บท 61: 61
Chapter 61: The Train and the Hyena
A shrill whistle pierced the air as all the train doors sealed shut. The locomotive hissed steam and lurched forward with a clang. Wade waved from the window, watching his father's figure recede into the distance.
Turning back to his seat, Wade's heart weighed heavy.
The Friend Book felt pleasantly warm. Flipping it open, he found several new messages on the first page:
**[Fiona: Is the journey going smoothly? The train should have departed by now, right?]**
**[Fiona: Miss Ava seems a bit down. I think it's because you didn't bring her along.]**
**[Fiona: Is it cold on the train?]**
Wade smiled, took out his quill, and replied line by line:
**[Wade: We had a smooth trip. The train just departed, and Dad should be on his way home now.
If Miss Ava is feeling down, maybe give her some dried fish? That was her favorite snack. I recall it's on the second shelf of the cupboard. Or perhaps some scarabs or dried locusts; she likes those too—just not too many, to avoid upset stomachs.
Oh, and I'm pretty sure there's a warming charm on the train, so it's not cold at all. The scarf you packed is keeping me cozy.
I'll remember to take more photos.]**
"Hey, Wade!" Michael poked his head through the door with a grin. "I figured you'd be in this car—hey everyone, he's over here!"
He waved to someone unseen, then hauled his trunk inside, beaming. "Big news, right, Wade?"
"Um, what news?" Wade asked, a touch bewildered.
"Of course, it's about the Friend Book!" Michael exclaimed.
Drawing his wand, Michael levitated his trunk onto the luggage rack and settled in. "Before school started, my folks were scrambling to get a copy! They were amazed when they found out I had a whole one. I thought it was a secret among the SSC members, but turns out it's on sale in Diagon Alley—so the rumors were true, huh?"
"What rumors?" Wade struggled to keep up with Michael's rapid-fire conversation after three weeks apart.
"Oh, we've all heard about it. People kept asking me, knowing we're in the same year," Theo chimed in, entering the compartment. "But honestly, I thought they were pulling my leg!"
"Hey, Wade. Long time," Ryan added, joining them. "You haven't been keeping up with the SSC chat?"
"Well... I wanted to read a book..." Wade admitted.
"See? That's why you've been silent," Ryan teased. "Let Theo fill you in; he's been keeping track."
Theo Mancini, not from the Twenty-Eight Sacred Families but a pure-blood nonetheless, spoke up. "Exactly. There were rumors before the Friend Book came out—talk of a new, cheaper, more convenient communication method that could revolutionize wizarding social dynamics—"
"I had a hunch it was about the Friend Book," Michael interjected.
Despite owning a Friend Book, Wade hesitated to share it with his parents or friends. Instead, he kept it buried at the bottom of his trunk, clandestinely chatting daily with his friends under the guise of study sessions, cautioning them not to reveal their shared account.
However, apart from Michael, whose entire friend list remained private, everyone else had at least shown their parents one page. Panic ensued as they hastily patched things up, swearing their parents to secrecy.
Unexpectedly, within days, the gossip spread like wildfire, reaching every corner.
"We burned through Floo powder quicker than ever," Ryan remarked. "Everyone wanted in. My dad said even a noble pure-blood tried every trick to get one—sent agents all the way to the Americas."
"But the owner of Aslan's Magic Emporium—Marchionne—is shrewd and unpredictable," Theo continued. "My granddad called him a hyena. Cross him, and he'll gut you and—well, my granddad's words were much cruder, but you get the gist."
"No one dares cross Marchionne—no one's ever outsmarted him," Ryan added. "Though some say he acquired the Friend Book patent from someone else, the actual inventor is just a first-year at Hogwarts—" Theo glanced at Wade.
"Your name was on everyone's lips, Wade. I was genuinely worried back then," Ryan confessed.
"Then the great alchemist Terence Murray publicly declared at a banquet that the inventor was his student," Theo continued. "He vowed never to let anyone harass or exploit his students. It'd be a slight and a challenge to Terence Murray for anyone to sidestep him and approach his students—"
"Only then did I realize Professor Murray's influence," Ryan interjected. "And Dumbledore's at Hogwarts—"
At that moment, a witch pushing a snack trolley passed their compartment. They fell silent, purchasing some treats, then resumed their conversation.
"Professor Dumbledore also urged everyone to respect his students," Theo said, unwrapping a chocolate frog. "Otherwise, he'd have to step in to defend their rights. Things calmed down after that."
"And now, rumor has it, people are once again seeking out Marchionne. They probably figure the risk of tangling with him has lowered," Theo mused, before his chocolate frog suddenly leaped from his grasp.
Theo scrambled to catch it, but Wade snagged it before it could leap out the window.
"Thanks, Wade."
Handing back the chocolate frog, Wade asked, "So... my name hasn't spread too widely?"
"Most folks have no clue. Many thought you were a sixth or seventh-year!" Ryan chuckled. "But I bet those noble pure-bloods know—no matter what Dumbledore and Murray say, Wade, stick close with us at school."
Michael draped an arm over Wade's shoulders, grinning. "Don't worry, we'll be like twins joined at the hip. By the way, Wade, word is Marchionne paid a fortune for the rights—some say you're as rich as a small country. True?"
When the others skirted the topic, Michael blurted it out.
Wade attempted nonchalance, avoiding sounding boastful. "It's not that grand—just 50,000 Galleons."
Michael winced as if struck. "50,000 Galleons! I've never seen that much!"
Theo chuckled, easing the tension. "Some say it was a million Galleons! Ridiculous—"
Ryan nudged him suddenly, and Theo fell silent.
There was a knock at the compartment door.
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