The [Dragon Knight] Wand Skin and the "Mana Bar" it activated seemed to have hidden effects beyond what the status panel showed.
Whether in his past life or his current one, Basil had never possessed such strong leadership qualities.
But now, his words and every gesture carried a compelling, charismatic charm.
Did this wand strip King Arthur's charisma—the kind that made the Knights of the Round Table follow him—and paste it onto me?
Is this why Harry was practically "licking his boots" right now, acting so devoted?
Even Ron seemed to have forgotten his insecurities.
Though, it was also possible that the book settings were just different from the movies.
Basil vaguely recalled that one of the twin sisters he dated in his past life—the younger one who preferred the books—had mentioned something. She said Hermione's brilliance in the movies was partly because the directors gave her some of Harry and Ron's best moments from the books.
Case in point: Ron right now.
Once he got comfortable, Ron started rattling off British wizarding slang and folklore without repeating himself once. Even Basil, technically a native wizard born in Britain, was impressed.
Harry learned a lot about the wizarding world just by listening.
But Ron's greatest expertise was snacks.
He knew the origin and proper way to eat every single magical treat like the back of his hand.
Take Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. The flavors included chocolate, peppermint, marmalade, spinach, toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, liver, tripe, pepper, grass, sardine, and even... dried boogers.
Ron could identify the flavor just by looking at the bean's appearance.
Harry was thoroughly impressed.
However, Basil started to notice one of Ron's flaws.
Once his chatbox opened, it wouldn't shut.
Even after introducing every snack, especially the Chocolate Frogs, he kept going.
"Harry, Basil, here! Try these corned beef sandwiches my mum made! They're savory and delicious!"
"My whole family are wizards. I'm the second youngest."
"But that has its downsides. My robes, my wand, my books... they're all secondhand!"
"Even my pet—" Ron put down a Licorice Wand and pulled a fat, sleeping gray rat out of his inner pocket. "He's a hand-me-down from Percy. His name is Scabbers. He's been in our family for almost eleven years."
Ron stroked Scabbers' fat belly familiarly, his expression darkening slightly.
Scabbers squinted his eyes and squeaked in cooperation.
"Here, have your Licorice Wand back!" Basil quickly handed it over.
My eyes! It's too painful to watch!
Just a moment ago, Ron looked gloomy. But the second he had food in his mouth, his brow smoothed out, and his hand moved away from Scabbers' belly.
"Thanks. Mmph, wait..." Ron suddenly stopped chewing. He looked Basil up and down as if seeing him for the first time. "Your last name is Granger? Holbeam Forest is in Devon, right?"
Basil was puzzled. "Yeah. Why?"
"We live in Devon too!" Ron jumped up. Scabbers went flying into the pile of snacks.
"Are you the kid from the Daily Prophet who killed the werewolf Fenrir Greyback?!"
"Because of you, my mum hasn't let us go outside for a month!"
"I bet the reason she was so mad earlier was because of that too—I wandered out of her sight."
"Killed?" Harry, who was stuffing a Bertie Bott's bean into his mouth, almost choked.
Outside the compartment door, a terrified whimper was heard.
Basil slid the door open and saw a round-faced boy.
He stood frozen, face pale, sweating bullets, and trembling.
The moment the door opened, the boy turned and ran without looking back.
Basil felt a vein throb in his forehead as he closed the door.
"Looks like he heard us."
Basil lowered his voice and looked at Harry with a creepy, sinister expression.
But Harry just burst out laughing. "You almost got me there!"
Harry was confident in his ability to read people. Ron's tone earlier had been filled with shock, not fear.
"So, what's the story?"
Basil rolled his eyes. "Don't listen to the Daily Prophet. It's a third-rate rag!"
"That werewolf was killed by a tree! A tree my grandfather planted."
"That's still incredible!" Ron looked at him with newfound respect. "Fenrir Greyback is the most savage werewolf alive."
"He makes it his mission to bite and infect as many people as possible. He wants to create an army of werewolves to overthrow wizards."
"You-Know-Who promised him prey as payment."
"Greyback specializes in children. Bite them young, take them from their parents, and raise them to hate wizards."
At this point, Ron shuddered. "Rumor has it You-Know-Who often threatened to unleash Greyback on people's children. It was a very effective threat."
"By You-Know-Who, do you mean Voldemort?" Harry tilted his head curiously.
"You said You-Know-Who's name!" Ron looked shocked and touched. "I always knew you were the only one who..."
Basil interjected seriously, "Actually, Harry, if Voldemort were still alive, I'd advise against saying his name. He put a Taboo on it. Anyone who speaks it can be tracked."
Harry looked confused. "So now?"
Basil: "Now? Say whatever you want. Just call him Voldemort. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."
Ron coughed. "I'll try. Volde... I mean, Voldemort! Whew! I said it!"
He didn't notice that Scabbers, hiding in the snack pile, had just wet himself in terror.
Basil gagged.
I am definitely not touching those snacks anymore.
But Ron, oblivious, picked up another Licorice Wand and prepared to bite into it.
Just as Basil, struggling with his conscience, was about to warn him...
Slide.
The compartment door opened again.
Standing there was a girl who looked somewhat familiar.
She had already changed into her Hogwarts robes.
A split second later, Basil searched his memories and matched the face.
Ah, his "Moneybag"—no, wait, "Generous Customer"!
But she looked furious.
She seemed to have run all the way here. She was panting heavily, her large front teeth catching the hot air, making a huff-huff sound.
She looked like a little beaver puffing out its cheeks. Quite cute, actually.
Scourgify!
While admiring the view, Basil discreetly pointed a finger at the Licorice Wand in Ron's hand and cast a Cleaning Charm.
This was another function of the [Wand Skin] component.
As long as he didn't manifest the wand physically, it traveled through his body along with the 'Mana.'
He could move the wand to his finger, allowing him to perform wandless magic like a House-elf.
"Was it you who bullied Neville?"
"And I thought you were a good person!"
"That book list must have been a scam too!"
"I'm going to tell the teacher!" The beaver-ish girl glared at Basil with her dark brown eyes.
"You crazy girl!"
"We haven't even left this compartment!" Ron stood up, blocking the space between Basil and the girl.
Huff. Huff.
Another heavy panting sound came from the corridor.
It was the round-faced boy. Clenching his fists and gasping for air, he stepped in front of the girl to protect her.
"Hermione, be careful."
"He killed someone! I heard it with my own ears!"
Basil raised an eyebrow. He patted Ron on the shoulder, signaling him to step aside.
Petrificus Totalus.
With a gentle tap of his finger, the Full Body-Bind Curse froze the round-faced boy in place.
Basil walked straight up to the girl and examined her face closely.
"So you're Hermione!"
"You don't look anything like Emma Watson."
"But... you're pretty cute."
He regretted not paying closer attention to the names when he was "Making Friends" earlier.
The [Hermione Echo] was top-tier stuff.
It was his main build in the game. Much better than the Harry or Ron Echoes.
The beaver-ish girl glared back at him, refusing to back down.
But a blush slowly crept up her cheeks.
"You really didn't leave the compartment?"
Who is Neville?
Hermione decided she didn't know him.
---