Kapitel 18: Hogwarts, Please Graduate Soon, Ch 18
Intimidating the new students at the Sorting Ceremony has always been a tradition among wizards. Even those born into wizarding families are not given any real information beforehand. Having endured the experience themselves, many parents choose to break their child's umbrella as a rite of passage.
This unspoken agreement has supposedly maintained this fine tradition for centuries, and to date, no one has dared to break the unspoken rules. Clearly, the twins' current plan is to intimidate Wayne.
"Ahem!"
George cleared his throat, quickly getting into character, his face adorned with a serious and slightly fearful expression, which made Wayne marvel at his performance. With such acting skills, why bother being a wizard? He could become a Hollywood star and rake in a fortune!
"I really don't want to remember my own experience… because it was terrifying."
Fred chimed in with a melodramatic sigh.
"In our year, the young wizards had to endure under the grip of a troll for ten whole minutes. Based on their performance, that determined which house they would be sorted into."
"By the way, do you know what a troll is?"
Wayne nodded enthusiastically, displaying a fearful expression. "I know! I bought a book called 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.'"
"Well, that's good to hear!"
George felt a surge of excitement; this made the story even more immersive.
"The bravest among them gets sorted into Gryffindor, the ones who use cunning go to Ravenclaw, and those who persist in practical studies end up in Hufflepuff."
"What about Slytherin?" Wayne asked curiously.
"Them?" Fred's eyes darted. "They take the back door."
"Walking in through the back door?" Cedric silently scoffed at the twins' nonsense, but still nodded seriously.
"Yes, that's right."
The twins looked surprised at Cedric, as they hadn't anticipated him joining their little charade; they merely wanted him not to spoil it.
Good lad, who knew you had a bit of mischief in you with that striking appearance?
Cedric blinked innocently.
"What's wrong? Is there an issue? I'm merely continuing the traditions of Hogwarts. Why are you looking at me like that?"
Wayne maintained a scared expression on his face but was secretly laughing to himself.
Impressive! If I weren't relying on my luck and past experiences, I might actually have been fooled by these guys.
"What should I do? If it gets too overwhelming, I might as well head home. I don't even know a single spell yet."
Wayne portrayed his panic perfectly, which had the three of them nearly in stitches, yet they still pretended to strategize for him.
After a while, they ultimately deduced that their semester's entrance challenge would likely be to defeat a ghoul – a rather anticlimactic conclusion.
If they weren't worried about scaring Wayne into tears, the twins and Cedric might have ended up discussing everything from cars to the train station.
The train sped through the golden wheat fields, gradually delving deeper into the vast, uninhabited lands, moving at a remarkably fast speed, around one hundred kilometers per hour. Quite good for a 'vintage car' that had been in service since the last century.
Wayne pulled out a compass, followed by a piece of parchment and a quill, scribbling notes.
"Wayne, what are you doing?" the twins asked curiously.
"Oh, I'm calculating the exact location of Hogwarts."
"Probably in about two hours, we'll reach Scotland."
The twins exchanged glances and asked in unison, "Why are you calculating that?"
"Since I'm not doing anything else, I might as well find something to keep me occupied," Wayne replied, adjusting the compass slightly and jotting down more angles.
"Since you're bored, let's play 'Bang Bang Boom'!" Fred said cheerfully, pulling out a deck of red playing cards.
These cards looked just like Muggle cards, but they would explode.
If you threw down four twos and shouted "Bomb!" it would be quite literal!
"Aren't you going to finish your homework?" Cedric asked, slightly exasperated. He was trying to read "Dark Magic: Self-Defense" to pass the time, and if they started playing cards, it would surely disrupt his reading.
Fred waved it off: "Come on, we have all night! No rush, let's play!"
In no time, the room filled with popping explosions, but every time, the cards went off in the twins' hands, nearly singeing George's eyebrows.
The twins found it baffling that whenever Wayne held the cards, everything seemed safe; once it was their turn, they were a literal powder keg.
Cedric looked at Wayne suspiciously.
He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. It was like Wayne had pulled some trick, like those upper-year students who could predict when the cards would explode.
Wayne couldn't possibly be—
No way; he's just a little first-year wizard.
Shaking his head, Cedric dismissed the ridiculous thought.
Knock, knock, knock!
There was another knock at the door. George, with a bit of dust on his face, quickly set the cards down on the table and opened the compartment door.
"Excuse me, have you seen Trevor? Oh, that's a toad—wait, Wayne?"
Standing outside was a girl with a chubby little boy, and the girl was none other than Hermione. Upon finishing her sentence, she spotted Wayne by the window, her face instantly lighting up with joy.
After handing back the book to Wayne, she mentioned that she had made several trips to Diagon Alley but had never seen him.
After boarding the train, she searched high and low but didn't find him anywhere and had settled for the nearest compartment.
"Hermione, long time no see!" Wayne waved back at the young witch with a smile, noting that she appeared cuter than before today. Her hair looked well-managed rather than wild and unruly.
"I looked for you after I got on the train, but I couldn't find you," Hermione quickly replied, and then her gaze fell on the chubby boy behind her, shifting the topic. "Have you seen a toad?"
Everyone shook their heads, and Cedric reassured her, "Don't worry. Toads are quite clever. Your Trevor might just be a little bored and gone off to play; he will return to you eventually."
"I hope so." Neville felt like crying. "If my grandmother finds out I lost Trevor before reaching school, she'll tan my hide!"
After telling them to look for her once they got off the train, Hermione continued asking if anyone had seen the toad, moving to the next compartment.
Once the duo left, Fred turned to Wayne. "Do you know that little witch?"
"I met her in Diagon Alley. Why do you ask?" Wayne replied, puzzled at Fred's interest.
"Nothing." Fred shook his head, then he and George said simultaneously, "Seeing that little witch is like seeing Professor McGonagall!"
Wayne: "…"
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