Hogwarts Card System Chapter 015

“I read about it in a book,” Ted said, extending his hand and shaking Neville’s, who seemed a bit shy.

“Hello, my name is Ted Epiphany, you can call me Ted.”

“H-hello, just call me Neville,” The chubby Neville looked like a punching bag, his face practically screaming, “Please bully me, I beg you.”

Ted was a little worried about Voldemort.

Ted’s next action surprised Neville—he didn’t ask to see his scar.

This made him breathe a sigh of relief, because ever since he was little, everyone who knew about him wanted to see his scar.

He didn’t like showing the scar that was the price of his parents’ lives, but he didn’t know how to refuse people’s requests.

Ted not asking to see his scar immediately earned him Neville’s goodwill.

Hermione then pointed to the mouse-eared boy and introduced him, “He’s Jerry, also a new student this year. We’ll all be classmates!”

Ted shook Jerry’s hand, “Hello, Jerry. Call me Ted.”

“Hello, Ted!” Jerry was much livelier, his eyes darting around.

However, the compartment then became a bit awkward.

Neville didn’t dare to speak, or even look directly at others.

Jerry, on the other hand, seemed to want to say something but held back in the unfamiliar environment.

He was thinking that while Neville and Hermione didn’t show any discrimination towards his identity, he wasn’t sure about this new classmate’s attitude.

Hermione was quite talkative, constantly holding her textbook and discussing spell problems with Ted.

The other two kept secretly observing Ted.

They had already witnessed Hermione’s prowess—both in personality and magic.

Although Neville came from the Longbottom family, he couldn’t perform a single spell before. In fact, his magical outburst only occurred at age 10 during his uncle’s “falling experiment.” Before that, many pessimistically believed that the Boy Who Lived was a Squib.

The Boy Who Lived being a Squib, what a tragedy that would be! Neville’s pressure was imaginable.

There were some unflattering rumors about him circulating, such as “the dazed savior.”

He was under immense pressure; he just wanted to be an ordinary wizard, an inconspicuous wizard. But that was difficult…

Now, seeing that his three new classmates weren’t staring at him like a monkey in a zoo, Neville felt a wave of relief.

As a mouse-eared creature, Jerry had been in this world since birth, but many pure-blood families in the wizarding world didn’t consider them natives. Not only were his family’s finances difficult, but he also had to be cautious in life to avoid trouble.

He had only touched a wand for the first time half a month ago.

And Hermione, from a Muggle family, could already use several spells!

And who was this Ted, whom she kept mentioning and who could guide her?

Ted naturally noticed their secret observations, but he didn’t mind.

After a while, Neville adapted to the new occupants and atmosphere of the compartment, relaxing considerably.

Jerry, on the other hand, was interested in the two smooth wooden beads in Ted’s hand. He noticed that sometimes Ted’s hand didn’t move at all, yet the two beads spun by themselves. Was this magic too?

At this moment, Ansu finally broke free from Hermione’s hand and quickly flew to the luggage rack to preen her feathers. She pecked and squawked, “Quack quack~ that girl is too close~”

Hermione was very fond of Ansu, so much so that Magik in her cage was jealous, constantly staring at Ansu.

Ansu undoubtedly attracted both of their gazes, especially Neville’s. He held his toad, Trevor, and looked at Ansu with envy, admiring the raven with its glossy black feathers shimmering with blue, so clever and able to speak human language.

Ansu was now almost fully grown, thirty centimeters long, a large bird indeed.

Just then, the people in the compartment heard a slightly childish girl’s voice from the platform not far away.

“Neville, Mummy! I saw Neville! Mummy, can I go on the train and see him?”

“Ginny, Neville isn’t an animal in a zoo for you to stare at. And you’ve already seen him!”

“That was when I was little, I don’t even remember!”

Ted glanced out the window and saw Sirius and his wife seeing off Harry, talking with the red-haired Weasley family.

Neville clearly heard the conversation too and couldn’t help but shrink further into the side of the window.

If he could, he would have squeezed into the wall, hoping no one would see him.

Even as the Savior, Neville still seemed overly timid and unconfident.

If a person had no particular virtues, they were praised for being honest and dependable.

Perhaps the pressure he had carried since childhood was simply too immense.

