She always remembered the words Soren Reed had said, and silently decided not to become an obstacle on his path of struggle, patiently waiting for the day the holidays would come again.
Soren Reed stood there, completely caught off guard, and only let out a soft sigh once her figure had faded into the distance.
Feeling the lingering warmth on his lips, he knew he had likely incurred a debt of affection that would be the hardest to repay—one that would take a very, very long time to settle...
After standing there for a long while, he etched that fleeting emotion deep into his heart and turned back to sit inside the vehicle.
In the front row, Headmistress Brent closed her eyes with a headache and spoke in an unpleasant tone: "Soren Reed... do I need to remind you both of your ages again?"
Soren Reed gave an awkward smile, acting unusually meek and offering a defense that was extremely guilty.
Headmistress Brent didn't scold him much further, but silently decided that when he returned for the next holiday, she would keep a close watch on the two of them and absolutely not let them mess around.
The vehicle started up again, driving toward the final stop.
Soren Reed turned to the side, looking back toward the school gate. Sure enough, Ella, who had just run inside, had run back out, standing on her tiptoes and waving goodbye to him vigorously.
Once again, he felt the burden on his shoulders grow a little heavier.
The origin of wizards... the method to turn Muggles into wizards... such forbidden knowledge would likely require a trip to the Restricted Section.
There was silence along the way, and twenty minutes later, they arrived at the bustling King's Cross Station.
As far as the eye could see, travelers from all directions gathered, and it was impossible to tell who were Muggles and who were Ministry of Magic employees hidden in the crowd.
Following the signs, Soren Reed and Headmistress Brentsuccessfully found Platform Nine and the slightly more distant Platform Ten.
Nearby, the flow of travelers was noticeably thinner, as if an invisible force was separating the crowd.
Soren Reed suspected there might be some kind of Muggle-repelling charm in place.
Once here, they were only a wall away from the magical Hogwarts Express.
Headmistress Brent chose not to accompany Soren Reedto the platform; although she was full of curiosity about the Wizarding World, her adult restraint made her stop there.
"Listen to your teachers when you get to school, and don't mess around. It's not like the Orphanage over there; if something happens, no one will really help you... and no one will be able to help you."
Soren Reed listened earnestly to Headmistress Brent's instructions and promised her that he would study hard.
As for school rules... well, there are plenty of students who break them. You have the Weasley twins before, and the Harry Potter trio after. If everyone breaks them, it's equivalent to no one breaking them—it'll be fine!
Headmistress Brent had watched that someone for eleven years; how could she not see through his little schemes?
Letting out a desperate sigh, she waved her hand, signaling for Soren Reed to get lost and go bother other adults—she still wanted to live a few more years.
Soren Reed gave a bright smile, bowed respectfully to Headmistress Brent to say goodbye, and turned to face the partition wall.
He took a deep breath, gripped his trolley firmly, and set off with a fearless attitude, launching a Quixotic charge toward the wall.
Behind that wall lay everything he desired—except for Ella.
As his thoughts raced, the front of the trolley made intimate contact with the wall and passed through silently.
When he looked up again, the deep red steam train was waiting quietly on the tracks ahead, just as he had seen in his dreams—
Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 28: Two hours after parting, the next "chance encounter" begins immediately!
Platform Nine and Three-Quarters—the starting point for countless young wizards embarking on their magical journey.
Soren Reed fell in love with this place at first sight. Without any sarcasm, he genuinely felt that even the air here was sweet.
Not just sweet, but with a faint milky fragrance.
While he was distracted, a hand reached out from his side, steadying his trolley and successfully helping him slow down.
"Slow down, slow down, you impatient little one~" A mellow female voice came from beside him, "The way you were pushing that trolley, it was like you were about to enter a Roman chariot race."
Soren Reed turned his head to look. It was a smiling middle-aged woman with dimples, exuding a sweet scent of candy. So, this was the source of the sweetness in the air.
"Thank you for your help, kind lady." Soren Reed quickly steadied himself and thanked her politely.
The middle-aged woman smiled gently and handed him a piece of candy: "Welcome to the Wizarding World, polite little one. Here, have a candy. Did you come all by yourself? It's a bit early right now."
Soren Reed's gaze swept over her quickly, noting that she was wearing a train staff uniform. Only then did he reach out to take the candy and nod.
"To dare to enter the station alone for the first time, you are truly brave. Perhaps you will be sorted into Gryffindor; they always welcome young heroes with courage—"
Speaking of this, the woman suddenly saw a colleague waving to her from a distance and hurriedly sped up her speech, "—Oh, I'm afraid I must take my leave, little one. We have a lot of preparations to do before the train departs. But I have a feeling we will meet again very soon~"
She rubbed Soren Reed's little head a few times and swept away like a gust of wind.
Soren Reed waved at her retreating back and popped the free candy into his mouth—mmm~~ it was a milk candy, the taste was not bad.
After the small interlude, Soren Reed was not in a hurry to get on the train and grab a seat. Instead, he approached the train to check the plaque on the side of the carriage. [Hogwarts Express, departs on time at eleven o'clock.]
He then looked down at the graduation gift Headmistress Brent had given him—a quartz wristwatch. It showed that it was eight-thirty, two and a half hours until departure time.
Just as that kind lady said, he was indeed a bit early. Of course—he did it on purpose.
The early bird catches the worm, and an early "hunter" has similar advantages—plenty of time to patrol the hunting ground and wait quietly for the desired "prey" to arrive.
Soren Reed looked around and quickly found an excellent observation point. Leaning against a marble pillar on the platform, he could observe all the visitors coming through the magical partition wall; looking from here, the location of that wall became a wrought-iron archway.
Taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't yet the peak passenger flow, Soren Reed took his beloved "magical theory" out of his trunk and used the largest suitcase as a seat, sitting down comfortably.
This way, he could read while observing pedestrians until his ideal prey appeared. No... saying prey wasn't quite right; it should be "ideal friends."
Soren Reed knew very well how many things he had to do and how tight time was. To maximize time efficiency, he had planned his schedule from the very beginning.
Specifically regarding making friends, he had even analyzed the more famous students from the original work, marking their "value."
Now, he had to take advantage of the perfect opportunity while school had just started and the new students were deep in separation anxiety to quickly establish positive emotional connections with them. Yes, —with them.
Thanks to the pleasant experience of playing with Ella yesterday, Soren Reed had completely corrected his old misconceptions. He was now clear that dating would not only not hinder his studies but would actually improve learning efficiency.
Since that was the case, why not have a few more sweet romances during his single period? This wasn't called being unfaithful, and certainly not being a scumbag; he was resorting to this desperate measure entirely for the sake of learning! —It was learning that had ruined him!
Struggling to suppress his wild thoughts, Soren Reedfocused his mind and entered a state of concentration. Time accelerated.
During the wait for his target to appear, kind senior students or parents would often approach Soren Reed, thinking this little one, who clearly looked like a new student, was in trouble. Soren Reed politely declined their kindness by saying he was waiting for a friend.
He waited until about ten o'clock when the best target he had been longing for finally appeared in Soren Reed's eyes.
At the station entrance, a petite girl was pushing a trolley full of luggage with effort. She had thick brown hair, and because the distance was a bit far, her features weren't very clear.
She was clearly the "young hero" the kind lady had mentioned; she had no parents following behind her and had broken into the magical platform all alone.
After repeatedly confirming her appearance, the corners of Soren Reed's mouth curled up slightly. He snapped the book shut and began planning his approach route.
A few minutes later, the brown-haired little girl wove through the crowded crowd, carefully avoiding the pet cats darting around under the pedestrians' feet, and finally managed to get close to the carriage.
As she prepared to enter the carriage, she encountered a small problem—the fully loaded trolley was quite heavy, but there was a small safety gap between the platform and the carriage, along with a slight difference in height.
