Chapter -34.
With Dudley around, the luggage felt like a breeze, and they hopped onto the train without a hitch. The three of them casually found an empty compartment to settle into. The compartments on the Hogwarts Express were organized by year, so students could only enter the one that matched their grade.
As soon as they got on, Dudley and Hermione pulled out their textbooks and dove into studying. The silence was a bit heavy, and to pass the time, Harry reluctantly pulled out his own book.
Honestly, he was pretty curious about the magical world's books and might have flipped through them on his own, but he just couldn't keep up with the intense studying Dudley and Hermione were doing.
The only sound in the compartment was the soft rustle of pages turning.
"Can I sit here?"
The door swung open, breaking the quiet.
A freckled boy with red hair leaned in a bit: "Everywhere else is full."
Then he spotted Dudley and quickly added, "Oops, I must've walked into the wrong compartment. I thought this was for first years."
He was about to dash off to another compartment when Dudley stopped him: "You didn't walk into the wrong one; this is the first-year compartment."
He tried to keep his voice down, but to the other boy, it still sounded pretty loud.
"But…"
Hearing Dudley, the red-haired boy hesitated, eyeing Dudley up and down.
Feeling a bit helpless, Dudley pointed to himself: "I'm also a first-year."
He probably shouldn't have said anything; as soon as he did, the red-haired boy looked even more unsure.
The boy seemed to be trying to figure out if this was some kind of prank, since his two older brothers loved pulling those.
Seeing the boy's uncertain expression, Hermione and Harry couldn't help but stifle their laughter, and it was Harry who eventually stepped in to explain, putting the boy at ease.
Even so, he still stole glances at Dudley while sitting down.
"Hi there, what's your name?"
Harry turned to the red-haired boy next to him, eager to break the silence.
They were on their way to Hogwarts, a brand-new magical school, and he was feeling a bit excited, making it hard to focus on his book.
"Ron, Ron Weasley," Ron introduced himself.
When Dudley heard the last name, he instinctively looked up, just as Ron was sneaking a glance at him; their eyes met.
This made Ron shiver a little, and he shrank back into his seat. This was pretty much the usual reaction of kids meeting Dudley for the first time; the reputation he had for scaring kids was no joke. But soon enough, Ron was all ears for what Harry had to say.
"Nice to meet you, Ron. I'm Harry, Harry Potter."
Ron's eyes went wide in disbelief, momentarily forgetting his fear.
"You're Harry Potter?"
He added a hint of awe to his voice without even realizing it.
This made Harry a bit uncomfortable: "You don't have to do that, Ron. Just call me Harry."
"Then you really… you know…" Ron struggled to find the right words, pointing at Harry's forehead without thinking.
To be honest, it was a bit rude.
But Harry, being good-natured, didn't mind at all and brushed aside a lock of hair to show his lightning-shaped scar.
Ron's eyes nearly popped out.
Before he could say anything, Harry quickly covered his hair again.
Before coming here, Dudley had told him to keep his scar under wraps unless it was necessary. "Is this what the Dark Lord did?"
Ron asked, and even though it was a question, it came out with a tone of certainty.
"Sorry." Harry didn't want to dive into that topic: "I don't remember."
"Not at all?"
Unfortunately, Ron didn't pick up on the hint and kept asking eagerly.
"Ahem… Mr. Weasley, I think Harry doesn't want to talk about this right now."
"And you have something on your nose."
Hermione chimed in, cutting off the conversation before Dudley could. She sensed Dudley was getting a bit impatient.
However, her bluntness made Ron feel a little awkward.
Yes, Hermione was super smart, but she wasn't the best at chatting, often coming off as a bit bossy when she spoke.
Sometimes, even good intentions could lead to misunderstandings.
In fact, Hermione was also surprised when she first learned about Harry's background; after all, he was the famous savior of the wizarding world, Harry Potter. But after spending time together, she realized Harry wasn't as grand as the stories made him out to be; he was just a regular kid her age. So she treated him like Dudley's brother and interacted normally.
But Ron was different; he had grown up hearing all the stories about Harry Potter. Now, with such a famous person right in front of him, how could he not be curious?
"Who are you?" Ron asked, glancing at Hermione with a hint of annoyance.
"Hermione, Hermione Granger," she introduced herself briefly, looking a bit proud.
At that moment, Harry remembered to introduce Dudley: "And this is my cousin Dudley, Dudley Dursley."
"Hello," Ron said awkwardly, realizing Dudley was Harry's cousin.
Dudley seemed a bit intimidating to him.
Mainly because of his face; from a distance, he looked friendly, but up close, there was an invisible pressure that made anyone with a slightly weaker constitution feel uneasy.
"You can just call me Dudley," Dudley said, putting down his book and looking at Ron.
He thought he should try to be nice and not act like a bully anymore, so he rarely showed what he considered a friendly smile.
Little did he know that when Ron saw that smile, his heart nearly stopped, and he responded with a smile that looked more like a grimace.
As Ron pondered whether to make an excuse to leave the compartment, a gentle knock sounded at the door, followed by a soft voice from outside.
"Excuse me, have you seen my Trevor?"
The door opened, revealing a shy, round-faced boy who looked anxious and on the verge of tears.
"Who are you?" Harry asked, curious.
"My name is Neville, Neville Longbottom."
Through Neville's stuttering explanation, everyone learned that he had lost his pet toad named 'Trevor.'
"I've been looking for him for ages; can you help me?"
Neville looked at everyone with a pleading expression.
When his gaze landed on Dudley, he instinctively shrank back, wanting to retreat; this was almost every child's first reaction upon seeing Dudley.
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