He drew out his magic wand and handed it to Harry.
"Cherry wood, unicorn hair," he said proudly, "The previous magic wand was lost, and my gran did not even blame me..."
"Why should she blame you?" Harry said with a chuckle, "I dare say, she's probably proud of you now."
"Are we still having Dueling House gatherings this year, Harry?" Luna asked, as she dismantled a colorful pair of glasses from the middle of "Singing Against the Tune," "Cedric and the Weasley brothers have graduated from Hogwarts, haven't they? Should we accept some newcomers?"
However, he hadn't had time to answer when there was a commotion outside the compartment.
A group of fourth-year girls were whispering and giggling outside the glass window.
"You go ask him!" "No, you go!" "Alright, I'll go!"
One of them, who looked very daring, pushed the door and walked in. She had a pair of dark eyes, a protruding chin, and long black hair.
"Hello, Harry, I'm Romilda, Romilda Vane." she said confidently in a loud voice, "Why don't you sit in our compartment? You don't need to sit with them."
She lowered her voice deliberately but made sure others could hear, pointing at Neville and Luna, who had now put on the free glasses, looking like a colorful, emotionally confused owl.
"They're my friends." Harry said expressionlessly.
At that moment, he did indeed seem like that kind of famous person—clearly distant.
Perhaps he had been too gentle before, too accessible, leading many people to have an incorrect perception of him.
"Oh," the girl appeared very surprised and said, "Oh, alright."
Then she retreated, closing the sliding door behind her.
"People think you should have cooler friends than us." Luna said without a trace of embarrassment, once again displaying her knack for singing against the tune.
"You guys are cool," Harry said curtly, "They haven't participated in our activities against Umbridge, only you guys are loyal followers of mine. I certainly know who my friends are."
"That was well said." Luna beamed, pushing up her demon-repelling glasses and burying herself back into "Singing Against the Tune."
"You really should hear what my gran says about you." Neville rubbed his round face, saying, "My gran says Harry Potter is better than the entire Ministry of Magic when Fudge was around. I suspect if you could be her grandson, she'd be willing to trade anything for that."
"Don't say that, Neville." Harry shook his head and said, "Don't think of your gran like that; in her eyes, no one is more important than you. No one. You're her grandson."
"Maybe." Neville shrugged.
"That's how elders are." Luna said, her head still lowered, "Children are always the best from someone else's family, the eternally true principle—you can understand that feeling, right? Oh Neville, you've got bothersome gnats around you, see? They're flying around your head."
"There's no such thing as bothersome gnats!" Neville protested.
Luna chuckled.
"Bothersome gnats... they're invisible, they float into your ear, and mess up your brain." she said, "I just saw several buzzing around here. They seem to really like pestering you—"
She waved her hands in the air, as if trying to chase away invisible moths.
Harry smacked his lips.
If not for knowing who Luna was, he would really think Luna was a lunatic.
The weather outside the train window alternated between sunny and cloudy, as it had all summer.
Just after passing through a cold haze, there was a bright, albeit faint sun, until the sun outside was almost shining overhead, Ron and Hermione finally entered the compartment.
"I really hope the food cart comes soon, I'm starving." Ron said eagerly, plopping down next to Harry and rubbing his stomach, "Hello, Neville, hello, Luna... and Annie?"
He was somewhat unsure, especially since Annie was now covering her face with a hat, making her face invisible—Ron was guessed it was Annie based on the Slytherin Uniform she wore.
"Who else could it be?" Harry glanced askew at Ron, "You think lying here could be Draco?"
"No chance it's Malfoy." Ron snorted, "We just saw him sitting in the compartment with a few classmates, and when he saw Hermione and me, he and those bad kids were teasing me."
"What did they tease you about?" Harry asked curiously.
Ron suddenly turned red.
"No, why are you blushing?" Harry asked, puzzled.
Ron remained silent, continuing to blush.
Harry looked up out the window and thought to himself, I was pondering why it hadn't rained, only to realize Ron had rendered it speechless.
Just then, Annie pulled the hat off her face.
"I'm hungry." She looked pleadingly at Harry, like a pitiful little kitten.
"Wait a bit." Harry rubbed Annie's soft belly and said, "The food cart will come soon, okay?"
"Mm." Annie replied softly.
Just at that moment, the compartment door was opened again, and it was a few fourth-year girls.
But upon seeing Harry rubbing the stomach of a Slytherin girl, they awkwardly walked out again.
"Seems like they're your admirers." Ron said gleefully, "Hermione and I just heard them talking about Potter on the way here—what can I say, it's all young people—I really can't imagine if Miss Grindelwald knew you had so many admirers, what would happen."
"Don't." Harry waved both his hands, "Please, don't tell Vivi, I'm really afraid she'll set Hogwarts on fire with the Fiery Fire Spell."
"No way." Hermione said with disdain, "Vivi can't possibly be such a person? Besides, they're just admiring you..."
"Really?" Annie suddenly laughed, she caught her breath and laughed for a while, then explained slowly under Hermione's puzzled gaze: "Once—because Harry eradicated the poachers' hideout, many girls at Hogwarts were flirting with Harry. You know what Vivi did?"
"What did she do?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Vivi hung those girls who dared to make advances on Harry, especially those who wrote love letters, on the spire of the West Tower." Annie looked out the window, as if the window held the girls hanging there, "But let me say, it wasn't just Vivi doing this. Those girls had wealthy families, but were suppressed by a mysterious force. Besides Cassandra's family's influence, I can't think of another explanation."
"Hold on." Hermione frowned and asked, "I remember Miss Malfoy wasn't getting along with Vivi, why would she help Vivi then?"
"The reasoning is simple, Hermione." Annie said, her head in her hand, "Because she also doesn't like those wild bees and butterflies coveting Harry. Vivi punished them, and Cassandra was more than pleased. She wouldn't have undermined Vivi's efforts? By blocking those girls, she only had to compete with Vivi."
"What about you?" Luna, always the one to ask the most awkward questions, suddenly queried.
Annie glanced at the embarrassed Harry, mocking herself with a laugh: "At that time, I was under a Black Magic Curse, not knowing when I might die. How could they see me as a threat?"