Under Hermione's persistent questioning, Ethan shared some tips on magic, such as the wand movements for casting spells, how to control the output of magical power, and so on.
Neville occasionally chimed in with some things from the wizarding world, and Ethan and Hermione had some questions for Neville, a local resident of the wizarding world.
Cassandra, though not interjecting a word, continued reading her book, but the fact that she hadn't turned the page in a long time indicated that her attention wasn't on the book at all.
The atmosphere in the carriage had improved, and everyone brought out their lunchboxes for the noon meal. They also bought some snacks from the trolley witch. None of them were short of money, even Hermione had some Galleons.
Time passed in idle chat among the group, until darkness fell.
The journey was short, but Ethan had grown weary from the long day of talking and began to doze off, gazing at the scenery outside the window.
“It sounds like a fight broke out next door.”
A piercing scream followed.
“Yep, now it’s a brawl. Should we go take a look?”
Ethan instantly snapped to attention.
Watching the commotion, it's human nature!
“It's best not to go, we might get into trouble.”
“What trouble could there be?”
With those words, Ethan stepped out of the compartment. What kind of life would it be if you didn't go watch the spectacle when there was one?
Cassandra followed Ethan out of the compartment without a word. After a moment of hesitation, Hermione joined them.
“I… I'm not going.”
Neville remained seated, unmoving. Years of experience had taught him that it's best to avoid the commotion, lest you become part of the spectacle yourself.
At the door of the compartment behind them, they saw five people standing in a tense standoff.
The scream had come from a rather sturdy boy with a face that didn't do his physique justice.
A rat was currently dangling from his finger, its sharp little teeth deeply embedded in his flesh. The boy screamed while frantically waving his hand, trying to shake the rat off.
Apart from the unfortunate victim of the rat bite, the others were drawn to Ethan's arrival.
“Who are you, get out!”
A boy with platinum blond hair and a pale complexion, as if suffering from kidney deficiency, roared at Ethan and his companions.
He was looking to make friends, but ended up being insulted and even suffered a loss, he was unwilling to let others witness this.
His father was a school governor, so what was wrong with him being arrogant?
But as soon as he saw Cassandra, who had followed Ethan in, Draco immediately changed his tune: “Wo Lei, I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about the other two.”
They had met at pure-blood gatherings, more than once. But Draco, known for his arrogance, was bound to clash with the haughty Cassandra.
Even before they learned magic, Draco had been subdued. After all, girls develop faster. At the pure-blood gathering in August, Draco had even tried to use his newly acquired magic to get even, but ended up getting beaten even worse.
Moreover, while Cassandra's family wasn’t one of the twenty-eight Sacred Twenty-Eight, it was still a noble pure-blood, no less prestigious than his own family.
His father was a school governor, and her father was a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Magic.
He couldn't overpower her with family lineage, and he couldn't win in a fight. This led to a severe lack of confidence when facing Cassandra.
“Draco Malfoy, no matter where you are, you always manage to cause trouble!”
Cassandra looked at Malfoy with disdain.
He was always strutting around with his two goons, but he was just a waste of space plus two more wastes of space, forming a trio of wastes.
“I…”
Draco couldn't utter a single word, his own ridiculousness had him speechless.
“Ethan, you're going to Hogwarts too!”
Unlike the embarrassed and furious Draco, Harry was overjoyed to see Ethan.
While their relationship wasn't exactly close, they had been classmates for two years. Besides, during those two years, Dudley never dared to bully him in the classroom.
Meeting a familiar face in this strange magical world was truly a blessing.
“Yeah, I’m a Hogwarts freshman this year. Who’s your friend?”
“This is Ron Weasley, a new friend I just met. He’s from a wizarding family.”
Harry happily introduced his new friend.
“Enough! A Mudblood from a Muggle family, Crabbe, teach him a lesson.”
After being rejected by Harry, mocked by Cassandra, and now ignored by the Muggle-born wizard, Draco had completely lost it.
Harry was the savior of the wizarding world, a celebrity. Cassandra was untouchable. Even the stupid red-haired boy was part of the Weasley family and had Dumbledore's support. While he looked down on them, they weren't completely at his mercy.
But what did this Mudblood have?
He had nothing!
Bang!
“Ah!”
“Imperio!”
Everything happened too fast. Draco only saw Crabbe stepping forward, getting hammered in the jaw and falling to the ground. Then, the Mudblood snatched Crabbe's wand and pointed it at him and Goyle.
Ridiculous, you can use someone else's wand?
But Draco suddenly realized that he couldn't laugh. Not only that, his entire body froze.
“You should be grateful this is the Hogwarts Express, and you are a Hogwarts freshman.”
Ethan stood before Malfoy, slapping his face and whispering in his ear.
Then, he turned to Harry: “They were giving you trouble, weren't they? Now, the three of them are yours. Do what you want with them, they can’t move.”
“Leave it to me, I’ll give them a good time. And that magic you just used, it was so cool!”
Ron kicked Draco, his excitement evident. From his father's generation, there had been animosity between the Weasleys and the Malfoys. Now that Draco was at his mercy, it was a stroke of luck.
And that magic earlier, if he could learn it, it would be amazing. Compared to the tricks his two brothers taught him, they were just pathetic. He had even made a fool of himself in front of Harry.
“Imperio, it's in the textbook. Didn't you guys read it?”
Upon hearing this, Harry and Ron exchanged glances and shook their heads. Was the textbook something to be read during the holidays?
The answer from the other side quickly pushed the question to the back of their minds, as they started to beat up the Malfoy trio.
With Harry's guidance, Ron learned where to hit for maximum pain, without leaving obvious marks. This was the experience of blood and tears.
“Five minutes to Hogwarts, please leave your luggage on the train, we will have it delivered to the school.”
The broadcast began to echo throughout the train as the arrival time approached.
Here we are!
Ethan waved his wand, releasing the Imperiuses on Malfoy and his cronies, then thoughtfully stuck the wand in Crabbe’s pocket. After all, the wand was innocent.
The freed Malfoy trio didn't dare say a word, scurrying away in shame.
After a few more words of exchange, Ethan led his group away, as they needed to go back to the compartment and change into their robes.
On their way back to the compartment, Hermione kept complaining that they shouldn't have come, that they had caused trouble before even entering Hogwarts.
Cassandra remained silent, her eyes fixed on Ethan’s back, contemplating how she would have handled the situation if she had been in Ethan’s place.
Beating up those three wastes of space wouldn't be difficult, but not with that speed.
While she knew the Imperiuse, could she have cast it so efficiently, using someone else's wand, in that instant?