A girl with bushy brown curls stood in the doorway of the compartment, cradling three books in her arms.
The top one was thick enough to kill a person if dropped!
Her gaze swept across Evelyn, then over Fred and George, finally coming to rest on the miniature motor still smoking on the corridor floor.
“Excuse me, has anyone seen a toad?
A boy named Neville lost his pet.”
“Nope,” Fred said, shaking his head.
“Want to come in and sit down?” George offered, making room in the compartment.
“I still need to check the other carriages.”
Evelyn squeezed into the compartment lugging her trunk and flopped down in the window seat.
“What does the toad look like?”
“Green.
Just an ordinary toad.” The girl frowned.
“I’ve helped him search three carriages, and nobody’s seen it.”
“Does the toad have a name?”
“Trevor.”
Evelyn fished out a packet of Pop Rocks from her pocket, crushed them, and scattered the bits on the floor at the compartment doorway.
“What are you doing?”
“Fishing for a toad.
Toads are sensitive to vibrations.
The frequency of Pop Rocks crackling and bouncing on the floor simulates insect movement.”
The girl looked down at the candy crackling and popping on the floor, her expression shifting from confusion to deep thought.
“That principle isn’t mentioned in *Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them*.”
“Because this is Muggle candy, not magic.”
The girl looked up, eyeing Evelyn for a solid three seconds.
“Are you Muggle-born too?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m Hermione Granger.”
Hermione Granger: (•̀ᴗ•́)
She extended a hand, her posture stiff and proper.
Evelyn shook it.
“Evelyn Valentine.”
“Miss Valentine, have you read *Hogwarts: A History*?”
“Nope.”
“Well, you should at least give it a read!
It contains very important school rules.
For instance, students are not permitted to bring non-standard magical equipment onto school grounds.”
Hermione’s gaze drifted toward the smoking motor in the corridor.
Evelyn didn’t blink.
“That thing’s not mine.”
Fred and George immediately raised their fingers and pointed straight at Evelyn.
Evelyn whirled around and glared at the two of them.
Fred & George: (ᗒᗜᗕ)
“Anyway,” Hermione said, sitting down across from Evelyn and stacking the three books on her lap, “I need to keep looking for the toad.
But will that stuff you scattered really attract it?”
“Just watch.”
About two minutes later, a green shape came hopping sluggishly from the end of the corridor.
It stopped at the door, tilting its head as it stared at the popping candies on the floor.
Then, it whipped out its tongue and stuck precisely to one!
Hermione: (⊙△⊙)
“Trevor!”
She lunged forward, scooping the toad into her arms.
When she looked back at Evelyn, the look in her eyes had completely changed.
“The Pop Rocks simulate the vibrational frequency of insects, causing the toad’s visual system to prioritize small moving targets.”
Evelyn leaned back against her seat, lacing her hands behind her head.
“Muggle biology class.
Middle school level.”
“This method ought to be written into the appendix of *Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them*!”
Hermione shoved Trevor into her pocket and sat back down beside Evelyn, her tone noticeably warmer than before.
“How many packets of Pop Rocks did you bring?”
“Three.”
“Could you give me one?
I want to make an experimental log when I get back.”
“Sure, but you have to do me a favor.”
“What favor?”
Evelyn pulled her Potions textbook out of her trunk, flipped to the first page, and handed it over.
“Highlight the key points for me.
I don’t get any of it.”
Hermione took the textbook and quickly scanned the table of contents.
Hermione: (˘⌣˘)
“I’ve already read this three times.”
“Great.
Once you’re done highlighting, explain it to me while you’re at it.”
“I can explain it to you, but you have to pay attention!
No zoning out!”
“Deal.”
Fred poked his head over.
“You two have known each other for five minutes, and you’re already doing academic collaborations?”
George sighed.
“We’re in third year, and Fred and I still haven’t found anyone willing to highlight key points for us.”
“Because your textbooks are full of doodles.”
Evelyn pointed at the Transfiguration textbook sticking out of George’s bag—a giant slug was drawn right across the cover.