For adults and male students, a few centimeters of height difference might just be a minor matter requiring a bit more wrist strength. But she was a little girl only eleven years old...
Just as she was about to ask for help from nearby staff, a helping hand arrived in time.
In that hand was a retro-styled light brown wand, which gently tapped the trolley, and the originally heavy trolley floated up.
The brown-haired girl took the opportunity to give it a gentle push, and the trolley rolled into the carriage.
"Thank you—ah?" She turned her head and gave a sweet smile, but stopped halfway through her thank you, her face showing an expression of surprise mixed with a bit of trance.
Appearing beside her was a "pretty" boy who was half a head taller than her. Forgive her for choosing such a word, but he was really pretty and had a great temperament. Black hair and black eyes, styled in a trendy short, choppy cut, and his features were—uh, no!
"Th...thank you, senior!" The brown-haired girl finally remembered what she was supposed to do and hurriedly thanked him.
Soren Reed returned a gentle smile and corrected her softly: "I'm not a senior; I'm also a first-year student this year."
"You are... a first-year?" The brown-haired girl's expression went blank, "Bu...but, you just... cast a spell without chanting?"
For a split second, she thought she had been distracted and simply hadn't heard the incantation.
However, Soren Reed's answer denied this: "This is a Non-verbal spell technique. I can only use it for a few of the simplest spells; it's nothing much."
"...ah? Non-verbal spell..."
"By the way, my name is Soren Reed. You look like a first-year too, right?"
"Oh... yes, I am Hermi—no, Hermione, very nice to meet you."
Under the tension, Hermione almost bit her tongue and finally managed to straighten out her thoughts.
"Me too, very nice to meet you!"
Soren Reed's words were absolutely sincere. He looked back and pointed toward the inside of the carriage: "Let's go find a seat first; blocking the door, the people behind won't be able to get in."
"Oh... oh, yes, we have to go in first."
Hermione walked forward in a panic, occasionally looking back to see if he needed any help.
Soren Reed certainly didn't need it. He cast the Levitation Charm again, sent the trolley into the carriage with one hand, and followed behind Hermione.
The two of them, one after the other, walked through several crowded carriages before finding an empty compartment in the middle of the train.
Hermione entered first.
Soren Reed followed in with a natural expression, the smile on the corners of his mouth becoming even brighter. A perfect "chance encounter," plan successful—!
Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 29: Childhood Hermione
After entering the compartment, the primary task was naturally to put away the luggage.
Soren Reed used the silent Levitation Charm again to help Hermione Granger put her luggage on the rack. Then he did it again to place his own luggage next to Hermione's.
During this process, Hermione kept watching him cast the spell without blinking, clearly very curious about the Non-verbal spell.
When he finished, Hermione thanked him again and sat hesitantly in the seat by the window on the left.
Soren Reed did not rush to act, first observing the layout of the compartment.
The compartment they were in must have been economy class before; there was a small foldable table in the middle, and long sofa chairs that looked very comfortable on both sides.
Each sofa chair could seat two people side-by-side or accommodate one person curled up lying down.
Generally speaking, in this situation, he should sit in the opposite chair to keep a distance from the newly acquainted classmate of the opposite sex, so as not to cause pressure on the other party.
But it was the Hogwarts start-of-term season; students arriving late would have a hard time finding seats. If he didn't sit next to Hermione, someone else would likely sit there, and how could that be allowed?
Chapter 20
Hermione is mine!
With such a simple thought, Soren Reed sat down naturally on Hermione's right, squeezing into the same sofa chair with her.
In doing so, the distance between the two instantly shortened to within half a meter, entering the intimate contact range of social territory.
Hermione, as expected, shifted uncomfortably a few times, trying her best to lean toward the window to keep a certain distance from him.
Soren Reed knew when to stop, sitting properly on the outer edge of the chair, appearing like a little gentleman.
Hermione felt relieved. Her gaze lingered on his profile for a few seconds before she looked away like a thief, suppressing her nervousness as she made small talk:
"Come to think of it... I've seen relevant records in the textbooks. It is said that the Non-verbal spell is a highly difficult casting technique that students only encounter in the higher grades of school, and many adult wizards cannot even cast it easily. Aren't you a new student? How do you know the Non-verbal spell?"
"What do you think? Why don't you take a guess~"
Soren Reed switched to his camouflage state, retorting in a manner fitting his apparent age.
"I guess—" Hermione looked him up and down, her expression somewhat uncertain, "Your family are wizards, and they taught you?"
This was a very logical guess; she really couldn't think of anything else.
"Answer————Incorrect!"
Soren Reed elegantly smoothed out his hem, signaling her to look at him, "Do you think I look like someone from a wizarding family? You've been to Diagon Alley, so you should have an impression of those real wizards, with their messy dressing style~"
"Pfft—"
Hermione couldn't hold it in and laughed out loud.
Following Soren Reed's words to recall, the imagery was just too strong.
He was absolutely right; the way those wizards dressed was truly... messy and arbitrary. Calling it bizarre would be a compliment; it was simply indescribable.
Looking at Soren Reed again—
Hmm... this British academy-style outfit really suits him, it looks great...
Hermione froze for a few seconds, and before her wandering thoughts could make her face turn red, she regained her composure: "Hmm, that's right, you don't look like you come from a wizarding family at all; you look more like a student from a Muggle school."
Soren Reed bowed slightly, deliberately performing a salute with a humorous style: "Exactly, I come from an Orphanage in London. Before receiving that acceptance letter, my biggest wish was to get into a good university and work at an internet company later. I think that will be the blue ocean of the new era!"
"Ah...?" Hermione was stunned, "You are... an orphan?"
She really hadn't been able to tell.
In their brief time together, her impression of Soren Reedwas that of a helpful, cheerful, magically talented, interesting, and somewhat handsome boy of her age.
His image was completely different from the stereotypical image of an orphan.
With this new information, observing his attire again, the clever Hermione quickly noticed the hidden details—the clothes Soren Reed was wearing seemed to be old. Although clean and tidy, the style was indeed a bit dated. He didn't have any other accessories on him either, appearing very plain.
Associating this with his "pitiful" background, Hermione's heart softened instantly. She didn't know why, but for some reason, she felt a bit sorry for him.
"Oh... um... I'm sorry, perhaps I shouldn't have asked..."
"Don't worry about it."
Soren Reed interrupted her cheerfully, "I've been in that Orphanage since I had consciousness. To me, that place is my home. I have many aunts and elders who aren't related by blood, as well as brothers and sisters numerous enough to form several football teams. We get along very well, and the atmosphere at the Orphanage is quite nice—definitely not like what you see in movies."
"Is that so... that's good then." Hermione finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She carefully looked at Soren Reed's expression and found no trace of him putting on a brave face. She praised him from the bottom of her heart: "You are really strong. If it were me, I definitely wouldn't be as optimistic and cheerful as you."
Soren Reed kept smiling, accepting her praise.
After a pause, seeing that Hermione didn't know what to say, he took the initiative to guide the conversation:
"Let's put the matter of my background aside for now; life must always look forward. What I'm most interested in right now is actually the Sorting Ceremony. The 'New Student Handbook' is written vaguely, and I don't know how Hogwarts is going to sort everyone."
After a pause, he took out his wand and waved it a few times: "If I were to guess, I think it's a magic test or a challenge; that's how it's written in novels! That's why I practiced spells in advance, striving to get good results."
Listening quietly until he finished, Hermione nodded quickly with deep empathy: "Exactly, exactly! That's what I thought too. Maybe there's even a written test during the Sorting Ceremony, and they sort everyone based on overall grades! I... I actually secretly practiced spells too, and I've memorized all the books, but I'm still not as good as you..."
