Today is the start of the school year, but this time it's noticeably different from usual.
Mr. Weasley informed Harry that this time, they would be taken to King's Cross Station by a special escort from the Ministry of Magic.
Harry didn't expect to receive such treatment, but Mr. Weasley told him that Fudge was already overwhelmed with the Sirius Black escape incident, and if Harry were to be attacked, Fudge wouldn't be able to hold onto his position as Minister of Magic.
Hearing Mr. Weasley's words, Harry was speechless inside.
He felt that for Fudge, preserving his position as Minister of Magic was more important than protecting him—or rather, protecting him was just a means to preserve his position.
They got their luggage ready, crossed the sidewalk, and arrived in front of the two cars prepared by the Ministry of Magic.
Both cars were old-fashioned, deep green vehicles, and the first car was operated by a wizard in a bright green velvet suit, looking sly.
"Get in the car," Mr. Weasley said to Harry. "And you, Ron, Fred, George, the four of you take one car, and I'll be in the other with Ginny, Percy, and your mum."
Ron was pleased not to be riding with Percy since he had just offended him.
And Percy's manner of forgetting his brothers after getting a girlfriend made Ron quite disdainful to the extreme.
Soon, they arrived at King's Cross Station, and under Mr. Weasley's nervous and orderly direction, they got out of the car and reached Platform 9 3/4.
Mrs. Weasley kissed each of them goodbye, including Hermione and Harry. Finally, Mr. Weasley said, "Is everyone ready? Quickly, get on the train!"
"Wait a moment," Mrs. Weasley said, pulling out some Galleons from her deep green handbag. "I didn't prepare sandwiches for you today, so take this money and buy something to eat on the train."
The Weasley kids originally felt depressed seeing the large green handbag in their mother's hand, but they all cheered up ecstatically. Having assumed it would be sandwiches, they never expected their mother to be so generous with Galleons today.
Oh my, they really didn't want to eat those sandwiches. Not that they weren't tasty, but having them too often was somewhat overwhelming.
"I think you all should get on the train now," Mr. Weasley said, finally looking at Harry. "Harry, remember what I told you, okay?"
"Of course, thank you for the reminder, Uncle Arthur," Harry obediently replied.
As they boarded the train, Percy left with Penelope Kriwatt, the Ravenclaw senior, amid the jeers of his younger siblings.
The Weasley twins found their friend Lee Jordan, who reportedly was eager to show them an enormous scorpion he'd acquired.
"Your prophecy last year was spot on," Ron said to Hermione. "I remember you predicted something, what was it? You said Lee Jordan would surely get a giant scorpion this year, and it turns out he really did."
"What do you think it will be next year?" Harry asked Hermione.
As they spoke, Ginny had also left to join her girlfriends.
"I think it will be an even more bizarre creature." Hermione shuddered as if thinking of something terrifying. "Let's go, we'd better get on the train, or we won't have a place to sit."
Harry and Ron followed Hermione onto the train, searching for an empty compartment along the corridor, but all were full, except for the last one.
This compartment only had one person, who was sitting by the window, seemingly asleep and looking weary.
The three paused at the door threshold.
The Hogwarts Express is usually for students, and they had never seen an adult there, except for the witch who pushed the food trolley.
This stranger was wearing an extremely shabby wizard's robe, patched in several places, looking sickly and exhausted.
Although he seemed quite young, his light brown hair was already streaked with gray.
It was evident that this wizard's life wasn't going well, making him... tired.
"Who do you think he is?" Ron asked softly.
They sat down, closing the door, trying to sit as far from the window as possible.
"Professor R.J. Lupin," Hermione whispered immediately.
"How do you know?" Ron looked suspiciously at Hermione. "I sometimes feel you know everything. Maybe the nickname 'Miss Omniscient' that Professor Snape gave you isn't wrong."
At Ron's remark, Hermione wasn't offended. She seemed to have completely accepted the nickname "Miss Omniscient."
"It's written on his suitcase," Hermione replied, pointing to the luggage rack above the man.
There was a worn-out little suitcase tied neatly with many strings.
The words "Professor R.J. Lupin" were printed in one corner, although the letters were peeling off.
"I wonder what he teaches?" Ron said, frowning at Professor Lupin's profile.
"Isn't it obvious, Ron?" Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "Think about which professor had to resign last semester due to some incidents."
Ron suddenly realized and said, "Oh, I remember, it was Lady Rozier... Dear me, I can't quite understand it. Lady Rozier was such a competent professor, even helping the Ministry of Magic capture that, well, embroidery cushion Lockhart. Such a respectable lady being forced out by the parents' union is truly absurd... I can hardly imagine any professor more suitable for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class than her."