When Harry was still struggling through the crowd, dragging his heavy trunk with great effort, Wade had already found an empty compartment and sat down.
Taking advantage of the solitude, he changed into his school robes early and pulled out Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to start reading.
Over the past month, Wade had skimmed through all the books he'd bought. Content-wise, Fantastic Beasts (also known as Where to Find Magical Creatures) was his favorite. Part of that fondness probably stemmed from the author—Newt Scamander, the protagonist of another film series set in the same universe. Newt had a deep love for all magical creatures and, more importantly, a magical suitcase that Wade envied to no end.
After a while, the compartment door suddenly slid open. A brown-haired girl stood in the doorway, looked around with her chin slightly raised, and asked,
"Excuse me, is anyone else coming to sit here?"
Wade's gaze swept past her rather noticeable front teeth.
"Nope," he said.
"Oh."
The girl dragged her suitcase in, sat down, and looked up.
"Hi, I'm Hermione. Hermione Granger."
Wade closed his book and extended his hand.
"Wade Grey."
"You're reading Fantastic Beasts? So you're a first year too? I am! Oh, and I've already memorized the entire book—actually, all the textbooks." Hermione spoke in rapid-fire bursts, tinged with a bit of pride. "I've also been practicing a few simple spells—they work! For example—Lumos!"
A soft glow bloomed at the tip of her wand.
"I haven't memorized the books," Wade said, pulling out his own wand. "But—Lumos!"
Two small, glowing orbs lit up the compartment, casting reflections in each other's light like a silent nod of kinship. Hermione beamed and whispered, a little breathless with wonder,
"Amazing, isn't it?"
Wade nodded quietly.
Then Hermione suddenly seemed to remember something. She hurried to explain,
"Oh—I'm a Muggle-born… that is, from a non-magical family. No one in my family understands magic. Tricks like this must be pretty ordinary for you, huh?"
Wade replied,
"Not really. My parents can't use magic either."
"Then we can help each other at school!" Hermione said cheerfully. "I mean, the kids from wizarding families probably grew up learning magic at home, right? I really don't want to be the worst student."
"You definitely don't need to worry about that." Wade chuckled. "I'm pretty sure no one else memorized their textbooks. You might be the only one. That's seriously impressive, Miss Granger."
"Well, um… not really… I mean—some parts were pretty hard, and there were a few spells I didn't dare to try at home. The book said messing them up could have… scary consequences." Hermione blushed and stammered a little.
Just as she was flustered, the compartment door opened again. Hermione breathed a little easier and turned her head.
A round-faced boy stood at the door, hesitating, and asked in a small voice,
"Sorry—can I sit here?"
"Of course! Come in!" Hermione answered enthusiastically before Wade could say anything.
The boy awkwardly placed his trunk and sat down, nervously twisting his fingers like he wasn't used to talking to people.
"I'm Hermione Granger," she offered first. "And this is Wade Grey. We're both first years. What's your name?"
"Neville," the boy said. "Neville Longbottom. Uh—first year too."
"Oh, are you from a non-magical family too?" Hermione asked curiously.
Neville lowered his head.
"No… my parents are both wizards."
"Then you must already know a lot of spells?" Hermione asked. "I only know Lumos and Reparo—and I'm still not sure about the full-body bind spell. Is it Petri-ficus To-ta-lus, or Petrifi—cus Tota—lus?"
Neville blinked.
"Petri… what now?"
Hermione blinked back, clearly not understanding what confused him.
Neville looked miserable.
"I—I haven't even gotten Lumos to work yet!"
"Oh…" Hermione looked slightly disappointed but also a bit relieved. She straightened up a little and said,
"Well, that's okay! I can teach you—I mean, we can learn together…"
Neville looked like he was about to cry.
"Neville," Wade suddenly said, "what's moving in your pocket?"
Neville glanced down.
"Oh, that's my pet. It loves to run around."
He fished a grayish-black toad out of his pocket and held it proudly in his palm.
"Look, his name's Trevor."
Wade and Hermione instinctively leaned back, trying not to make it obvious as they put some distance between themselves and the warty little creature.
The squat toad stretched its legs and suddenly leapt from Neville's hand. Since he hadn't closed the compartment door earlier, Mr. Trevor seized the chance to make a break for freedom—two bounces, and he was gone.
Neville stared at his now-empty hand for a second before letting out a wail.
"Trevor!"
He bolted out of the compartment. Wade heard a thud as the boy smacked into a wall outside.
Hermione and Wade looked at each other.
Hermione muttered,
"The letter did say toads were allowed, but I didn't think anyone would actually bring one as a pet!"
Wade nodded in agreement. He knew that some golden, pink, or emerald green toads could be considered cute, but that dull, knobbly one? How could anyone genuinely like it?
Well—Neville truly did love his toad.
After quite a while, the boy returned, wiping his eyes and sniffling.
"I couldn't find him—everyone said they hadn't seen him—"
Wade tried to reassure him.
"The train's sealed. You can look again when we get off—I'm sure he'll turn up." After all, who would steal a toad?
Neville didn't look comforted. Tears still streamed down his face.
Seeing how upset he was, Hermione sighed helplessly and stood up.
"I'll help you look for him."
She gave Wade a glance, silently asking if he'd come too. Wade shook his head.
Hermione and Neville left, and the noisy compartment fell quiet.
Wade looked out the window. Rolling hills drifted slowly past.
He knew that if he went with them, he'd run into Harry and Ron. And at eleven, it was easy to become friends. That trio could easily become a quartet.
But after thinking it over, Wade felt no need to latch onto the main characters. What drew him in wasn't the childish "defeat the Dark Lord" adventure of this year's story—it was the magic itself.
And that, on its own, was already fascinating enough.
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