Dead silence!
A silence like death itself!
Time seemed to freeze in this moment, eternally capturing the terrified, youthful faces inside the train!
But this was an illusion, after all. Just one second later—
"AHHH!!!"
"Help! Someone save me!!!"
"Mom! Dad!!!"
"Waaah!"
Fear was like a highly contagious virus. In an instant, it turned the speeding train into a purgatory of despair!
The train is out of control?
Is it really out of control?!
Harry's emerald green eyes bulged with shock. What he had seen outside the window just moments ago was mere suspicion, but now, he couldn't possibly mistake the absolute despair on the face of the driver who had burst in from the engine room for a bad joke!
His face was flushed, his chest heaving violently. The buzzing in his head made rational thought impossible!
Instinctively, Harry looked for the person he considered most reliable in this situation for help—Percy.
But a second later, Harry knew his plan had failed.
Ron's brother was staring at the driver, dumbstruck, looking as if someone had punched him in the face!
Who else could have an idea... Hermione?!
This girl, who came from the Muggle world like him, had seemed full of ideas when she was talking eloquently in the compartment earlier. Plus, she was the first to notice the train was out of control.
But when Harry turned his gaze and focused on Hermione, he knew he couldn't rely on her either.
Hermione was hugging herself, pressed tightly against the window, every inch of her exposed skin trembling!
Who else might have a way?
Harry tried his best to calm himself, but—
CLANG!
After a booming sound like a massive bell tolling came a series of ear-splitting screeches of metal grinding against metal that made one's soul shiver. The whole world began to shake violently in Harry's eyes!
"The train's going to flip!!!"
In the swaying compartment, Ron dug his fingers into the gap between the window and the wall to keep from being thrown like Neville.
The sky was darkening outside. Sparks as bright and dazzling as stars splashed against the window, illuminating Ron's freckled face, which was now deathly pale, as he screamed.
"Not yet!"
Harry scrambled out from under a table. His forehead throbbed with pain, and the warm stream sliding down his cheek told him he was definitely bleeding without needing a mirror.
His anxious gaze swept over the faces of the older students... They were also thrown about, curled up in various corners of the carriage, using whatever they could to steady themselves in the violently shaking train.
These older students can't be relied on—Harry admitted this with extreme reluctance.
"—But we have to do something, or we're dead!" Harry continued to shout.
"Do something..."
Ron's face wore a look of absurd, existential despair. He asked in an almost dreamlike tone, "Don't be silly. We're just little wizards who haven't even started school... What can we do? Find a place to curl up so we can leave an intact corpse?"
Harry gritted his teeth, grabbed the doorframe, and struggled into the corridor.
The narrow corridor was filled from end to end with students knocked over by the turbulence. Some were curled up alone, others huddled in groups of two or three, clinging to each other.
Everyone was sobbing. Everyone was wailing. Without exception!
Harry tried his best to tear his gaze away from this hellish scene and looked at the train driver, who had seemingly given up completely and collapsed on the floor, staring blankly.
"What exactly is happening?" Harry roared at him. "Why did it suddenly lose control! Was it caused by that stream of light just now?!"
After enduring ten years of suffering, I was finally getting away from the Dursleys!
I was going to the wonderful world of magic, following in the footsteps of my late parents to witness its wonders!
And now, I'm going to die on the train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?!
What will the Dursleys say when they hear about my death?
They'll probably laugh their heads off!
"I don't know..." the driver murmured, his voice weak. "I've—I've tried everything."
The connecting door between the engine and the first carriage banged against the wall. Amidst the cries and shaking, Harry steadied himself as best he could to look inside: a pile of obscure dials and gauges, and a sealed black boiler.
Is there any magic that can stop this?
Harry couldn't help but think this, but the problem was, he hadn't attended a single magic class.
"You have to pull yourselves together!"
Harry shouted at the older students in the prefects' carriage.
"You're prefects, aren't you? Do something... anything!"
Then, he rushed into the engine room first.
Perhaps Harry's encouragement and actions served as motivation, or perhaps these naturally outstanding prefects regained a bit of reason after the initial despair and panic.
