Chapter 12: Arrival at Hogwarts
At Hermione's suggestion, Ethan and Neville changed into wizard robes embroidered with their names.
"Are you hungry?"
The compartment was very quiet. Two of them were reading, while the third looked down, lost in thought. This was a sharp contrast to the noise coming from the corridor outside.
"A little. Are you getting snacks? Let's go together." Hermione rubbed her stomach, stood up, and called out to Neville, who hadn't said much.
Aside from a brief conversation after his grandmother's passing, where Hermione had asked about the extent of his magical abilities due to his wizarding heritage, she and Neville hadn't spoken. Instead, Ethan had chatted with Neville for a while to calm him down before returning to his book.
Neville glanced gratefully at Hermione, then hurriedly pulled a Galleon from his pocket.
Growing up in the magical world, Neville was familiar with most of the unusual snacks on the train. On his recommendation, the two Muggle-born students bought Chocolate Frogs, Licorice Wands, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and Cauldron Cakes, then headed back to their compartment.
"How interesting." Ethan opened a bag of Chocolate Frogs and watched the candy wriggle in his hand before taking a bite out of its head.
The frog's leg twitched twice and then stopped moving, making it look just like a real frog.
"Try it, Hermione. It's so much fun!" He chewed with chocolate crumbs still on his lips, encouraging her to try one too as he polished off the rest of the frog.
Hermione looked at him and wiped the chocolate from the corner of his mouth with her finger.
Ethan was startled and stopped chewing. This was the first time she had ever done such a thing.
Unsure why she'd done it, Hermione took out a tissue to wipe her fingers clean. Her face flushed as she looked down at the floor, not daring to meet his gaze.
"Look at the picture you got." Neville had been eating a Cauldron Cake and hadn't noticed what was going on between the two of them.
"Oh, let me see." Ethan snapped out of his daze, chewed faster, and swallowed the chocolate in his mouth.
"Dumbledore." The picture showed an old man wearing crescent-shaped glasses, with long silver hair and a white beard, and a long, crooked nose.
This wasn't the first time he'd seen a portrait of Dumbledore. Several of the books he'd bought over the summer contained brief introductions to the greatest wizard of the century.
"Let me see. It is our Headmaster, but the card isn't very rare. It's one you often get from Chocolate Frogs," Neville said, nodding.
Ethan handed the picture to Hermione, who was still looking down.
When the picture appeared before her, she reached out and took it without looking up, examining the moving photograph closely.
Ethan smiled slightly and opened another bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.
He picked up a brown one and popped it into his mouth, expecting chocolate or coffee. He bit down and immediately spat it out, gagging at the overwhelming taste of fish. "Ptooey! Ugh! Fish guts!"
Neville and Hermione giggled.
Mid-laugh, Neville suddenly stopped and cried out in alarm. "Trevor is gone!"
Trevor was Neville's toad, a pet notorious for disappearing.
"Let's check the compartment first." Seeing Neville's near-tearful expression, Ethan and Hermione quickly searched the compartment from top to bottom.
After coming up empty-handed, Hermione said to Neville, "Do you think he slipped out when we went to buy snacks?"
Neville looked at them pleadingly. "What should we do? Can you come with me to look for him?"
Ethan and Hermione exchanged a glance. "Okay, let's go. We'll search from the front of the car, and you start from the back, all right?"
Neville hesitated for a moment, looking timid, then nodded and walked toward the back of the train.
"You check the corridor, and I'll ask in each compartment." Ethan and Hermione divided up the work.
He took a deep breath, put on a smile, and opened a compartment door. "Hello, have you seen a toad?"
Hermione quickly finished checking the entire corridor and began asking at the other end of the car.
The two met up shortly after. "I didn't see him."
Rubbing his face, sore from smiling, Ethan said helplessly, "Okay, it looks like we need to head to the back of the train. Neville seems to have started searching from the back. You go with him. I'll search from the middle toward the back."
"Hmm." Hermione had just returned from the front of the car and learned from the older students that they didn't have much time left before reaching Hogwarts.
She hurried toward the back of the train, while Ethan continued to smile and ask in each compartment if anyone had seen the toad.
Just as he stepped out of one of the compartments and closed the door, he saw Hermione wave dejectedly and walk toward him from the back of the train.
"Didn't find it?"
"We've searched every single compartment and asked two or three times already, but everyone says they haven't seen a toad," Hermione said dejectedly.
"What should we do then? I'll go ask up ahead again."
Neville said, his face still streaked with tears, "Never mind, the train will be arriving soon. I think they'll find Trevor when they check the train."
Since Neville had said that, they had no choice but to give up and return to their own compartment to wait for the train to arrive at the station.
Yet despite her frustration, Hermione soon recovered and whispered to Ethan with a mysterious expression, "You'll never guess who I met: someone straight out of the history books!"
"Someone from the history books?" Ethan asked. "Dumbledore?" He already knew but played dumb.
"No, Harry Potter! The savior mentioned in Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century. The Boy Who Lived!" Hermione felt honored to be witnessing history, and, worried about Neville's reaction, she shot him a furtive glance.
"Oh, him. According to the books, he was born in 1980. Following the usual tradition of receiving an acceptance letter at eleven, he should indeed be starting Hogwarts this year." Ethan feigned sudden realization, laying out his reasoning in detail.
His logic certainly made sense.
Hermione was annoyed with herself for missing such important details in the books she'd read, but at the same time, she looked at Ethan with admiration, impressed by how thorough and meticulous his reading was.
It was already dark. Under the deep purple sky, mountains and forests stretched out. The train slowed down.
Soon, a voice echoed through the train: "The train will arrive at Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train, and we will take it to the school for you."
"Neville, don't be sad. You heard it too. If Trevor's still on the train, he'll definitely get to school safely," Hermione and Ethan said, trying to comfort the heartbroken Neville.
"Waaah, Uncle Algie bought him for me, waaah!" Neville cried even harder.
Five minutes later, the train finally came to a stop. The students pushed and shoved their way to the doors and onto a small, dark platform.