Chu Yang activated his Observation Haki, clearly catching fragments of people muttering insults like "Muggle" in his ears. Following the direction of the sound, he quickly locked onto the source.
At that moment, a bespectacled boy hurried past him. Like Chu Yang, the boy was pushing a trolley, and perched atop his luggage was an owl.
The boy looked utterly lost, glancing around as if he had no idea where to go.
Chu Yang looked at him and, on a whim, asked, "Are you also looking for Platform Nine and Three-Quarters?"
The boy spun around abruptly, surprise and relief flashing across his face. "You are too?"
"Yeah. Come with me," Chu Yang said, taking the lead.
The boy followed closely, not missing a single step.
"You're also a new student going to Hogwarts?" Seeing that Chu Yang was about the same age as him, the boy quickly became more animated. Smiling, he said, "Hi, my name is Harry Potter. What's your name?"
"Harry… Potter?"
Chu Yang finally understood why he'd spoken up on impulse. The strangely familiar boy in front of him was actually Harry Potter.
"My name is Chu Yang. You can call me Yang." In English, characters like "Yang" or "Yang" were often read similarly to "Young."
"Yang!" Harry smiled, then asked curiously, "Are you from an Eastern country? Does Hogwarts also recruit students from there?"
"By blood, yes, I'm from there," Chu Yang shrugged. "But I grew up in a London orphanage."
"Oh—sorry," Harry quickly apologized, realizing he might have offended him.
Chu Yang waved it off generously. "It's fine. Honestly, the orphanage wasn't as bad as you might imagine. I had lots of friends there, and Headmistress Anna was a nun—she was very kind to children. Of course, that was assuming we didn't get into trouble."
Hearing the sincerity in Chu Yang's words, Harry's expression softened with a hint of longing. "The way you describe it… it sounds kind of nice."
Suddenly, Harry looked a little downcast. "Actually, I'm an orphan too. But I don't have a single friend."
Perhaps because they were both orphans, Harry naturally began opening up to Chu Yang about his experiences over the years.
Chu Yang patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him. "The moment you board the train to Hogwarts, it means you're saying goodbye to the past. Don't worry—you'll make plenty of new friends at school."
Harry immediately felt much better.
At the same time, he became even more eager to get to Hogwarts as soon as possible.
"This is Platform Nine and Three-Quarters," Chu Yang said, pointing to a solid wall between two platforms. "It's enchanted. We have to walk straight through."
"Walk through?" Harry's eyes widened.
Then he watched as Chu Yang pushed his trolley straight toward the wall.
Just as Harry was about to cry out in alarm—
Chu Yang's figure vanished straight into the wall, disappearing without a trace.
"Chu Yang?" Harry called softly, but there was no response.
He took a deep breath, clenched his teeth, and shoved his trolley forward in one go.
After a brief moment of darkness, Harry's vision cleared. A completely new platform appeared before him, and overhead, a sign clearly read: Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
"Hurry up! The train's about to leave!" Chu Yang's voice rang in his ears.
Harry jolted and hurriedly pushed his trolley after him.
Once aboard the train, Chu Yang and Harry found an empty compartment and sat down. Neither of them was short on money, so when the snack trolley came by, they practically cleared it out.
Chu Yang paid the larger share, letting Harry contribute a smaller amount to spare his pride.
Soon, the seats were piled high with snacks. Chu Yang and Harry picked through them casually. Harry was fascinated—everything was new to him, each item seeming to brim with magical mystery.
Chu Yang, on the other hand, was a pure foodie. Compared to the flashy, magical packaging, he cared far more about what the snacks actually tasted like.
Before long, their conversation drifted to family.
The way Harry looked at Chu Yang carried a bit of sympathy and concern, as though he were seeing his former self.
Those heavier emotions were soon buried beneath their anticipation for the future.
Not long after, a slightly scruffy boy appeared in the corridor outside. His clothes were worn, and his face looked a little dirty.
Harry handed him a packet of snacks and invited him into the compartment to sit.
Harry's warmth clearly pleased the boy, easing his earlier awkwardness.
Holding the snacks, the boy introduced himself as he ate. "Hi, I'm Ron Weasley."
Harry smiled. "Nice to meet you. I'm Harry Potter!"
Ron's eyes widened in shock. "You're that Harry Potter? The famous one?"
Harry scratched his head shyly. "Well… if there isn't another Potter, then yeah, that's probably me."
"Then do you have it? I mean, the one from the stories!" Ron pointed excitedly at Harry's forehead.
Harry smiled bashfully and lifted his fringe, revealing the lightning-shaped scar on his brow.
"Cool!" Ron exclaimed.
Then he turned his attention to Chu Yang and asked in surprise, "Mate, are you from an Eastern country?"
Chu Yang had already guessed who Ron was, so he simply nodded in greeting and lowered his head to continue reading Practical Defensive Magic.
This book was essentially an advanced version of Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Defense, meant for higher-year students. It contained extensive knowledge about dark creatures—exactly what Chu Yang needed.
If the opportunity arose, he fully intended to take a stroll through the Forbidden Forest.
As for the lower-year textbooks, Chu Yang already knew them inside out, only occasionally flipping through them to review.
Chu Yang was thoroughly enjoying his reading, but Ron, on the other hand, felt a little annoyed. He'd greeted Chu Yang so enthusiastically, yet Chu Yang had only given him a casual nod.
Ron had no idea just how familiar Chu Yang already was with him—familiar enough that greeting him didn't even register consciously.
To Ron, who wasn't particularly fond of studying, Chu Yang's unusually fast page-turning didn't look like studying at all. It looked more like showing off.
Waving a snack in front of Chu Yang, Ron laughed. "Hey, mate! There aren't any teachers or professors here. No need to put on an act. Take a break! Once we get to school, then you can 'study seriously'—that way the headmaster and professors will notice!"
Chu Yang immediately understood the misunderstanding.
To be fair, most people would've thought the same thing.
So he simply looked up, smiled, didn't bother explaining, and went right back to reading his book.
(End of Chapter)