Back at the Dursleys’, Harry had never had any pocket money, so of course he’d never bought snacks.
But now he had inherited access to the Potter family vault at Gringotts and was a rich young man — naturally, he was going to splurge.
Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, pumpkin pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands…
He bought nearly everything the trolley had to offer.
Ron, on the other hand, flushed red and mumbled something about having brought sandwiches.
When Harry returned to the compartment with his huge haul of snacks, he saw that Elavin had already sat back up and put away his cushion.
“Huh, you’re awake?” “Of course I’m awake!” Elavin said matter-of-factly.
“Once you start eating in the compartment and the smells spread, how am I supposed to sleep?” “Then why did you put the cushion away?” “To keep you from spilling crumbs on it.” Harry nodded.
“Since you’re awake, that frees up space for me to put the snacks.” Elavin glanced at the pile in his arms, pulled out his wand, then fished a coin from his pocket and tossed it on the floor.
“Transfiguration!” With a clatter, the coin instantly transformed into a small square table.
It fit perfectly in the aisle between the two benches.
The tabletop was level with their chests when sitting, leaving the space underneath open.
The display stunned both of them again.
“Amazing!” “That’s the Transfiguration spell!” With a table, everything became much more convenient.
Harry spread all his snacks out on the table and sat down across from Elavin, next to Ron.
“Let’s see what tasty things the wizarding world has to offer — and let me have a taste too!” After giving up on sleep, Elavin sat up lazily and joined in.
He started picking through the snacks.
In contrast, Ron was much more reserved.
He clearly wanted to eat but felt awkward asking Harry.
He kept sneaking glances at the food while pulling out the sandwiches Mrs.
Weasley had packed for him, grumbling that she always forgot he didn’t like corned beef.
Harry quickly realized Ron was too proud to ask directly.
So he cleverly used “trading food” as an excuse to invite him to share lunch.
Ron hesitated for a moment before agreeing.
Just as they exchanged relieved glances, they realized Elavin was already chowing down.
“You…
you really don’t stand on ceremony, do you.” Ron had never met anyone quite like Elavin.
Somehow, even though he seemed a bit rude, it was hard to dislike him.
He looked up unconcernedly.
“If you’ve ever been out on the streets, you’d know that when it comes to filling your stomach, face doesn’t matter at all.” Ouch—!
Once again, Ron felt deeply embarrassed.
Waaah…
I’m such an idiot…
Ron felt so guilty he was sure he wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.
To make himself feel better, he started introducing the foods to them, from Every Flavor Beans to Chocolate Frogs.
He knew everything about them.
Each time he introduced something, Elavin and Harry ate it.
“Chocolate Frogs — they’re not actually frogs, are they?” Harry picked up a Chocolate Frog and examined it curiously.
“What are you thinking?” Elavin jumped in.
“It’s just like wife cakes don’t contain wives, or couple’s beef slices don’t actually contain couples!” “So since it’s called ‘Chocolate Frog,’ there won’t be any chocolate either?” “Uh…
huh??” Seeing Harry’s horrified look as he threw the Chocolate Frog back on the table, Ron quickly explained.
“That’s not true at all!
Chocolate Frogs are just chocolate shaped like frogs, with a spell to make them move.” With Ron’s reassurance, Harry decided to try one.
He also took out the card that came with it.
Putting collectible cards in snacks to trigger kids’ hoarding instincts and to increase sales — Elavin recognized the trick immediately.
In his past experiences, the “Little Raccoon Water Margin Cards” in instant noodles had worked exactly the same way.
Maybe they’d even been inspired by the Harry Potter books.
The three of them all got different cards.
Harry’s card was Dumbledore.
White hair, a long beard, half-moon spectacles, and a crooked nose — exactly as expected.
“It’s Dumbledore!
You’d better not tell me you don’t know who he is — he’s the greatest wizard of the century!” Ron started showing off his knowledge, as if it was the only way he could feel confident in front of Elavin and Harry.
“Of course, I know who Dumbledore is.
I saw his name on my acceptance letter.
So that’s what he looks like.” Harry nodded, turned the card over and read the description on the back.
“Albus Dumbledore, current Headmaster of Hogwarts, considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times.
Dumbledore’s well-known achievements include: defeating the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, discovering the 12 uses of dragon’s blood, and his fruitful partnership with Nicolas Flamel in alchemy…” Harry didn’t understand any of Dumbledore’s achievements, but that didn’t stop him from thinking they were impressive.
Ron’s card was a witch named “Morgana.” “Morgana again?!
I’ve already got six of her.
You can have these.
You can start collecting too.
Maybe you’ll complete a set before graduation.” He then explained the card-collecting activity.
“There are 88 figures in the set, all great figures who left remarkable achievements in wizarding history.
I’ve collected almost 500 cards so far — just missing Agrippa and Ptolemy.” “…Sounds like it’s not easy to get the whole set.” Harry paused for a moment, then decided to accept Ron’s offer.
Elavin asked curiously, “Is there any benefit to completing the set?” Ron answered, “You can exchange it for a grand prize at the snack shop in Diagon Alley.” “Doesn’t sound very interesting.” Elavin shrugged and gave his card — “Merlin” — to Harry as well.
Although wizarding snacks were novel, they weren’t exactly filling.
After sampling a few, Elavin lost interest and pulled out some pastries from his Mokeskin pouch.
Pastries he’d packed from the Ritz London, to be exact.
Since he probably wouldn’t be going back there anytime soon, he’d taken some extra before leaving.
And that wasn’t all.
Elavin reached into his Mokeskin pouch again and produced a surprisingly lavish KFC and McDonald’s combo meal!
“This is the food I brought.
You two should try some too.” “Whoa, fried chicken legs!!” Ron’s eyes went wide and he gasped, his breathing growing rapid.