Matthew smiled. "Is he really that special?"
Jerry's face fell. "He looks completely ordinary. If I hadn't heard the Weasleys talking, I wouldn't even have realized he was Harry Potter. He doesn't look anything like a savior."
"You know, he's the one who defeated…" Jerry paused for a moment. "Defeated You-Know-Who!"
"Perhaps that was his parents' achievement," Matthew said, taking a sandwich out of his pocket. "Want one? I've still got more."
Jerry accepted the sandwich, looking somewhat surprised.
"That's the first time I've ever heard anyone put it that way."
Matthew took out another sandwich for himself and bit into it before continuing.
"His parents were there that night too. James and Lily Potter were killed by You-Know-Who on the same night he disappeared."
Jerry's eyes lit up, as though he had stumbled upon some hidden truth.
"And after that night, You-Know-Who vanished. So maybe the Potters really did take him down with them. That honestly sounds far more believable than a newborn baby being the savior. But if that's the case, why does everyone think Harry Potter is the savior?"
"Who knows?" Matthew said. "Maybe people at the time needed a savior who was still alive."
He didn't remember all the details. In his previous life, he had only seen two of the films, and some of what he knew came from things he'd read online.
When he had first transmigrated here, Voldemort was still active. But he had been too young then to have any chance of being involved in any of it.
At that moment, the compartment door slid open.
A brown-haired girl stood there, peering in with one hand on the handle.
"Have either of you seen a toad?" she asked, gesturing toward the round-faced boy behind her. "Neville's lost one."
Matthew and Jerry both shook their heads.
Seeing that Neville looked as though he were on the verge of tears, Matthew said reassuringly, "Don't worry. Magical pets always find their way back to their owners."
The girl nodded a little dejectedly. "Sorry to bother you."
She turned to move on to the next compartment, but before she could close the door, a blur of black shot past beneath her.
The shadow darted into the compartment and leapt straight into Matthew's arms.
Once she saw clearly, the girl's eyes lit up.
It was a black cat with a pair of beautiful blue eyes.
"Pidan… what have you got in your mouth?" Matthew had a bad feeling about this. He could already see what looked suspiciously like a frog's leg sticking out from the corner of Pidan's mouth.
Pidan rubbed his back against Matthew and then placed what he was holding on the table.
It was a toad.
Neville stared at the toad lying belly-up and completely motionless on the tabletop, and his expression began changing at a shocking pace.
Matthew watched as Neville's face went from sorrow, to blankness, to shock, to anger, and then right back to sorrow again—all within a matter of seconds.
If someone had recorded it and posted it online, it probably would have become legendary reaction material.
Matthew quickly checked the toad.
It had only been playing dead. The moment Matthew picked it up, it started kicking its legs. There were no visible injuries.
"Pidan didn't hurt it." Matthew let out a breath of relief. Fortunately, Pidan was smart enough not to harm other students' pets on a whim.
"Magical pets always find their way back to their owners," he said, returning the toad to Neville. "Though sometimes they come back in unexpected ways."
Realizing the toad wasn't dead, Neville immediately broke into relieved tears and laughter. He clutched it tightly in both hands, repeating, "Thank you, thank you."
The girl also relaxed. For a moment there, she had been genuinely afraid that Trevor had been bitten to death by the beautiful black cat.
Cats were adorable, of course—but hunting small animals was in their nature.
She stepped forward of her own accord and crouched in front of Pidan.
"Is his name Pidan? His eyes are very pretty." After a pause, she added, "His fur is lovely too."
"Yes," Matthew said with a smile, seeing straight through her intentions. "You can pet him. Pidan won't bite."
The girl brightened at once and reached out to stroke the fur along Pidan's back.
Pidan gave her a glance, then conveniently flopped down and began grooming one of his front legs.
After petting him for a while, the girl seemed to remember that she hadn't introduced herself yet. She looked up and said, "My name is Hermione Granger. I'm a first-year."
So this bushy-haired girl really was Hermione Granger—one of the future savior's closest companions.
"Matthew Black," he said. "And this is Jerry Abbott. We're both third-year Slytherins."
He gestured toward Jerry, who had been sitting across from him watching the whole scene unfold.
Jerry gave an awkward little greeting. He might have been talkative around Matthew, but in truth he was the sort of person who went nearly mute around strangers.
Neville had just sat down, but the moment he heard Slytherin, he flinched and jumped right back to his feet.
"S-Slytherin!"
Matthew couldn't help finding it a little amusing.
"Neville, sit down."
Neville looked at Matthew and Jerry cautiously, then said in a trembling voice, "My gran always says Slytherin has the most Dark wizards…"
Matthew smiled and said to Jerry, "Looks like Slytherin's reputation really does precede it."
Jerry rolled his eyes and didn't bother responding.
"Come to think of it," Matthew said with a faint smile, "Gryffindor doesn't actually have fewer Dark wizards than Slytherin. Strictly speaking, by proportion, Slytherin is probably the House with the fewest Dark wizards these days."
Hermione looked puzzled, so Matthew explained:
"Peace has lasted for years since You-Know-Who fell. Compared to more than a decade ago, the wizarding population has grown quite a bit.
"Among Hogwarts graduates each year, fewer than one in ten gets into the Ministry of Magic. Other careers are the same. Not every student who graduates can find work.
"In times of peace, the witches and wizards most likely to turn Dark are the ones who can't find jobs.
"And most Slytherin students come from wizarding families, so they have a much easier time finding work than Muggle-born witches and wizards."
Hermione looked as though she had just been struck by lightning.
She had clearly never considered the issue of finding a job in the future before. For a moment, she seemed to be seriously wondering whether she might have to go back and inherit her father's dental practice if things went badly.
Neville protested, "But my gran says most Death Eaters came from Slytherin!"
"You-Know-Who has already fallen," Matthew said meaningfully, looking at Neville. "As for the Death Eaters among Dark wizards—those people are either dead, or in Azkaban."
He paused very slightly.
"And the ones who aren't in Azkaban… aren't Dark wizards, apparently."
Neville's face immediately turned red.
He wanted to argue, but for a moment he had no idea where to begin.
"Then how are Houses assigned? Are the classes different between Houses? Is the quality of education different? Will it affect job prospects?" Hermione asked in a rush, firing off one question after another.
"There's a test during the Sorting," Matthew said, turning enigmatic for once. "As for the rest… you'll find out after you pass it."
"There's an entrance test too?!" Hermione looked even more anxious.
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