Chương 21: 21: A Bit of Everything
"That's wandless spellcasting," Ivan said, then gestured to Hermione, adding, "Although Hermione can't do it yet, she's already mastered a lot of magic."
"Really?" Neville asked, sounding impressed.
"Ahem."
The little witch raised her head proudly, then elegantly drew out her wand, ready to show off a little in front of Neville. After all, he was the first little wizard from a wizarding family they had met, and Hermione wanted him to evaluate whether her level was good enough.
"Reparo!" Hermione noticed a tear in Neville's clothes and waved her wand, using the Mending Charm to fix the damage instantly.
"Oh! Thank you, thank you!" Neville hurriedly thanked her and praised, "Hermione, you're really good."
"Ah.. I am alright," Hermione said, lowering her head shyly. She hadn't wanted to lose to the little wizards from wizarding families, not because she liked showing off.
Hearing Neville's genuine praise suddenly made Hermione feel a little embarrassed.
As the three of them chatted, the train had already left London.
There was a sound of "click, click" in the aisle, and a smiling woman with dimples pushed open the compartment door and asked, "Anything from the trolley, dears? Would you like to buy some food?"
"I... I want a licorice wand," Neville said timidly.
Neville fumbled in his pocket, trying to find the pocket money his grandmother had given him. Meanwhile, Hermione, sitting next to Ivan, eyed the trolley eagerly, clearly curious about the food from the wizarding world.
"Hello," Ivan called out, taking a few Galleons from his pouch. "We'll take a bit of everything."
"Ivan!"
Hermione gasped, thinking he was being a bit extravagant.
But Ivan reassured her with a smile, saying he was eager to try all kinds of wizarding food and that they could always take whatever they didn't finish to Hogwarts. "Nothing will go to waste," he said.
Before long, their compartment was filled with an assortment of wizarding treats: Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and some other strange-looking foods they hadn't seen in Diagon Alley.
Ivan had spent thirteen silver Sickles and four bronze Knuts, which wasn't much considering how much they got.
"Child, would you like anything else?" the trolley lady asked.
On the other side of the compartment, Neville was still struggling to find his money.
"Come on, eat with us!" Ivan offered, noticing Neville's predicament and inviting him to share their snacks. This also conveniently stopped Hermione from insisting on paying for her share.
With Ivan footing the bill for all three of them, even Hermione couldn't refuse.
"Thank you," Neville said gratefully, looking at Ivan. "I always forget things; my memory's really bad."
Ivan, however, knew the real reason behind Neville's memory issues. It was likely the result of a Memory Charm cast on him when he was a child.
Despite this, Neville wasn't without talent—he simply hadn't yet had his breakthrough.
After all, Neville would go on to become the professor of Herbology at Hogwarts, proving his natural aptitude for magical plants.
"Let's eat," Ivan suggested. Both he and Hermione had only had a few slices of bread that morning and were already hungry.
Each of them grabbed a snack. Ivan opted for Chocolate Frogs, something he'd always found fascinating since watching the Harry Potter films. Hermione, on the other hand, chose a Licorice Wand, assuming it would be good since Neville, who came from a wizarding family, had seemed interested in it earlier.
"This is pretty interesting," Ivan remarked as he opened his box of Chocolate Frogs. The enchanted candy immediately jumped out, trying to escape.
But Ivan was quick. He stretched out his finger and, with a subtle wandless spell, froze the Chocolate Frog in mid-air using the Freezing Charm, one of the ten wandless magics he had mastered.
"Wow!" Neville gasped in awe, his round face full of amazement. His mouth hung open, and he didn't even notice the half-eaten Pumpkin Pastie slipping from his hands onto the table.
"Hey, snap out of it," Ivan said, waving his hand in front of Neville's face to get his attention. Then, he tapped the floating Chocolate Frog with his finger and asked, "So, how do you eat this? Just pop it into your mouth like this?"
"Uh, ah, yes, just eat it directly," Neville said, still a bit flustered.
"It feels a bit weird," Ivan muttered.
He didn't pay much attention to Neville's surprise. Instead, he played with the Chocolate Frog for a moment, contemplating the magic used to enchant it before finally putting it into his mouth.
The Chocolate Frog, as if realizing its impending fate, squirmed as Ivan bit into it. The sensation of the struggling chocolate made him frown.
"Yeah, it's better to bite off the head first," Neville suggested, speaking from experience as someone who had eaten countless Chocolate Frogs—earning himself the title of Chocolate Frog Killer.
"Ah~~" Hermione, nibbling on her Licorice Wand, frowned slightly. She understood Neville's intention, but the suggestion of biting off the frog's head still sounded a bit off-putting.
"Crunch, crunch," Ivan accepted Neville's advice and quickly chewed the chocolate.
As he bit into the frog, he noticed that the magic animating it seemed to dissipate, and with that, a rich, sweet flavor spread across his tongue.
"This is actually really good. I've never tasted chocolate like this before," Ivan remarked.
It was true, even across both of his lives, he had never experienced a flavor quite like it. The wizarding world certainly had its unique charms, and its food was no exception.
The three of them continued to chat and laugh, sharing stories about both the wizarding and Muggle worlds.
"Meow~~"
The sound of the cat's meow drew their attention. Hermione turned to Ivan and said, "Ivan, I think you forgot to let Yuumi out."
"Uh..." Ivan smacked his forehead in realization. He quickly used the Levitation Charm to bring down the cat carrier that had been placed up high.
"Meow~~(Humph!)"
Freed from the confines of the carrier, Yuumi, the ragdoll cat, meowed at Ivan with a hint of displeasure. Ivan quickly apologized, "I'll give you some treats, Yuumi. Please forgive me."
Yuumi grumbled for a bit before swinging her fluffy tail and making her way to the sofa to pick out some snacks that suited her taste.
"Yuumi, come here," Hermione called, waving her hand. Without hesitation, Yuumi grabbed a snack and leaped into Hermione's arms.
After half a month of living together, Yuumi had grown quite fond of Hermione. In fact, the cat seemed to prefer Hermione's company over Ivan's.
The little witch also let Crookshanks out of her carrier.
Suddenly, the carriage was filled with two cats—Yuumi, a delicate ragdoll cat, and Crookshanks, with her squashed persimmon-like face.
Both cats were female. Crookshanks was a bit older and had taken to caring for the smaller Yuumi while they were staying at Hermione's house.
"Merlin's Beard! Your pets! They are really adorable!" Neville remarked, admiring the pair of cats.
He couldn't help but think of his own pet, a toad named Trevor.
However, when Neville turned to introduce Trevor, his face paled—he suddenly realized his toad was missing.
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