Amidst the whistle of the hogwarts express, the train slowly started moving, and the scenery outside the window began to flow.
Harry finally let go of Vera’s hand, eagerly throwing herself against the window, her nose nearly pressing against the glass.
“Look! London is moving backward!” She cheered like a child riding a train for the first time.
Vera watched Harry’s back, the corners of her lips curving upward unconsciously.
Nox yawned on her lap and lazily stretched.
Just then, the compartment door was gently pushed open, and a girl with bushy brown hair stood at the doorway, her bright eyes sweeping across the compartment.
“Hello, are there any empty seats here? The other compartments are all full.”
Vera looked at the girl at the doorway—bushy brown hair, bright brown eyes, and those iconic, somewhat cute front teeth.
Hermione Granger, one of the trio from the original story, was standing at the doorway holding several books right now.
“Is it okay?” Harry looked at Vera immediately.
After receiving Vera’s tacit nod, she eagerly stood up and began helping Hermione move her things inside.
A flash of surprise crossed Hermione’s eyes when she saw Vera’s wheelchair, but she quickly recovered a polite smile.
“Thank you! I’m Hermione Granger.”
“Harry Potter,” Harry extended a hand and pointed to Vera beside her.
“This is Vera Black.”
“Is it really you?” Hermione’s eyes widened all at once.
“I know all about you! ‘History of Magic’, ‘Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts’, ‘Important Magical Events of the Twentieth Century’—these books all mention you.”
Harry pushed her glasses awkwardly, her cheeks flushing slightly.
“Uh… really? I actually don’t know too much about these yet…”
Hermione immediately began talking endlessly about all sorts of legends concerning Harry, while Vera sat quietly on the side, calmly observing this future top student.
As she expected, Hermione’s thirst for knowledge was indeed as vigorous as described in the original work, and her attitude was fairly friendly.
“Oh, right!” Hermione turned curiously to Vera.
“You’re a Black? Are you from that House of Black? The ‘Directory of Pure-Blood Families’ mentions your family.”
Vera looked at her with considerable interest.
“You’ve even read that kind of book? Impressive.”
Hermione’s face flushed slightly.
“After I received my acceptance letter, I read every magic book I could find. Although the ‘Directory of Pure-Blood Families’ is a bit… outdated, it really does record a lot of useful historical information.”
Nox suddenly jumped from Vera’s lap onto the table, curiously sniffing the books Hermione had brought.
Hermione opened her eyes wide in pleasant surprise.
“Its name is Nox,” Vera stroked its head gently.
“It has some Kneazle ancestry.”
“A Kneazle!” Hermione excitedly pulled out a copy of ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’, quickly flipping to a certain page.
“The book says they can identify suspicious people and are very smart magical creatures!”
“Really? Let me see!” Harry hurried over to look at the book, the two girls’ heads almost touching.
Vera watched this scene with relish—it seemed that even in this world, certain bonds were destined.
Right at this moment, the compartment door was pushed open again.
“I heard the savior is in this compartment—” Draco Malfoy’s arrogant voice abruptly stopped, his expression showing clear surprise when he saw Vera.
“Vera? Why are you here?”
His gaze swept over Harry and Hermione, the corners of his mouth turning down.
“And still hanging out with these… people?”
Harry immediately straightened her spine, her green eyes staring warily at Draco.
“It’s you again.”
Hermione looked between both parties in confusion.
“You know each other?”
“Mm,” Vera answered calmly, her fingers gently stroking Nox’s fur.
“Is there something you need, Draco?”
Draco’s expression stiffened somewhat.
The two lackeys behind him, Crabbe and Goyle, blocked the doorway like two small mountains.
“Father told me to come and… say hello,” he said rather reluctantly, his gaze lingering on Harry for a moment.
“Though it looks like you’ve already found company.”
Harry frowned.
“Vera doesn’t need you bossing her around.”
Draco’s complexion turned ugly.
“Potter, you’d better figure out who you’re talking to!”
“Cousin Draco,” Vera interrupted softly, watching him calmly.
“On the first day of term, do you want to start trouble?”
Draco opened his mouth, seeming to want to retort further, but under Vera’s gaze, he finally just let out a cold snort, turned, and left with his two lackeys.
The compartment fell into silence for a moment.
Hermione curiously looked over at Vera. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
“Cousin? You’re relatives?”
“Distant relatives,” Vera answered briefly, not wanting to dwell on the topic.
Harry sat back down in her seat indignantly.
“That Malfoy is so annoying! What gives him the right to talk like that?”
Suddenly thinking of something, she hurried closer to Vera, lowering her voice to ask, “Is he holding a grudge against you because of what happened last time at Madam Malkin’s shop? Do you want me to help teach him a lesson?”
Vera looked at Harry’s serious expression and couldn’t help chuckling softly.
“No need, I can handle it.”
Hermione’s eyes swept back and forth between the two of them, acutely sensing some story she didn’t know, and couldn’t help asking, “You knew each other before?”
Harry immediately began recounting their encounter in Diagon Alley with great enthusiasm, making Hermione’s eyes light up.
Right then, the compartment door was pushed open once more.
A red-haired, freckled boy poked his head in.
“Have you seen a toad? Neville’s pet has run off again—”
His gaze fell upon Harry, and his eyes suddenly widened.
“Goodness! Harry! We just saw each other on the platform, I’m Ron Weasley!”
Harry waved friendly.
“Of course I remember, Ron. We haven’t seen a toad… do you want to come in and look for it?”
Ron’s gaze swept across the compartment, visibly pausing when he saw Vera, and especially after noticing her wheelchair, his expression becoming somewhat awkward.
“Uh… thanks,” he scratched his head, stepping carefully into the compartment.
“Hope I’m not disturbing you.”
Hermione immediately displayed her usual warmth.
“We can help you look together! Where do toads usually hide?”
Ron shrugged.
“Who knows? Neville’s toad is always running all over the place.”
Nox suddenly jumped down from Vera’s lap, paced gracefully over to Ron’s ankles, and sniffed his trouser leg.
“Whoa!” Ron stepped back in surprise.
“Is this your cat? It’s… really pretty.”
“Its name is Nox,” Vera said softly.
“It has Kneazle ancestry, maybe it can help find that toad.”
As if understanding her words, Nox’s ears twitched, and it turned and burrowed beneath the seat.
A few seconds later, a panicked “Ribbit!” rang out in the compartment.