And his grandmother didn’t seem to know how to raise children; she was practically a pressure-inducing grandma.

…

Soon, it was time, and the train started moving, heading north from London to a certain location in the Scottish Highlands.

Once the train started, everyone cheered up, as Hogwarts wasn’t far.

Just a few minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

The sliding door opened, and a small red head poked in.

“Excuse me, can I… Oh no, this one’s full too! All the compartments are full.” The red-headed boy’s expression was blank as he retreated, but a few seconds later, he poked his head back in.

“Neville?”

Neville’s face was stiff with an awkward smile, “Hello, Ron.”

Ted: So it’s Ron Weasley (Taiwan’s magical translation)!

Alright, it’s Ron Weasley, one of Hermione’s two useless men~

Unlike Harry, who grew up with his Muggle aunt and uncle in the original story, the Longbottom family was also a famous pure-blood family in the British wizarding world, and it wasn’t surprising for them to have dealings with the equally pure-blood Weasley family.

Neville’s parents and the Weasley couple were both members of the Order of the Phoenix, so Neville and Ron had met before.

Ron felt relieved to see a familiar face in the compartment; at least someone here knew him.

He asked, “Um, is there room to squeeze in? There’s no space in the other compartments either.”

Ted glanced at the others and said, “Come in. We’re all classmates. Since you’re here~”

“Thank you! Thank you!” Ron said repeatedly, dragging his patched-up suitcase inside.

A compartment designed for four people could easily fit five; a minivan could even cram in fifteen or twenty!

Ron was quite talkative. He introduced himself to everyone, and then he just kept talking.

With him warming up the atmosphere, Jerry, who had been feeling a bit stifled, also joined the conversation.

Hermione and Ted would interject a few words, making the compartment atmosphere even more harmonious. Neville also relaxed a lot, even managing to say a few sentences.

The topic among the young wizards inevitably revolved around Hogwarts, and soon everyone started discussing the Sorting.

Neville sounded a bit dejected, “Even though I want to go to Gryffindor, Hufflepuff is probably more likely. It’ll be great if anyone wants me.”

Ron disagreed, “How can that be? You’re the Boy Who Lived!”

Neville gave a wry smile, “More like the dazed boy who luckily didn’t die…”

You have to admit Neville had a good attitude, even able to make fun of himself. Most 11-year-olds couldn’t handle that!

Ted comforted him, “Actually, the Sorting is mostly based on your own wishes. If you want to go to Gryffindor, then stick to your conviction, and you’ll be sorted into Gryffindor.”

Ron seemed a bit incredulous, “Really? You know how the Sorting works? George and Fred told me it requires a difficult and dangerous test! But they wouldn’t tell me what it was!”

Ted grinned, “That’s also a tradition… You’ll find out when the time comes~”

Everyone: Riddle person, get out of Hogwarts!

Knowing that Ted, Hermione, and Jerry didn’t know much about the wizarding world, Ron was delighted and immediately started talking about himself.

He mentioned that he had a flying broom—a Shooting Star.

Hmm, its speed was even slower than a vigorous butterfly.

Ron complained that everything he owned was second-hand.

His wand was his second brother Charlie’s, his robes were his eldest brother Bill’s, and his Wizard Chess set was left by his grandfather—considered a family heirloom, which was why the chess pieces often claimed to be of his grandfather’s generation.

Even his pet rat, Scabbers, belonged to Voldemort. Oh no, I mean, it was his third sister, Peggy’s…

Ted glanced at his pet rat, Peter, I mean Scabbers.

He comforted Ron, “Don’t worry about that. To be honest, I’m worse off than you. Everything I own, except my wand, was slowly found in second-hand shops over two months. I don’t have a family, and after graduation, I’ll have to repay student loans…”

Upon hearing this, Ron apologized but felt much more balanced inside.

Well, as the saying goes: you’re afraid your brother will suffer, but you’re also afraid your brother will drive a Land Rover~

One’s circumstances are indeed relative.

Wait a minute!

Ted froze; he realized a blind spot.

What did you say? Who? Third sister? Peggy?

Wasn’t Peter Pettigrew (Scabbers) a family heirloom inherited from Percy?

“Ron, how many children are in your family?”

“Seven!”

Ted asked for details—good heavens, third brother Percy became third sister Peggy…