Hearing that familiar voice, Hermione’s entire body went rigid.
*Could I possibly be missing Silan so much that I’m starting to hallucinate his voice here?* As if to validate her doubts, Silan’s voice rang out once more.
“Let me help you with that.” “Silan?!
What are you doing here?!” Hearing the voice she knew so well a second time, Hermione knew she wasn’t mistaken.
She whirled around, her mouth falling open in sheer disbelief the moment her eyes locked onto him.
Of all the things she had anticipated today, running into Silan at King’s Cross Station wasn’t even on the list.
Weren’t the people here supposed to be exclusively Hogwarts students?
How could he possibly be here?
Unless…
was he a first-year too?
A myriad of questions swirled relentlessly through her mind, but she couldn’t find the words to voice a single one.
She could only stare at him with wide, astonished eyes.
“We can catch up in a moment.
Let’s get your things inside first–we’re blocking the door for everyone else trying to board.” “Oh, right.
Okay.” Hermione blankly shifted her grip on the trunk’s handle, allowing Silan to step in and help her hoist the luggage into the carriage.
To be completely honest, Hermione’s trunk was by no means light.
Coupled with the fact that the luggage racks were quite high for children their age, getting it up there by hand was no easy feat.
Seeing Hermione fret over it, Silan drew his wand, gave it a fluid flick, and cast a [Hover Charm].
As though hoisted by a massive pair of invisible hands, the trunk rose smoothly into the air and settled itself neatly onto the rack.
A couple of passing young wizards caught sight of the display and stood entirely rooted to the spot, their expressions shifting to ones of distinct respect.
They naturally assumed Silan was an older student who simply possessed a youthful countenance.
To wield a charm with such seamless precision, surely he couldn’t be a first-year, right?
“Silan…
you’ve already mastered the Hover Charm?” Hermione stared up at the luggage rack, her mouth dropping open once again just after she had managed to close it.
“I tried a few spells myself at home, but I only managed to successfully cast [Lumos] and [Reparo].” “I attempted the Hover Charm too, but I could barely get a feather to float.
How on earth did you manage to lift something as heavy as a whole trunk?
What’s the trick?” “And if you received an acceptance letter too, you really should have told me sooner!
I genuinely thought it would be ages before I saw you again.
Oh…
actually, you didn’t even know I had received a Hogwarts letter.
I’m sorry, I should have told you before.” The moment her immense curiosity and thirst for knowledge were triggered, her sentences became as long and winding as Merlin’s beard.
“Let’s find a compartment to sit down in first, and we can talk about it slowly,” Silan said, long accustomed to this energetic side of her.
“I didn’t find out myself until Professor McGonagall personally paid me a visit.
I truly had no idea that the ‘faraway school’ you mentioned was actually Hogwarts.” “So it looks like we’re going to be classmates again?” “Evidently so.” Silan flashed a brief smile over his shoulder, slid the compartment door open, and made a polite gesturing motion for her to enter.
Hermione peered into the empty space, hesitated for a split second, and nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“You take the seat first, Silan.” “Sure, why not.” Though he found the request a bit unusual, Silan didn’t press it.
He walked in and took the window seat.
Hermione’s sharp, expressive eyes subtly swept over the empty bench directly across from him.
“Silan, could you explain the finer points of the Hover Charm to me?” As she spoke, the young girl naturally slid into the seat right next to him, pressing close against his side as though the opposite bench were already completely packed with passengers.
“Of course.
When casting the Hover Charm, the most important aspects to watch out for are the precise wrist movement and the vocal inflection…” In reality, given Hermione’s natural brilliance, a minor charm of this caliber would only require a few more practical sessions before she mastered it completely.
Right now, she was simply leveraging the academic discussion as an excuse to sit close to Silan and linger by his side a little longer.
“Once we have some free time later, you can practice it more.
*Yawn*…” As Silan spoke, he couldn’t suppress a heavy yawn.
He had spent the last several days entirely absorbed in reading and practicing spells.
