Hearing Neville ask this question, Hermione cast an approving look at him.
She had originally wanted to ask as well, which now saved her the trouble.
“Seers never easily divine for themselves,” Julian spread his hands helplessly.
“So, I don’t know which house I will go to either.”
“You’re so smart, you might go to Ravenclaw…”
Neville stopped mid-sentence, suddenly noticing that Miss Granger’s expression opposite him seemed to have changed, and hurriedly made a sharp turn in his words, “Of course, it’s also possible you’ll go to Gryffindor.”
Hermione’s gaze only then returned to normal.
She didn’t want to be separated from Julian.
Neville breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.
He didn’t think he was smart because of this, but simply because Hermione’s gaze was too terrifying.
“Actually, any house is fine; being able to attend Hogwarts is already very lucky for me.”
“It definitely won’t be Slytherin,” Hermione deduced with a serious expression.
“You’re so kind and friendly, completely different from them.”
As she spoke, she even glanced out of the compartment, seemingly looking at those few people who had spoken rudely earlier.
“Well said,” Neville chimed in.
In his view, although Julian’s clothes were tattered, he was gentle and kind, always giving people a very reliable feeling.
He spoke nicely too, always making people unable to help but believe him.
A Wizard as gentle, courteous, kind, and friendly as him was rare even among those ancient pure-blood families.
Therefore, he could never possibly be sorted into Slytherin.
At this moment, the train passed winding rivers and grass-covered hills.
The orange-red sun looked like a boiled egg yolk, tremblingly being swallowed bite by bite by the horizon.
The train was about to arrive at the station.
“Let’s change into our robes first, ladies first.”
Julian and Neville opened the door and went out, turning their backs to the compartment door and blocking the glass with their bodies.
A few minutes later, Hermione changed her clothes and opened the door to come out.
“It’s your turn.”
Neville and Julian walked in and began to change clothes.
Saying they were changing clothes, it actually just meant putting on their robes.
Although the standard school uniform also included a black pointed hat, it was generally rarely worn.
Just after finishing changing clothes, Neville started wandering around the compartment.
“Trevor is missing again!
Missing again!”
“I lost it again, it always wants to run away from me.”
Neville was so anxious he was about to cry.
“Don’t worry, I guarantee you’ll find it at Hogwarts.”
Julian felt somewhat helpless.
Trevor truly was a conceptual deity; in the blink of an eye, it couldn’t be found.
If he remembered correctly, afterwards Neville was either looking for Trevor or on the way to look for Trevor.
If this freedom-loving toad could share a bit of its courage with its master, then Neville would probably be Gryffindor’s bravest student.
“Really?”
“Of course, I saw it from divination, so you can rest assured.”
[Silver-tongued: Proficiency + 1]
Divination definitely didn’t exist; Julian just remembered that Trevor would appear later on the boats heading to Hogwarts.
As for what the reason was, he didn’t know either; he could only say that Trevor escaped for a lifetime yet never managed to get away.
This was probably the sorrow of a pet toad.
“What’s wrong?” Hermione poked a little head out from outside the door and asked.
After Julian simply explained in two sentences, Hermione also joined in to comfort Neville for a while, making him gradually calm down.
“Seriously, Neville, you’d better learn Accio.
That way if Trevor goes missing, you can directly summon it instead of searching everywhere like this.”
Neville wiped the corners of his eyes with the plain robe on his body.
“I will definitely learn Accio!”
While the few of them were talking, a voice echoed across the train.
“In five minutes, the train will arrive at Hogwarts.
Please leave your luggage on the train; we will have it delivered to the school for you.”
The train’s speed became slower and slower, and finally it stopped.
After experiencing a long journey, the young Wizards finally reached the destination.
“Aren’t we getting off?” Neville looked at a swaying lamp on the platform. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
“No rush, we’ll get off after most people have left,” Julian said calmly.
He had never liked crowding with people.
After about six or seven minutes, they finally got off the train and arrived at a dark and small platform.
To be honest, Julian couldn’t understand.
Since Wizards had a spell like Scourgify, why did some things still look dilapidated and covered in dust?
The oil lamp Neville had seen earlier floated toward them.
Walking closer, the young Wizards discovered that it was actually an unimaginably tall Giant carrying an oil lamp walking towards them.
“Whoa!” A red-haired boy let out an exclamation towards Hagrid.
“First-years!
First-years come over here!”
Hagrid’s burly figure, coupled with his messy hair and full beard, made quite a few young Wizards nervous.
Although Hermione didn’t look scared, she still quietly tugged at the corner of Julian’s clothes.
“Come with me, first-year students!” Hagrid’s rugged voice rang out, appearing even more muffled in the night.
“Watch your step.
Alright, first-years, come with me!”
Under Hagrid’s guidance, the young Wizards stumbled down a steep and narrow path.
To take care of these first-year students, Hagrid walked very slowly.
The path that usually took three or four minutes took him over twenty minutes today.
Turning the final bend, under Hagrid’s reminder that “no more than four people can be in each boat,” the young Wizards boarded the small boats heading to Hogwarts.
Hermione, Julian, Neville, and an unknown classmate boarded the same boat.
On the mirror-smooth Black Lake stood a towering cliff.
Hogwarts Castle stood right there, as if built in the clouds, possessing an illusory, dreamlike beauty.
Under the bright moonlight, the outline of the Castle was faintly discernible.
The dim light filtering through the windows was like stars dotting the night sky.
A bright lamp was placed on the bow of each boat the young Wizards rode in, trailing streaks of flowing light as the small boats glided across the Black Lake.
