I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 536 On the Train

"Alright, Harry, you'll stay with us," Hermione said solemnly.

"Shouldn't you be staying away from us? Especially you." Owen rubbed his chin and said, "Or, why don't you pretend to be someone else?"

"No—" the little witch refused sternly, "They have already risked their lives for us, how can we pretend to be other people with a clear conscience?"

"Having another version of yourself allows you to create another illusion."

"Okay." Owen shrugged indifferently. As long as Hermione stayed by his side, no one could hurt her.

"Justin, come here—" he beckoned. Turning to Harry, he said, "Once you get in the car, Harry, you'll sit with Justin, Hannah, and Susan."

"No problem!" Justin patted his chest and said confidently, "Leave it to us."

"I think I can still help," Harry argued.

"No need, we're not the main characters in this battle," Owen laughed. "We just need to show our faces. Do you really think Professor Dumbledore, the Ministry of Magic, and the Federation will remain indifferent after receiving intelligence?"

"Just watch, this is going to be a big battle. If Tom comes too, it might be no less than a decisive battle."

"Hmm—that's true." Hermione and Harry nodded.

Immediately, most of the worries in my heart dissipated.

These two silly kids thought they were going to face Voldemort, the Death Eater, in this battle!

How is that possible!

They were never the main characters in this battle from beginning to end; the compound decoction plan was merely a precaution against unforeseen circumstances.

"It's almost time. We should get going."

It's around nine o'clock now.

It was almost 10 o'clock when we arrived at Hogsmeade Station.

The train should be arriving soon.

Stepping out of the castle, the open space was lush and vibrant with life. The lingering mist over the distant Forbidden Forest seemed to have dissipated considerably. The mountains and fields appeared crystal clear.

Bright sunlight streamed through the clouds, casting golden rays onto the castle's spires and windows.

Every now and then, sirens leap out of the Black Lake, displaying their proud figures for a fleeting moment before plunging back into the lake, creating a splash.

Owen and Hermione rode together in a Thestral carriage.

After walking through the leafy forest path, we stopped at a fork in the road.

Further ahead is the direction of the station, while to the right, down a path obscured by vines, lies the Black Lake.

All new students must travel along this road to take a boat to Hogwarts.

The train has stopped at the station.

From afar, they could see the rising steam.

After getting on the bus, Hermione and Owen found a compartment to sit in.

Ron and Ginny sat in the same cubicle as them.

Harry followed Justin and the others to another compartment.

"What's wrong? You seem distracted."

In the cubicle, Irving settled into a comfortable position, leaning back.

In the Great Hall, he noticed that Ron's attention wasn't entirely on them. Apart from exchanging a few complaints about Draco with Harry at the beginning, he spent the rest of the time in a daze.

"He's worried about Koyatl," Hermione said, revealing the truth.

"Hmm—yes, she was one of the Death Eaters' targets," Owen said. Back then, it was she and Ron who ruined Voldemort's plans.

"However, I don't think the Death Eaters have enough manpower to attack two places at the same time. He probably hates us more than the Muggle Prime Minister. So she should be fine."

"Um—" Ginny pouted, "Is that really a good way to explain it?"

"Alright," Owen said. "The Death Eaters might not actually come today. Intelligence is always just intelligence until it actually happens; it's full of variables."

"That's true. But..."

But the professors' high-profile approach makes it hard to feel at ease.

Ginny sighed, feeling extremely nervous.

Unlike the others, who had all faced Voldemort, either willingly or unwillingly, and successfully escaped, she had never faced Voldemort alone.

Even during the Battle of Hogsmeade in her third year, she was too young to participate and only glanced at the battlefield from afar.

Strictly speaking, if Voldemort really did attack the train today, it would be the first time she would face him directly.

Hermione began to comfort her.

Although she didn't have much experience in this area, she still had to be strong as the pillar of support at this time.

The train started moving half an hour later.

After a journey of more than four hours, these are now their last moments of peace.

When the train was about halfway through its journey, there was a sudden knock on the compartment door.

