After Kael got on the train, the first few compartnts were almost full.
No choice, since he got on at the last minute, finding an empty seat wasn’t easy.
Kael used a Levitating Spell to carry his luggage and walked to the end, finally finding a relatively spacious compartnt at the back of the train.
There was only one boy in the compartnt, about the sa age as him. In terms of looks... though not as handso as himself, he definitely was better looking than the two Weasley twins.
"Knock knock..."
Kael knocked on the compartnt door, politely asking, "Hi, can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."
"Of course, make yourself comfortable," the boy quickly responded.
"Thank you."
Once inside the compartnt, Kael first placed his luggage on the rack, then extended a hand to the other.
"Hello, I’m a new student this year, Kael Chopper."
The boy seed to be lost in thought and didn’t respond imdiately. After realizing, he quickly extended his hand and said, "Oh... sorry, Cedric Digory, second-year at Hogwarts."
Cedric?
Kael was a bit surprised, not expecting to et a "familiar face" as soon as he boarded the train. A future Hogwarts Champion, no wonder he’s so handso.
Kael rembered that they both lived near Ottery St Catchpole, but due to various reasons, they had never t before.
Not even once.
Kael had tried to visit him a few tis initially, but the Digory residence always had its doors closed. Over ti, Kael gave up.
Unexpectedly, their first eting was on the train...
But Kael noticed that the other seed preoccupied, so he didn’t say much else. After a brief greeting, he took out the book "Ordinary Spells and Counterasures" he bought from Flourish and Blotts and started reading.
The other continued daydreaming.
Soti later, light rain began falling outside the window. It was always like this here, rain ca and went without warning.
Kael glanced out the window but wasn’t bothered; he was long used to it and even enjoyed reading in such weather.
Influenced by Kael, Cedric stopped daydreaming and also took out a book to read. From the cover, it seed to be "Dark Power: Self-defense Guide."
Studying Defense Against the Dark Arts on the train ride to school was entirely normal for Hogwarts students.
After all, no one knew how long this year’s professor would last — it wouldn’t hurt to study ahead, just in case they were gone after a couple of classes.
For a while, the only sounds in the compartnt were the rustling of parchnt, starkly contrasting the noise from the corridor outside.
But this quiet didn’t last long.
Cedric hadn’t even read two pages when the compartnt door opened again.
"Finally found you, Kael."
"We saved you a seat, but you stood us up, leaving us waiting like idiots all this ti."
"I think you owe us an apology."
Fred and George leaned against the doorway, questioning Kael sentence by sentence.
Both wore expressions of anger, as if Kael had committed a heinous act.
"I can apologize."
Kael calmly closed his book and said, "But only if you swear on a Dungbomb to prove what you said is true."
Instantly, the anger on Fred’s face turned to hesitation: "Uh, can I swear on the headmaster’s na?"
George was the sa: "Or with Professor McGonagall’s?"
"No!" Kael shook his head. "Only on a Dungbomb."
...
"Oh, George, I think Kael might be riding the Hogwarts Express for the first ti and is unfamiliar with it, which is why he couldn’t find us."
"Yes, Fred, we can’t bla him. We should pay more attention outside."
The twins exchanged a look, tacitly choosing to ignore their previous statents, squeezing into the compartnt as if nothing had happened.
Unavoidably, they spotted Cedric too.
Fred gave a mischievous grin and said, "Look who it is, now why can’t I rember?"
George raised an eyebrow and said, "Of course, it’s our Hogwarts’ good boy, the pride of Hufflepuff, Cedric Digory."
As soon as they finished speaking, Cedric’s face flushed red, nearly causing him to imprint a dent in the train from embarrassnt thanks to those cringe-worthy titles.
But he couldn’t argue back.
Because those titles, "good boy" and "the pride of Hufflepuff", originated from his father, and in just one sumr, everyone at the Ministry of Magic knew about it.
Including their families.
So this sumr, almost half the letters Cedric received were signed with "the pride of Hufflepuff."
The remaining ones ca from classmates in Muggle families, who were unaware of the matter.
It was precisely because of this that he deliberately chose this most secluded compartnt, yet he was still discovered, and by the most troubleso pair no less.
"Please, spare !" Cedric pleaded with his hands together, "I can lend you my howork."
As he spoke, a stack of parchnt was placed on the table.
The twins wanted to tease a bit more, but the offered price was too good to refuse.
After all, these were the top-of-the-year assignnts!
George’s expression turned serious, quickly clutching the parchnts to his chest, saying sternly, "What are you talking about, Cedric? Of course, we know that’s not what you ant. We were just joking."
"Exactly," Fred nodded alongside him, "Rest assured, we won’t tease you over this."
...
Fred and George left with beaming smiles, looking as if they’d just found a fortune in Galleons.
Once they left, Cedric also breathed a sigh of relief, sheepishly glancing at Kael, "Sorry, I..."
"I should be the one apologizing," Kael interrupted, "After all, they were looking for , otherwise you wouldn’t have been discovered."
Cedric shook his head with a wry smile, "It was bound to happen sooner or later."
On the train, he could hide, but once at Hogwarts, he wouldn’t be able to. He had to face it eventually, whether sooner or later.
Besides, the Weasley twins’ sudden appearance wasn’t all bad, as they showed Cedric a way to handle the situation.
Naly, with howork.
Being top of the class, his holiday assignnts were in high demand, as evidenced by the Weasley twins earlier. Using his howork to silence the mouths in Hufflepuff and Gryffindor should work.
As long as he could control them, he would have solved 80% of the problem.
Regarding Ravenclaw and Slytherin... based on their character traits, they probably wouldn’t get involved in such matters, at least the majority wouldn’t, and even if a few did, it wouldn’t matter much.
As long as his own house didn’t make a fuss, and without Gryffindor’s energetic lions joining in, this matter would blow over in three days at most.
Only three days, not long at all.
On second thought, Cedric realized maybe things weren’t so bad after all.
...
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