The moneybags, ah, no, she meant, the kind and generous Harry Potter did not make Alina wait for too long.
After glancing at the two other impoverished children trading food, their eyes gleaming, Harry felt like the Galleons in his pocket were scalding hot.
"Miss, can I ask what foods are here?" Harry asked.
"Oh, dear, there's a lot. It's all here."
After running into two walls, the plump witch saw some hope in the last young wizard and immediately became much friendlier. She hurriedly handed Harry a menu.
(Click here for a menu of the snacks sold on the Hogwarts Express)
Harry took the menu and looked it over, but it listed strange foods that he had never seen before. After some thought, the boy gave the menu back to the plump witch and took out a Galleon.
He refreshingly said, "I've decided. I'd like a little bit of everything for us."
As Alina, Ron, and the trolley lady all blessed the nouveau riche, Harry carried the large pile of food into the compartment and dumped them on the empty seat next to Alina (Ron was sitting next to Harry). He smiled at his companions and somewhat shyly spoke.
"Let's try it together. I can't eat so much by myself."
In the past, Harry had never shared anything with anyone, nor did he have anyone to share with. Now that he had a chance to sit together with his peers and enjoy the snacks and pastries he had bought, Harry was ecstatic.
Burp~
"There's no need to worry about me. I'm not hungry right now."
The silver-haired girl helplessly burped and demurely waved a hand. Taking up 'The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)', she began to read it again.
In order to confirm that Mrs. Weasley's sandwiches were delicious, Alina had hardened her heart and eaten all of them. With tears on her face, she had jumped into the hole she had dug for herself.
She had to admit that while the taste was not anything to write home about, Mrs. Weasley had amply expressed her love through quantity. Four large sandwiches in her stomach made Alina feel like she could last all the way until the start-of-term feast later tonight.
"Okay."
Harry nodded and did not continue to insist. He impatiently grabbed a Cauldron Cake and stuffed it into his mouth. He had eaten nothing this morning and was starving. Ron copied Harry and snatched a Pumpkin Pastry, which he ate together with the Ferrero chocolate.
Can't see, can't see, can't see...
Alina put all her attention on 'The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)' while mumbling to herself, trying to ignore the two boys who were constantly smacking their lips and acting like reincarnated hungry ghosts.
"What's this?"
Harry grabbed a small five-sided box on which 'Chocolate Frog' was written, and curiously asked, "Are they real frogs?"
"No, only some magic that's been used on them."
Ron shook his head as he spoke in a mumbled voice. After swallowing down the food in his mouth, he continued, "Actually, most people buy them to collect cards. Each box has the card of a famous witch or wizard. I've collected almost five hundred cards. I'm only missing Agrippa and Ptolemy."
Chocolate on which magic was used?
Harry curiously shook the little box and then impatiently opened it.
Ribbit! Ribbit!
Once the box was open, the Chocolate Frog inside shook its body, and before Harry could grab it, it jumped out of the box and straight into the seat on the other side.
"Watch out!"
Ron's eyes went wide as he called out in warning so that Alina could dodge.
Pa!
Before Ron had even finished speaking, there was a light thump.
When Alina looked up and saw the black silhouette approaching, she had calmly closed the book, gripped it by the left corner, and then slammed it into the Chocolate Frog, sending it into the floor.
"Oh man, this is bad. I forgot to tell you that when you unwrap it, its first leap will have a lot of force. What a pity."
Ron glanced at the Chocolate Frog, trying to clumsily crawl across the floor and sighed. It seemed like they couldn't eat it now...
As this thought was still going through his mind, a tender white hand grabbed the Chocolate Frog.
"It's fine. Haven't you heard of the three-second rule?"
Alina lightly wiped the dust off the Chocolate Frog as she casually asked.
"Three-second...rule? What's that?"
Ron slowly repeated Alina's words in confusion.
Alina smiled and was just about to reply.
At this moment, a knocking came from outside, and then a girl with dark brown hair came in. Just like Alina, she had already changed into her Hogwarts school robes.
"Have any of you seen a toad? Neville lost a toad." While her words said she was helping someone look for something, her tone was rather haughty and arrogant.
The last member of the iron triangle, the living directory of forbidden magic books in the Harry Potter World, Hermione Granger, had finally appeared, but as she hadn't experienced the troll incident yet, her personality was still a little strange.
Alina looked up expectantly to the door, and then her eyes brightened, and she sighed in relief.
She was relieved to find that she looked rather similar to how she was depicted in the movies by Emma Watson. And perhaps this was a misperception, but Alina felt that this little beaver was a little cuter.
But if they had been following the original plotline, Ron should have been performing a spell for Harry at this time, attempting to turn his rat yellow. But because of Alina's appearance, Ron hadn't even thought about taking his shabby wand out of his trunk.
As for Alina, she had no intention of using a spell and possibly inciting the rage of that dangerous and wretched wizard who had transformed himself into a rat. After all, while she was recklessly bold, she had no desire to die anytime soon.
Peter Pettigrew was different from Professor McGonagall. He was an evil man who would go to any lengths to stay alive. Alina had no doubt that if Peter Pettigrew felt his life was threatened, he would reassume his original form and then go on a frenzied spree of destruction.
Thus, until she was entirely sure, Alina had no plans of directly confronting Peter Pettigrew.
In any case, it didn't really matter to Alina whether or not Ron failed to use his spell or whether little Hermione had the chance to flaunt her intellectual prowess to Harry and Ron. She was simply a silent spectator.
The silver-haired girl squinted as she happily bit down on the Chocolate Frog.
Crunch.
The crisp sound of chocolate resounded through the compartment, causing everyone to turn their heads.
The right leg of the headless Chocolate Frog in the girl's hand weakly twitched and then gradually grew still.
"You!" Hermione's eyes went wide, her hands covering her mouth in shock as her face alternated between green and white.
Alina didn't understand why the three of them were watching.
Blinking, she asked, "Harry, Ron, she asked you a question, so why are you watching me? You haven't seen someone eat a Chocolate Frog before?"
The girl continued to take bite after bite. What did Neville's lost toad have to do with Alina's Chocolate Frog?
An eerie silence gripped the compartment, and the only sound was Alina biting away at the Chocolate Frog.
Crunch, crunch.