Now, resting against the cushioned train seat with the warm afternoon sunlight filtering through the glass, a wave of distinct drowsiness washed over him.
“Are you tired?
You should rest for a bit,” Hermione said softly.
“Alright.” Silan leaned back against the headrest, and following the momentum, tilted his head slightly to the side, letting it rest gently against Hermione’s shoulder.
To be fair, he wasn’t quite exhausted enough to collapse, but then again–what was wrong with a guy employing a tiny bit of calculation?
The young girl’s posture went slightly rigid.
She turned her head just an inch, her peripheral vision tracing the contours of Silan’s closed eyes.
An involuntary smile tugged at the corners of Hermione’s lips, which she quickly masked by covering her lower face with her hand.
She darted a quick glance toward the corridor to ensure nobody was watching before finally relaxing.
She pulled a book from her bag and began to read quietly.
Silan wasn’t actually asleep.
Instead, he pulled up his system interface in his mind to review the Guilt Points he had just acquired.
A substantial amount of his previously accumulated points had been spent to unlock [Spell Inspiration], but the massive haul he received back at the station platform had replenished his reserves, leaving him with more than enough to redeem another trait.
Upon examining the panel, Silan noted with some surprise that the redeemable traits had refreshed.
[Constant Guilt] [Description: You’ve done nothing wrong!
It’s the world that is at fault!
People naturally harbor feelings of guilt toward you.
Within the remaining time limit (1 day remaining), gather Guilt Points to redeem unique trait attributes.] [Current Guilt Points: 207] The available trait attributes had been refreshed as follows: [[Silenced Concealment]: Hush!
Nobody is looking your way.
Your physical presence is slightly diminished, making it significantly harder for others to notice or pay attention to you.
(Cost: 180 points)] [[Potions Genius]: There’s no such thing as a natural genius; I merely spend the time others use for drinking coffee practicing my potion-making.
It is significantly easier to spark sudden inspirations while brewing potions, and the probability of crafting perfect-quality potions is slightly increased.
(Cost: 200 points)] [[Potion Dependency]: Bring on the potions!
Give them to me!
Down the hatch!
Grants significantly higher resistance against the negative side effects of magical potions.
(Cost: 190 points)] Tsk.
Had [Silenced Concealment] become a permanent fixture?
How did it manage to stick around even after a refresh?
In fairness, the trait wasn’t useless.
If he ever found himself wandering the castle corridors in the dead of night (blatantly breaking school rules), a trait like that would be an absolute godsend for evading the caretaker.
However, there was a significantly better option starring him right in the face.
Weighing the options between [Potions Genius] and [Potion Dependency], Silan didn’t hesitate for a second before selecting [Potions Genius].
He wasn’t planning on acting as a human guinea pig anytime soon, so there was no immediate urgency to boost his resistance to negative side effects.
Outside, the corridor remained rather boisterous, filled with the chaotic din of students squeezing past one another.
“Um…
excuse me.
I was just wondering…
c-could I sit here?
Everywhere else is completely full.” A round-faced boy cautiously slid the compartment door open a fraction, poking half his head through the gap as he asked with an embarrassed, timid expression.
“Shh.
Go ahead and take a seat.” Hermione pressed a finger to her lips, gesturing for him to keep his volume down so he wouldn’t disturb Silan’s sleep, and motioned toward the bench opposite them.
“Oh, thank you.” Neville carefully slid the door open a bit wider, squeezed his body through the narrow gap with practiced stealth, and silently took a seat across from Silan.
He watched his two new classmates with a degree of cautious curiosity.
Seeing Silan resting comfortably against Hermione’s shoulder, he concluded that the two must share an incredibly close relationship.
He felt that he ought to introduce himself.
However, given Hermione’s earlier warning not to wake the sleeping boy, he found himself utterly at a loss as to how to proceed.
His palms rubbed nervously against his robes in hesitation.
Just as Neville was debating whether or not it was safe to speak, the boy across from him slowly opened his eyes.