The young Wizards in the boats all looked up at the tall Castle that almost seemed to tower directly above their heads, holding their breath involuntarily.
Recovering from this scene, Hermione noticed that Julian was staring at the small boat, and asked somewhat strangely:
“What are you looking at?”
“I’m wondering how heavy Hagrid is, yet the small boat he sits in has the exact same draft as ours.
Could there be some magic on the boat?”
“Perhaps…
these boats are alchemical items.
Riding boats to Hogwarts is a tradition for new student enrollment,” Neville interjected from the side.
“My grandmother told me…”
While the few of them were enjoying the scenery and studying the origin of the small boats, they heard Hagrid’s reminder.
“Heads down!”
The young Wizards all lowered their heads.
The small boats carried them through the ivy curtain covering the front of the cliff, along a pitch-black tunnel to the underground dock of the Castle, and finally climbed onto a patch of ground paved with gravel and small pebbles.
After the students went ashore, Hagrid held up his lamp to check the empty boats.
“Whose toad is this?” Hagrid asked loudly, holding up his lamp.
“Trevor!” Neville shouted, rushing over to Hagrid’s side.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Thank you, Julian.” Neville grabbed Trevor.
“I now believe I’ll be sorted into Gryffindor.”
Theodore Nott watched Neville walk over to his side holding the toad, showing a look of disgust, and reached out to give him a push.
“Get away, fatso.”
“Sorry…” Neville, steadied by Julian, stammered an apology.
The guy who pushed him pushed his luck further: “How could a fellow like you possibly be sorted into Gryffindor?
Coward.
The Longbottom family really has no one left.”
“I think you’d better hurry and take a boat back, otherwise you’re estimated to be sorted into cleaning toilets.”
Listening to Theodore Nott’s relentless taunts, Neville gritted his teeth, his face turning flushed red.
“Julian’s divination is very accurate, I really found Trevor.
I believe I will definitely be able to be sorted into Gryffindor.”
The commotion here quickly attracted the students’ attention.
They gathered together like egging someone on, amidst laughter and whistling. This story is hosted at g.com.
“Is that so?” Theodore looked past Neville’s gaze toward Julian.
“You’re the one playing the mysterious deviner, huh?”
Seeing Julian’s old clothes, Theodore sneered: “No wonder you’re pulling your Muggle tricks here.
Looks like even the Weasley family is richer than you.”
The crowd immediately burst into laughter.
Ron looked around and let out a dissatisfied hum.
“Although what he said is right, I really want to punch him hard.”
Harry pulled Ron back and said in a low voice: “This violates school rules, right?”
“We haven’t enrolled yet.”
“That’s true too, then you go ahead.”
Before Ron could go up to punch him, he heard Julian say unhurriedly: “Everyone will be classmates afterwards, why talk like this?
If you are willing to apologize to Mr.
Longbottom, I would be very glad.”
“I don’t care if you’re glad or not, why on earth should I apologize to him?
Look at that cowardly look of his, how could he possibly be sorted into Gryffindor.”
“What are you doing?”
Having finished checking the empty boats, Hagrid heard the commotion over here and walked over carrying his lamp.
The egging-on young Wizards were squeezed by him to stand on both sides of the path.
“Nothing, his clothes got dirty.” Julian reached out and patted Theodore’s collar, but the action looked as if he was going to choke his neck, scaring him into quickly taking two steps back.
“Alright, let’s go quickly.” Hagrid carried his lamp and squeezed to the front of the crowd to lead the way.
“Humph, let’s wait and see.”
Theodore flicked his sleeve and turned to leave, only to be grabbed by the sleeve by Julian.
“What if Mr.
Longbottom really is sorted into Gryffindor?”
The young Wizards watching the excitement crowded over again, and a few who knew Theodore loudly shouted to egg him on.
“Nott, say it!”
“What are you afraid of him for?”
“Bet with him!”
Theodore looked around the crowd and yanked back his sleeve.
“If he really gets sorted into Gryffindor, I’ll apologize to him.”
Heh, he wasn’t stupid after all, refusing to take the bait.
“You certainly know how to set conditions.
An apology was the price just now, but now the price has gone up.”
Julian turned around to block his path: “If our Mr.
Longbottom is sorted into Gryffindor, you will lose ten Galleons to me, and also apologize to Mr.
Longbottom.”
Theodore glared at Julian without speaking.
“Don’t you dare, Mr.
Nott?” Julian stepped aside and said to everyone, “It seems we have a true coward here.”
The crowd cheered, and for a moment it was filled with a joyful atmosphere.
“I won’t fall for your trick, you just wait for me!
Step aside!”
Theodore pushed a few people away and turned to leave.
Julian actually felt a bit regretful.
He thought this guy would act like a brain-dead villain, getting hot-headed from his provocation and making a bet with him.
Being so cowardly was really boring.
According to Julian’s philosophy, if money wasn’t earned, it was a loss.
The young Wizards let out a wave of boos at Theodore’s figure.
“Thank you, Julian.
The Nott family has produced quite a few Death Eaters, some of whom were caught by my parents, so he always purposely picks faults,” Neville walked to Julian’s side and said in a low voice.
“You must be careful of him.”
Julian nodded.
The young Wizards finished watching the fun and turned to follow Hagrid, continuing to walk toward Hogwarts Castle.
Hagrid led them to a huge oak door, raised a massive fist, and knocked three times on the Castle door.
The door opened in response.
A new world opened up to Julian.