"Don't get me wrong—I don't actually know him. It's just that his name has already spread through all the pure-blood families."
Cassandra sat ramrod straight, as though a ruler was pressed against her back, making her posture even more striking.
"And besides, you called him Louis, so I could more or less guess who he was."
Louis gave a crooked smile and explained to Hermione, "I met her at Ollivander's. She came to buy her wand nearly a month early. Maybe she's a prodigy like you."
At being compared to Hermione, a faint flicker of displeasure passed through Cassandra's eyes, though she kept it hidden. Instead, she studied Hermione.
A girl in her early teens, not too concerned with grooming or poise, clearly not from an old pure-blood family. Her hair wasn't red, her robes were new and clean—most likely a half-blood or Muggle-born. Ravenclaw robes. Clever, then.
After a moment's thought, Cassandra gave a small nod. "Hello. I'm Cassandra Vole."
"Hello, I'm Hermione. Hermione Granger." Hermione had intended to chat a bit more with this strikingly beautiful girl, but Cassandra, after introducing herself, simply pulled out a copy of The Standard Book of Spells and began reading, making it clear she wasn't interested in conversation.
With Cassandra's arrival, the atmosphere in the carriage grew awkward. She was like an icy spike that pinned everything down—aloof, silent, radiating a chill that stifled any warmth.
Louis and Hermione exchanged a look. Neither could think of anything to say.
At that moment, the door burst open again—but this time, without any courtesy. Two figures practically launched themselves inside.
Fred and George.
The twins were still catching their breath, clearly having sprinted. Their sudden arrival shattered the awkward silence, and all three pairs of eyes turned toward them.
"Did you two… chase after the train because you missed it?" Louis asked, watching them pant.
"Not exactly."
"But close enough." George and Fred answered one after the other.
"We nearly missed it. All Fred's fault—he forgot our fireworks."
"No, it was your fault—you're the one who left them at home!"
The twins were about to start bickering again when Louis grabbed each of them by the collar.
"You're too loud," he said flatly. "What you should be doing is finding a seat—not arguing here."
"Wow, is this the same arm strength that punched a troll to death?" Fred and George grinned, completely unbothered by being lifted.
"Everywhere's full. We just got Ginny—our little sister—settled."
"And we couldn't find Harry or Ron either, so let us sit here."
The twins spoke one after another, perfectly in sync.
"You two were late. So were Harry and Ron ahead of you—or behind you?" Louis asked, realizing these two jokers didn't seem at all worried about their younger brother's safety.
"They were in front of us."
"No, behind us."
Even such a simple question was enough to spark another quarrel. Left unchecked, they could probably argue until morning—and then, naturally, forget what they had been arguing about.
"If," Louis said, "and I mean if, Harry and Ron were behind you… wouldn't that mean they missed the train?"
"That's impossible. We weren't that far away. The driver would wait for them."
"And even if they did miss it, it's no big deal. They could just write to a professor."
"Apparition."
"Exactly, apparition."
The twins' logic was sound. Missing the train wasn't the end of the world—and apparition was indeed the most straightforward solution.
But clearly, the hard-headed Savior and his little friend didn't think that way.
"Look! What's that?"
Suddenly, noise rippled through the train carriage—students were in a stir, as if someone had spotted something shocking.
George and Fred leapt to their feet, having glimpsed something familiar flashing past the window.
"A car!" George shouted.
"Dad's flying car!" Fred added.
Louis turned to the window and indeed saw the classic scene: a blue car floating in mid-air, flying alongside the train.
And the figures inside were unmistakable.
"It's Harry and Ron—Merlin's beard, they actually took the car!" George and Fred exclaimed, staring at each other.
"This is brilliant!"
"Yeah, why didn't we think of that?"
As the twins cheered loudly, the others in the compartment could only look on in bafflement.
"So… is this what Gryffindors are like?" Hermione whispered into Louis's ear.
"I'd say so. Wouldn't surprise me if Gryffindor throws them a hero's welcome feast tonight," Louis murmured, watching the car pull alongside.
"This is insane," Hermione muttered in disbelief.
Across from them, Cassandra, still holding her book, was practically bursting with scorn. But since complaining would hardly be elegant, she swallowed it down with visible effort.
What kind of lunatics are the students at Hogwarts?
In the end, the twins stayed put, forcing Hermione to squeeze onto the opposite bench with Cassandra. Two pretty girls, each hugging a book with very different airs about them, sat side by side—while Fred and George leaned eagerly toward Louis, hawking their latest invention.
"This here's a Canary Cream. One bite and you'll turn into a canary," Fred said proudly.
Louis didn't believe them for a second. He remembered that in the end, those so-called Canary Creams never actually turned people into proper canaries.
He took one, eyed Fred mischievously, and before Fred could react, shoved the biscuit straight into his mouth.
Fred gagged, eyes rolling, and barely managed to choke it down.
Bang!
A puff of white smoke erupted, and Fred transformed into a scruffy, bald-feathered monstrosity of a bird.
The sudden spectacle startled the girls out of their books—even Cassandra nearly lost her composure.
Fred squawked twice triumphantly before flickering back to normal.
"Well? Fun, isn't it?" Fred grinned, winking.
"It is amusing," Louis admitted. "But have you two never thought of going further?"
"Further?" Fred and George's eyes lit up. "What do you mean?"
"Longer transformations—and ones that are more complete," Louis said, his eyes gleaming with cunning insight.
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