When Neville asked the question, Hermione shot him an appreciative look.
She’d been about to ask the same thing.
Now she didn’t have to.
“A diviner rarely reads his own fate.” Hylan spread his hands, helpless.
“So I have no idea which house I’ll get.”
“You’re so clever.
Probably Ravenclaw…”
Neville caught the shift in Hermione’s eyes mid-sentence and swerved hard.
“Or Gryffindor, of course.
Definitely could be Gryffindor.”
Hermione’s expression settled back to normal.
She didn’t want to be separated from Hylan.
Neville exhaled quietly.
He didn’t think he was being clever.
Hermione’s glare was just that terrifying.
“Honestly, any house is fine.
Just being at Hogwarts is lucky enough for me.”
“It definitely won’t be Slytherin.” Hermione’s reasoning was dead serious.
“You’re too kind and decent.
Nothing like them.”
She glanced toward the corridor, as if checking for the students who’d been throwing slurs around earlier.
“Exactly,” Neville agreed.
To him, Hylan’s clothes might be worn, but he was warm and decent.
Steady.
The kind of person you trusted without thinking.
And he had a way of talking that made you want to believe him.
A wizard that polite and good-natured was rare, even among the old pureblood families.
No way he’d end up in Slytherin.
The train curved past winding rivers and grassy hills.
The orange sun wobbled on the horizon like a boiled egg yolk, getting swallowed bite by bite.
They were nearly there.
“Robes first.
Ladies first.”
Hylan and Neville stepped into the corridor and turned their backs to the glass, blocking the door with their bodies.
A few minutes later, Hermione emerged in her robes.
“Your turn.”
Neville and Hylan went in and changed.
It was just pulling robes on, really.
The standard uniform included a pointed black hat, but almost no one ever wore it.
The moment they finished, Neville started scrambling around the compartment.
“Trevor’s gone again!
Gone!”
“I lost him again.
He’s always trying to get away from me.”
He looked ready to cry.
“Relax.
I promise you’ll find him at Hogwarts.”
Hylan kept his tone easy.
Trevor was a conceptual deity of escape.
Blink and he vanished.
If he remembered right, Neville spent most of his school years either looking for Trevor or on his way to look for Trevor.
If that freedom-loving toad could spare a little courage for its owner, Neville would be the bravest kid in Gryffindor.
“Really?”
“Of course.
I saw it in a reading.
Don’t worry.”
[Silver Tongue: Proficiency +1]
There was no reading.
Hylan just remembered Trevor turning up later on the boats to Hogwarts.
Why?
No idea.
The toad spent its whole life running and never got away.
The tragedy of a pet toad, he supposed.
“What’s wrong?” Hermione poked her head in.
Hylan gave her the short version.
She joined in comforting Neville until he finally calmed down.
“Seriously, Neville.
You should learn the Summoning Charm.
Then if Trevor disappears, you just summon him.
No more searching.”
Neville wiped his eyes on his plain robes.
“I will learn it.
I swear.”
A voice echoed through the train.
“We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes.
Please leave your luggage on the train.
It will be taken to the school separately.”
The train slowed, then stopped.
After the long journey, the young witches and wizards had finally arrived.
“Shouldn’t we get off?” Neville watched a lamp bobbing along the platform.
“No rush.
We’ll go once the crowd thins out.” Hylan’s voice was calm.
He never liked shoving through packed crowds.
Six or seven minutes later, they stepped off the train onto a tiny, dark platform.
Honestly, Hylan didn’t get it.
Wizards had spells like Scourgify.
So why did so many things still look battered and caked in dust?
The lamp Neville had spotted drifted toward them.
As it got closer, the first-years realized it was being carried by an enormous man.
A giant, really, striding toward them with the lamp in one massive hand.
“Whoa.” A redheaded boy stared up at Hagrid, awestruck.
“First years!
First years over here!”
Hagrid’s huge frame, wild hair, and bushy beard made plenty of the young students tense up.
Hermione didn’t look scared, but her fingers found the edge of Hylan’s sleeve and held on.
“Follow me, first years!” Hagrid’s rough voice boomed through the darkness.
“Mind your step.
Right then, first years, follow me!”
They stumbled down a steep, narrow path behind him.
Hagrid walked slowly for their sake.
A three- or four-minute walk took over twenty.
They rounded the last bend.
Hagrid called out, “No more than four to a boat,” and they climbed into the little vessels bound for Hogwarts.
Hermione, Hylan, Neville, and a student whose name they didn’t catch shared one.
The Black Lake stretched out mirror-smooth beneath a towering cliff.
Hogwarts Castle stood on top, as if built into the clouds.
Dreamlike.
Surreal.
