A small girl hid behind Molly, peeking out at her brothers as they eagerly helped Hydrus Lestrange carry her luggage.
This was Ginny Weasley, the youngest daughter of the Weasley family. She found her brothers' behavior a little embarrassing—Miss Lestrange had only one suitcase, yet all four of them were scrambling to grab it.
"Oh, Miss Lestrange, your luggage is really light."
"You don't have to be so polite, you can just call me Hydrus, George," Hydrus replied. "There's only a cat inside the suitcase. He's been sleeping a lot lately, and I don't think he appreciates being shaken like that."
George stared at her in surprise. "We only introduced ourselves once—how did you tell me apart from Fred?"
Fred and George were twins, nearly identical in appearance. Even their mother Molly sometimes couldn't tell them apart.
Seeing George obediently steady the suitcase, Hydrus smiled. "Maybe it's a woman's intuition?"
"But Mum doesn't have that intuition…" George muttered.
Fred, however, caught the key point. "Wait—you said there's only a cat in your suitcase? Then where's the rest of your luggage?"
Hydrus blinked. "Take a guess."
When there were many siblings, there was always a warm kind of bustle.
Watching them joke with one another while searching for an empty compartment, Hydrus suddenly felt a little envious. A lively family like this didn't seem so bad after all.
...
Earlier, with the help of the red-haired Weasley brothers, Harry Potter had managed to move his luggage into a compartment. But he soon noticed them jumping right back off the train, animatedly chatting with a girl.
She was really pretty, Harry thought. He hid behind the curtain by the window, peeking carefully at the Weasley family, afraid of being caught staring.
The train began to move. Their youngest sister ran alongside it, laughing and crying at the same time, until the train left the station and she could no longer be seen.
The compartment door slid open, and the youngest red-haired boy walked in.
"Is there a seat here?" he asked dejectedly. "Everywhere else is full."
Harry shook his head, and Ron took that as permission to sit down.
"Oh—hi. I'm Ron Weasley."
"H-hello, I'm Harry. Harry Potter."
"Harry Potter?! You're really Harry Potter? Fred and George said they saw you—I thought they were joking!"
Harry smiled. "I should thank them for helping me with my luggage."
Ron pointed excitedly at Harry's forehead. "So that means—you really have it, right there…?"
Harry brushed his bangs aside, revealing the lightning-shaped scar.
"Wow. So that was done by You-Know-Who?"
"I don't know," Harry said. "I was too young. I don't remember anything."
Ron sighed happily. "Today's my lucky day. Not only did I see Hydrus Lestrange, I'm also sitting in the same compartment as Harry Potter!"
"Hydrus Lestrange?" Harry blinked. "The older student you were talking to before getting on the train?"
Realizing something, Harry hurriedly explained, "I wasn't trying to spy on you—I just saw your brothers helping me with my luggage and looked over a bit more."
"It's fine, Harry. Yep, that was her! She's much younger than in the photos—and way prettier too!"
Seeing Ron didn't mind, Harry relaxed—but then his eyes widened. "Hydrus Lestrange? The singer?"
Ron looked puzzled. "She's famous in the Muggle world. You don't know her?"
Harry shook his head. "I've only heard her songs on an old radio. I've never seen her in person or even in photos. My cousin has lots of her posters, but he never lets me see them."
"Oh… wow."
Harry smiled again, then asked hesitantly, "If Miss Lestrange is here, that means she's…?"
"Yes, that's right," Ron said cheerfully. "She's a witch—just enrolled a bit late! When the news came out, our family celebrated for days!"
Harry's eyes lit up.
Since he was six, whenever he felt unhappy, he would turn on the radio—and Hydrus's hugely popular songs always seemed to be playing.
Her voice soothed his heart, and without realizing it, he had come to feel a familial closeness toward her.
And now, the once unreachable Hydrus Lestrange was about to become his classmate.
She even became the connection between him and Ron, ensuring they never ran out of things to talk about.
"Harry! I know which carriage Hydrus is in. Let's go see her together!"