—That was a Non-verbal spell.
She quickly glanced at Soren Reed again, the competitive side of her personality subtly emerging.
Soren Reed spent a lot of effort to finally steer the topic back to the Non-verbal spell.
Taking advantage of this great opportunity to be alone, he pretended to be cautious, observed the surroundings, and looked at Hermione with a mysterious expression.
"Actually, things aren't what you imagine. Being able to learn the Non-verbal spell is thanks to my whims as a child."
"Eh—!?"
The eleven-year-old young Hermione took the bait, her bright brown eyes full of thirst for knowledge.
Soren Reed pretended to hesitate for a few seconds, as if he had made up his mind. He continued to lean closer to Hermione, and under her nervous and bewildered gaze, he approached until they were at whispering distance before lowering his voice—
"I'll tell you a secret, but you must not tell anyone else."
"When I was little, I didn't know about the Wizarding World and magic. I thought I had awakened superpowers, so I practiced secretly in private, waiting to amaze everyone when I grew up and become one of those superheroes from comics."
"Back then, I treated magic power as telekinesis that could manipulate objects from a distance, so I kept practicing hard in this direction. After practicing for several years, I initially mastered this ability. Later, when I came into contact with magic, I discovered that the usage method I had explored on my own fit perfectly with the Levitation Charm, and that's how I mastered the Non-verbal Levitation Charm."
As he spoke, Hermione's mouth opened slightly, and her nervousness was replaced by a strange sense of déjà vu.
Thinking she had awakened superpowers, then practicing secretly, waiting to amaze everyone when she grew up...
This experience of Soren Reed was exactly the same as her own; she had done that too!
The only difference was that she didn't want to be a superhero, because... ahem, what girls like is ultimately different from boys; what she longed for back then was being a Disney magical princess...
Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 30 Hermione: Shocked, he is basically like another gender-bent version of me!
The two people, who had completely different genders, backgrounds, and upbringings, had such similar experiences and mental journeys because of magic awakening.
When she realized this, Hermione inexplicably became happy, feeling as if she had found a kindred spirit!
Not because they were both young wizards, and not because they were classmates, but... but...
Soren Reed, as if he could read minds, gave another reminder: "But I really didn't expect that besides me, there would be other new students who would memorize all the textbooks. It seems that getting to be first in the grade really isn't that easy."
"...You memorized the books too?"
It was as if a bolt of lightning flashed through her mind, illuminating her sluggish thinking.
Hermione suddenly realized that the reason she felt Soren Reed was a kindred spirit was because the two of them were so similar.
Similar childhood experiences, similar mental journeys, even the pride, competitiveness, and intelligence in their personalities were exactly the same; he was simply like another gender-bent version of herself in the world!
She stared fixedly at Soren Reed, then suddenly looked away with some guilt.
No... if she had to say it, she doubted that even if she turned into a boy, she wouldn't be as good-looking as Soren Reed.
Soren Reed carefully observed the changes in her expression, guessing her mental activities, and incidentally appreciating the stunning beauty of young Hermione.
How to put it...
The Hermione in front of him was indeed ninety percent similar to the young actress in the derivative movie, but this real young Hermione didn't seem to care much about dressing up, or perhaps she hadn't reached the age of loving beauty yet.
Her thick, brown, curly hair was messy, and once her lips parted, her two naughty front teeth would take the opportunity to pop out for some air. Coupled with her bare-faced look, she was far less stunning than the young actress in the movie.
But these were just small flaws that didn't obscure her brilliance; as long as she dressed up properly, she could still stun everyone just like in the original work.
Most importantly, after observing at close range, Soren Reed was ten thousand percent sure that Hermione was a fair and clean English rose; the darkest part of her face was those brown eyes that seemed to be able to talk.
Image: "Young Hermione", Location: "Images/1773202054-100471970-114562874.jpg"
Being stared at so intently, Hermione naturally noticed.
Her gaze wandered around, and after struggling for a long time, she asked vaguely: "What are you looking at?"
Soren Reed looked into her eyes calmly, making no secret of his affection: "Nothing, I just think you're so cute, and I get along very well with you."
The shyness that Hermione had been trying hard to suppress completely spiraled out of control, and her cheeks turned red instantly.
To be honest, her interpersonal relationships at school had always been poor, she didn't have many friends, and rarely did anyone praise her appearance.
Many times, when she looked in the mirror, she felt she didn't look very good, especially those large, rabbit-like front teeth, which caused her to be unable to let go when she smiled.
Now that Soren Reed was praising her as cute, she didn't know if it was sincere, or... out of politeness?
She looked back at Soren Reed, and as soon as their gazes met, she hurriedly looked away, not knowing what she was afraid of.
Soren Reed teased her for a while, feeling that continuing might be counterproductive, so he retreated in time and returned to his original position.
Under his merciful release, Hermione's breathing finally stabilized, and her cheeks turned from bright red to pink.
After recovering for a while longer, Hermione, with the sensitivity unique to females, realized that she should change the subject now. Thus, she struggled to pick a topic from her messy brain and started talking about—studying.
Yes, in the midst of her chaotic thoughts, this was all she could think of.
Soren Reed gladly cooperated with her performance.
When the two compared notes, Hermione was shocked, not even caring about being shy anymore, and pressed on: "You mean... you only read the eight books on the book list!?"
Soren Reed was speechless: "You don't have to emphasize 'only' so heavily. I'm an orphan, after all; the money for buying teaching supplies was a grant from the school. I don't have extra money to buy extracurricular books."
"Oh... oh, sorry, sorry."
While apologizing, Hermione was actually very happy inside. There was no other reason; she had finally beaten Soren Reed in one aspect!
—She had memorized several more books than Soren Reed!
Seeming to feel that just thinking about it in her heart wasn't satisfying enough, she couldn't help but say it out loud: "Hmm—I'm slightly better; I bought a few extra reference books, including 'History of Magic', 'The Rise and Fall of Dark Arts', 'Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century', and so on. Of course, I've memorized these too!"
How could Soren Reed not hear that she was showing off.
It can only be said that at this period, Hermione's mentality was not yet mature, and she was really a bit like what Harry sharply critiqued—arrogant and condescending.
Fortunately, Soren Reed was an adult mentally and wouldn't hold it against a child—he just simply waved his wand!
Hermione was slightly stunned, and her arrogant mood quickly subsided.
That's right...
Soren Reed knew the Non-verbal spell, and she didn't...
What she didn't expect was that Soren Reed then proposed a deal—
"If you've memorized them all, can you lend those books to me? In return, I can teach you the technique for the Non-verbal spell, how about it?"
"Eh—" Hermione's mood soared again, "Is it really okay? The Non-verbal spell... hmm, before I got my wand, my spellcasting was always not very effective, and it only had some effect during extreme emotions. Do you think... my talent is enough to learn the Non-verbal spell?"
"I practiced privately for four years before I could do it; if you want to learn it, naturally you have to put in the hard work too."
"Oh... then, then I want to learn!"
Thinking that Soren Reed also relied on years of practice to learn the Non-verbal spell, Hermione's mentality immediately balanced out. This showed that there was no absolute gap in talent between the two, and she still had a chance to surpass Soren Reed and take first place in the grade!
The burning competitiveness beat powerfully, dispelling the flutterings of heart that she didn't quite understand at this age.
As her shyness faded, when Hermione looked at Soren Reed again, she no longer paid too much attention to his appearance, but instead developed a sense of mutual appreciation between top students.
This was exactly the result Soren Reed had intended—
A charming appearance, an easy-to-get-along-with personality, a pitiful background, plus sharing secrets and mutual appreciation between kindred spirits—with this combination of moves, how could the eleven-year-old young Hermione resist!
