Just as the train left the outskirts of London and the scenery outside began giving way to open fields, the compartment door was suddenly yanked open again.
A boy stood panting in the doorway.
His brown hair was neatly combed, and he wore brand-new Muggle-style clothes.
In his hand was a seemingly expensive leather suitcase.
“Thank goodness! I finally found an empty compartment! The first few are so packed that people are standing in the corridors!”
The boy spoke loudly and casually as he swept his gaze around the compartment.
He first nodded at Hannah and Susan before finally looking at Henry.
His eyes lingered on Henry’s face for a moment.
Then they suddenly widened, his mouth unconsciously falling slightly open.
His expression shifted from extreme shock and disbelief to a mixture of realization and excitement.
“You… you… Oh my God!” The boy’s voice rose several octaves from excitement.
He pointed at Henry, his finger trembling slightly.
“You’re Prince Henry! Prince Henry of Wales! I’ve seen you on television! In the newspapers! My father’s company even attended a business forum sponsored by the Royal Family last year!”
The atmosphere inside the compartment instantly froze.
Hannah and Susan looked at the flushed, excited boy, then at Henry’s calm expression.
Although they had never watched television, they were not completely ignorant of the Muggle world.
They understood the concept of princes and royalty very clearly—it represented the highest level of secular nobility in the Muggle world, a symbol standing at the top of another enormous social structure.
It was just that seeing such an abstract concept suddenly become so concrete right before their eyes left the two young witches somewhat bewildered.
Hannah’s eyes widened slightly as well, while Susan pressed her lips together thoughtfully.
Henry sighed inwardly.
He had expected that he might be recognized, but he hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly.
I wanted to get along with you as an ordinary person…
He gave the dumbfounded boy a helpless smile while raising a hand and gesturing for him to keep his voice down.
“I think that aboard the Hogwarts Express, I’d prefer to be called ‘Henry Wales.'” His voice was calm, carrying a natural authority that made people instinctively quiet down.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. And you are?”
The boy suddenly came back to his senses, realizing that he had probably made a spectacle of himself. This story is hosted at g.com.
He hurried into the compartment, closed the door, and lowered his voice, though his excitement was still impossible to conceal.
“Justin Finch-Fletchley! Oh, sorry, Your Highness… I mean, Mr. Wales! This is incredible! I mean, I thought receiving the letter was crazy enough, but I never imagined… never imagined…”
He stumbled over his words, his eyes blazing as he stared at Henry as though he were looking at a living legend.
The hyphenated surname “Finch-Fletchley” indicated Justin’s family’s upper-class status.
In British tradition, double-barreled surnames could be inherited primarily to preserve a family name—a name that might otherwise disappear because the family had no male descendants—and such family names were often connected to the inheritance of family estates.
For example, the British Royal Family’s surname had originally been Windsor.
However, the Queen obviously would not take her husband’s surname, so after her marriage, Prince Philip’s family name was added before the existing surname, resulting in Mountbatten-Windsor.
Hannah and Susan exchanged a surprised glance.
Hannah leaned closer to Susan and whispered, “A prince? The grandson of that Muggle Queen?”
Susan nodded slightly, her curiosity toward Henry growing even stronger.
Sharing a compartment with a member of the Muggle Royal Family was far beyond anything either of them had imagined before boarding the train.
Henry nodded at Justin, his voice gentle.
“Have a seat, Mr. Finch-Fletchley. I think we still have plenty to discuss and look forward to about the magical world before we reach Hogwarts, such as which house we’ll be sorted into, don’t you think?”
He skillfully steered the conversation back toward the magical world while signaling to Justin with his eyes to calm down.
Don’t panic, you’re fine like this.
Justin also realized that he might have caused trouble for Henry.
He did his best to calm himself while putting away his luggage, nodding repeatedly.
“Of course, of course! The houses! Professor McGonagall told me there are four houses at Hogwarts… It’s incredible!”
But after sitting down, he still couldn’t help stealing glances at Henry from time to time.
Clearly, his excitement was far from over.
Hannah seemed to temporarily suppress her shock at Henry’s identity, turning her curiosity toward Justin instead.
“You’re Muggle-born? Oh, sorry, I mean, neither of your parents is a wizard?”
“Yes! Exactly! Until last month, I thought my parents were playing an incredibly elaborate joke on me!” Justin immediately became engrossed in the new topic and began enthusiastically recounting how shocked he had been when he received his letter. This chapter was taken from NovelPing without permission.
Justin was in the middle of explaining how Professor McGonagall had used a simple Transfiguration spell to turn the sofa in his family’s living room into a pig, finally convincing his parents that magic really existed, when the compartment’s sliding door was pulled open once again.
A smiling witch appeared in the doorway, pushing a cart piled high with all kinds of strange and unusual snacks.
“Anything to eat for the journey, dears? Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes, Fizzing Whizbees, pumpkin pasties, and every flavor imaginable of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans!”
All four children immediately turned their attention toward her.
The magical snacks had brightly colored packaging and gave off an enticing sweet aroma.
Hannah and Susan were clearly familiar with them.
Hannah’s eyes lit up immediately, and she pulled several silver Sickles from her pocket, buying a pack of Chocolate Frogs and several pumpkin pasties.
Susan asked for a bag of Fizzing Whizbees.
“You should try them too,” Hannah enthusiastically told Henry and Justin, pointing at the Chocolate Frogs.
“Be careful they don’t jump away! Collecting the cards is fun too.”
Justin leaned over curiously to examine the Chocolate Frog packaging.
“It moves? Is it a real frog?” He hesitated for a moment before taking out some money and buying a pack of Chocolate Frogs and a Cauldron Cake to try something new.
Henry also smiled and ordered a pack of Chocolate Frogs, a Cauldron Cake, a bag of Fizzing Whizbees, and a pack of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans.
He noticed that Justin was still somewhat unfamiliar with handling the money, but his excitement over all the new things was genuine.
Once the snacks were in their hands, the atmosphere in the compartment became even more relaxed.
“Be careful when you open the Chocolate Frog,” Hannah demonstrated for Henry and Justin as she picked one up.
“See? Like this. You have to quickly block its escape route, otherwise it’ll get away.”
Justin copied her, fumbling as he pressed down on his own frog.
He looked at the moving portrait of Dumbledore on the card and marveled.
Henry quickly grabbed his frog by the leg and bit its head off before it could escape.
“Mine is Dumbledore,” Justin said, picking up the card.
“He’s the headmaster of Hogwarts—huh? Why is he still blinking at me?”
“You can’t exactly expect him to keep his eyes open without blinking, can you?” Hannah said casually.
“That would get tiring.”