Chapter 23: Hermione Granger
I spent part of my vacation helping Neville find strategies for potions class because this class is very technical, and with my brother's clumsiness, I try to find a way for him not to get too much attention from the teacher due to his incompetence.
Even though it's complicated, he's slowly learning the method of reading the entire recipe before making the potion.
Today was the day we returned to Hogwarts. We went to King's Cross station to catch the Hogwarts Express, and I found Marie and her family waiting for us.
"Hello, Marie, did you have a good end to your holidays?"
"It was quite nice, though I still wish I could learn new spells."
Heading towards platforms 9 and 10, we encountered a conductor who was explaining to someone, who appeared to be a student, where platform 9 3/4 was.
She was a student, a girl with brown hair. She wasn't the most beautiful girl in the world, but she was decent-looking. She also had noticeably large front teeth.
After learning where she needed to go, she continued on her way.
Once she arrived in front of the passage to platform 9 3/4, she stopped and hesitated, unsure if it was the right path.
"You don't need to stress, you won't run into a wall."
Before she could say anything, I was already heading to platform 9 3/4. Marie followed me closely, and we waited for everyone else to pass through the barrier.
The girl eventually arrived and seemed surprised by what she saw.
"That's always the effect when discovering something like this. Now, please step aside."
She barely moved out of the way when a cart zoomed past.
Neville, who was already quite stressed, decided to run, but he ran so fast that he was about to go onto the tracks. So, I caught him—like any good big sister should.
"Thanks."
There was a hint of embarrassment in his voice.
After that, we headed to the train to find a free spot.
The girl decided to follow us.
"I haven't introduced myself yet, my name is Hermione Granger."
"Evelyn Longbottom."
"Neville Longbottom, her little brother."
"Marie Saturn."
She was astonished when she heard my name.
"Are you the youngest scholar in the wizarding world? I've read so much about you, and your theses were so interesting."
I didn't expect to meet a fan in this situation.
"I'm so excited to start classes. I've read all the books, and I know enough to recite certain passages. I hope that will be enough."
"You don't need to stress. We're generally supposed to discover the books along with the classes, but you can get a little ahead if you want."
"You're not in a good position to say that because you do exactly the same thing," interjected Marie.
"I wonder which house I'll be in. Gryffindor would be interesting, plus I heard Dumbledore was in that house, but Ravenclaw seems interesting too. And what house do you think you're in?"
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but we're in our second year in Ravenclaw. Only Neville is in his first year. And based on our theory, we think he'll be in Hufflepuff."
She seemed a bit embarrassed after my comment.
"Uh, big sister, I lost Trevor."
I looked at him, half exasperated, wondering how he managed to lose him again.
"I'll help you."
Hermione and I spoke at the same time.
"You don't have to do this, Hermione."
"You're not even going to stop me from helping someone."
"You're right. Marie, could you make sure our luggage doesn't get stolen?"
"Count on me."
I went to the front of the train to look for Trevor while Hermione and Neville headed to the back.