A perfect first meeting had been achieved. What followed would naturally be long-lasting companionship, creating precious memories that belonged only to the two of them, and then it would be to eat it all up, bring her into the harem, ah hahaha—!
"Knock, knock, knock."
Just as he was feeling proud, a weak-sounding knock on the door came.
Soren Reed turned to look.
A round-faced boy with a timid temperament was standing by the door, asking in a very unconfident tone: "Excuse me... can I sit here? The compartments in front are all full..."
After speaking, he lowered his gaze to the ground, not daring to look directly at the two people in the compartment.
Another important plot character—Neville!
Soren Reed of course recognized him, but didn't expect him to actually find his way here... No, wait, he remembered that in the original work, he appeared with Hermione, perhaps this situation was the "official history."
Considering that if he didn't let Neville in, other students would likely come in later anyway, it would be better to do him a favor.
"Of course you can." Soren Reed pointed generously to the seat directly opposite, "Come on in, we are also new students; maybe we will all be sorted into the same house later."
Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 31 Neville: Soren Reed is good, Hermione is bad!
"Th... thanks."
Hearing this answer, Neville visibly relaxed, pulling his suitcase into the room.
Chapter 21
Compared to Soren Reed and Hermione, who needed trolleys to carry their luggage, his own luggage was much lighter, consisting of only one large trunk with a few scattered small parcels hanging from it.
Soren Reed had reason to suspect that the trunk had been enchanted with an Undetectable Extension Charm—a type of advanced space magic he craved.
As Neville walked into the room, Soren Reed once again exercised his gentlemanly spirit, using a Levitation Charmto help him with his luggage.
This time, he didn't show off his Non-verbal spell, choosing the vocal version instead.
Seeing him skillfully perform the Levitation Charm, Nevillelooked somewhat surprised.
Hermione, who had been quietly observing from the side, keenly noticed this, and her eyes brightened slightly.
While Neville turned around to organize his items, Soren Reed used his eyes to remind Hermione, "Remember to keep it a secret."
Hermione nodded quietly in response, keeping the little secret that only the two of them knew, feeling an inexplicable happiness in her heart.
After putting away his luggage, Neville officially took his seat, right across from Soren Reed.
Soren Reed took the initiative to strike up a conversation: "Hello, my name is Soren Reed, a first-year student this year."
"Hermione, also a first-year," Hermione introduced herself as well.
Seeing them so friendly, the reserved expression on Neville's face eased slightly, and he spoke up somewhat nervously: "Hello, my name is Neville, also a first-year just like you."
Hermione had been waiting for this sentence since just now.
As soon as she confirmed his status as a first-year, she couldn't wait to ask: "I saw you looked a bit surprised just now; don't you know the Levitation Charm?"
"...Ah?" Neville was stunned by her question and didn't react for a moment.
"I said—didn't you practice the spells that first-years must master before school started?" Hermione asked eagerly, her voice unconsciously raised.
Neville shrank his neck, his speech becoming stuttered: "No—no, my grandmother said—"
"Then have you memorized the textbooks?" Hermioneinterrupted him forcefully, the corners of her mouth already curling up slightly.
"No—no—no, doesn't the 'First-Year Handbook' only—only require previewing?" Neville was terrified.
"Right! It doesn't require memorization!" Hermione smiled, her eyes curving, "But looking at how you're dressed, you must come from a wizarding family, right? Didn't your family teach you some basic skills in advance?"
Upon hearing the word "family," Neville's expression dimmed instantly, and he couldn't even speak.
He began to wonder if Hermione was blaming him for disturbing the two of them, which was why she was being so aggressive.
Soren Reed, however, knew that Hermione at this time was simply emotionally unintelligent and didn't actually have bad intentions.
He subtly moved his left arm and lightly nudged Hermione's arm with his elbow, reminding her to tone it down.
Look at how she was bullying the honest boy; he was almost in tears.
Only then did Hermione snap out of the joy of "having one less competitor" and realize that Neville's mood was a bit off.
"Uh... sorry, I didn't mean that. I just... I just..."
She faltered for a moment, then suddenly had a bright idea, "I was just worried about the Sorting Ceremony. I think everyone has to take an exam and be sorted into houses based on their exam results, so I was a bit anxious. —Yes, that's it!"
Neville, being gentle and honest, didn't doubt her explanation and successfully emerged from his low mood.
He lowered his head and pondered for a few seconds before saying slowly: "I personally think it shouldn't be based on exams. My grandmother wouldn't tell me the truth, but she did say that which house you go to depends on the student's character."
"Character..."
Hermione looked up at the ceiling.
If it were sorted this way, then she and Soren Reed, as top students, would probably both be sorted into Ravenclaw.
That felt pretty good too~
Soren Reed kept smiling and deliberately brought up two outrageous guesses to liven up the atmosphere.
Later, the three chatted for a while longer.
Hermione excitedly mentioned the accompanying pets she saw on the platform, especially the cats of various colors, revealing her true colors as a cat lover.
Soren Reed also mentioned his owl messenger—Miss Brigia—who was currently staying in the pet transport carriage, and invited Hermione to go see the owl when they arrived at school.
Hermione happily agreed and told him that she had given up on bringing a pet because she was worried that her studies would be too busy and she wouldn't have the energy to take care of one.
If conditions allowed, she would consider getting a cat in the future.
The two chatted heatedly about the topic of raising pets.
Neville, sitting opposite them, was like sitting on pins and needles, frequently turning his head to look at the corridor.
It was currently peak passenger flow, and students were constantly pouring into the Hogwarts Express, looking for empty seats room by room.
When they saw three people already inside through the window, they would hurry away and continue towards the back of the train.
Neville waited for a long time before he finally heard the loud whistle he had been hoping for.
After the whistle came the rhythmic "chug-chug-chug" sound, which made one immediately think of the chimney on top of a steam train belching thick smoke.
Both sounds signaled the same thing—Eleven o'clock sharp, the train departed!
After a brief jolt, the Hogwarts Express turned from static to motion, accelerating away from the platform.
Through the outer window, they could see the crowd waving goodbye on the platform; those were the parents who had come to see the students off.
Neville also temporarily shifted his attention, searching for his grandmother's figure.
It wasn't until that familiar figure came into view that his nervous mood relaxed, only to be immediately replaced by the reluctance of parting.
There were certainly no shortage of young wizards like him, especially the first-year students.
Many of them were attending a boarding school for the first time and expected not to see their families for a very, very long time.
A faint sense of sadness drifted through the whole train, but soon, the students' reluctance was dispelled by the fact that they were about to head to Hogwarts, and they began to shout excitedly again.
Of course, these people did not include Neville—who told him to lose his pet...
"Um... I... I'll go out for a bit. My pet toad is lost. Grandmother said it wouldn't go too far from me, it must still be on the train..."
After saying this, Neville slowly stood up and walked out the door with a tragic sense of going to the execution ground, one step at a time.
Hermione looked at his back curiously, originally wanting to ask if he needed help.
But Soren Reed beside her didn't move, so she swallowed her words, her expression hesitant.
Soren Reed signaled her to be patient with his eyes, and only after Neville had walked away did he turn his head and say: "Hermione—you should be a little more considerate. Didn't you hear that Neville only ever mentioned his grandmother and never mentioned anyone else in his family?"
"Ah?"
Hermione was stunned, blinking her eyes cutely.
She was indeed a bit emotionally unintelligent, but she was definitely not stupid, and she quickly understood what Soren Reed meant.
"You mean... Neville... is also an orphan? That shouldn't be..."
"I'm not sure either." Soren Reed shook his head, "But his expression changes whenever he talks about family, so you'd better not keep bringing it up to him. And don't keep asking; when you get to know each other better, he'll say it if he wants to."