…
After returning the toad to Neville, Hermione officially settled into the compartment.
Sitting at Evelyn’s right, she opened the Potions textbook and underlined key passages with her quill as she read aloud.
Evelyn listened while munching on Pop Rocks, chiming in every now and then.
On the opposite seat, Fred and George huddled together tinkering with stink bombs, wrapping a layer of toffee around the outside using the “sugar-coating delay method” Evelyn had suggested.
This peaceful atmosphere lasted for about twenty minutes.
Then, the compartment door was pushed open from the outside.
Three figures blocked the doorway.
The blond boy in the middle looked immaculate, his chin tilted up at a precise forty-five-degree angle.
Draco Malfoy!
Standing on either side of him were two square-shaped human beings—broad-shouldered, heavy-set, and clutching boxes of Chocolate Frogs.
Draco Malfoy swept his gaze around the compartment, his eyes pausing on Evelyn for two seconds.
“You again.”
Evelyn chewed her Pop Rocks and replied muffledly, “You again.”
Draco Malfoy: (#`O´)
“I remember what you did back at Madam Malkin’s!”
“Which thing?”
“You tied me up with a measuring tape!”
“Oh, that.
Well, it was measured, wasn’t it?
Your waist is twenty-one inches.”
The tips of Draco Malfoy’s ears turned visibly red.
He stepped forward, attempting to loom over the seated Evelyn with his height.
Unfortunately, he was only eleven years old, making his height advantage practically zero.
Behind him, Goyle mumbled, “Draco, is this the Mudb—”
“Shut up!”
Hermione snapped her textbook shut and stood up.
Though she was also only eleven, her presence standing up was far more imposing than Draco’s standing over anyone!
“What do you think you’re doing?
This compartment is taken!”
Draco Malfoy glanced at her.
“Granger, isn’t it?
Muggle-born.
I wasn’t talking to you.”
Hermione squeezed the edge of her textbook, her lips pressed into a tight line.
Evelyn glanced at Hermione.
She looked down and pulled an object from a side compartment in her trunk.
Aluminum alloy, standard twenty-eight inches, with non-slip grip tape wrapped around the handle.
It was a baseball bat!
Fred & George: (☉ω☉)
“Valentine,” Fred whispered, “why on earth do you have a baseball bat in your trunk?”
“Self-defense equipment.”
“Muggles use *that* for self-defense?”
“Muggles use this to hit home runs.”
Evelyn stood up holding the baseball bat, its tip nearly poking the carriage ceiling.
Draco Malfoy stared at the silver metal bat, instinctively taking half a step back.
Goyle didn’t back down.
He held the box of Chocolate Frogs out in front of him, as if trying to block her view with the bulky package.
“What are you gonna do?
There are three of us!”
“So what if there are three of you?”
Evelyn rested the bat over her shoulder, tilting her head as she looked at the Chocolate Frogs in Goyle’s hands.
“Are there still frogs in that box?”
“It’s full.”
Goyle shook the box.
Inside, seven or eight Chocolate Frogs were hopping around lively.
Evelyn’s gaze shifted from the box to Draco Malfoy’s face, then back to the box.
She smirked.
Goyle realized something a second too late, but it was already too far gone.
The aluminum alloy bat carved a flawless arc through the air, striking the box of Chocolate Frogs in Goyle’s hands with pinpoint precision!
“Home run!”
The box exploded.
Seven Chocolate Frogs, wrapped in shredded paper and chocolate crumbs, flew en masse in a single direction.
Straight at Draco Malfoy’s face!
The first frog splattered against his forehead, the second stuck to his left cheek, and the third slipped right down his collar.
The fourth frog dangled from his ear.
The remaining three landed in his hair, turning his sleek blonde locks and melting chocolate into a gooey sludge.
Draco Malfoy: (°O°(⊃.☉≡☉⊂)
The entire corridor went dead silent for three seconds.
Crabbe stood with his mouth agape, forgetting to breathe.
