The girl probably had not expected Scott to already be looking at the door before she opened it, which meant that the moment she opened the door, her eyes met his.
Under Scott’s gaze, she pressed her lips together somewhat awkwardly, braced one hand against the door, and straightened her body a little.
“Harry Potter and Ron Weasley?”
Scott spoke slowly and unhurriedly, his voice somewhat deep.
He had not yet finished going through puberty, so to avoid the embarrassment of his voice cracking while he spoke, he always unconsciously slowed down his speech and lowered his voice.
“Sorry, I haven’t seen either of those gentlemen, Miss Granger.” He shook his head at Hermione and answered her politely.
Of course, he actually knew that the two boys should currently be flying through the sky in a car.
“Oh, thank you.”
After quickly thanking him, Hermione glanced at the book in his hand, Holidays with Hags.
On the book’s cover, the photograph of Gilderoy Lockhart gave her a foolishly “charming” smile.
Seeing that she had not left, Scott was somewhat surprised and asked, “Is there anything else, Miss Granger?”
The young witch raised her eyebrows and spoke extremely quickly.
“Were you reading Holidays with Hags just now?
I need to apologize to you because I rudely interrupted your wonderful reading time, but I still don’t know your name.
Oh, right, you know me?”
Scott laughed softly.
“Of course I know you.
Miss Granger, who protected the Philosopher’s Stone together with the ‘Saviour,’ Mr Potter, last school year, and contributed fifty points to Gryffindor’s House Cup total at the end-of-year feast.
By the way, I’m Scott Trollope from Ravenclaw House, about to enter my fourth year.”
“Oh, thank you, Mr Trollope.
Also, I really am sorry for interrupting your reading…”
Hermione continued speaking at an extremely fast pace.
Scott was about to say goodbye to her, but unexpectedly, she had not finished speaking yet…
“…Of course, I’ve already finished that book.
It was truly quite good.
I mean, all of Professor Lockhart’s books are astonishing, simply wonderful.
This year’s Defence Against the Dark Arts classes are something to look forward to, aren’t they?
Well then, see you at Hogwarts.”
After quickly finishing this long string of words, she withdrew from the compartment, closed the door behind her, and hurried away.
What an energetic girl.
Scott shook his head, then sank into deep thought.
In his mind, he reviewed the general “plot” of what would happen during this school year.
The diary, one of Voldemort’s seven Horcruxes, would control Ginny Weasley, the youngest daughter of the Weasley family, and make her open Slytherin’s Chamber of Secrets, releasing the basilisk inside to attack Muggle-born students.
This plot was extremely unfriendly to him, a Muggle-born young wizard, because he had no way to guarantee that he would never encounter a deadly basilisk in one of the school corridors.
It seemed that he would not be able to lie low through this school year.
Scott, who had already kept his head down for three years, thought.
During the summer holiday, he had repeatedly gone over this part of the “plot” and considered many plans, eventually drawing up a roughly safe and workable course of action.
Taking risks was out of the question.
He intended to eliminate the danger before it could develop, while ensuring his own safety.
At this moment, he reviewed his plan once more, then relaxed and took a pocket watch from the pocket of his robe to check the time.
12:43 in the afternoon.
More than an hour had passed since the train departed.
He prepared to take out the lunch he had brought and fill his stomach.
But just as he opened his backpack, he suddenly stopped moving again and turned to look at the compartment door.
Another five seconds passed before the compartment door was pulled open once more.
“So you were here, Scott.”
A tall and strongly built boy poked his head inside to take a look, then strode into the compartment and sat down on the seat opposite Scott.
“Hey, Roger.”
Scott took a paper bag containing hamburgers from his backpack and asked with some surprise, “Why did you come over?
I thought you would be with your current girlfriend…
that…
Hufflepuff…
Miss Mill?”
Roger Davies was a Ravenclaw student in the same year as Scott, and was also his roommate in the same dormitory.
“Mill?” Roger grinned at Scott.
“I’ve already broken up with her.”
After hearing this news, Scott’s hands paused for only a second, silently mourning himself for having worked so hard to remember Miss Mill, before casually asking, “When did that happen this time?”
Roger said with a cheerful grin, “During those few days after the final exams last school year.”
Scott calmly glanced at Roger without saying anything.
Another new page had been added to Roger’s rich romantic history, but Scott had no interest in making any comment.
“You’re not even curious about why I broke up with her anymore?”
While Scott opened the paper bag, Roger took the opportunity to snatch a hamburger from inside.
“Believe me, Roger.”
Scott handed Roger a bottle of Coke.
“If you had an exceptionally womanizing roommate like I do, after three years, you would also become used to all of this and completely lose interest in his romantic experiences.
I suppose even Eddie has no interest in spreading this kind of overly frequent ‘romance news’ anymore.”
Eddie Carmichael, their roommate, was a boy who had entered Hogwarts one year after them and was usually extremely enthusiastic about spreading all kinds of gossip.
Roger shrugged and, while chewing the hamburger, said indistinctly, “The way you describe him makes your womanizing roommate sound like a terrible person.”
Scott gave Roger a slightly exaggerated false smile and said, “As far as I’m concerned, he is still a good roommate.
His womanizing has nothing to do with me.
After all, I’m not close to the girls he dumps, and… I’m not going to date him.”
“All right.”
Roger took these words as praise, happily opened the Coke bottle, then raised it towards Scott.
“To good roommates.”
“To good roommates.”
Scott raised his unopened bottle of Coke and tapped it against Roger’s.
Roger did not mind.
He only stared at Scott with a strange smile, waggled his eyebrows, and asked, “The girl who left this compartment just now was that ‘Miss Know-It-All,’ the friend of Gryffindor’s ‘Saviour’ Potter, wasn’t she?
How did you two meet?”
Scott gave him an annoyed look, swallowed the food in his mouth, and said, “We only just met.
She asked whether I had seen her friends Potter and Weasley.
Those two boys might not have made the train.
Why, didn’t she ask you?”
“Maybe I missed her because I went to the toilet?”
Roger found this news extremely interesting and said with a laugh, “Something went wrong on the very first day of the new school year?
As expected of the ‘Saviour.'”
Scott thought to himself that this had only just begun.
The “Saviour” always had to go through hardship before defeating the Dark Lord and saving the world, didn’t he?
At this moment, Roger noticed the copy of Holidays with Hags that Scott had placed on the seat beside him and curiously asked, “You would actually read this kind of novel?”
“Novel?” Scott deliberately raised his eyebrows and looked at him questioningly.
“This is the textbook for Defence Against the Dark Arts in the new school year.”
(End of Chapter)
Power Stones?