Under the bright moon, the castle’s outline flickered in and out of view.
The glow from its windows scattered like stars across the night.
A lantern sat at the bow of each boat, tracing ribbons of light across the dark water.
The first-years stared up at the castle looming almost directly overhead.
No one breathed.
Hermione pulled her gaze away and noticed Hylan studying the boat itself.
“What are you looking at?”
“I’m wondering how Hagrid’s boat sits at the exact same waterline as ours.
He’s huge.
Is there a spell on these things?”
“Maybe they’re enchanted objects.
The boat crossing is a first-year tradition.” Neville jumped in.
“My gran told me about it.”
They were still debating the boats’ origins, half admiring the view, when Hagrid’s voice cut through.
“Duck!”
Everyone dropped their heads.
The boats carried them through a curtain of ivy covering the cliff face, down a dark tunnel to an underground harbor, and finally up onto a shore of gravel and small stones.
Once the students were ashore, Hagrid raised his lamp to check the empty boats.
“Whose toad is this?” he called out.
“Trevor!” Neville shouted, rushing over.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Thank you, Hylan.” He clutched Trevor tight.
“Now I really believe I’ll be sorted into Gryffindor.”
Theodore Nott watched Neville walk past with the toad, his face twisting in disgust.
He shoved him.
“Get away from me, you disgusting little freak.”
“Sorry…” Neville stammered, stumbling.
Hylan caught him.
The shover only pressed harder.
“You?
Gryffindor?
Don’t make me laugh.
Coward.
The Longbottom family’s really hit rock bottom.”
“You should get back on the boat.
They’ll probably assign you to scrub toilets.”
Neville’s jaw tightened under the relentless mockery.
His face went red.
“Hylan’s reading was right.
I really did find Trevor.
I know I’ll get Gryffindor.”
The commotion drew a crowd.
Students gathered, grinning and whistling.
“Yeah?” Theodore followed Neville’s gaze to Hylan.
“So you’re the one playing fortune-teller?”
He took in Hylan’s worn clothes and sneered.
“No wonder you’re running Muggle tricks.
Looks like even the Weasleys have more money than you.”
The crowd burst out laughing.
Ron glanced around and muttered under his breath.
“He’s not wrong, but I really want to punch him.”
Harry grabbed Ron’s arm.
“Isn’t that against school rules?”
“We’re not even students yet.”
“Good point.
Go ahead.”
Before Ron could take a swing, Hylan spoke, unhurried.
“Sir, we’re all going to be classmates.
Is that really necessary?
If you’d apologize to Mr.
Longbottom, I’d be very pleased.”
“I don’t care what pleases you.
Why should I apologize?
Look at him.
There’s no way a coward like that ends up in Gryffindor.”
“What’s going on here?”
Hagrid had finished checking the boats and pushed through the crowd, lamp in hand.
Students scrambled aside.
“Nothing.
His robes were dirty.” Hylan reached out and brushed Theodore’s collar.
The motion looked an awful lot like going for his throat.
Theodore jerked back two steps.
“All right, let’s move.” Hagrid shoved forward to lead the way.
“We’ll see about that.” Theodore shook out his sleeves and turned to leave.
Hylan caught his sleeve.
“And if Mr.
Longbottom does get Gryffindor?”
The crowd pressed in again.
A few students who knew Theodore shouted encouragement.
“Theodore Nott, answer him!”
“What are you scared of?”
“Make the bet!”
Theodore scanned the crowd and yanked his sleeve free.
“If he gets Gryffindor, I’ll apologize.”
Not stupid, then.
He wasn’t taking the bait.
“Nice try.
An apology was the price before.
It’s gone up.”
Hylan stepped into his path.
“If Mr.
Longbottom gets Gryffindor, you owe me ten Galleons.
And you apologize to him.”
Theodore glared at him, silent.
“No?” Hylan stepped aside and addressed the crowd.
“Looks like we’ve found a real coward.”
The students cheered.
The mood turned festive.
“I’m not falling for your tricks.
Just wait.
Move!”
Theodore shoved through the crowd and stormed off.
Hylan felt a pang of disappointment.
He’d half expected the guy to act like a brainless villain and take the bet the moment he was provoked.
Too spineless.
Boring.
By Hylan’s accounting, money not earned was money lost.
The students jeered at Theodore’s retreating back.
“Thank you, Hylan.
The Notts produced plenty of Death Eaters.
Some of them were caught by my parents.
That’s why he always picks on me.” Neville lowered his voice.
“Be careful around him.”
Hylan nodded.
The show over, the first-years turned and followed Hagrid toward the castle.
He led them to a massive oak door, raised a fist the size of a ham, and knocked three times.
The door swung open.
A new world opened before Hylan.