"You're Elvis?" Hermione asked the boy who had just entered their compartment.
"Yes... Hello, you must be Hermione!" Elvis replied, his voice edged with nerves.
"That's right, I'm Hermione! Pleased to meet you!" Hermione Jane Granger—the undisputed main character—smiled brightly and extended her hand.
Elvis hurriedly shook it, stammering, "I-I'm very, very pleased to meet you too!"
For reasons he couldn't quite explain, Elvis felt a sudden, guilty unease in front of this little witch.
His mind flashed back to things he'd done over the past year—especially how he'd let slip tidbits about Qin Yu to a few girls. The memory made his back go cold and a sheen of sweat break out on his brow.
Did I do something I shouldn't have? Elvis wondered, swallowing hard.
That vague sense of guilt—and a certain fear of this sharp-eyed girl—quickly killed any urge to linger. After a few polite words with Qin Yu and Hermione, Elvis made his excuses and slipped away, casting one last regretful glance behind him.
…
Elvis wasn't the first to drop by their compartment, and he certainly wouldn't be the last.
No sooner had Qin Yu closed the door than it was knocked on again and again, each time by a familiar face. Their supposed private space became a revolving door of acquaintances—Jimmy, Burke, Wilson, and several members of the Quidditch team: the new captain, Wood; Chasers Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell (the latter a natural talent discovered by Wood at the end of last year).
There was even Gryffindor's unofficial commentator, Monnie Wanda. Thanks to her outrageously biased play-by-play in favor of Gryffindor during a match, Professor McGonagall had revoked her commentator privileges.
"Right, I'm off to check on Ron. Fred and George said he's bawling his eyes out," Monnie announced, with absolutely zero sympathy for her distant cousin—if anything, she looked positively gleeful at the prospect.
Qin Yu could only shake his head at the Weasleys' extended family drama.
Soon enough, Fred and George themselves appeared, eager to tell Qin Yu about the South African tarantula their friend Lee Jordan had acquired.
"Not that impressive, really. Nowhere near as dangerous as an Acromantula," George sniffed.
"Yeah, barely worth keeping as a pet," Fred shrugged.
After a year of helping Hagrid care for magical creatures, their standards had risen a bit—they weren't easily impressed by "little critters" anymore.
With that out of the way, Qin Yu couldn't help but ask why Ron was crying.
"He found out his wand is brand new!" George said, raising his eyebrows.
"And then he realized a lot of the stuff in his trunk is new too," Fred added.
"Sigh, we thought he'd only notice when we got to school. Didn't expect him to figure it out so soon," George lamented, as if half the fun had been lost.
"Yeah, we kept it secret for ages, even when he was trying on robes in Diagon Alley and nearly lost his mind—we still didn't let on that we were actually buying them for him," Fred said, shaking his head with mock disappointment.
Qin Yu could only sweat inwardly. These two were truly devoted to the art of pranking—even their own little brother wasn't safe.
Still, their mischief wasn't mean-spirited. If Ron shed tears over his new wand and robes, it was probably from happiness—tears of joy, not sorrow.
Well, that's just how the Weasleys are, Qin Yu thought. He couldn't stop them even if he tried.
"Ron's getting on well with that Harry Potter—who'd have thought they'd hit it off?" Fred said, sounding genuinely pleased.
"Let's hope the kid finds his feet at school," George added, his tone softening.
For all their jokes, the twins were surprisingly thoughtful. Their dreams of making it big in business had a lot to do with growing up in a family that was always scraping by. Now, thanks to Qin Yu's help and guidance, they'd earned a bit of money and wanted to do something for their siblings—new wands, new robes, a new cauldron for Ron. Of course, that didn't mean they'd pass up a good prank along the way.
"Don't worry about Ron. He's your brother, which makes him my brother too. I'll keep an eye on him at Hogwarts," Qin Yu promised.
Fred and George grinned. "With you looking out for him, Ron can strut around Hogwarts like he owns the place!"
What a ridiculous image, Qin Yu thought, barely suppressing a laugh. Have I really become the big boss of Hogwarts? Then again, he realized, it was probably a turn of phrase he'd once used in a story with the twins—and now they'd thrown it back at him.
"All right, we'll leave you two alone! Bye!" Fred waved cheerfully.
"See you at school!" George echoed, getting up to leave.
Hermione smiled and waved as they left, but before the compartment door could even fully close, it creaked open again. Two familiar heads poked through the gap.
"Seriously, don't you think you ought to put something on the door?" one of them said.
"Put what?" Qin Yu asked, immediately regretting it.
Sure enough, both twins replied in perfect unison: "Do Not Disturb!"
That Muggle hotel phrase was one Hermione had known since childhood trips with her parents—and Qin Yu knew it all too well himself.
They both instantly got the joke.
Snap!
Before Qin Yu could even get properly flustered, the door slammed shut again and the twins vanished down the corridor.
Honestly, those two were always dancing on the edge of disaster.
"They're just like that," Qin Yu explained, a little exasperated. "But they're good people, really. You'll get used to them."
"Mhm, I actually like them. They make everything so lively," Hermione replied with a smile.
She figured that anyone who got on so well with Qin Yu had to be good at heart.
"So don't take what they say too seriously," Qin Yu added.
But Hermione looked up, her face suddenly serious. "Maybe we should do what they suggested—put a sign on the door?"
"Huh?" Qin Yu blinked in surprise.
Then he caught the mischievous glint in her eyes.
He ruffled her hair, feigning annoyance. "Don't be silly."
Hermione nestled against him, rubbing her cheek against his chest and muttering, "Well, it's not my fault people keep barging in!"
Their cozy little compartment was starting to feel more like a mobile reception room.
Of course, Hermione was only joking. Whenever someone else came in, she'd immediately switch into "sweet, well-behaved little sister" mode.
Especially when that Cedric fellow showed up. Hermione went on high alert—something about the way he looked at Qin Yu made her bristle.
Thankfully, he didn't stay long.
Before leaving, though, he insisted on giving Qin Yu a hug and said he'd missed him terribly.
"Looks like Qin Yu really is popular at Hogwarts," Hermione thought, her expression growing complicated and just a touch troubled.
~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~
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