Goyle stared down at his empty hands, completely dazed.
Draco Malfoy froze on the spot, chocolate dripping down the bridge of his nose while a Chocolate Frog kicked frantically inside his collar.
Hermione’s textbook slipped onto her knees.
Hermione: (⑉⊙ˍ⊙⑉)
“Evelyn, the arc you just hit with that baseball bat…
the launch angle was approximately thirty-seven degrees.”
“Thirty-five,” Evelyn corrected.
“A thirty-five-degree launch angle strike, utilizing the Chocolate Frogs’ own springiness to create a scatter effect…”
Hermione nudged her nose, her words tumbling out rapidly.
“That principle is close to the ballistic dispersion model in Muggle physics!”
“You know ballistics too?”
“My parents are dentists, but I read broadly in my spare time.”
Fred clapped vigorously from the back.
George was furiously scribbling something on his palm with a quill.
Draco Malfoy finally snapped out of his chocolate-soaked stupor.
He yanked the struggling frog from his collar, chocolate goo splashing all over his hands.
“You!
Evelyn Valentine!
You!”
“You’ve got a frog on your face,” Evelyn said, pointing the tip of her bat at his left ear.
Draco Malfoy reached up to touch it, feeling only slimy sludge.
Trembling with rage, he clenched his fists and turned to bolt out of the compartment.
Crabbe and Goyle froze for a beat before stumbling after him.
Draco Malfoy’s furious roar echoed down the corridor: “I’m going to write to my father about this!”
Evelyn slid the baseball bat back into the side slot of her trunk, sat back down, and dusted off her hands.
[Ding!
Key character “Draco Malfoy” suffered a dual Physical + Mental critical hit.
Mischief Points +150!]
[Bonus Achievement Unlocked: “Honey Badger’s Loyalty”.
Protected a teammate in a conflict!
Extra reward +50!
Current Total: 630.]
Hermione sat beside her, fingers still resting on the textbook.
“Do you usually do this?”
“Do what?”
“Resolve social disputes with a baseball bat.”
“Only when the other side isn’t polite first.”
Hermione thought for a moment, closed her book, and sat up straight.
“That word he tried to say earlier…
I’ve read about it in a book.
It’s a derogatory slur used in the wizarding world against Muggle-borns.”
“I know.”
“Is that why you hit him?”
“I didn’t hit him.
I hit Goyle’s Chocolate Frogs.
They just happened to fly into his face.”
Hermione stared at her for five seconds.
Then, she pulled out the packet of Pop Rocks from her pocket and placed it beside Evelyn’s hand.
“Here, you can have this back.”
“Didn’t we agree I’d give it to you in exchange for highlighting key points for me?”
“I’ll still highlight the key points.
But I don’t need the candy.”
“Why?”
Hermione flipped the Potions textbook to chapter two and picked up her quill again.
“Because you stood up for me against that word.
That’s worth way more than a packet of Pop Rocks.”
…
The corridor outside fell quiet once more.
The train sped through a rolling expanse of low hills as the darkening sky reflected off the compartment window.
Evelyn leaned against the window, listening to Hermione explain how cauldron materials affected potion purity, while chewing on her last piece of Pop Rocks.
Three knocks on the door interrupted the lesson.
Fred poked his head out to look, turning back with a look on his face that said *showtime*.
“Valentine, you’ve got visitors.”
Outside stood two identical redheads, each holding a wooden box.
Fred & George (outside version): ( ≖ᴗ≖✧)
“We switched carriages to test things out and just came up with a new recipe.”
George opened his wooden box, revealing six sugar-coated spheres arranged neatly inside.
“Want to give ’em a shot, Valentine?
Consider it a payback for teaching us that delay trick.”
Evelyn looked down at the sugar-coated spheres, then at George’s excessively sincere smile.
She drew an unopened packet of Pop Rocks from her pocket and spun it around her fingers.
“Sure, but let me offer a fair trade.
You eat one of mine first.”