Hogwarts: I'm Harry's older cousin

Chapter 34. The Hogwarts Express

With Dudley there, the weight of the luggage was negligible, and they easily got it onto the train. The three of them randomly found an empty carriage and sat down. Hogwarts carriages are assigned according to age, and students of each year can only enter the corresponding carriage.

As soon as they boarded the train, Dudley and Hermione pulled out their textbooks and began studying. No one spoke, and to pass the time, Harry was forced to take out his book as well.

To be honest, he is quite interested in books about the magical world, and he might browse them on his own, but he really can't study to the level that Dudley and Hermione do.

The only sound in the carriage was the turning of pages in a book.

"May I sit here?"

The door was opened, breaking the tranquility inside the carriage.

A little boy with red hair and freckles poked half his body in: "Everything else is full."

Then he saw Dudley and quickly said, "Sorry, I went to the wrong carriage. I thought this was the first-year carriage."

After saying that, he ran to other carriages.

Dudley stopped him, saying, "You've come to the right place. This is the first-year carriage."

He had tried his best to lower his voice, but to the other person it still sounded like a loudspeaker was shouting.

"But."

Hearing Dudley say this, the red-haired boy still hesitated and kept looking Dudley up and down.

Helpless, Dali could only point to himself: "I'm a first-year student too."

He should have said it; the moment he did, the red-haired boy became even more hesitant.

The red-haired boy was eager to find out if it was a prank, something his two older brothers particularly enjoyed.

Seeing the other person's hesitant and embarrassed expression, Hermione and Harry covered their mouths and chuckled quietly. In the end, it was Harry who explained that convinced the other person.

Even so, he would occasionally glance at Dali while sitting in his seat.

"Hello, what's your name?"

Harry looked at the red-haired boy sitting next to him and broke the silence.

I'm going to Hogwarts soon, a new school, and a magic school at that. I'm so excited that I can't concentrate on my studies.

"Ron, Ron Weasley," Ron introduced himself.

Upon hearing his surname, Dudley involuntarily looked up at him, just as Ron was also glancing at Dudley, and their eyes met in mid-air.

This made Ron shiver involuntarily, and he shrank back as much as possible to the edge of his seat. This was basically the first reaction of all Dudley kids he met for the first time. The reputation of being able to cure children's night crying was no joke. However, he was quickly drawn to Harry's words.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ron. My name is Harry, Harry Potter."

Upon hearing Harry's self-introduction, Ron stared at him in disbelief, momentarily forgetting even his fear.

"You...you're Harry Potter?"

Ron unconsciously adopted a slightly respectful tone.

This made Harry a little uncomfortable: "No need for that, Ron, just call me Harry."

"So you really... know..." Ron struggled to find the words, unconsciously pointing to Harry's forehead.

To be honest, this is a very impolite gesture.

However, Harry was good-natured and didn't mind brushing aside a lock of hair on his forehead to reveal the lightning bolt-shaped scar.

Ron's eyes widened so much they almost popped out.

Before he could speak, Harry covered his hair again.

Before he came, Dali told him not to show his scar unless absolutely necessary.

"Was this done by the mysterious man?"

Ron pressed on, though it was a question, he spoke with an affirmative tone.

"Sorry," Harry said, not wanting to continue the discussion, "I don't remember."

"You don't remember anything at all?"

Unfortunately, Ron didn't catch that and continued to ask eagerly.

"Ahem. Mr. Ronald, I think Harry doesn't want to discuss this right now."

"And there's something dirty on your nose."

Hermione interrupted Dudley's conversation before he could finish, sensing that Dudley was getting impatient.

However, her somewhat rough and direct narrative style made Ron a little uncomfortable.

Yes, Hermione has excellent grades, but she is not good at communicating, and she always gives people the impression of being arrogant when she speaks.

Sometimes, even well-intentioned actions can lead to misunderstandings.

Actually, Hermione was quite surprised when she first learned about Harry's background, after all, this was Harry Potter, the most famous savior in the wizarding world. However, after spending more time with him, she found that Harry was not as exaggerated as described in the books, but just a little wizard of the same age as her. So she just treated him as Dudley's brother and interacted with him normally.

But Ron is different from Hermione. You could say he grew up listening to Harry Potter stories. Now that such a famous person is in front of him, how could he not be curious about a living Harry Potter standing in front of him?

"Who are you?" Ron glanced at Hermione with slight displeasure.

"Hermione, Hermione Granger."

Hermione gave a brief self-introduction, sounding just like a haughty little hen.

Harry then remembered and introduced him to Ron: "And this is my cousin Dudley, Dudley Dursley."

"Hello." Ron said hesitantly after seeing that it was Dudley.

Dali put a lot of pressure on him.

It's mainly his face. How should I put it? From a distance, he looks quite honest and simple, but the closer you get, the more you can feel an invisible sense of oppression. If you were sitting face-to-face with him, people with weak mental fortitude wouldn't be able to stand it.

"You can just call me Dudley," Dudley said, putting down his book and looking at Ron.

He felt he could no longer act like a bully like he did at St. George's Elementary School, and he was determined to get along well with his classmates at his new school. So, he gave what he considered a kind smile, a rare occurrence.

Who knew that when Ron saw that smile, his heart almost stopped, and he responded with a smile that was even uglier than crying.

Just as Ron was considering whether to find an excuse to leave the carriage, there was a soft knock on the door, and a sweet voice came from outside.

"Have you seen my Ralph?"

The door opened, and outside stood a shy, round-faced boy, looking uneasy and on the verge of tears.

"Who are you?"

Harry looked at the other person with a slightly questioning expression.

"My name is Neville, Neville Longbottom."

Through Neville's halting narration, everyone finally understood that his pet toad named "Reverie" had gone missing.

"I've been looking for it for ages and can't find it. Can you help me?"

Neville looked at everyone with a pleading expression.

When his gaze fell on Dudley, he involuntarily shrank back, instinctively wanting to retreat—this was almost every child's first reaction upon seeing Dudley.

(End of this chapter)