of this chapter)