As expected, Professor Snape did not complete his guiding duties.
In the half-month after returning from Diagon Alley, he only visited Privet Drive twice to see William. After "teaching" him some basic spells and reciting some common knowledge of the Magic Realm, he never showed up again.
This formed a stark contrast with Professor Figo, who was solely responsible for guiding William a century ago and was extremely dedicated, which also caused William to have strong doubts about the current teaching quality at Hogwarts.
However, that didn't matter; he didn't think these professors could teach him anything anyway.
He just hoped that no troublemaking Third Generation Black Demon King would pop up in the coming years.
During this period, William caught up on the history of the past century, including Grindelwald's revolution and Voldemort's terror attacks. Indeed, wizards cannot escape the human realm. When the external environment (Goblin Rebellion pacification) becomes stable, someone will inevitably start "seeking thrills" internally.
But this period of catching up led him to discover something interesting, like how in 1892 when he graduated, the current Headmaster Albus Dumbledore enrolled—meaning he almost became the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor to the current Hogwarts headmaster.
However, speaking about it now is pointless, as William has already boarded the Hogwarts Express. He found an empty compartment and sat down with his brown leather suitcase, watching the scenery speed by outside as he sighed somewhat wistfully.
Wait, what's that?
Seeing the turquoise-green car flying through the sky from the window, William blinked in confusion—this thing looked somewhat familiar.
Oh, he saw this car hovering outside the second-story window of 4 Privet Drive on the night he received Hogwarts' letter, but why is it appearing now? William waved his hand in the air, making the world clearer in his eyes—
Upon concentrating, he finally recognized the two heads in the front seats of the car—one red and one black.
The black one was Harry Potter... After making this "surprising" discovery, William knowingly nodded.
People say he's the protagonist; even going to school is unique compared to others—if he's not the protagonist, who else could be?
"Whoa—"
Just as William lifted the magic, the originally closed compartment door suddenly burst open from outside, and a fluffy brown-haired head appeared at the entrance. The girl leaned on the door frame and looked at William sitting inside, bluntly asking, "Have you seen Ha..."
The girl's voice suddenly halted, and she stared at William's face for a long moment, showing a surprised expression, "Wait, are you the... transfer student George mentioned?"
"Um, that's me. Who are you?"
William immediately recognized the girl in front of him—after all, the two prominent front teeth were the most noticeable feature. She was the girl standing next to Harry Potter at Flourish and Blotts that day, though he still didn't know her name.
"I'm Hermione Granger—"
Hermione stepped into the compartment, as she blocked the corridor where a trolley filled with snacks was being pushed, then extended her right hand to William.
"William Richard."
"Are you really a fifth-year..."
William shook hands with her briefly, then interrupted the girl who seemed to want to ask something, continuing, "So, what were you going to ask earlier? Is it related to Harry Potter?"
"Ah—" Hermione hurriedly patted her head, "I almost forgot—have you seen Harry and Ron, Ron Weasley, a red-haired second-year boy? I've searched the entire train and couldn't find them!"
If you could find them, that'd be odd.
William lifted his hand to interrupt Hermione's rapid-fire questions, indicating he understood, then he pointed outside the window.
"?"
Hermione stared at the blue sky outside the window, blinking in confusion.
"You won't believe this, but I just saw the two of them outside the window, driving a sedan flying through the sky. Wait—"
"What—"
The incredibly sharp shout almost shattered William's eardrums.
"Are you saying they're driving a car flying in the sky—and it's just the two of them?" Hermione leaned on the table in front of William, her deep brown eyes staring wide in anticipation of a denial from him.
"Yes, it's just the two of them." Unfortunately, things won't go as wished; William confirmed with a nod and added, "And it's unlicensed driving—I remember a London driver's license requires being seventeen..."
"...I need to tell Percy! Hurry and have him contact the professors." Hermione clearly couldn't hear the latter half of William's words anymore. She opened the compartment door and hurriedly thanked William while muttering "this is too chaotic," as she ran towards the back of the train—
But she forgot to close the door.
Just as William was about to wave the compartment door shut, another figure appeared at the door—
"...Hello, is there any space here?"
The girl looked quite young, seemingly a new student, and she spoke with a somewhat elusive tone. Her long, dark golden-brown hair was messy and dirty, falling down to her waist. Her eyebrows were so light they were almost invisible, and her eye sockets bulged slightly. Her silver pupils seemed to have a layer of mist as she asked the only occupant in the compartment.
"...There is."
Seeing the girl walk into the compartment by herself, William nodded.
"My name is Luna, Luna Lovegood."
The girl sat across from William, raised her hand to tidy the hair on both sides of her cheeks, revealing a pair of carrot earrings hidden underneath.
"William Richard."
"I know you; you're the one they've been talking about... the fifth-year transfer student." Luna seemed to remember something happy, and her lips curved slightly upward, "But we're actually all new students, aren't we?"
"Maybe."
William shrugged. He couldn't possibly say that he had actually attended Hogwarts for three years a hundred years ago and now was coming back for three... Wait, did he suddenly realize that even though he attended twice, he didn't actually complete seven years?
And before Luna could say anything else, the compartment door, which had just been closed, was opened again from outside—
Tsk... don't kids knock on doors nowadays?
William turned his head with a bit of helplessness toward the door, and a red-haired boy walked in, followed by Hermione.
"Did you just see Harry Potter—and Ron?"
The boy sounded a bit impatient as he sat next to William, eagerly asking.
"...And you are?" William noticed the boy's hair color—hmm, the one probably driving without a license was likely his relative.
Anyway, as long as they're Pure-Blood Wizards, they could almost all be related—after all, the British Isles are only so large.
"Percy Weasley—Gryffindor Prefect, sixth year." When introducing himself, his speaking speed suddenly slowed down, "When did you see those two?"
"Just before Miss Granger last pushed the door open—"
"Thanks." Percy stood up somewhat irritably, heading for the door, "I need to write to Professor McGonagall; those two are definitely going to cause Gryffindor to lose a lot of points!"
"Sorry—"
Hermione quickly caught up with Percy's pace. She also wanted to write to Professor McGonagall, but she was more concerned about Harry and Ron's safety—
Flying all the way from London to Hogwarts in a flying car?
She could even imagine Harry and Ron crashing headfirst into a tower.
"He's been caught by a wrackspurt—that Gryffindor Prefect." Luna watched the two's departing figures with her elusive gaze.
William kept silent, though he was indeed curious about what a wrackspurt was—but an instinct told him, don't ask.
After those two left, the compartment door wasn't opened again by anyone else—except for a Gryffindor student searching for a toad.
Luna quietly held a magazine called "The Quibbler," the exaggerated cover hiding her entire face. However, William wondered if she was really reading it—considering she had only turned two pages from noon to evening, and even the pages were upside down.
As for William, aside from spending 5 Sickles on Chocolate Frogs and pumpkin pasties when the snack trolley passed by, he spent the rest of his attention entirely on "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" borrowed from Luna—this textbook was much more interesting than those from a hundred years ago.
His books had already been sent ahead to the castle, except for a pile of Lockhart's.
Without realizing it, night fell, and William looked up at the window as the silhouette of the castle slowly emerged in the night—
"The train will arrive at Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train, and we will transport it to the school for you." A voice echoed throughout the train.
"Woo—"
Thick white smoke billowed out of the train's chimney, and outside, the black mountains gradually became distinct.