"Oh... I didn't mean to, I just didn't know."
Recalling her previous behavior, the righteous Hermionefelt a bit ashamed, and under the influence of her guilt, she looked at Soren Reed hesitatingly: "How about—let's go help Neville? He doesn't seem good at dealing with people, and he won't be efficient alone."
Soren Reed showed an expression of "a child worth teaching" and stood up dashingly: "When a new classmate encounters difficulties, we must, of course, lend a helping hand. Come on, I suspect that if we are any later, Nevillewill be so scared that he'll run back to ask for our help."
"Haha~"
Hermione was amused by him, hesitated, took the hand he offered, and used it to stand up.
Then, the two went out together.
Arriving in the carriage corridor and looking in the direction Neville had just left, they immediately saw the short boy standing in front of the door of the nearby compartment, raising his hand but hesitating to knock.
Honestly, it was so pitiful; if you didn't know, you'd think he was some lost child...
Soren Reed shook his head and walked over quickly, patting him on the shoulder from behind: "Neville, let us help you find it. Three people will be faster."
Neville's body stiffened, and he turned around in a daze.
Looking at Soren Reed, who walked past him and stood in front of him, his eyes suddenly moistened.
What a warm and reliable friend; he was willing to lend a helping hand upon their first meeting.
He... oh, not just him, but Hermione too.
If they hadn't come, he really wouldn't have been able to take it anymore and would have wanted to run back to ask for their help.
As his thoughts flew, Hermione also followed, giving him an apologetic smile.
Neville didn't think too much; he just felt that although Hermione was a bit... not very easy to get along with, Soren Reed was truly a super nice guy!!
He was really moved...
Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 32 — The Famous Harry Potter —
With the addition of two reinforcements, the search for Neville's beloved pet became smoother.
At first, Soren Reed was the absolute main force, responsible for knocking on compartment doors and politely asking other young wizards if they had seen Neville's lost toad.
Later, Hermione's irrepressible desire to win emerged, and she also started knocking on doors, forcibly sharing his workload.
In this process, Soren Reed took the opportunity to observe Hermione's way of handling things and indeed discovered some small problems.
For example—Hermione was not, strictly speaking, a very outgoing girl.
When dealing with strangers, she tended to use a louder volume and a more imposing manner to cover up her own nervousness.
This was a social strategy that wasn't very clever but was still somewhat effective.
However, the negative effect was that it was easy to leave an impression of being bossy and overly aggressive.
Harry Potter and Ron's somewhat negative first impression of her probably stemmed from this.
Soren Reed discovered the small flaws in her personality but didn't correct them right away, instead silently noting them in his heart, intending to talk to her about it at an appropriate time.
Don't speak too deeply when the relationship is shallow; this principle also applies to the two who had just met.
Compared to these two social butterflies, Neville's personality seemed very timid, and most of the time he followed behind them like a transparent person.
Soren Reed didn't care about this; he knew that Neville's personality transformation would require some plot assistance, and for now, just building a good relationship was enough.
The trio walked and stopped, searching towards the back of the train.
Whenever they passed the connection between carriages, they would stop to look at the scenery outside.
After leaving London, the tracks were surrounded by fields and pastures full of cattle and sheep, which could be considered a nice pastoral landscape for those who had lived in the city for a long time.
When they reached the rear area of the train, Soren Reeddiscovered the active Weasley Twins in a compartment, who were telling jokes to their classmates, making the other two boys laugh out loud.
Seeing this pair of live wires, Soren Reed knew that the "Boy Who Lived" was probably nearby.
He silently reminded himself in his heart—you don't know Harry Potter at all, and you don't know his deeds—don't mess up the act.
After reminding himself a few times, he continued forward with the regained confidence of Hermione and the slightly relieved Neville.
Finally, when it was Hermione's turn to knock on the door again, two boys, who could tell they were first-year students just by their height, turned to look at them at the same time.
Among them, the red-haired one was clutching a fat gray rat in his hand.
Soren Reed saw Hermione's hand tremble, and her beautiful eyebrows furrowed slightly; clearly, she didn't like rats.
But this small difficulty certainly couldn't scare the brave little witch.
She steadied herself and continued to turn the doorknob, pushing open the compartment door: "Hello, has anyone seen a toad? Neville's pet is lost."
Along the way, Soren Reed had intentionally or unintentionally given her many demonstrations, finally making Hermione's way of speaking a bit more polite and less annoying.
At this moment, this more polite phrasing worked.
Harry Potter and Ron didn't have any ill feelings towards this suddenly visiting girl and kindly told her that they hadn't seen it, and it was a pity they couldn't help.
Hermione was already used to this kind of answer, waved her hand coolly, and was ready to turn and leave.
Just at this moment, Ron, who was holding the rat in one hand and fumbling in his trunk with the other, successfully pulled out a battle-damaged wand, with parts of the wand body cracked, revealing the white-glowing wire inside.
Soren Reed saw at a glance that it was a unicorn hair, just as recorded in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them".
Hermione's focus, however, was not on the wand itself, but on the boy holding the wand—his clothing and dressing style clearly showed he came from a wizarding family, with a mix-and-match feel that didn't care about fashion at all.
A first-year student from a wizarding family...
Understood, it's a competitor!
The competitive Hermione couldn't move her feet, forcibly turned her half-turned body back, and said in a high-pitched tone she didn't even realize: "Oh... are you preparing to cast a spell? Then let us open our eyes."
Seemingly to see more clearly, she walked into the compartment on her own.
Soren Reed, as a protector of flowers, naturally could only follow in, and Neville, who was further behind, followed suit.
Just like that, there were suddenly three unfamiliar students in the compartment, who looked like they might be first-year students of the same grade.
Ron, who was already unsure of himself, panicked all of a sudden, but since everyone was staring at him, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and speak: "Then... then I'll try."
After saying that, he took a few deep breaths, picked up the wand, and recited that very childish spell.
Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,
Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow.
One second passed...
Two seconds passed...
Nothing happened—
Chapter 22
The rat was still grey and drab, struggling and squirming impatiently in his hand.
"Pfft—"
Her nervous mood instantly relaxed, and Hermionecouldn't help but laugh out loud.
What kind of ridiculous spell was that? It was completely different from the format of a proper spell; how could it possibly be real?
This classmate from a Wizarding World family before her seemed like a bit of a half-wit. Now she didn't have to worry about having an extra competitor.
Her happiness was expressed a bit too obviously—
Soren was fine; he knew she meant no harm.
Ron, who didn't know her well, didn't know any better and interpreted this as mockery, instantly turning red.
With a face flushing almost the same shade as his hair, he muttered indignantly, "This spell was told to me by my brother. I knew he was teasing me again..."
"Oh—in that case, do you know any other magic? Like the ones in the first-year textbooks?" Hermione pressed.
Ron hesitated and asked back, "Isn't that what we're supposed to learn after school starts?"
"Then you definitely haven't memorized the books, right?"
"...Huh? Why would I memorize the books?"
Hermione didn't care what this red-haired boy thought; she was happy, and she couldn't help but pour out her inner thoughts:
"That's a relief. I originally thought that a new student from a Wizarding World family like you would have finished the basic subjects before starting school. I didn't expect that wasn't the case.
No one in my family knows magic, but after I got the textbooks, I studied them myself and successfully cast a few simple spells. I even memorized the textbooks because I was afraid of falling too far behind in my studies. I really didn't expect—"
She shook her head as she spoke, appearing deeply moved.
Soren, however, noticed that both Ron and Harry looked displeased. It seemed the positive impression points gained during their introduction had already been voided.
This was probably the natural conflict between an academic high-achiever and an academic underachiever.
Hermione Granger had rattled on, and she finally noticed the unpleasant expressions on the two strangers and tried to make amends: "By the way, my name is Hermione Granger, this is Soren, and this is Neville. What are your names?"
Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, neither of them wanting to pay her any mind.
But since the three new students had given their names, they had to respond politely.
"Ron Weasley..." Ron muttered unhappily.
"Harry Potter." Harry's attitude was slightly better; after all, he wasn't the one who had just embarrassed himself.
"It's nice to meet you. Well, we'll take our leave—" Hermione paused, "Wait... Harry Potter!?"
Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 33 Scabbers: Oh no... It's coming for me!!
Her voice rose sharply, startling Harry into a shiver, and he looked at her blankly.
"Is... is there a problem?"
"You are Harry Potter!" Hermione emphasized again, her tone surprised. "The 'Boy Who Lived,' the'Savior'? Your story is mentioned in many books. Is it really you?"
"Er..."
Harry looked extremely awkward. He hesitated for a long time before saying, "To be honest, I didn't know I was that famous. If there isn't another Harry Potter among the new students, then I suppose you're talking about me."
"Incredible—" Hermione stared at him several times, then suddenly had a thought, "Then—then how many spells do you know? Did you memorize the textbooks?"
Soren, standing to the side, almost covered his face.
Hermione's damn competitive spirit was just too strong; she was truly a mood killer.
Opposite her, Harry's expression froze on the spot.
On the contrary, Ron, who was beside him, suddenly felt balanced upon seeing his good brother suffer the same fate.
Harry was clearly a young wizard with strong self-esteem. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke up to defend himself: "I was raised by my aunt and uncle. None of them use magic, and they are very resistant to it. I looked through the school textbooks myself, but I didn't practice in private. Hagrid said—
Oh—you probably don't know him yet. He is the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. He took me to Diagon Alley to shop. He said that new students start learning from the basics after arriving at school, so I didn't dare to mess around..."
This explanation was undoubtedly quite reasonable and rigorous.
—If only Hermione hadn't met Soren beforehand.
But in this world, there are no "ifs," only consequences.
Comparing the two, Hermione felt that although Harry's background was a bit pitiful, it was much better than Soren's. He was a true orphan with nothing!
Soren hadn't given up on studying despite such difficult circumstances. By comparison, Harry's explanation seemed a bit untenable, with a hint of laziness.
She very restrainedly kept her true thoughts to herself, but her perfunctory response still carried a sense of dismissal.
Harry clearly sensed it, and his attitude became somewhat cold.
Hermione also sensed that the atmosphere was not great and turned to look at Soren, hoping he would say something to help her out of the awkward situation.
The next second, she saw that Soren's eyes were blank, as if he didn't understand what they were talking about.
This was exactly Soren's superb acting.
Before Hermione could speak, he asked first: "Did you... know each other before?"
Hermione shook her head blankly, then suddenly paused, realizing the problem: "Oh, that's right. You've only read the books on the reading list, and they don't record Harry's deeds. I'll give you 'Important Magical Events of the Twentieth Century' later; it's written in more detail there. How should I put it—"
She looked at Harry again, trying hard to find a suitable adjective: "Harry is a big celebrity in the Wizarding World, a legendary figure."
Big Celebrity/Legendary Figure Harry smiled back awkwardly.
Soren also smiled at him, pretending to be completely ignorant, and extended his hand: "Sorry, I've always lived in the Muggle World and know nothing about the Wizarding World. Let me introduce myself formally: I'm Soren Reed. Very nice to meet you."
"Same here."
Harry felt that this handsome boy was much easier to get along with, not as annoying as Hermione.
The two shook hands politely.
Immediately after, Soren turned to Ron, also making an inviting gesture.
Ron also gave him face and reached out—that was his original intention, but then he realized both his hands were holding things.
Soren's eyes flickered, and he friendly offered to help: "Could you let me see that rat? I'm very familiar with rats in the Muggle World, but I haven't seen one from the Wizarding World yet. I always feel that animals in the Wizarding World are a bit different from those outside."
Ron hesitated for a moment, then handed the rat over: "Of course. Its name is Scabbers. As long as you don't provoke it, it usually doesn't bite."
Scabbers stared with two eyes like small black beans, its whiskers twitching rapidly, looking somewhat reluctant.
Unfortunately, it was just a fat rat, with no human rights to speak of.
Soren successfully took it into his hands, holding it by the back to prevent it from moving around or biting. He examined it over and over for a good while before pretending to comment seriously: "Your rat is too fat; it's bad for its health. I suggest you put it on a diet and increase its exercise."
Scabbers bared its teeth and grinned, making a move to bite him.
Ron sighed and shook his head: "I know, but it's too old. It was the pet of another older brother of mine, and now he's given it to me."
"That is indeed a problem. Let me take another look..."
Soren examined the fat rat carefully again, marveling in his heart:
Truly worthy of [Animagus]; the transformed animal form had no flaws at all. No matter how you looked at it, it was just an ordinary grey rat.
No one would ever think that this "rat" was the culprit behind the tragedy of Harry's childhood—Peter Pettigrew.
Soren was certain that he definitely wouldn't dare to revert from his transformation on the Hogwarts Express, which is why he dared to pinch him like this.
To be honest, he really wanted this "rat."
[Animagus] was one of the compulsory courses he had set for himself; the sooner he learned it, the better.
If he could have another Animagus as a reference, or even an experimental subject, his learning efficiency would definitely be further improved.
The premise is—
He had to possess the means to restrain the opponent first to avoid capsizing in the gutter.
The current stage was obviously not suitable...
Thinking of this, he returned the rat to Ron somewhat reluctantly, and of course, he didn't forget to shake his hand beforehand.
Ron saw his affection for Scabbers and looked somewhat surprised: "You actually like rats?"
"You could say that..." Soren's lips curled slightly, "I have an owl, and I often went to the barn to catch rats for it to eat during the holidays. That's why I'm quite familiar with rats."
Upon hearing this, Ron's jaw almost dropped.
Scabbers shuddered all over and frantically burrowed into Ron's trunk, refusing to come out again. Just moments ago, it thought this new student liked it, holding it for so long, but it didn't expect he was out for its life!
What kind of person is this—!
The appearance is like that person, and the heart of a scorpion is also alike...
The other three onlookers also found it funny, and smiles appeared on their faces again.
After all that, it turned out to be a farce.
But for some reason, after such a commotion, the atmosphere among the group actually eased up.
Neville's attention was also diverted, and he temporarily forgot about his toad.
After confirming that they were all new students, the young wizards of similar age naturally started chatting. The topic they were most concerned about was, of course, the Sorting Ceremony.
Ron provided a brand-new version—they had to fight a Troll in public, and the house would be determined based on their performance in the battle.
This version sounded very unreliable from the start.
Just as they were chatting excitedly, the compartment door was suddenly pushed open unceremoniously, without even a knock.
The five of them turned their heads to look, facing another trio.
Both sides were stunned for a moment, and the situation became deadlocked.
Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 34 Met for Ten Minutes, Immediately Teach Malfoy a Lesson!
The three boys who entered this time had very distinctive appearances.
Standing in the center position was a thin boy with pale skin, slicked-back hair, arrogance written all over his face, and looking at people through his nostrils.
Behind him were his two henchmen, broad and sturdy, with ugly appearances.
Soren, of course, recognized these three minor villains from the early plot—Malfoy and his two henchmen who weren't worth remembering by name.
It seemed his stalling tactics had worked, waiting for this good show.
Malfoy didn't seem to expect so many people in this compartment, and his originally arrogant aura softened a bit. But after seeing their clothing and appearances, that unpleasant arrogance climbed back onto his face.
"Everyone on the train is whispering that Harry Potter is in this compartment, so I came to see."
