Inside the Hogwarts Express, still waiting at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Leo sat by the window and recalled the people he had seen outside. When his parents had been hugging him goodbye and offering all sorts of last-minute instructions, a family with fiery red hair had passed through the archway.
That had almost certainly been the Weasley family, one of the great sources of trouble from the story he remembered. The messy-haired boy with round glasses following behind them had to be the other great source of trouble.
Harry Potter.
The Boy Who Lived.
As for the old woman and the nervous boy he had glimpsed while boarding the train, they were probably Neville Longbottom and his grandmother. He still hadn't seen the little witch who would one day become terrifyingly capable.
"Forget it," Leo muttered. "No point overthinking."
The more he thought about it, the more tangled everything became. Since he was already here, he might as well take things one step at a time. Hopefully, trouble wouldn't come looking for him.
Otherwise… otherwise, he would hide somewhere trouble couldn't find him.
Then he suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right. Radish."
Leo opened his suitcase and pulled out a large cage. Inside, a magnificent eagle owl stared at him with a deeply wounded expression.
This proud, fierce-looking bird had been given a name completely unsuited to its appearance by unanimous family decision. By "unanimous," of course, that meant Rose had made the decision and everyone else had wisely agreed.
Radish.
"Sorry, Radish. I forgot you."
Leo pulled a bag of dried meat from his suitcase and fed the owl through the bars. The eagle owl gave a low, satisfied rumble.
Leo felt as though it were saying, This Lord Radish forgives you, caretaker.
He chuckled, patted the cage gently, fed Radish one last piece of dried meat, and placed the cage beneath the seat.
A sharp whistle rang out.
Steam hissed.
Metal clanged.
The Hogwarts Express slowly began its journey.
Leo looked out the window at the parents waving goodbye to their children. As the train picked up speed, the platform slipped away, and the scenery outside began flashing past.
He was just about to take out an alchemy book and continue the chapter he hadn't finished the night before when the compartment door slid open.
Two pieces of trouble appeared at the doorway.
One had red hair and freckles. The other wore round, broken spectacles and carried a nervous sort of politeness.
"Excuse me," Ron Weasley said first. "Can we sit here? Everywhere else is full."
Harry Potter quickly added, "Yes, if that's all right."
Leo looked at the two small figures before him. Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, but in the end, he only sighed inwardly and smiled politely.
"Of course. Come in."
"Thanks."
"Thank you."
Ron and Harry exchanged relieved glances before entering the compartment. They placed their owls beneath the seats and stored the rest of their luggage in the corner.
The moment Ron sat down, he introduced himself enthusiastically.
"Hello, I'm Ron. Ron Weasley. Nice to meet you. This is Harry, the famous Harry Potter. You must know him, right?"
Harry immediately looked embarrassed.
"Hello," he said shyly. "I'm Harry Potter. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you both. I'm Leo Nicholas."
Leo looked at them and felt a strange emotion. These two really were well matched as friends.
One was a saviour burdened by hatred and blood debt, constantly praised and pushed forward while still lost inside. The other had been born into a wizarding family, yet his family was looked down on by much of the wizarding world, and no matter how hard he tried, he could never outshine his older brothers.
Both were children hungry for something.
After introducing himself, Leo continued what he had been about to do. He took an alchemy book from his suitcase, then pulled a pair of silver-framed glasses from his pocket and put them on.
The glasses looked similar to Harry's, but the frames were silver. They were also magical alchemical items Leo had created recently.
Their design had been inspired by the control device of a certain omnipotent psychic and the iconic glasses of a famous fictional detective from his previous life. Their main function was to suppress fluctuations in his magic and mental power, helping him study and cast more steadily.
They also served another purpose.
Preventing mental intrusion.
In other words, Legilimency.
After the confrontation with Ambot in his spiritual world, the vast amount of mental and magical energy Leo had spent had slowly recovered over time. That was one of the reasons he had practised so much magic every day, using spells for daily tasks whenever possible.
He needed the balance.
"Leo, are you from Europe?" Ron asked curiously.
He had clearly noticed Leo's black hair and green eyes the moment he opened the compartment door. Harry had noticed too, but he was too shy to ask directly.
"My mother is American," Leo answered. "My father is British."
Americans were not exactly common in British magical schools, and magical families with mixed backgrounds were even more interesting to curious children. Leo gave a simple answer, then lowered his eyes back to the nearly finished chapter in his book.
Seeing that he was studying, Ron and Harry lowered their voices and did not disturb him further.
Leo continued reading while listening to their conversation at the same time. This was one benefit of strong mental power: multitasking.
Of course, his body was still weak and not perfectly synchronized with his mind, so maintaining this state constantly consumed energy. That was why the small pouch he had bought at Gringotts was filled with snacks.
A manageable side effect.
When Leo reached into the pouch to take something out, he remembered that Ron and Harry were sitting with him.
"Ron, Harry, I have snacks. Let's share them," he said, interrupting Ron's explanation of his family. "And before you ask, this bag can hold so much because it's enchanted."
Ron had been about to say he had food too, but then he pulled out the lumpy sandwich Mrs. Weasley had packed for him and glanced at the variety of snacks Leo placed on the table.
