[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]

---------------------------------------

"You... you’d better not say that name out loud."

A somewhat timid voice sounded, and a round-faced boy with dark hair stood at the door. He was dragging a suitcase nearly half his height, and in his arms, he was holding a frog.

The notice mentioned that new students were allowed to bring pets.

The requirement was a non-magical creature, with owls, cats, and frogs being the recommended choices.

However, Hagrid had said that rats, ferrets, bats, ravens, spiders, snakes, lizards, scorpions, and dogs were also acceptable. As for magical creatures, Hagrid had told Harry that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was a great book, containing descriptions of various magical creatures.

The school required this book as part of the mandatory reading list, so Harry had taken a look at it, and to his surprise, he was fascinated. There were so many strange and bizarre creatures in this world, no less intriguing than those in the world called Aegean in Neil’s memory.

Of course, according to Hagrid, this wasn’t a first-year textbook, but young wizards needed to learn about magical creatures as early as possible since most of them were considered dangerous.

Harry could tell that Hagrid strongly disagreed. It was as if he were reading from a script.

As their conversation continued, Harry confirmed his suspicion, Hagrid had mentioned more than once that he wanted to raise a dragon.

Later, when Harry read Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, he found dragons listed in the final section, highlighted as highly dangerous. Judging by the descriptions, dragons were definitely not suitable as pets.

Harry was sure about that. But then again, he didn’t think the other listed creatures were good pet choices either. Setting aside snakes and lizards, he knew some of his classmates had siblings or even parents with peculiar tastes who enjoyed keeping strange and exotic animals.

When visiting his classmates’ homes, he had seen people keeping snakes and lizards.

To be honest, the golden python was quite beautiful. Leopard geckos, with their large, staring eyes, were incredibly cute.

But rats, bats, spiders, and scorpions? And among the three recommended pets a frog?

At first, Harry thought it was a joke. But now, standing before him was a boy actually holding a frog in his arms. And surprisingly, the frog seemed very well-behaved.

Alright, this must be magic.

Harry reassured himself.

"Ah? Why?”

Unlike Harry, Hermione didn’t seem the least bit bothered by the frog. Compared to him, she appeared far more accepting of such things. Of course, it was also possible that she was more intrigued by the round-faced boy’s words. She asked curiously:

"The book about, He Who Must Not Be Named."

"Don’t say that name!"

The round-faced boy interrupted Hermione. His voice was initially loud, but it gradually grew quieter, almost to the point of being inaudible.

Hermione frowned but, recalling that the book also seemed to avoid using Voldemort’s name directly, she nodded and said:

"Well, the book’s description of that man is quite vague, only emphasizing how dark and cruel his reign was. But there’s very little actual information about him. Of course, it does mention his disappearance, but even that is extremely unclear."

At that moment, Hermione turned to look at Harry and added,

"What’s even more unfortunate is that not even the person involved seems to remember what happened.”

"No one wants to, or dares to, mention his name," the round-faced boy said in a near whisper, lowering his head. "There was a time when anyone who dared to say his name would die and sometimes, their entire family would perish along with them."

"Hmm. I think I read something like that in a book." Hermione’s interest was piqued. "Why don’t you come in and sit down? Let’s have a proper conversation. I’m really curious!"

"But… is that okay?"

The boy lifted his head, glancing at Hermione before shifting his gaze to Harry.

"Of course," Harry said with a smile, only to startle Neville with his voice.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

————————————

After a brief introduction, Harry and Hermione learned that the round-faced boy’s name was Neville Longbottom.

When Neville realized that Harry was really Harry, he was so shocked that the frog in his hands slipped to the floor. The frog, however, was incredibly obedient, it simply lay there without making a sound.

During their short exchange, the three of them got to know each other.

Hermione was born into a Muggle family and was the first witch in at least three generations. Of course, she wasn’t sure if there had been any witches or wizards among her distant relatives, as they rarely interacted. Her parents were dentists and considered well-off in the UK.

The Longbottoms, on the other hand, were a pure-blood wizarding family.

According to Neville, every member of his family was a wizard, and he wasn’t aware of any exceptions. His parents had both been Aurors, Harry understood that as the magical world’s equivalent of sheriffs, but they had been severely injured during the fight against Voldemort and were now receiving treatment at St. Mungo’s, the wizarding hospital in London.

Harry’s case was the most unusual, as he was a mix of both worlds.

From the books, he had learned that his father came from a wizarding family, with nearly all his ancestors being magical. His mother, like Hermione, was a witch born to Muggle parents. By that logic, using a less strict standard, Harry could be considered part of a wizarding family.

But since his parents had died so early, he had grown up in the Muggle world. Until he received his letter, he had no contact with the wizarding world at all.