His gaze automatically ignored Neville, who was standing on the outside, and fell on Soren's face. After a brief pause, he moved it away because his forehead was smooth and full, without any scar.
Red-haired Ron didn't match the description of the black-haired boy either, so the answer was obvious—
"I didn't expect you to be Harry Potter..." Malfoy recognized Harry. "Do you remember? We met once at the robe shop. You had a big servant following you then. By the way, my name is Draco Malfoy, heir to the Malfoy family."
Harry obviously recognized him too, but his attitude became even colder because of it: "I remember saying that Hagrid is the Keeper of Grounds, not some servant. You forgot so quickly; is your memory not very good?"
Soren looked at Harry's talent for venomous tongue with new eyes.
Malfoy didn't expect him to speak so sharply either, and his expression immediately turned unpleasant: "Yeah... I remember I also said that the school shouldn't let in oddities. And someone from a Wizarding World family like you shouldn't be friends with odd people. Look at these ones around you—"
He unceremoniously pointed a finger, first at Soren and Hermione, who were standing together: "Two Muggle-born wild wizards, without any family heritage, and their potential can't be that high."
Then, the fingertip moved again—
"Shorty, dull-witted, you're from the Longbottom family, right? I've heard people mention you, saying your brain isn't very sharp."
"And you—" He finally pointed at Ron, "My father told me that the Weasleys are all red-haired, covered in freckles, and have so many children they can't afford to feed them."
After commenting on everyone present one by one, Malfoylooked at Harry with an arrogant face: "Do you understand now, Harry? Even though we are both Sacred Twenty-Eight, there is a gap between families. You should make friends with true peers, and I can help you with that."
As he spoke, he extended his hand to Harry, his attitude arrogant beyond belief.
This gesture was one Soren had just done earlier.
However, this time Harry didn't buy it and coldly rejected him: "I think I can tell who are the friends worth associating with. Thanks anyway."
Malfoy's face darkened, showing a faint blush of embarrassment and anger.
Considering that there were clearly more people on Harry's side than his own, he tried to restrain himself, but patience was never his personality.
"If I were you, Potter, I would be more polite and not offend people who shouldn't be offended." He said with a threatening tone, "Otherwise, you will sooner or later follow in your parents' footsteps. I'll let it slide this time; I just came to say hello. You should think carefully about whether you should be hanging out with these unsavory people."
Having said that, he prepared to lead his people away to avoid the disadvantageous situation of being outnumbered.
But he seemed to have forgotten—the group of people he had offended to death were all at the age where their tempers were at their peak.
Harry and Ron went without saying; being pointed at and cursed, with their families dragged into it, made them spring to their feet, their chests heaving violently.
Even an honest fellow like Neville clenched his fists.
As the only girl, Hermione was more rational than the boys. Although she was also very angry, she still tried her best to mediate, so as to avoid everyone violating school rules before term even started.
Seeing their stance, Malfoy actually didn't dare to turn his back on them and stopped in his tracks to confront them. He felt that with Crabbe and Goyle, those two big guys, there, they wouldn't necessarily be at a disadvantage.
And that was indeed the case; Harry and Ron exchanged a few insults with him, but they really didn't have the courage to start a fight directly.
Originally, in a situation where both sides had reservations and someone was mediating, the conflict would most likely have stopped at the stage of a verbal war.
But both Hermione and Malfoy ignored the biggest destabilizing factor in this compartment, even though he had always appeared quiet and rational.
This person was, of course, Soren Reed.
He was amazed at how annoying Malfoy could be; to be able to make enemies on all sides in such a short time, he was truly a master of provoking conflict.
If it were another occasion, Soren Reed might not have bothered with this foul-mouthed brat and would have simply slapped his face with his grades.
But the situation at hand was different—Malfoy hadn't just cursed him, he had also cursed his Hermione. As the man of the house, if he didn't regain some face, how would he ever be able to hold his head up in the future!
After quickly weighing the pros and cons in his mind, Soren Reed unexpectedly stepped forward, inserted himself into the buffer zone between the two sides, and faced the Malfoy trio head-on.
Not only that, but the wand in his hand was also raised, pointing directly at Malfoy's nose.
"To disparage and insult others so unscrupulously—if this is your upbringing, then your parents' education is truly a failure. For the sake of this being the first time, I won't hold it against you, but I must ask you to leave—"
Everyone was taken aback by his bold move and looked at him helplessly.
Malfoy, who bore the brunt of it, panicked even more and almost wanted to turn and run.
Considering the importance of a wand to a wizard, this was just like two people arguing, and suddenly one of them pulled out a knife!
But soon, he calmed down again, remembering Soren Reed's identity—a Muggle-born wizard, and a first-year at that.
He really didn't believe that such a Muggle-born first-year could do anything to him.
"You actually dare to draw your wand on me?" he said, seizing the initiative. "Do you know who my father is! And, maliciously harming a fellow student is a serious violation of school rules and will get you expelled! Besides, do you even know any spells? Are you just going to poke me with your wand?"
Soren Reed expressed his admiration for his courage and replaced his answer with action.
With an elegant flick and twitch of his wand, he chanted: "Wingardium Leviosa—"
Invisible magic rose in response, lifting Malfoy's feet off the ground.
He screamed in fright and panicked instantly.
The two lackeys standing behind him hurriedly reached out to grab his arms, trying to drag him back.
Relying on their weight, which was quite prominent for their age, the two of them successfully held Malfoy back, at the cost of pulling his arms until they ached, making him wince and grimace.
Having already made his move, Soren Reed certainly couldn't accept this outcome. He flicked his wrist gently, causing his wand to jerk upwards. The suddenly erupting magic lifted all three of them, who were tangled together, into the air.
With a point of his wand tip towards the corridor, the Malfoy trio was forcibly thrown out the door, stumbling when they landed and nearly rolling into a heap.
The proud and arrogant Malfoy had never suffered such a loss; he neither expected Soren Reed to dare to attack him, nor did he expect his Levitation Charm to be so powerful that it could throw all three of them several meters away.
Now in the train corridor, with other students poking their heads out from both sides to see what was happening, he felt deeply humiliated, his paper-white face turning red with rage.
He really wanted to shout out that his father was a school governor, to let Soren Reed know the consequences of offending him.
But he was also clear that if he ran to his parents over such a small matter, he would become a laughingstock in the eyes of other students, which was something he absolutely could not accept.
Thinking of this, he glared viciously at Soren Reed, kept him in his mind, pretended to be nonchalant, and left in a rage with his two lackeys.
He had noted this grudge, and after school started, he would settle the score with that Mudblood!
Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 35 Once upon a time, we all thought Soren Reed would be sorted into Gryffindor...
The Malfoy trio came aggressively, but returned dejectedly.
In the compartment, the other four who witnessed it were deeply shocked, staring at the calm and composed Soren Reed with their mouths agape.
After a long while, Hermione was the first to come to her senses, her voice unable to hide her worry: "Soren Reed, didn't you violate school rules by doing this? I remember that the school rules explicitly forbid unauthorized duels and also do not allow malicious harm to fellow students; any conflict should be resolved through official channels—"
"Cool! So cool! Brother!!"
Without waiting for Hermione to finish reciting the school rules, Ron cheered for him with an expression of worship, "No nonsense, ending the battle with one spell—you will definitely be sorted into Gryffindor! That place welcomes true warriors!"
Hermione was interrupted by him, so angry she rolled her eyes, and immediately wanted to start lecturing, telling them the importance of following school rules.
But before she could speak, the other two boys also expressed—Soren Reed was just too cool! That was exactly how one should deal with the stuck-up Malfoy!
Soren Reed modestly accepted the praise, elegantly put away his wand, and turned to look at Hermione:
"Don't worry, Hermione, I just invited the unwelcome guests to leave; I didn't hurt them. Besides, isn't verbal violence a form of violence? I couldn't just let him humiliate me and my good friend."
