Fragments of sunlight fell through the dusty window glass, illuminating Hermione where she sat. The light caught the edges of her hair, giving her an almost ethereal, princess-like glow.
Opposite her, Ron Weasley shifted in his seat, feeling extremely weird. He looked at the girl, then at the empty space in her hands.
"As a magician, you forgot to bring your wand?" he asked, his voice tinged with incredulity. To a wizard born and raised, a wand was like a limb.
Hermione tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, her expression apologetic. "I'm a careless person."
"..."
Harry Potter didn't say much. He sat quietly, his green eyes darting between Ron and the strange girl. He was still a novice magician, completely new to this world, and felt he didn't have much say in this field.
Ron hesitated. "What's your name?"
Even though Hermione looked very beautiful and cute—her presence commanding a certain respect—the wand was the lifeline of a magician. Of course, Ron would not lend it out easily to a stranger.
"Hermione Granger."
"My name is Ron Weasley." Ron pointed a thumb toward the boy with the glasses. "His name is Harry Potter."
Harry Potter nodded politely, adjusting his broken frames. "Nice to meet you."
In the early days of the original movie, Hermione was portrayed as very proud, bossy, and generally unpopular. She would have marched in and demanded assistance. But here, this version of Hermione retained an excellent temperament and a low-key quality. Coupled with her striking appearance, she did not annoy Ron and Harry Potter.
On the contrary, they thought Hermione was a very interesting and lovely girl.
With a sigh of resignation mixed with curiosity, Ron reached into his pocket and gave Hermione his wand. Although he was reluctant to part with it—it was a hand-me-down, chipped and worn—he was also full of anticipation, wondering what kind of magic Hermione would cast.
Hermione's fingers closed around the wood.
This was her first time holding a wand. Instantly, she felt it—a soul-shaking magical power condensing in her hands, a hum of energy that traveled up her arm like a static shock.
In the wizarding world, the wand chooses the wizard. Only a wand suitable for a magician can allow them to release magic wantonly and with precision. However, even if the wand repels the user, it can still release magic, though it requires significantly more effort.
Hermione took a breath, focused on Harry's bridge, and chanted the spell.
"Oculus Reparo."
Nothing happened. A few sparks sputtered from the tip and died.
Unlike in the original play where she succeeded instantly with perfect diction, Hermione here tried again. And again. Her brow furrowed in concentration, sweat prickling her hairline.
On the third try, the magic took hold.
A beam of light shot out, hitting the glasses. The tape vanished, the crack sealed with a satisfying snap, and the frames looked good as new. It was a miraculous recovery of Harry Potter's glasses.
Harry took them off, inspecting them in amazement. "So amazing!"
"Thank you," Harry Potter said, looking at her with genuine gratitude.
Hermione smiled, handing the wand back to Ron handle-first. "You're welcome."
Speaking of which, Hermione didn't linger. She said her goodbyes and turned to leave.
Ron opened his mouth, wanting to stop Hermione. It was good for everyone to chat and laugh together; she seemed nice, and he felt a pull to keep her there. But it was not so good to meet for the first time today and be too forward.
Harry Potter seemed to see that Ron was interested in Hermione, catching the longing look on his friend's face. But Harry Potter was not a person who liked to gossip, so he just smiled knowing and didn't say much.
As she walked back to her compartment, the cool mechanical voice of the System rang in Hermione's mind.
[Congratulations on completing the task. Reward: Basic Attribute +1]
At this time, Hermione called up the interface. The light curtain shimmered into existence, showing Hermione's various attributes. There were so many attributes that it was simply jaw-dropping.
The list scrolled endlessly. From the attributes of the body, such as: Strength, Agility, Speed, Attack, Magic, and so on... to Architecture, Medicine, Art, and more.
There were as many as hundreds of basic attributes.
Hermione sat down in her empty seat, indeed a little stunned by the variety. She needed to be strategic. After careful consideration, she concluded that Agility, Speed, Defense, and Magic were the four things she needed most at the moment.
She thought about [Defense], which would give her more ways to save her life in this dangerous world. But after thinking about it, just +1 wouldn't add much to physical resilience.
As a magician, the focus should be on the core skill first.
So, Hermione mentally selected the option and just gave [Magic] +1.
She waited for a surge of power, a glow, anything.
As expected, she felt nothing.
Sitting on the train, Hermione didn't waste any time. She pulled out her book and continued to recite complex magical spells, murmuring the incantations under her breath.
In fact, even without a wand, a magician can release magic through spells, but the effect will be weaker, uncontrolled.
In the original play, before he even knew he was a wizard, Harry Potter made the glass of a python enclosure vanish at the zoo simply because he lost control of his emotions.