Through Neville, Harry and Hermione got a preliminary understanding of just how terrifying Voldemort had once been. Even after so many years, the wizarding world still hesitated to mention his name, referring to him instead as "You Know Who."

"He Who Must Not Be Named," or something similar.

"So before all this, you had no idea how famous you were?"

After hearing everything, Hermione looked utterly incredulous. "Oh my God! I mean, didn’t your relatives ever mention it to you? That’s unbelievable."

Harry simply spread his hands, indicating that he had no clue.

Neville didn’t say much after introducing himself, but he couldn’t seem to stop glancing at Harry’s forehead. When he realized Harry had noticed, he quickly looked away.

Harry found Neville quite interesting.

If Harry looked like a girl but actually had a wild personality, then Neville looked like a boy but actually had a timid nature. Harry figured it might have something to do with growing up without his parents. Children who lacked parental care were bound to have a tough childhood.

Harry felt that if he hadn’t gained Neil’s memories at the age of six, memories that had absorbed most of his attention, he might have ended up in a similar situation. Well, maybe even worse, considering he had practically been living in the cupboard under the stairs.

The train had been running for some time now.

Harry glanced at his watch. It was noon. He hadn’t eaten much that morning due to the excitement, and now his stomach was growling.

Just then, a clicking sound came from the corridor. Moments later, a cheerful woman with dimples slid open the compartment door and smiled warmly.

"Want anything from the trolley, dears? Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties..."

"I’d like a pumpkin pasty. And, uh… two Chocolate Frogs," Neville said.

Hermione blinked, glanced at Neville, then at the dazzling assortment of treats on the trolley, and hesitated.

"Well, I suppose I’ll have something too. Do you have water or any drinks?”

As she spoke, she reached into her small bag and pulled out a handful of British pounds. But after a moment, she seemed to remember something and quickly swapped them for two gold coins, a few silver ones, and a handful of bronze ones.

"I’ll take a bit of everything."

Harry stood up with a grin, pulling a handful of gold Galleons from the small pouch Hagrid had given him. Then he turned to Neville and Hermione with a smile.

"It’s on me, let’s celebrate our friendship."

For some reason, Neville looked a little excited, his round face turning slightly red.

Hermione pursed her lips, mumbling something like, "I haven’t even decided if I want to be your friend yet." But she didn’t refuse.

Soon, the large tables and chairs in the compartment were piled high with all sorts of strange foods and drinks.

The treats were cheaper than Harry had expected, the entire feast cost less than a single gold Galleon. He handed the woman a Galleon and received two silver Sickles and a handful of bronze Knuts as change. Harry wasn’t sure if five pounds would have bought this many snacks at Tesco.

When Harry invited Hermione and Neville to eat with him, Neville shyly whispered a "thank you" but only took a single pumpkin pasty. Hermione thanked him more openly and sampled a little of everything.

Then, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans surprised both Harry and Hermione.

They were unlucky, one got mustard, and the other got cilantro-flavored.

Harry hated cilantro. He had to gulp down several mouthfuls of pumpkin juice before he could recover. He slumped back into the wide seat, looking utterly defeated.

Hermione, having nearly choked on the mustard, turned red and had to take several sips of water before she could breathe properly again.

"Neville, you should have warned us!"

Hermione turned to Neville in frustration, only to find him grinning.

Neville instantly shrank under her glare, stammering, "I-I forgot..."

In the fancy little box he had just opened, a Chocolate Frog was trying to poke its head out but couldn’t quite manage.

"Hey, I wasn’t really blaming you."

Seeing Neville’s wounded expression, Hermione immediately felt a little guilty. "Sorry, sorry. That was rude of me."

"No, it’s fine. I… I just have a terrible memory. I tend to forget things easily."

Neville waved his hands quickly.

And in that moment, the Chocolate Frog in his box seized its chance, it jumped out, fell to the floor, and then.

"Oh."

Neville’s large pet frog, lying on the floor, swallowed the small Chocolate Frog in a single gulp.

However, due to the angle, only Harry, who was still slouched in his seat, saw what had happened.

Was that cannibalism?

Harry vaguely recalled a bizarre fifth-grade science lesson where the teacher had assigned each student a chicken to raise. For some reason, one of his classmate’s parents had mixed chicken meat into their bird’s feed.

Later, another parent, who apparently had too much free time, reported them for animal abuse and cannibalism.

Well, weird things like that seemed to be happening more and more in the UK these days.

Neville, however, didn’t seem to care about his missing Chocolate Frog in the slightest. Instead, he pulled a card from the fancy box.

"Bridget Wenlock?"

Neville’s eyes lit up. "I already have this one, but I should be able to trade it for a good card!"

"What’s that?" Harry asked, curious.

Before Neville could answer, the compartment door slid open once again.

----

you can read more 20 advance chapter on my patreon:

pat reon.com/DylanBriak