Having said that, he also offered a bright smile.
Hermione felt that the smile was like sunlight piercing through the clouds in spring, instantly dispelling the small unpleasantness brought by Malfoy, making her heart skip a beat.
After being slightly stunned for a moment, she finally struggled to tear her gaze away from his face, and the lecture she had prepared was all forgotten behind her.
After the only rational person among the four went offline, Soren Reed enjoyed the treatment of a hero. Relying on the camaraderie of fighting on the same side, he quickly gained the friendship of the boys.
After a lively while, Soren Reed proposed to say goodbye to Harry and Ron on the excuse of helping Neville find his toad.
Unexpectedly, the two of them insisted on helping, being incredibly enthusiastic.
Soren Reed couldn't sternly refuse, so he simply took them along, and the five of them set off together to search for Neville's lost pet.
In the following hour, they knocked on all the compartments in the last two carriages, and finally, at the door of the animal carriage at the end of the train, they found the lost toad.
No, saying it was lost didn't feel quite right; when discovered by them, the toad showed no panic at all, looking as if it were just strolling leisurely...
Neville happily picked up the toad and thanked them repeatedly.
Soren Reed was also happy for him and took the opportunity to give him a suggestion: "In the future, you can put a necklace on it with a name tag, so you can use the Accio to find it back."
"Ah—can that really work?" Neville was stunned, then suddenly became excited. "Yes, yes, yes, let's do that. My memory isn't very good, and I always lose Trevor. I didn't expect the Accio could be used like this; you are so smart!"
Seeing that Harry and Hermione were a bit confused, Ron was happy to have a chance to show off and told them in a light tone—the Accio is a practical spell that can summon known objects, but usually cannot summon living creatures. In this case, wearing an accessory on the pet is undoubtedly a clever solution.
The reason the two of them didn't know was because this was a spell learned in the fourth year.
Honestly, he felt that he could also put a necklace on Scabbers to prevent it from getting lost when it was out for fresh air.
Soren Reed listened to his explanation with a smile, a flash of deep meaning in his eyes.
Put a necklace on Scabbers? That's a good idea—it would be convenient for him to take a dark hand later!
As for how he would explain that he knew the Accio, of course, he would push it onto Snape.
It was a pity that he had prepared the excuse, but no one asked.
After successfully helping Neville find his toad, Soren Reedpolitely declined the invitation from Harry and Ron, only saying that it was getting late and they had to go back to the compartment to rest and prepare for the upcoming Sorting Ceremony.
Upon mentioning the Sorting Ceremony, Harry and Ron also became nervous and were in no mood to play anymore. They had to regretfully bid them farewell, agreeing to play together again when they arrived at school.
Soren Reed agreed readily on the surface, but he knew very well in his heart that after the Sorting, the situation would likely become very delicate.
The two founders of Hogwarts, Salazar Slytherin and Gryffindor, were once close friends, but later turned against each other and eventually parted ways.
The two houses named after their surnames also inherited the grievances of the two founders to some extent. Both sides naturally stood on opposite sides; this was an unavoidable fact.
Thinking back, the regretful ending between Snape and Lily might also have been influenced by the opposition between the houses.
Of course—he and Hermione would never repeat the same mistakes.
In his view, those two houses were said to be hostile to each other, but in reality, they were just two groups of brats with conflicting values, locked in the same school, seeing each other every day, which led to the house struggles.
They had been fighting for thousands of years and hadn't seen many people die; it wasn't even a big deal!
Thinking as they walked, before long, the three of them returned to their compartment.
After a short rest, Soren Reed raised his wrist and looked at his watch; it was five minutes to two in the afternoon, no wonder he felt a bit hungry. Just as he was about to take out his reserve food to share with his two little companions, a sound of rolling wheels came from far to near.
A dozen seconds later, a food cart piled with food appeared outside the door.
Soren Reed, who was sitting on the outside, quickly got up to help open the door.
A familiar sweet scent poured into the room, hitting his face.
Equally familiar was the middle-aged woman he had seen at the station—she was actually the vendor on the train!
"How about that, you impetuous little fellow, my premonition was quite accurate, right? I told you we would meet again soon~"
As soon as they met, the smiling woman teased Soren Reed, then pushed the food cart in to avoid blocking the corridor.
Soren Reed also gave a response using his good-boy template: "It was indeed accurate; I guess you must have the gift of prophecy!"
"Hahaha~"
The woman laughed heartily, greeted the other two little ones, and her gaze returned to Soren Reed's face: "Where did you go to play just now instead of staying in the compartment? Fortunately, I had a deep impression of you and remembered there was an empty compartment here, otherwise you would have had to attend the Sorting Ceremony on an empty stomach."
Listening to her teasing, the trio realized that the food cart had already gone through the whole train, but they had been moving around, perfectly avoiding it like playing hide-and-seek.
If the food cart vendor hadn't remembered Soren Reed and specifically came looking for them, they would have had to eat the lunch they brought—that is, if they had brought any.
Now there was no need for such trouble; with ready-made Wizarding World snacks, who would want to eat cold sandwiches!
Soren Reed thanked the female vendor again, readily took out his wallet, and bought Chocolate Frogs and Cauldron Cakes, three of each.
It was true he didn't have much money, but he knew very well that some money could not be saved, especially when he was with his friends.
With him taking the lead, Hermione and Neville also hurriedly followed, took out their wallets, and bought several other different snacks. —Of course, also three of each.
The female vendor looked at them with satisfaction and praised them with a smile: "Unity and knowing how to share, what good qualities! As someone who has been through it, I want to give you a piece of advice—the house doesn't represent everything; the most important thing in making friends is not status, but character."
As she spoke, she took another bag of candy from the pile of snacks and placed it on the unfolded small table.
"This is a gift for good children; there is nothing more suitable for sharing with friends than this~"
After she pushed the cart away, Soren Reed curiously picked up the snack bag, and on the package was written—[bertie botts every flavour beans: Up to 700+ flavors (still increasing), every bag is full of surprises!]
Soren Reed and the Magic Library: Chapter 36 Drawing an SSR card in a single pull!
"Merlin's beard..."
After seeing the package clearly, Neville let out a low moan, his body leaning hard against the back of the sofa, assuming a posture of staying away.
Hermione looked at the snack curiously, then at him, and asked: "What's wrong with these bertie botts every flavour beans? Are they hard to eat?"
"Hmm————"
After a pause that felt like a century, Neville opened his mouth with a bitter face: "In the Wizarding World, there has always been an unsolved mystery, and that is, how many strange things the producer of bertie botts every flavour beans has eaten, and why they would put those... things that are obviously not suitable for consumption, into their mouths."
Hermione understood: "Essentially, they are weird-flavored beans, right? There are many bizarre flavors?"
"You could say that." Neville nodded, "If your luck is good enough, or bad enough, just one bean can make you unforgettable for the rest of your life..."
It was clear that he himself had had such a "tragic" experience, which was why he was so cowering.
After hearing what he said, Soren Reed actually felt that this was indeed a party food suitable for sharing with friends—after all, who wouldn't want to see a good friend have bad luck and be tortured to death by a weird-flavored bean?
The premise was that this unlucky person was preferably not himself.
After hesitating for a moment, in the spirit of'since I'm already here', he tore open the package and looked at the dozens of colorful, non-repeating beans inside.
Hmm... from the surface, it was impossible to tell what flavor they were at all.
Since that was the case—
"Please, Miss Hermione, ladies first~!"
Soren Reed displayed his gentlemanly spirit and left the good job of mine-sweeping to his best friend.
Hearing this, for the first time since she met Soren Reed, Hermione rolled her eyes at him.