[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]

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  "You... you’d better not say that loud."

  A somewhat timid voice sounded, and a round-faced boy with dark hair stood at the door. He was dragging a suitcase nearly half his height, and in his arms, he was holding a frog.

  The notice mentiohat udents were allowed t pets.

  The requirement was a non-magical creature, with owls, cats, and frogs being the reended choices.

  However, Hagrid had said that rats, ferrets, bats, ravens, spiders, snakes, lizards, scorpions, and dogs were also acceptable. As fical creatures, Hagrid had told Harry that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was a great book, taining descriptions of various magical creatures.

  The school required this book as part of the mandatory reading list, so Harry had taken a look at it, and to his surprise, he was fasated. There were so many strange and bizarre creatures in this world, no less intriguing than those in the world called Aegean in Neil’s memory.

  Of course, acc to Hagrid, this wasn’t a first-year textbook, but young wizards o learn about magical creatures as early as possible since most of them were sidered dangerous.

  Harry could tell that Hagrid strongly disagreed. It was as if he were reading from a script.

  As their versation tinued, Harry firmed his suspi, Hagrid had mentioned more than ohat he wao raise a dragon.

  Later, when Harry read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, he found dragons listed in the final se, highlighted as highly dangerous. Judging by the descriptions, dragons were definitely not suitable as pets.

  Harry was sure about that. But then again, he didn’t think the other listed creatures were good pet choices either. Setting aside snakes and lizards, he knew some of his cssmates had siblings or even parents with peculiar tastes who enjoyed keeping strange aiimals.

  When visiting his cssmates’ homes, he had seen people keeping snakes and lizards.

  To be ho, the golden python was quite beautiful. Leeckos, with their rge, staring eyes, were incredibly cute.

  But rats, bats, spiders, and scorpions? And among the three reended pets a frog?

  At first, Harry thought it was a joke. But now, standing before him was a boy actually holding a frog in his arms. And surprisingly, the frog seemed very well-behaved.

  Alright, this must be magic.

  Harry reassured himself.

  "Ah? Why?”

  Unlike Harry, Hermione didn’t seem the least bit bothered by the frog. pared to him, she appeared far more accepting of such things. Of course, it was also possible that she was more intrigued by the round-faced boy’s words. She asked curiously:

  "The book about, He Who Must Not Be Named."

  "Don’t say that name!"

  The round-faced boy interrupted Hermione. His voice was initially loud, but it gradually grew quieter, almost to the point of being inaudible.

  Hermione frowned but, recalling that the book also seemed to avoid using Voldemort’s name directly, she nodded and said:

  "Well, the book’s description of that man is quite vague, only emphasizing how dark and cruel his reign was. But there’s very little actual information about him. Of course, it does mention his disappearance, but even that is extremely unclear."

  At that moment, Hermiouro look at Harry and added,

  "What’s even more unfortunate is that not even the person involved seems to remember what happened.”

  "No one wants to, or dares to, mention his he round-faced boy said in a near whisper, l his head. "There was a time when anyone who dared to say his name would die and sometimes, their entire family would perish along with them."

  "Hmm. I think I read something like that in a book." Hermione’s i iqued. "Why don’t you e in and sit dow’s have a proper versation. I’m really curious!"

  "But… is that okay?"

  The boy lifted his head, gng at Hermione before shifting his gaze to Harry.

  "Of course," Harry said with a smile, only to startle Neville with his voice.

  ————————————

  After a brief introdu, Harry and Hermione learhat the round-faced boy’s name was Neville Longbottom.

  When Neville realized that Harry was really Harry, he was so shocked that the frog in his hands slipped to the floor. The frog, however, was incredibly obedient, it simply y there without making a sound.

  During their short exge, the three of them got to know each other.

  Hermione was born into a Muggle family and was the first wit at least three geions. Of course, she wasn’t sure if there had been any witches or wizards among her distaives, as they rarely ied. Her parents were dentists and sidered well-off in the UK.

  The Longbottoms, oher hand, were a pure-blood wizarding family.

  Acc to Neville, every member of his family was a wizard, and he wasn’t aware of any exceptions. His parents had both been Aurors, Harry uood that as the magical world’s equivalent of sheriffs, but they had been severely injured during the fight against Voldemort and were now receiving treatment at St. Mungo’s, the wizarding hospital in London.

  Harry’s case was the most unusual, as he was a mix of both worlds.

  From the books, he had learhat his father came from a wizarding family, with nearly all his aors being magical. His mother, like Hermione, was a witch born to Muggle parents. By that logic, using a less strict standard, Harry could be sidered part of a wizarding family.

  But since his parents had died so early, he had grown up in the Muggle world. Until he received his letter, he had no tact with the wizarding world at all.

