Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Hogwarts (Part 3)
King's Cross Station.
Daniel Davis watched as numerous young wizards pushed their trolleys straight into the wall between platforms nine and ten. Today marked the end of the summer holidays, and it was time for Hogwarts to reopen, so Daniel had come to witness the legendary Platform 9¾.
Despite many young wizards disappearing into the wall, the Muggles nearby paid no attention. This was primarily due to the use of Muggle-repelling and Confundus Charms, making the passersby oblivious to the unusual occurrences.
Only if the wall was sealed off, like when Dobby had closed it in Harry's second year, causing a major commotion, would the Muggles notice anything amiss.
"The Golden Trio," Daniel muttered as he easily spotted Harry, Hermione, and Ron on Platform 9¾. He also noticed Malfoy and his gang. These two trios were always at odds with each other from the moment they met.
Daniel had no intention of befriending these three. Perhaps if he were their age, he might have considered it, but not now
.
"Everything in the world seems to be more expensive on a train." Daniel casually bought some snacks on the train and had to admit that the taste of magical world treats was quite good, probably due to the high quality of the ingredients. With industrialization being underdeveloped, most of the food in this world was natural. The only drawback was the level of English cuisine, but luckily, Daniel himself was a decent cook.
"There's a seat here." As Daniel was eating his snacks and reading a book on spells, he heard a familiar voice. He then saw the Golden Trio entering his compartment.
"Is this fate?" Daniel murmured to himself but didn't pay them much attention, continuing to read his book on Transfiguration.
Hermione, Ron, and Harry had entered Daniel's compartment because they wanted to find a place where all three of them could sit together. After some encounters, including a run-in with Malfoy and his gang that wasted some time, they finally found three empty seats in Daniel's compartment.
"That's a Transfiguration spell." Hermione, true to her inquisitive nature, commented after glancing at the contents of Daniel's book.
"Yes, Miss Granger. Do you have any questions?" Daniel smiled, moving his gaze from the book to Hermione. While Hermione was indeed a pretty girl, she was only around eleven years old, and Daniel was no Lolicon.
"You know me?" Hermione asked, surprised.
"The famous Golden Trio, how could I not know? So, that makes you Ron, and you must be the one who defeated Voldemort, Harry." Daniel greeted Ron and Harry with a smile.
"You dare to say his name? Aren't you afraid?" Hermione asked, astonished. Though she had only been at Hogwarts for half a semester, being one of Harry's close friends, she knew a lot about Voldemort and was aware that most wizards, including Ron's parents, referred to him as "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."
"What's there to fear about Voldemort?" Daniel replied dismissively. Compared to Grindelwald, Voldemort was far inferior. A Voldemort with a whole soul might be terrifying, but the one who had split his soul into seven, or rather eight, pieces was no threat to Daniel, who knew the locations of all the Horcruxes.
"Interestingly, only Gryffindor's sword wasn't made into a Horcrux," Daniel thought. Of the four founders of Hogwarts, each had a relic, but only Gryffindor's sword remained untouched by Voldemort's dark magic.
"You should be careful about saying such things at school," Hermione warned in a low voice.
"Thanks for the advice," Daniel replied with a nod and a smile.
"Do you know about him? Can you tell me more?" Harry asked after a long silence.
"That's not something you need to worry about now. Focus on your studies," Daniel said, returning to his book on Transfiguration.
After a brief comforting chat with Harry, Hermione and the trio shifted their discussion to Quidditch.
"This is so slow, nowhere near as fast as a high-speed train." The Hogwarts Express was considered fast in this world, but compared to the high-speed trains of Daniel's past life, it was far too slow. Used to magical teleportation or flying, Daniel found this pace hard to adjust to.
After traveling all day, the train finally stopped in the evening. The students quickly moved to the waiting carriages to head to Hogwarts. Except for the first-year students, who had to cross the lake to Hogwarts as a rite of passage, the other students took the carriages directly to the castle.
"The marvelous Hogwarts, here I come."
Upon entering Hogwarts, Daniel was greeted by Dumbledore and then introduced to the other professors. The staff was quite surprised by his youth, but it seemed Dumbledore had already briefed them, so they welcomed Daniel warmly. Snape, as usual, wore his characteristic scowl.
"Slytherin's pride, our head of house, with hair flowing like a waterfall." Looking at Snape, Daniel nearly laughed as this random thought popped into his head.
Just like when he first entered the school, there was a banquet in the Great Hall that evening, attended by all the students.
"The number of students doesn't seem that large." Based on his prior research, Hogwarts had about four hundred students. The exact number was unclear due to the school's somewhat outdated record-keeping, particularly with sixth and seventh-year students who were often out on internships.
The Great Hall's ceiling was enchanted to look like the night sky, with thousands of floating candles illuminating the space. These magical candles never burned out due to their enchantment.
"If they installed the latest crystal chandeliers and wired them up, I bet it'd look just as beautiful." The wizarding world's biggest drawback compared to the Muggle world was the lack of electricity.
"Harry, Ron, look!" Hermione, seated at the Gryffindor table, immediately noticed Daniel among the professors and pointed him out to her friends.
"Welcome back to school, everyone. I have an announcement." Dumbledore wasted no time on unnecessary words and introduced Daniel to the students.
Daniel's arrival meant the departure of the previous Muggle Studies professor, Charity Burbage, which, in a way, saved her life since she was killed by Voldemort in the original timeline.
After announcing Daniel as the new Muggle Studies professor, Dumbledore also declared that from this term onward, Muggle Studies would be a mandatory subject for first-year students and would count towards their final grades. This caused quite a stir among the students, especially those in Slytherin. However, Dumbledore's authority and the Ministry of Magic's approval quelled the uproar, allowing the banquet to proceed smoothly.
The Ministry agreed to Dumbledore's request partly because many respected figures in the wizarding world believed young wizards should be knowledgeable about the Muggle world, and partly because Fudge, newly appointed as Minister of Magic, didn't dare oppose Dumbledore.
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