Ron's suggestion was impossible to refuse. Harry nodded firmly. "Okay, Ron! Let's go!"
The news that Hydrus Lestrange was on the train was even more explosive than the fact that Harry Potter was aboard.
The closer they got to her carriage, the more people there were.
Young witches and wizards kept pressing forward.
From afar, Ron heard his brother's voice. "I'm Percy Weasley, the new Gryffindor prefect! Stop crowding here and keep some order!"
Ron's red head bobbed up and down as he tried to make himself visible, completely ruining his hair in the process.
"Ron, is that your brother?" Harry asked.
Ron nodded. "Yeah. This is the first time I've actually hoped his 'authority' would work…"
The crowd shoved and jostled. Harry heard a platinum-blond boy his age speaking arrogantly to two boys behind him.
"Goyle, Crabbe, so that Hydrus Lestrange really is a witch."
"Yes, Draco. I thought it was just a rumor too."
The boy named Draco raised his voice. "Even if she's a witch, her birth isn't exactly impressive. Still, her songs are decent—worth getting to know."
Ron whispered in Harry's ear, "That's definitely a Slytherin. A pure-blood-obsessed idiot."
Harry, still unfamiliar with the wizarding world, nodded blankly.
...
Inside the compartment, Hydrus cradled Golden Tiger in her arms, watching George and Fred struggle to hold back the overenthusiastic crowd outside.
Across from her sat a Black boy with dreadlocks—Lee Jordan, George and Fred's roommate at Hogwarts.
He sat stiffly, clutching a tightly closed box, afraid the giant spider inside might frighten Hydrus.
Outside, the noise continued, and the young witches and wizards were furious with the Weasley twins.
"We want to see Miss Lestrange!"
"You don't have the right to stop us!"
Hydrus smiled at the sweaty George and Fred. "Brave knights, do you need any assistance?"
"No! Hydrus, we've got this!"
"If it comes down to it, we can throw dungbombs into the crowd!"
"Fred, how do you still have some? Mum didn't confiscate them all?"
"I hid two in my pants!"
"Oh, Fred," George gasped. "You're insane. If those explode in your trousers, you'll be famous all over the school!"
"Yeah—maybe even more famous than Hydrus!"
Hydrus watched them with a grin.
They sounded relaxed, but forcing back a crowd of young witches and wizards was no easy task. Their hair was a total mess, and at that moment, George even had two fingers from some kid stuck up his nostrils.
Hydrus raised her wand and flicked it lightly.
The compartment expanded—larger and larger—until it became a vast room capable of holding over a hundred people.
George and Fred froze as the crowd poured in.
The enormous space was almost empty. Only Hydrus and Lee Jordan remained seated where they were—the seats and windows unchanged, looking strangely out of place.
George and Fred rushed to Hydrus's side.
"An Extension Charm!"
"And an insanely powerful one!"
"But we're not allowed to use magic outside school—you—"
Hydrus smiled. "I'm not enrolled yet."
That single sentence convinced George and Fred that Hydrus was absolutely their kind of person.
Another rule-breaker.
They just hadn't seen her true nature yet.
"Miss Lestrange! Can I have your autograph?"
"Miss Lestrange, my whole family loves you!"
...
All of Hydrus's songs were lifted straight from massive hits of the 2010s and beyond.
Those musical concepts were twenty years ahead of the 1990s.
That kind of cultural gap hit like a tidal wave—no wonder the entire world, including the wizarding world, worshipped her without thinking.
And on top of that, Hydrus possessed a truly magical voice—utterly unmatched.
"Hydrus Lestrange. I think we should get to know each other."
A young, arrogant voice cut through the noise, dripping with superiority.
Hydrus looked through the crowd and saw a platinum-blond boy lifting his chin, speaking down to her through his nostrils.
"For a Muggle-born witch, being acquainted with the Malfoy heir should be an honor."
Hydrus felt her temples throb as she stared at the little brat and his two cronies behind him.
Her urge to complain exploded.
Kid, maybe think before you speak?
Have you seriously forgotten the dark history of being terrorized by your beloved older cousin when you were younger?