Magic is a very magical, volatile thing.
Hours passed. The scenery outside darkened.
Hermione closed the Primary Magic Book and rubbed her sore eyes. She didn't expect that after finally graduating from high school in her previous life, the first thing she would do in another world was to recite text again.
What a headache.
Fortunately, Hermione had always been a student with excellent grades. Such students knew how to think critically and summarize the most suitable learning methods by themselves.
So, she managed to get twice the result with half the effort.
Suddenly, the train began to slow. The brakes screeched, metal grinding on metal.
The train stopped. Hermione stood up and looked out the window. To her surprise, as the students filed out onto the platform, she realized they were not at the Hogsmeade station near Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
They were in the middle of a bustling, cobblestone street.
It was the famous magician's commercial street—Diagon Alley.
Hermione frowned, confusion clouding her features. In the original play, Diagon Alley is obviously in London, England, concealed behind the Leaky Cauldron, while Hogwarts is far away in the highlands of Scotland. So why did the train get off at Diagon Alley?
Hermione began to have a very bold guess.
Isn't this an authentic movie world?
Perhaps the geography had been altered for the sake of the plot or convenience in this parallel dimension.
There were many new students pouring onto the platform. Coming to Hogwarts required supplies. They needed to buy their own things. Although the school houses would give out some basics, such as clothes and hats, quilts, and so on, the specialized equipment was the student's responsibility.
The wand is very important to a magician, so anyone with a certain financial strength would buy a custom one themselves.
And of course, the magic broom.
The noise of the crowd washed over her.
The most famous place in Diagon Alley is, of course, Gringotts Wizarding Bank.
This is the bank run by the goblins, a towering white building that dominates the street. The huge legacy of Harry Potter is stored in the vaults deep below. It is rumored that the money that Harry Potter can't spend in all his life comes from his grandfather.
Harry Potter's grandfather's family was particularly wealthy—old money—and had a single lineage.
So Harry Potter's father was the super-rich second generation, who gave birth to Harry. If it wasn't for Voldemort murdering them, Harry Potter would be the third generation of a famous, pure-blood wizarding aristocracy.
So, Harry Potter and the Ugly Duckling are the same stories in essence.
Harry Potter is not a soil duck, but a suffering white swan waiting to remember his wings.
This is different from Hermione and Ron. Especially Hermione; her social status in this world, as a Muggle-born with no Galleons to her name, is actually the lowest.
She walked past the shop windows, taking in the sights.
Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. This store is the favorite place for new magic students to come to every year because it has the best wizard robes in the wizarding world. The mannequins in the window displayed everything: sequin types, non-iron types, decorative types, self-cultivation types, loose and casual types, extended versions, and even constant-temperature robes. Everything one could imagine.
Further down was Flourish and Blotts.
This bookstore is also very popular with students. It is probably the only bookstore that offers study textbooks to Hogwarts students, as well as beginner wizarding books, bestsellers, and ancient tomes.
And then, the most mysterious of them all: Ollivander's Wand Shop.
This store, although it doesn't look very stylish—in fact, it was a crowded, cramped, and dilapidated store with peeling gold letters—was where the wand that Voldemort used back then was purchased.
Every wand is not easy to make. It needs unicorn hair, phoenix tail feathers, or the heartstrings of dragons as the core, and the body is made of different quality wood—holly, yew, vine.
The wand has spirituality. It will become a master-servant relationship with a magician with the same temperament and will, and it can exert unexpected magic power. On the contrary, if they are mutually exclusive, it will not only affect the casting effect of magic but also have negative effects.
In addition to these essential shops in Diagon Alley, the street was packed with others: Eeylops Owl Emporium, Slug & Jiggers Apothecary, the Daily Prophet main office, a junk shop full of broken wands, Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions, the Magical Menagerie, Obscurus Books, Quality Quidditch Supplies, a changing ink stationery store, second-hand robe stores, and more.
Anyway, it was very lively.
It was completely different from the original timeline where they shopped before the train ride.
Today is the day when the school starts at Hogwarts, and the shop owners in Diagon Alley are also delighted. Today, such a train of students meant they can make a lot of money again.
The low-key Hermione was the last to get off the train after she figured out the situation.
She stood on the platform, clutching her small bag. She was poor. The Granger currency exchange hadn't happened yet, and she had no wizard gold.
As she was thinking about what to do, biting her lip in worry, she took a step forward and felt something hard under the sole of her shoe.
Click.
She froze. Hermione's face immediately brightened.
That's right. Her weird passive skill—the cosmic joke of her existence—came true again.
She looked down. She had picked up money again.
And it wasn't a lot, but to a broke student in a magical world, it was a start.