For the next few days, Daimon didn’t set foot outside his door.
He stayed in his room, researching the various magic books he had purchased.
Although Daimon had played the role of Shendu for thousands of years, he was not the actual Shendu.
He was not foolish enough to rely solely on his innate divine powers and neglect the study of magic.
Of these magic books, aside from a few written in Ancient Runes that he couldn’t read for the time being, he pored over and studied the rest, reading them back and forth.
The Eight Demon Sorcerers of antiquity had all been masters of magic.
Although the magical systems of the two worlds differed, Daimon’s magical talent remained intact.
Drawing analogies and connecting the dots, he easily mastered many spells of this world and built a preliminary understanding of its magical knowledge system.
In the blink of an eye, September 1st arrived.
Today was the first day of term at Hogwarts.
Unhurriedly, Daimon packed his luggage, transformed Bai Tsa into a bowler hat to wear on his head, and went downstairs to check out of his room.
He had to admit, traveling was incredibly convenient now that he had a money bag with an Undetectable Extension Charm.
King’s Cross Station, Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
With the divine power of the Rabbit Talisman, it took Daimon only a few seconds to reach his destination.
Frankly, if he hadn’t lacked Hogwarts’ exact location, he would have preferred to travel there on his own rather than take this sluggish train.
To avoid drawing unwanted attention, Daimon retrieved a trunk from his money bag to carry in his hand before heading toward the barrier of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
In an instant, his vision opened up.
A scarlet steam engine was stationed beside a platform packed with passengers.
A sign on the train read: Hogwarts Express.
In the crowd, Daimon spotted a thin, bespectacled boy at a single glance.
The boy had a lightning-bolt scar on his forehead.
The famous Harry Potter—the boy prophesied to defeat the Dark Lord.
Daimon had no intention of deliberately approaching him.
After all, whether he became Harry Potter’s friend or enemy, it offered no benefit to him.
His primary purpose for enrolling was still to study the magic of this world.
Daimon squeezed through the crowd, passing by Harry as he boarded the train first.
Right then, he heard a familiar voice behind him.
“Hey, Daimon, we meet again!” the brown-haired young witch waved in pleasant surprise.
“Hello, Hermione.” Daimon gave her a slight nod.
“Is your hat the transfiguring rabbit I gave you?
It looks great on you.
Oh, by the way, the Quick-Quotes Quill you gave me is fantastic.
I have to say, it’s been a massive help and saved me so much time,” Hermione said enthusiastically.
“I named her Bai Tsa.” Daimon took the hat off his head, let it turn back into a rabbit, and placed her in Hermione’s arms.
“Bai Tsa—what a lovely name.
Little Bai Tsa, do you still remember me?” Hermione cooed, playing with the small rabbit in her arms.
Soon, she looked up at Daimon and asked, “Would you like to come to my compartment?
There’s a free seat right here.” Just as Daimon was about to speak, a familiar sensation washed over him—the aura of a Talisman.
And it was in a compartment not far from where they stood.
Following the Rabbit Talisman, the one revealing itself this time was the Rat Talisman, which possessed the divine power to animate the motionless.
*Little Hermione really is my lucky star.
Both times I’ve run into her, I’ve happened to sense a Talisman…* Daimon couldn’t help but think.
“I’d like to walk around the train and look around first, but I can leave my luggage in your compartment for now,” Daimon said.
“All right, I’ll watch your trunk for you.
But remember to come back in time to change into your Hogwarts robes,” Hermione didn’t forget to remind him.
Daimon gave an OK gesture, bid Hermione goodbye, and followed the sensation to find the Talisman.
After walking through several carriages, he reached his destination.
The voices of two boys talking drifted out of the compartment.
“I’ve got Bill’s old robes, Charlie’s old wand, and a rat Percy threw away when he was done with it.
His name is Scabbers, and he’s completely useless.
He hardly ever wakes up.
But today he seems a bit strange, really restless.
I think he might be too old and about to die—after all, he’s been in our family for over ten years.” “It’s not bad having a rat stay with you all the time.
Actually, I didn’t get my first pet until a month ago.
It’s an owl Hagrid gave me; I named her Hedwig.” “That’s nice.
Our family owl is called Errol.
He’s an elderly Great Grey Owl.
He often delivers things and then just collapses from exhaustion.” One of the voices belonged to Harry Potter, which meant the other boy’s voice had to be the final member of the trio—Ron Weasley.
Having located the Talisman, Daimon chose not to barge straight in.
There were too many eyes and ears on the train, making it impossible for him to reclaim the Rat Talisman’s power unnoticed.
Once they arrived at Hogwarts, there would be plenty of opportunities.
Daimon turned to leave, only to see Hermione guiding a round-faced boy over from a distance.
“Daimon!
Found you again.
This is Neville.
He’s lost a toad, and I’m helping him look for it.
If you’re not busy, I thought we could search together!” As Hermione spoke, she grabbed Daimon’s hand, giving him absolutely no chance to refuse.
She then slid open the door to Harry Potter’s compartment without hesitation.
“Has anyone seen a toad?
Neville’s lost a toad,” Hermione said, getting straight to the point, completely oblivious to the annoyance of the two boys inside at being suddenly interrupted.
“We’ve already told him we haven’t seen it,” the red-haired boy said impatiently.
This was indeed Ron Weasley, sporting the Weasley family’s signature red hair.
However, Daimon’s attention was not on the boy, but concentrated on the rat in his pocket.
The rat’s eyes were darting about, looking exceptionally intelligent.
Most importantly, Daimon felt the divine power of the Rat Talisman flowing faintly within the creature’s body.
It seemed the rat wasn’t using the Rat Talisman’s animation ability, but was instead consciously studying its divine power.
Daimon had read quite a few books on magical creatures lately, and there was no species of magical rat with such high intelligence.
There was something wrong with this rat.
It wasn’t just slightly off; it was ten thousand percent suspicious.
Connecting this to Ron’s earlier remark about the rat having been in his family for over ten years, did normal rats even live that long?
In an instant, a bold hypothesis formed in Daimon’s mind.
“Would you two like to come in and sit down?” Harry Potter’s voice interrupted Daimon’s train of thought.
Daimon looked over and realized that at some point, Hermione had already taken a seat in the compartment and was rambling on about the spells she had taught herself at home and her opinions on the Hogwarts houses, leaving Neville standing awkwardly at the doorway.
Ron clearly looked repulsed, and Harry was also slightly uncomfortable with Hermione’s bossiness.
He felt compelled to address Daimon and Neville in an attempt to divert attention.
“Thanks for the offer, but I think we’re fine,” Daimon replied.
“Hermione, we should keep helping Neville look for his toad,” Daimon prompted.
“Oh, yes, right!
Thanks for reminding me.
Let’s go!” Hermione snapped out of it.
She grabbed Daimon’s hand, motioned to Neville, and hurried away.
“Thank goodness she’s finally gone.
I hope we don’t get sorted into the same house as her later,” Ron breathed a long sigh of relief.
Suddenly, Hermione poked her head back into the compartment, glared fiercely at Ron, and warned, “You two had better remember to change into your robes before the train arrives.” With a light huff, Hermione turned and walked away.
“She’s not really that bad, is she?” Harry couldn’t help but say in her defense.
Ron said nothing, keeping his head down as he ate his sweets.