They actually began to help each other stand up, exchanging glances with pale faces. Finally, one by one, they stumbled into the engine room.
The indifferent gale collided violently with the out-of-control train. Where the train passed, sparks flew like drifting snow, shovel-loads of them smashing against the observation window, crackling and popping!
Harry looked at the dense array of mysterious buttons on the control panel, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. He didn't dare press anything blindly!
The driver said he tried everything—
Harry turned to look at Percy and the others—they were all trembling at the terrifying scene outside the observation window.
"Did Hogwarts teach you anything—phew, I mean, any lessons on driving magical trains?"
"You're talking nonsense," Percy gasped.
The train continued its uncontrolled run, swaying left and right. The clang-clang-clang of the rapidly spinning wheels hitting the steel rails sounded like the death knell of the Grim Reaper!
We need an expert!
Harry realized this profoundly.
However, the "expert" was lying outside the prefects' carriage, having completely lost all means and hope of survival.
Is there anyone else?
Is there anyone else who might know a little something?!
Harry forced himself to think, even though he never considered himself particularly quick-witted!
But when a person is at the end of their rope, they can often muster a bit of wisdom they don't usually possess.
A spark of inspiration suddenly flashed in his mind. Before he could think it through, Harry shouted at Percy:
"Quick, go find that scammer!"
Harry blurted it out, then quickly corrected himself.
"No, I mean—isn't he a professor?!"
At that moment, a look of survivors' ecstasy appeared on everyone's faces—even though their survival was still very much in question!
But—yes! There's a professor on this train!
And a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at that!
The older students knew well that no wizard without real skill would dare take that job!
"You guys stay here, I'm going now!"
Percy showed a bit of responsibility as a prefect. He turned, squeezed through the crowd, and rushed into the passenger carriage.
This time, he didn't have time to remind the little wizards lying in the aisle to make way. He literally stepped on their legs and bodies, hopping and running towards the last carriage. When he passed Draco Malfoy, who was lying on the ground clutching his head and trembling like a sieve, he 'accidentally' kicked him in the face.
"Professor... Huh?!"
Finally, Percy reached the last carriage. He shouted with hope and joy, but the scene inside the compartment left him dumbfounded.
simply put, it looked as if a violent blizzard had been stuffed into the small compartment. The whole thing was a hazy white; not a single person could be seen!
Hesitating for half a second, Percy raised his hand to open the compartment door. But the moment the thought arose, an inexplicable terror made him stumble backward.
"Uh... Professor?"
This was the last hope for a train full of students to survive. Percy gritted his teeth and continued to call out, unaware that his voice was laced with sobs.
"Are you in the compartment, Professor... Could you please... I mean—"
Percy took a deep breath and screamed.
"THE TRAIN IS GOING TO FLIP! EVERYONE IS GOING TO DIE! PROFESSOR, CAN YOU THINK OF SOMETHING?!!!"
Inside the compartment, a ripple flashed through the blizzard that was orderly yet chaotic within the disorder—
"I'm sorry for exploiting your kindness, Ares... and say sorry to the children for me—"
A voice Percy couldn't hear said.
"I believe we will meet again, Ares. So, goodbye."
With that, the 'blizzard' inside the compartment stopped.
Percy could see inside now.
He saw the professor, who looked vaguely familiar, stand up from his seat. He looked a bit weary, but his expression was steady and calm.
He saw the professor pick up the remaining half-cup of red drink from the table and down it in one gulp. Then, the space that seemed to be jumping around him returned to stability.
He watched as the professor, whose figure now appeared towering and majestic like a god in his eyes, looked at him.
"Go sit in a compartment. Sit tight."
Ares walked out of the compartment, his deep black eyes reflecting Percy Weasley's tear-streaked, pale face. Then:
"Everyone grab onto something sturdy nearby. It's about to get bumpy."
The powerful voice reached the ears of every little wizard weeping in deep despair, giving them infinite hope like a ray of light shining into an abyss of darkness.
The young wizards executed this order quickly.
Taking one last look at Percy Weasley, who had jumped into his compartment and was gripping the luggage rack tightly, Ares slowed his breathing slightly. In the next second, he took a step into the twisted void.
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