Hermione and Ginny nervously raised their wands, their eyes filled with worry.

"It's me," came Tonks' voice from outside.

Upon opening the door, there indeed was the rebellious pink-haired witch.

"It's time to tell the truth to all the young wizards," she said. "Go to the prefects' carriage. The prefects from each house are waiting for you."

"Okay." Hermione nodded on behalf of Owen.

Then he got up and prepared to leave.

Ron was going too; he was a Gryffindor prefect.

Ginny followed at the back because it wouldn't be safe for her to be alone in the cubicle once they left, so Hermione decided to take her with her.

The carriage was quiet.

This is extremely unusual.

It seems that what they talked about in the Great Hall has already been relayed to other people by the DA junior wizards.

Tonks's actions were unnecessary.

However, there may still be young wizards who do not know the truth, and hearsay may lead to distorted information, so it is still necessary to explain it again.

When Irving and his group entered the sergeant's car, the others had already arrived.

Hermione then explained the general situation to everyone.

In addition, she also needed to personally deliver a message to the Slytherins, because their prefect Draco was not present; only the prefects from the other three houses were there.

Hearing Hermione's story, everyone became worried.

Hermione could no longer offer any words of comfort, and could only repeat what Owen had told her, such as: most of the lesser wizards were not the target, the main protagonists of the war were Dumbledore and the Aurors, and the attack might not even happen, etc.

However, this did not cheer up the young wizards; they remained worried.

As they left the carriage, they ran into Pansy Parkinson.

She was standing right in front of the door, probably eavesdropping.

"Where's Draco?" Pansy asked anxiously. "I'm here to see Draco. Are you bullying him?"

"Nobody's bullying him!" Hermione said nonchalantly. "He didn't come over; he's in another carriage. Maybe he doesn't want to see you. Anyway—if there's nothing else, we have other things to do."

"You're talking nonsense!" Pansy became agitated. "Why wouldn't he want to see me? He's my boyfriend!"

"Heh—then you'd better keep an eye on your boyfriend," Hermione said in a threatening tone. Then she ignored her and walked right past her.

"Hey—wait—" Pansy wanted to ask Draco's exact location, but Hermione didn't give her the chance.

She still had to go to the carriage where the Slytherins were gathered to deliver a message.

Meanwhile, Owen went to find Harry.

In another hour, the train will pull into King's Cross Station.

Harry needs to impersonate Draco beforehand and walk around the carriage a few times to prove he's there.

He easily found Hannah and their carriage.

Then he instructed Harry to drink the potion.

The compound remedy irritated Harry's throat, causing him to gasp for breath and grimace.

Next, his facial features began to writhe and deform like hot wax. He grew taller, and his hair changed from black to platinum blonde. His face also became thinner and more sculpted.

"I must look awful right now," Harry said, rubbing his cheek and taking off his glasses. "It feels a little weird."

"Don't be surprised," Owen interrupted. "You don't look like Draco at all, only the appearance is the same, but the temperament is completely different."

"Imagine what he's usually like."

"What's Malfoy like normally?" Harry was taken aback, then thought for a moment, before raising his head, raising his eyebrows, and trying to look arrogant.

Unfortunately, no matter how he tried to make faces, he just couldn't pull off that disdainful, condescending expression. Instead, his constant funny faces made Hannah and the others laugh.

"Well—it turns out being sarcastic and arrogant isn't so easy to fake after all." Harry sighed, rubbing his stiff face. "I'll just be like this. Anyway, the Death Eaters and Malfoys aren't familiar with each other, they won't be able to tell the difference between the real and fake."

"Alright—" With that, Owen led Harry out of the compartment and into the other carriages to show his face.

"Hey—Owen." Just as he walked into the carriage where Ravenclaws were gathered, a clear, ethereal voice suddenly rang out.

"What's wrong, Luna?"

Luna walked past him, as if in a dream, straight up to Harry, her silver eyes fixed on him.

Harry felt a chill run down his spine.

