“Toot-toot—” “Excuse me, is there any room left in here?” Hearing the knock and the inquiry, Lucien and Hermione, who were both reading, looked up at the same time.
Before the two of them could reply, the door was slid open with a clatter.
Two young boys stood at the door.
One had messy black hair and a pair of round-framed glasses with a noticeable crack perched on the bridge of his nose; he was peeking at Lucien and Hermione inside the carriage with emerald-green, almond-shaped eyes.
The other boy had a head of red hair, a large nose, blue eyes, and a face full of freckles; he was just as thin as the black-haired boy.
The two boys glanced at each other, and finally, the red-haired one took the initiative to speak: “Ahem, sorry to bother you, but all the other compartments are full.
Could we…
could we sit in here?” His expression was awkward, and his tone was weak.
Hearing this question, Hermione didn’t speak immediately.
She felt that it was quite nice reading books with just Lucien, and she didn’t really want the quiet atmosphere to be disturbed.
She scanned the two standing there.
The black-haired one with glasses seemed okay, looking quite quiet, but as for the red-haired one…
he felt like he’d be noisy and boisterous.
Even though it was the first time they’d met, Hermione already felt like she wouldn’t get along with the red-haired boy.
However, Hermione just turned to look at Lucien, wanting to ask for his opinion.
But Lucien was currently sizing up the two boys at the door with a faint smile, not noticing Hermione’s meaningful glance.
Black hair plus round glasses and green eyes, and a head of red hair plus freckles.
Yo, isn’t this the Chosen One and his good bro?
What a coincidence; the trio has actually gathered after all.
Just as well, I’ll observe them in advance.
Later, I’ll have to keep an eye on this Harry kid to find the Philosopher’s Stone and brew the Potion.
To repay the Qilin Loan, Lucien needed to use the Philosopher’s Stone to brew a certain Potion.
The easiest way to find the Philosopher’s Stone was to follow Harry through the plot.
Lucien believed that Old Dumbledore had arranged everything; Harry would definitely be able to get the Philosopher’s Stone.
When the time comes, can I encourage Harry to go find the Philosopher’s Stone earlier?
Then I can start brewing the Potion sooner and pay off the loan as quickly as possible.
Just as Harry was starting to feel uneasy under Lucien’s scrutiny, Lucien looked away.
His smile became more obvious but remained within the bounds of politeness.
“Please, come in.” Hearing Lucien’s words, Harry and Ron quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Hermione also stood up and moved to sit on Lucien’s side of the carriage.
Harry and Ron deftly stowed their luggage.
“Hi, I’m Ron Weasley.” Ron rubbed his messy red hair and introduced himself to the others.
Lucien and Hermione each returned the greeting and introduced themselves.
Finally, the three of them turned their gaze toward Harry; this thin, introverted-looking boy was the only one who hadn’t spoken yet.
Feeling a bit uncomfortable being stared at, Harry remembered how he had always been alienated and discriminated against by his aunt’s family and those around him.
This was the first time he had met so many of his ‘own kind.’ Logically, they were just like him, possessing that strange ability called magic.
Harry adjusted his glasses and plucked up his courage.
“Hello, I…
I’m Harry, Harry Potter.” Hearing Harry’s name, Lucien simply nodded, having long expected it.
But Hermione and Ron’s reactions were significant, especially the latter’s.
“You’re Harry Potter!
You’re the Boy Who Lived!?” Hermione, after all, came from a Muggle family and had only read some books about the Wizarding World over the summer to learn that such a person existed.
But Ron was different.
His last name was Weasley; no matter how hard-pressed they were, they were still one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight Pure-blood families.
Harry’s name was truly legendary to Ron.
“Do you…
really, really have that…
scar?” Ron looked at Harry with shining eyes.
Harry nodded and lifted his bangs, revealing the thin, lightning-shaped scar.
Now Ron was even more excited, talking incessantly about the rumors surrounding Harry.
Many of them left Harry himself looking bewildered, completely unaware that such things had supposedly happened.
Hearing Ron’s non-stop ‘lecture,’ Hermione curled her lip.
She had found it a bit interesting at first, but the more she heard, the more ridiculous it became.
She just wanted to read her book in peace now.
This red-head really is noisy!
Just as Hermione was about to interrupt Ron, a saleswoman came to the compartment door.
“Anything from the trolley, dears?” Ron stared straight at the wide array of snacks on the trolley and swallowed hard.
However, he turned his head away and pulled a lump of food from his pocket that was hard to identify.
He murmured softly, “No, thanks, I’ve brought my own.” The Weasley family was indeed a Pure-blood family with a long heritage, but their poverty was also very real.
Furthermore, Ron had five older brothers, three of whom were still in school, and a younger sister.
The pocket money that reached him was truly limited.
“I’ll take some.” It was Lucien who spoke, taking out several Galleons and Sickles to hand to the saleswoman.
Ron’s eyes nearly popped out; this casual handful was more than a year’s worth of his pocket money!
“Then…
I’ll have some too.” Harry also took out several Galleons, which left Ron even more dazed.
How could he not even have a single Sickle or Knut?
Did he really know the value of a Galleon?
Was the Potter family really this rich?
Was selling hair Potion that profitable?
Actually, Ron was right; selling hair Potion really was profitable, especially since the Potter family’s hair Potion was so effective it essentially monopolized the Wizarding World’s market.
With a monopoly, what wouldn’t be profitable?
Of course, the main reason was that Harry was the last of the Potter line, so the entire family’s wealth was concentrated in this one boy’s hands.
Lucien and Harry basically bought out nearly the entire trolley of snacks.
Looking at the pile of snacks on the table, Ron swallowed again.
He really wanted to eat, but he was also really too embarrassed to ask.
“Take whatever you want to eat.” As Lucien spoke, he gave his wand a light flick, and the snacks flew toward Harry and the other two.
Children were easy to win over anyway; give them some food and toys, and you could lead them away.
I’ll build a good relationship with the trio first, so that when they find clues related to the Philosopher’s Stone, they’ll think to discuss it with me.
I can also keep timely track of any progress they make.
To Ron’s ears, Lucien’s voice was almost like heavenly music.
Especially with the generosity of distributing snacks combined with that handsome face, he was practically an angel!
So much so that Ron subconsciously ignored Lucien’s wand-work, forgetting how rare it was for a new young wizard to be able to use the Levitation Charm so proficiently.
Harry also shared his snacks with Lucien and the others, but he didn’t know magic, so he could only pass them out by hand one by one.
Ron took Harry’s snacks and thanked him, but he still wasn’t as moved as he was by Lucien, who had given him snacks first.
Lucien opened a box of Chocolate Frogs.
The frog inside leaped up the moment the lid was opened, trying to flee toward freedom.
But it was snatched in an instant and immediately ‘refined’!
While chewing on the chocolate frog, Lucien flipped over the card inside the box.
Every chocolate frog came with a card featuring a portrait of a different wizard, introducing their deeds and contributions.
He glanced at the portrait on the card.
Ugh, the Old Bat.
Snape’s cold, deep eyes stared out from behind his greasy, lank black hair, meeting Lucien’s gaze.
Tsk tsk tsk, really needs to wash his hair.
Lucien’s mouth twitched, wondering if he could give Snape a bottle of hair Potion or something later on.
Looking at the back of the card, it introduced Snape’s achievements: systematic improvement of Veritaserum, optimization of bezoar extraction techniques…
“Um, excuse me…” Lucien looked toward the sound.
A round-faced, stocky little boy stood nervously at the door.
“Have you seen my toad?
His name is Trevor.”