He swallowed.
"All right. Thanks, Leo."
Ron had seen his father use a similar bag before, so he understood the Undetectable Extension Charm.
Harry looked at the table full of food and suddenly remembered he had eaten almost nothing since morning.
"Thank you," he said sincerely. "That's really kind."
As for the enchanted bag, Harry did not think too deeply about it. This was the wizarding world, after all. A bag holding too many snacks seemed almost normal compared with everything else.
Perhaps protagonists were simply unreasonable like that.
Just as Harry was thinking about how to repay Leo later, a rustling sound came from the corridor. A smiling woman pushing a trolley opened the compartment door.
"Anything from the trolley, dears?"
Harry immediately pulled out a handful of Galleons and Sickles.
"I'll take everything!"
The woman seemed to think one child couldn't possibly eat that much, so she gave him a little of each instead. She took one Galleon and prepared to return the change.
Leo also bought some extra food to replenish his snack supply. After the trolley witch left and closed the door, the compartment became lively.
The three boys chatted and ate amid the growing pile of sweets and snacks. Leo had also finished the alchemy chapter he wanted to read, and the contents were now firmly stored in his mind.
Another benefit of strong mental power.
Harry seemed genuinely starving. He held one steamed bun from Leo in one hand and a pumpkin pasty in the other, taking bites from both sides with serious determination.
Seeing him eat like that made Leo and Ron hungrier too. Sometimes, watching someone enjoy food could make even ordinary snacks seem delicious.
After devouring two steamed buns and a pumpkin pasty, Harry's hunger finally eased. He began sampling the other sweets more slowly.
He picked up a box of Chocolate Frogs and asked Ron whether they were real frogs. Ron casually explained that they weren't and immediately asked whether Harry had got a card he needed.
Then came the famous scene.
Harry opened the box and found not the card Ron wanted, but a Dumbledore card.
Ron looked disappointed.
"I've already got loads of him."
Harry studied the card and read the description aloud. He soon realized Dumbledore was the current Headmaster of Hogwarts and one of the greatest wizards of the century, with a long list of achievements.
"Worked on alchemy with his partner Nicolas Flamel," Harry read.
Then he looked at Leo, who was eating a sandwich.
"Leo, I remember the book you were reading was written by Nicolas Flamel."
Leo swallowed before answering.
"Yes. Nicolas Flamel is a great alchemist."
He briefly explained that Flamel was the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary magical substance of extraordinary power.
Ron immediately caught the important point.
"Wait. You're already studying alchemy?"
His eyes widened with surprise. Alchemy was not something first-year students normally touched.
"I…"
Leo was still thinking of a way to gloss over the topic when he noticed the Chocolate Frog climbing toward the windowsill, clearly planning to leap into freedom.
"Careful. It's getting away."
Instinctively, Leo drew his wand.
A silent Levitation Charm, combined with a faint pull from the Summoning Charm, caught the Chocolate Frog just before it escaped. The frog floated back neatly and landed inside the box.
Harry quickly slapped the lid shut.
Then he stared at Leo in amazement.
"That was brilliant. You can already use magic before school?"
"Leo…" Ron looked even more shocked than Harry. "That was amazing."
Unlike Harry, who was new to the magical world, Ron understood exactly what had just happened.
Silent casting.
Leo's heart sank slightly.
"Ah. No, not really," he said quickly. "Nobody in my family can use magic, so I had to help with cleaning at home. I practised a lot that way. It's just familiarity."
It was a half-truth, which made it easier to sound believable.
Ron looked at him with pity.
"Oh. Leo, that's rough."
Harry, thinking of his own life at the Dursleys, nodded with powerful agreement.
Leo looked at the two of them and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He had bluffed his way through.
Otherwise, if the old foxes at Hogwarts discovered that he had learned silent casting within two months, he might become the next bald egg to be examined from every angle.
He also decided that once he arrived at school, he needed to find time to enter Dongtian and burn off some excess mental power. These unconscious habits were becoming unsafe.
Just then, another knock sounded.
A round-faced boy appeared at the compartment door, eyes red from crying.
"Excuse me," he asked tearfully. "Have you seen a toad?"
Harry looked at him sympathetically.
"No, sorry. But I'm sure you'll find it."
Ron nodded along.
"We haven't seen it."
"All right. Thank you. If you see it, please tell me."
The boy looked even more miserable after hearing their answer. He did not notice Leo sitting farther inside and left with his sadness hanging over him like a rain cloud.
Leo watched Neville disappear down the corridor.
He had wanted to suggest using the Summoning Charm to find the toad, but then remembered Trevor would appear later on his own. Since nothing serious would happen, he stayed quiet.
Neville's toad seemed to catch Ron's attention, and the red-haired boy began talking about his own pet. Leo watched Ron pull a rat from his pocket, and a thoughtful light flickered in his eyes.
He said nothing.
Instead, he turned toward the window again and watched the lush green scenery rushing past.
His thoughts drifted.
The little witch should appear soon.
But if he remembered correctly, this would technically be his second meeting with her.
Knock.
Knock knock.
As expected, the door was pulled open again.
....
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