  Through Neville, Harry and Hermio a preliminary uanding of just how terrifying Voldemort had once been. Even after so many years, the wizarding world still hesitated to mention his name, referring to him instead as "You Know Who."

  "He Who Must Not Be Named," or something simir.

  "So before all this, you had no idea how famous you were?"

  After hearing everything, Hermione looked utterly incredulous. "Oh my God! I mean, didn’t your retives ever mention it to you? That’s unbelievable."

  Harry simply spread his hands, indig that he had no clue.

  Neville didn’t say much after introdug himself, but he couldn’t seem to stop gng at Harry’s forehead. When he realized Harry had noticed, he quickly looked away.

  Harry found Neville quite iing.

  If Harry looked like a girl but actually had a wild personality, then Neville looked like a boy but actually had a timid nature. Harry figured it might have something to do with growing up without his parents. Children who cked parental care were bound to have a tough childhood.

  Harry felt that if he hadn’t gained Neil’s memories at the age of six, memories that had absorbed most of his attention, he might have ended up in a simir situation. Well, maybe even worse, sidering he had practically been living in the cupboard uhe stairs.

  The train had been running for some time now.

  Harry g his watch. It was noon. He haden much that m due to the excitement, and now his stomach was growling.

  Just then, a clig sound came from the corridor. Moments ter, a cheerful woman with dimples slid open the partment door and smiled warmly.

  "Want anything from the trolley, dears? Every Fvour Beans, Chocote Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties..."

  "I’d like a pumpkin pasty. And, uh… two Chocote Frogs," Neville said.

  Hermione blinked, g Neville, then at the dazzling assortment of treats orolley, aated.

  "Well, I suppose I’ll have something too. Do you have water or any drinks?”

  As she spoke, she reached into her small bag and pulled out a handful of British pounds. But after a moment, she seemed to remember something and quickly sed them for two gold s, a few silver ones, and a handful of bronze ones.

  "I’ll take a bit of everything."

  Harry stood up with a grin, pulling a handful of gold Galleons from the small pouch Hagrid had given him. Theuro Neville and Hermioh a smile.

  "It’s on me, let’s celebrate our friendship."

  For some reason, Neville looked a little excited, his round face turning slightly red.

  Hermione pursed her lips, mumbling something like, "I haven’t even decided if I want to be your frie." But she didn’t refuse.

  Soon, the rge tables and chairs in the partment were piled high with all sorts of strange foods and drinks.

  The treats were cheaper than Harry had expected, the entire feast cost less than a single gold Galleon. He hahe woman a Galleon and received two silver Sickles and a handful of bronze Knuts as ge. Harry wasn’t sure if five pounds would have bought this many snacks at Tesco.

  When Harry invited Hermione and Neville to eat with him, Neville shyly whispered a "thank you" but only took a single pumpkin pasty. Hermiohanked him more openly and sampled a little of everything.

  Theie Bott’s Every Fvour Beans surprised both Harry and Hermione.

  They were unlucky, o mustard, and the ot tro-fvored.

  Harry hated tro. He had to gulp down several mouthfuls of pumpkin juice before he could recover. He slumped bato the wide seat, looking utterly defeated.

  Hermione, having nearly choked on the mustard, turned red and had to take several sips of water before she could breathe properly again.

  "Neville, you should have warned us!"

  Hermiouro Neville in frustration, only to find him grinning.

  Neville instantly shrank under her gre, stammering, "I-I fot..."

  In the fancy little box he had just opened, a Chocote Frog was trying to poke its head out but couldn’t quite manage.

  "Hey, I wasn’t really bming you."

  Seeing Neville’s wounded expression, Hermione immediately felt a little guilty. "Sorry, sorry. That was rude of me."

  "No, it’s fine. I… I just have a terrible memory. I tend tet things easily."

  Neville waved his hands quickly.

  And in that moment, the Chocote Frog in his box seized its ce, it jumped out, fell to the floor, and then.

  "Oh."

  Neville’s rge pet frog, lying on the floor, swallowed the small Chocote Frog in a single gulp.

  However, due to the angle, only Harry, who was still slouched in his seat, saw what had happened.

  Was that ibalism?

  Harry vaguely recalled a bizarre fifth-grade sce lessohe teacher had assigned each student a chi to raise. For some reason, one of his cssmate’s parents had mixed chi meat into their bird’s feed.

  Later, another parent, arently had too much free time, reported them for animal abuse and ibalism.

  Well, weird things like that seemed to be happening more and more in the UK these days.

  Neville, however, didn’t seem to care about his missing Chocote Frog in the slightest. Instead, he pulled a card from the fancy box.

  "Bridget Wenlock?"

  Neville’s eyes lit up. "I already have this one, but I should be able to trade it food card!"

  "What’s that?" Harry asked, curious.

  Before Neville could ahe partment door slid open once again.

  ******

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