Clang~ Clang~ Clang~
Lyla pursed her lips, leaning against the train window, listening to the rhythmic sound of the moving train.
This was her first time on a train, whether it was a magic train or a Muggle train. Durmstrang students always traveled by boat for the start of the term.
Every time, Lyla would get terribly seasick and throw up the entire journey... but fortunately, she usually wasn't allowed to sit inside the warm cabin, so she could just lie on the freezing deck and easily vomit directly into the sea.
Looking at the lush green scenery passing by, Lyla unconsciously felt a little nervous.
Hogwarts was approaching. Although she wasn't a student, being a teacher was obviously much more intimidating.
'Will Dumbledore specifically introduce me?'
'Do I need to introduce myself?'
'Or do I need to give a speech? Just like Mr. Lockhart?'
Lyla saw today's newspaper lying on her small table, which featured a beaming Gilderoy Lockhart and... Harry Potter, who apparently had a highly successful book signing at Flourish and Blotts yesterday.
Hmm, thinking about it, the student she accidentally met at Borgin and Burkes yesterday was actually Harry Potter. 'It's hard to imagine such a young boy defeating Lord Voldemort back then.'
'Lord Voldemort, are you even capable of anything...?' Lyla shook her head, no longer thinking about the supposedly dead dark wizard, or anything related to Hogwarts.
Reciting Magic Array Studies knowledge when nervous should be a good choice.
"The Memory Magic Array, when linked with the Transmission runes, can allow one to share memories with others..."
"However, this requires selecting the exact memories in advance. Otherwise, a random memory from the brain might be extracted... such as things not easily seen by others."
"The best material for outlining an auxiliary support Magic Array is still dragon's blood, but the blood of a Half-Veela can also be used, though it's unknown if its effectiveness diminishes over time..."
Her thoughts were cut off by the sharp, sudden clatter of the compartment door sliding open. Lyla gasped, instinctively shrinking back in terror.
"Hello, have you seen my friends?" The one who pushed open the door was a brown-haired girl. Her hair was fluffy, even a bit messy, but her school uniform was impeccably neat.
"Huh?" Lyla, who hadn't heard clearly over her own panicked heartbeat, paused, looking nervously at the uninvited guest.
"Have you seen my two friends?" The girl sighed and repeated helplessly, "One has red hair... the other wears gl— oh, the other is Harry Potter."
'Harry Potter?'
Lyla instinctively looked at the Daily Prophet newspaper on her table.
"Not the newspaper, I mean the living Harry Potter." The girl sighed, seemingly realizing she wouldn't get any useful information from the terrified Lyla.
So she shook her head, preparing to leave, but just as she turned away, she seemed to remember something and turned back.
"Um... we're almost at Hogwarts, you'd better change into your robes." She pointed to the black robes she was wearing and then added, "Also, you'd better not wear a mask."
"Hagrid might not be able to find you."
"Mmm," Lyla pursed her lips, watching the 'enthusiastic' girl leave.
'She seemed to have mistaken me for a student?'
'But I'm clearly a teacher!'
'And Hogwarts should still be far away, right... didn't the train just start?'
Lyla couldn't help but sigh. 'Maybe I should discuss with Dumbledore about getting a separate, distinct uniform for Professors?'
'It wouldn't be good if other Professors were also mistaken for students... Ah, Professor Snape probably wouldn't be mistaken for a student.'
At the thought of that gloomy, terrifying face, Lyla shivered violently.
Snape had already replaced Dumbledore and Vinda Rosier as her top choice for nightmares, but unfortunately, Lyla would still have to have contact with him after arriving at Hogwarts.
Besides the expensive ingredients for Mr. Lupin's Wolfsbane Potion, she also needed to discuss potion-making with Professor Snape.
He seemed very skilled at potion-making... perhaps he could give her more help with it, especially since she had already ruined one batch of the Wolfsbane Potion.
Last night, Lyla tried to make her first Wolfsbane Potion... but a massive problem arose because she stirred it two fewer times after adding the wolfsbane, which would significantly weaken the finished potion's effect.
'I'm going to cause trouble for others again... even though I confidently promised Mr. Lupin earlier.'
Just as Lyla was feeling a bit apprehensive about the future, two people slowly walked past the compartment.
"Luna, there's only one person here, let's sit here, shall we?" It was an East Asian-looking girl, who was looking at Luna Lovegood. With her light blonde hair and dreamy eyes, Luna was standing right behind her.
"Here?" Luna peered in slightly, and after seeing the hooded person inside, she blinked.
"There seem to be traces of Wrackspurts here, let's find another place, shall we?" Luna tilted her head and smiled softly.
"Wrackspurts?" The other girl asked, somewhat confused. "What are those?"
"Ah... they're invisible..."
The two voices faded into the distance, eventually disappearing from the corridor outside the compartment.
Soon, the sky darkened, and the train seemed to have finally reached its destination.
Watching students walk past her compartment one by one, Lyla let out a soft breath. Her luck was good; no one had to share a seat with her.
She didn't have to endure an awkward conversation starting with, "Ah, hello, I'm Lyla Hamilton, your Professor."
After waiting for all the students to disembark, Lyla slowly stepped off the train.
As soon as she got off the train, Lyla saw Hagrid not far away.
"Miss Hamilton! Over here!" His booming voice immediately attracted everyone's attention, and for a moment, all the students on the platform turned to look directly at Lyla.
'No...' Lyla met their collective gazes, so intensely embarrassed she wished she could shrink into a corner. Fortunately, she could lean heavily on a lamppost... otherwise, she might become the first Hogwarts Professor to faint from stage fright in front of students.
Hmm, Lyla didn't know that someone had already claimed that first place last term.
"Miss Hamilton?" Hagrid saw Lyla standing perfectly still and thought she hadn't heard, so he couldn't help but raise his voice again.
'I... I heard you!'
'Don't be so loud... Now everyone on the platform is really looking over!'
Lyla bit her lip in profound embarrassment, forcing her stiff legs to walk toward Hagrid. It was as if she wasn't walking toward Hogwarts, but toward actual hell.
Seeing her silent, masked appearance, the students instinctively made way for her.
"I thought you fell asleep on the train." Hagrid gave a hearty laugh; he had absolutely no idea he had just put Miss Hamilton through a life-or-death crisis no less severe than dueling Dumbledore.
Lyla instinctively wanted to greet Hagrid, but thinking of all the students around her... no, never mind!
So she just nodded slightly, then stood carefully behind Hagrid and leaned on the lamppost; she desperately needed a few seconds to rest and catch her breath.
Soon the student procession began to move, and Hagrid continuously introduced Hogwarts to Lyla, seemingly unaware that Lyla had already been there once.
Lyla, however, didn't say a single word, as there were hundreds of eyes behind her, and every word she spoke would be heard clearly.
So she just listened, occasionally nodding to respond to Hagrid, and silently prayed that the half-giant would stop talking to her.
However, as they approached the Black Lake, Hagrid, noticing Lyla's prolonged silence, seemed to finally realize something and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, Miss Hamilton."
'Did you finally realize I'm actually a useless social recluse?'
Lyla was unconsciously a little moved.
"Perhaps I shouldn't have called out your name directly." Hagrid scratched his head and said, "Introducing new Professors should be Professor Dumbledore's job."
'That's not why I was silent!'