Hermione Granger was thrilled.
But in truth, just a few minutes ago, her heart had been filled with a sense of urgency.
When Professor McGonagall showed up at her house and performed a few Transfiguration tricks in front of her family, Hermione found her worldview thoroughly shattered, yet she quickly became fascinated by magic.
She had been a firm believer in science since childhood, and the scientific view was simple—if it exists, it is real!
Yet, intelligent as she was, she also understood that her Muggle-born status was her greatest weakness.
Especially that day in Diagon Alley, when she had watched with her own eyes as Vaughn Weasley cast a spell with a mere snap of his fingers.
Furthermore, she had learned from Professor McGonagall that he was a year younger than her (Hermione’s birthday was September 19th; if she had been born just twenty days earlier, she would have enrolled a year ago).
This made Hermione’s scalp tingle…
It was simply terrifying!
Her classmates from wizarding families had been practicing magic since they were young, while she had “wasted” nearly twelve years of her life!
Rounding it up, she was practically a century behind her peers!
One could easily imagine her hiding in her bedroom, clutching her head in a total breakdown.
Consequently, Hermione had spent the entire summer hungrily absorbing knowledge and practicing spells.
Without anyone to guide her, self-studying spells was incredibly difficult.
As the start of term drew near, Hermione grew increasingly anxious.
Thus, upon boarding the Hogwarts Express today, she couldn’t wait to seek out classmates from wizarding families to try and exchange notes.
It had to be said that things went quite well at first.
In the compartment where she had rested, there was a girl named Susan Bones.
Susan was cheerful, warm, and highly open.
Practically every first-year in the carriage knew that her aunt was Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
The perfect study partner!
But when Hermione cast a Mending Charm and tried to discuss their study progress, Susan stopped paying attention to her.
Next, she encountered the red-headed Weasley, Ron Weasley, again near the back of the train.
At that moment, the boy she had crossed paths with once before was showing off his new wand to Harry Potter.
A tiny compartment had managed to gather both the “fearsome Weasley” and the Savior recorded in *A History of Modern Magic*.
Hermione certainly wasn’t going to let such a perfect opportunity slip by, so she urged Ron to cast a spell…
The results, well, were best left unmentioned!
The last person Hermione ran into was Neville Longbottom.
When she grabbed the round-faced boy, he was crying and laughing while hugging and kissing a toad…
To be honest, that sight made Hermione suddenly doubt the upbringing in wizarding households.
“I don’t know any magic.
If it weren’t for my Hogwarts letter, my family would have thought I was a Squib…” Neville stammered, trembling under Hermione’s intense gaze.
“You’ve lived in the wizarding world and been exposed to it since you were little, how can you not know any?” “Why…
why don’t you go find Mr.
Vaughn Weasley?
He’s right over there.
He just helped me find Trevor.” Vaughn Weasley—the nightmare that had haunted Hermione Granger all summer.
Yet after her attempts over the past half-day, now that she had a grasp of her classmates’ actual levels, she felt confident enough to lift her head high.
Following Neville’s directions, Hermione rounded the corner.
Sure enough, she spotted that familiar tall, lanky build and shock of red hair.
He was strolling down the carriage corridor, idling with a wand in his hand.
“Vaughn…
Weasley?” For some reason, despite thinking she was confident enough, the moment she called out that name and saw him turn around—meeting his handsome face—her heart suddenly quickened its pace.
Thump, thump…
It felt as though it might leap right out of her throat.
Was this the presence of a rival?
The girl, whose mind usually held nothing but the word “studying,” felt her ears ringing.
Vaughn, on the other hand, wasn’t surprised to run into Hermione.
The Hogwarts Express only had so many carriages, after all.
He smiled and nodded.
“Hello, Miss Granger.” Before seeking him out, Hermione had prepared a whole speech—perhaps challenging him to a duel of spells, or letting him know she had read numerous newspapers and knew about his accomplishments in Potions.
But when actually faced with his greeting, Hermione suddenly found her mind going entirely blank.
She could only reply dryly, “H-Hello to you too, Mr.
Weasley…” “Is there something I can help you with, Miss Granger?” Vaughn asked.
“I…” Hermione was just about to say something blankly when she was suddenly shoved aside by someone coming up from behind.
It was a pale-skinned boy with slicked-back platinum blonde hair, flanked by two tall, beefy cronies.
He carried an incredibly arrogant air, looking at everyone as if through his nostrils.
“Move, you little Muggle-born brat!” Without even looking at Hermione, who had nearly been knocked over, the boy eyed Vaughn up and down and sneered, “Another Weasley.
I just saw one earlier—filthy, stupid, and socializing with that Potter with the broken glasses.
And you…
you’re even weirder.” With that, he finally cast a sidelong glance at Hermione, then quickly looked away as if looking for a second longer would contaminate his eyes.
“Befriending someone like this.
Hair like wild seaweed, buckteeth like a rabbit…” Before he could finish, Vaughn cut him off.
“Draco Malfoy?” Malfoy looked surprised, but quickly lifted his chin.
“Yes.
It seems you have a bit more sense than that idiot Ron.” Vaughn remained noncommittal, saying unhurriedly, “If I were you, I’d clear off quickly.
Your mummy and daddy aren’t on this train to protect you.” A faint flush rose on Malfoy’s pale face.
His eyes widened as he waved his hands forcefully.
“What, do you want to fight?
Crabbe, Goyle, get him!” The two dense-looking cronies behind him seemed highly interested in this sort of work.
Roaring with wicked grins, they lunged toward Vaughn.
Hermione only had time to let out a gasp before she saw Vaughn raise his wand.
“Impedimenta!” The air blurred for a fraction of a second.
Goyle and Crabbe felt as if they had suddenly charged into a transparent, viscous swamp.
Their movements slowed to a crawl, bound by an inexplicable force as they floated into the air with their limbs splayed out.
They looked exactly like two frogs pinned to a laboratory bench.
“Draco, help!” they cried in panic.
Unfortunately, they had called on the wrong person.
Just as a look of terror crossed Draco’s face, he saw Vaughn pointing his wand at him, a burst of red light erupting.
“Expelliarmus!” With a loud bang, Draco felt a massive force slam into his stomach.
The carriages on either side of his vision receded at lightning speed, and in the next instant, he crashed heavily against the compartment partition.
The violent impact left his brain completely blank.
Before he could recover, another spell hit him.
“Densaugeo!” Draco felt a sudden itching in his mouth.
His eyes went wide as he watched his buckteeth rapidly grow longer, instantly protruding past his lips and even curling upward in a playful arc.
The successive blows made him burst into tears.
Not daring to linger a moment longer, he scrambled to his feet and fled toward the back of the train, abandoning Crabbe and Goyle entirely.
At the same time, students in the various compartments noticed the commotion outside and poked their heads out to watch.
Vaughn lifted the jinxes on Crabbe and Goyle, letting them run off crying.