Knock, knock, knock.
Someone lightly knocked on the compartment door.
Theo, who was closest to the door, stood up to open it. "Hello?"
Wade and the others heard voices coming from outside—
"Mancini? You're in this compartment?"
"I heard Wade Grey was around here—"
"Looks like we got the wrong place—probably a bit further up—"
The students outside were discussing amongst themselves, getting ready to check other compartments, but a casual glance allowed one of them to spot Wade sitting inside.
The student paused for a moment, the nonchalant expression on his face quickly replaced by an enthusiastic smile—
"So you are here?" He pushed past Theo and entered the compartment with two others, acting as if they were all familiar. "Hey, Grey, how was your holiday?"
Theo was squeezed into the corner and helplessly watched as three students much taller than himself entered, making the compartment feel cramped.
—Who are you?
Wade raised an eyebrow slightly and was just about to speak, but Michael suddenly intercepted. He stood up and said with a smile: "Long time no see, Prewett. I heard you guys went to Iceland for Christmas?"
Prewett finally turned his gaze to Michael and replied with a smile:
"Yeah, we saw some really impressive sights, and when we got back, we heard about the Book of Friends—" His eyes shifted to Wade, and he continued, "—it's really amazing! I immediately bought the full deluxe set of Book of Friends, twelve in total, one for each month of the year."
Michael played along, flattering him, "As expected of the Prewett family. Even that Marchionne has to give in. We could only grab one copy due to the purchase limit, and getting a second one might take another two weeks."
"Don't worry, it won't take that long. As long as there's money to be made, Marchionne works as fast as if he's riding a Graphorn.
But of course—the December limited edition was only available in the first batch, and it was exclusively sold to the truly ancient and noble pureblood families, unlike some… well, let's just say, not the same."
He spoke with a tone of arrogance, casting a seemingly casual glance at Theo.
The Mancini family wasn't exactly bad—in fact, they were far wealthier than the Weasleys. But since Theo had been sorted into Hufflepuff, it was as if he had been labeled a "fool," immediately pushing him to the lower ranks of the pureblood snobbery hierarchy.
Ryan's face turned cold, and he was about to stand up, but Theo pressed down on his shoulder, stopping him from speaking.
Michael, pretending not to catch the implied insult, smiled and said, "The Prewett family is indeed very old—these two are—?"
The two students standing behind Prewett had been eyeing Wade with interest, occasionally glancing at Michael, while completely ignoring the two Hufflepuffs.
Their scarves featured large swaths of green with silver stripes, and they had a brooding demeanor—it was obvious they were both from Slytherin.
Among the houses, the only one that maintained a somewhat decent relationship with Slytherin was Ravenclaw, but even that only meant exchanging polite greetings and small talk; they didn't often go around together.
Prewett, waiting for this moment, immediately introduced them: "This is Gaston Yaxley—"
The blonde boy with thick eyebrows nodded and smiled at Wade.
"And this is O'Neil Fawley—"
The boy with dark skin and a gentle face smiled warmly.
"—they're both sixth-year Slytherins. They heard that the inventor of the Book of Friends was in this compartment and wanted to meet."
Prewett said this with a smile still plastered on his face, though his gaze was pointed as he locked eyes with Michael, signaling—"Move out of the way, kid!"
Michael, realizing he couldn't keep blocking, reluctantly stepped aside and, as he turned, he winked at Wade, conveying an unspoken message.
The boy named Gaston Yaxley stepped forward, extending his hand politely. "Hello, Mr. Grey."
With Michael watching nervously, Wade stood up and shook hands. "Hello."
Though his tone was calm, talent often earns others' leniency.
As long as it's not a direct refusal, Slytherins consider it a friendly gesture.
A faint smile appeared on Yaxley's pale face. "I never expected the inventor of the Book of Friends to be so young. It's been many years since Ravenclaw has had such an exceptional student.
Mr. Grey, you are a truly talented and capable individual, and your future could rival that of Terrence Murray. I believe that only on a grander stage can your intelligence be fully realized."
He paused, stretching out his words as he said, "The Yaxley family would be more than willing to offer you some assistance."
Though Prewett still maintained his smile, a hint of jealousy leaked uncontrollably onto his face.
Michael glanced at him and then at Fawley, who stood on the other side—this Slytherin's smile is impeccable, revealing nothing of his thoughts.
"Thank you very much for your kind offer. I'm honored," Wade said politely. "However, I'm just an apprentice in alchemy, still far from being on par with Professor Murray."
"Of course—there's no doubt about Professor Murray's expertise, but I have a greater appreciation for your potential," Yaxley said, his tone carrying an unintentional air of superiority.
"Although the alchemical skills behind the Book of Friends are quite basic, something many sixth- or seventh-year students could achieve, what's truly commendable is your creativity—how did you come up with it?"
Wade nodded and said, "Speaking of that, I can't exactly claim to be the originator—you know about the Muggle internet, right?"
"Muggles?" The three of them simultaneously looked as if they had just heard a highly offensive term.
"Yes," Wade said with a smile.
"The core protocol of internet communication is the TCP/IP protocol, which involves breaking down data into packets for transmission.
The client sends requests to the server, receives, and parses the server's response. The server then returns the processed results to the client. During input, the sequence of operational commands and raw data…"
Wade proceeded to give a polite explanation of how computers work, touching on the internet, cloud computing, electronic chips, wide-area networks, data planes, and other seemingly random concepts.
He even delved into future topics like the deep integration of e-commerce, artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain technology, and digital currencies.
His voice was the only sound left in the compartment as the others stared blankly, as if they had turned into bewildered infants.
Even some students who had come by to meet Wade Grey stood at the door, hesitant to enter, as though there was some strange enchantment at play.
When Wade finally paused, the three Slytherins, out of politeness, refrained from interrupting him but immediately stood up to say their goodbyes, their faces pale as if they had just been drenched in a downpour.
Their retreating figures bore a hint of panic, almost as if they were fleeing.
Theo walked over to shut the door, noticing that the few people left in the hallway quickly averted their eyes, seemingly afraid of being pulled inside to endure more of this baffling lecture.
Theo locked the door with a spell, and the four of them burst into laughter simultaneously.
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