"Well, Harry, your Malfoy disguise doesn't look like him at all. It's a completely different vibe. But you two do have a bunch of swarms of swarms of fly gnats around your heads, that's something."

"A harassing fly?" Harry took a step back, speaking awkwardly. After spending so much time with Luna, he had learned the language of this eccentric little witch.

In his view, the "bumper flies" that Luna mentioned represented troubles. If she said that there were a lot of bumper flies around your head, it meant that you were very troubled and your thoughts were in disarray.

Besides the harassing horsefly, there are also gnats, fire sprites, invisible demons, and so on.

In short, these things all represent something specific in Luna's eyes. Ordinary people might find it strange and confusing at first, thinking she's gone mad and talking nonsense. But actually, you only need to replace those strange things she says with their correct meanings to understand what she's saying.

Irving told him all of this.

Irving and Luna always seemed to have a great time chatting, saying things that others would consider nonsense. But only they understood the true meaning behind their conversations.

"I didn't know Malfoy had so many worries," Harry said dismissively. "Oh, right! Lucius betrayed Voldemort—I guess that's what's bothering him."

"He was tripped by the Invisibles," Luna said vaguely. "They dug many deep pits for him. I've seen him mysteriously fall into them several times, and each time he would emerge from somewhere else. I suspect the Invisibles are secretly digging tunnels in the castle; they want to join forces with the fire spirits to attack Hogwarts."

"Huh?" Harry was a little confused; the code for this passage wasn't in the codebook Owen had given him.

"That's because Draco always takes Polyjuice Potion in the castle to impersonate other people, which is why he seems so mysterious and always pops up from other places," Owen explained. "Alright, Luna, you should go and prepare. The master of the fire spirits may be coming."

"Oh—really?" Luna tilted her head back, blinking awkwardly. "They've become bolder. I want to catch one to study and then publish it in The Quibbler."

Luna's voice continued.

But Harry had already filtered out her voice; he looked towards the end of the corridor. Ginny and Hermione were walking towards them.

"Oh—Merlin!" Ginny exclaimed in surprise. Then she ran quickly towards Harry.

Harry had already opened his arms, and according to the usual plot, they would hug each other and then offer words of comfort.

Unfortunately, something unexpected happened this time.

Ginny stopped ten inches from Harry.

Then, with a strange expression, he said, "Um—Harry—I'm sorry, the way you look right now—makes me a little..."

"I know." Harry lowered his arm listlessly. "Disgusting, isn't it? Me too."

"It's alright, actually," Ginny quickly reassured her. "You and him look nothing alike. Even if you had Malfoy's face, I could still recognize you at a glance. You are you."

"Thank you—" Harry said.

Suddenly, a high-pitched, sharp voice rang out from behind them.

Everyone turned to look and recognized Pansy Parkinson, who was screaming with trembling arms, "Get away from him, you filthy bitch! Get out of here—"

Harry frowned, almost reaching for his wand, but then hesitated, considering his current pretense.

He could reveal his true identity to Hermione, Hannah, and Luna because they were all trustworthy, but he couldn't reveal it to the Slytherins because they might be connected to Voldemort.

"Shut up, Parkinson! Didn't anyone in your family teach you manners?" Hermione said angrily.

However, Parkinson had clearly lost his mind by this point.

She drew her wand and stared intently at Ginny.

Irving felt a sense of defeat. A sense of humiliation, annoyance, and anger following that defeat.

The reason is simple: Pansy herself is quite ugly. Well—not exactly ugly, but rather very stylish, with a face shaped like a poodle. Malfoy chose her as his girlfriend solely because of her family background and the fact that there were no other girls in his social circle.

But once Malfoy steps out of his little circle and stops focusing on pure-bloods and Death Eaters, finding a beautiful girlfriend with his handsome looks would be a piece of cake.

That's why Pansy reacted so strongly when she saw Ginny and Harry being so affectionate.

Because this means that Draco, having stepped outside his inner circle, will never choose her again.

(End of this chapter)