Clark was stunned.
Why...
Was this not quite what he had imagined?
He looked to his left.
Then he looked to his right.
Clark realized that everyone around him was staring at him.
This feeling of being watched by the public made him very uncomfortable.
He wanted to say something.
Suddenly, a station guard ran over.
The mustached guard shielded Clark without a word, pulling and dragging him while hurriedly saying, "Come with me, quickly!"
Just like that, Clark was confusingly dragged to a safe place by the mustached guard.
Once out of 'danger', the mustached guard visibly relaxed.
Clark hesitated for a moment but decided to apologize proactively: "I'm sorry, I accidentally broke the platform pillar..."
"What? Hahahaha, kid, you really know how to joke."
The mustached guard froze for a moment, then burst into laughter.
After he had laughed enough, he pointed to the shattered stone pillar not far away and said to Clark, "Obviously, the pillar was damaged because of long-term disrepair. And you, you're just a somewhat unlucky confused egg."
Clark: ...
No one believed Clark was only eleven years old.
Likewise, no one believed Clark could shatter a stone pillar with a headbutt.
But, Clark really was only eleven this year.
And the shattered pillar really was broken by his head.
Forget it.
Wizard matters couldn't be explained clearly to Muggles.
Clark squeezed out a smile he thought was obedient and thanked him earnestly: "Thank you, sir. I will be careful next time."
"You're welcome, it's what I should do." The mustached guard returned a friendly smile.
He paused, then asked, "Kid, are you alone? Where are your parents?"
Clark didn't know how to answer.
Fortunately, at this moment, a chaotic large family appeared in his peripheral vision.
Clark had a stroke of brilliance and said, "Over there! My uncle, aunt, and cousins are over there!"
"Oh?" The mustached guard looked to the back left. After a moment, he said skeptically, "You're saying that you, with black hair, are relatives with those redheads?"
Clark braced himself and said, "That's right."
The mustached guard thought for a moment, then suddenly shrugged. "Alright, although this situation is indeed rare, with relatives, it's all messy. You never know who is related to whom."
As he spoke, he deliberately lowered his voice and covered his mouth with his hand to say to Clark, "I have a black cousin myself."
Clark blinked. "Huh?"
The mustached guard didn't say anything more and waved to Clark. "Stay safe, kid. I have to go find the person in charge to report the damage to the wall."
Clark also waved his hand. "Thank you for your help, sir. See you around."
"See you around."
After speaking, the mustached guard turned and left.
Clark hesitated on the spot for a few seconds.
He decided to catch up with that large family from earlier.
Through observation.
He could be one hundred percent sure that family consisted of wizards—
It is well known that ordinary people do not carry owl cages when they travel.
"Wait! Sir ahead! Please wait a moment!" Clark grew up in the countryside, but he was not timid at all. In a few steps, he caught up with the red-haired family.
Arthur Weasley heard the shout, turned around, and saw a tall and strong black-haired young man.
He asked in confusion, "Do you need help?"
Clark scratched his head and said embarrassedly, "It's like this, I'm a Hogwarts freshman, but I couldn't enter the station smoothly just now. So, could you please take me in?"
Arthur smiled.
Before he could speak, the red-haired twins next to him began to hoot:
"Freshman?"
"Are you sure?"
"Oh my god."
"You look taller than us!"
"You wouldn't happen to have giant blood, would you?"
"Or troll or something."
Three black lines appeared on Arthur's forehead.
He looked at his wife.
Molly Weasley had already put her hands on her hips.
Arthur decisively kept his mouth shut, letting his wife start 'outputting'.
"George! Fred! You two shut up!" Molly was like a furious hen, glaring, displaying the full majesty of a mother.
The red-haired twins couldn't help but shrink their necks.
Molly was satisfied.
When she looked at Clark, she switched to a gentle expression: "It doesn't matter, child. Just follow behind us, we will take you into the station."
"Thank you." Clark bowed slightly to Molly.
Molly smiled until her eyes turned into crescents, praising, "What a polite child."
After speaking, she stepped aside to reveal a red-haired boy who was secretly sizing up Clark from behind. "This is my son, Ron. Like you, he is also a Hogwarts freshman."
Ron had large hands and feet and was taller than children his age.
But compared to Clark, he appeared exceptionally 'petite'.
Clark greeted Ron: "Hello, brother, I'm Clark."
"Hello to you too..." Ron was a bit reserved but still greeted Clark under the pressure of his mother.
Molly was quite dissatisfied with Ron's performance.
But with an outsider present, she couldn't say much.
With the help of the Weasley family.
This time, Clark finally entered Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
It is worth mentioning—
Even following behind the Weasley family, Clark was still blocked by the stone pillar. In his anxiety, it was Fred and George who each grabbed one of Clark's hands and successfully pulled him into the station.
"I say, Clark, you wouldn't happen to be a Muggle, would you?"
"Don't be silly, George. How could a Muggle receive a Hogwarts acceptance letter?"
"What, you actually call me silly? My IQ is definitely the same as yours!"
"Haha, if you have something to say, catch me first."
The twin brothers chatted and wrestled. Ignoring their parents and siblings, they laughed and ran toward the old-fashioned steam train not far away.
Percy, who didn't talk much, nodded to Clark, gave his parents a brief hug, and also walked toward the train carrying his luggage.
Looking at his brothers' backs, Ron wanted to say something but stopped.
As a result, Molly glared, and he wilted, saying reluctantly to Clark, "Let's go together."
"No problem." Clark made an 'OK' gesture.
He thanked the Weasley couple again and said goodbye to the shy little Ginny. After doing all this, he carried his luggage and owl cage and boarded the train with Ron.
Clark used his size advantage to move through the crowd. After some searching, he and Ron finally found an empty compartment.
"Phew—" Ron let out a long breath and gave Clark a thumbs up. "Thanks to you, we were able to squeeze through."
With his parents gone.
He seemed much more cheerful.
Clark laughed, put his luggage on the rack, and effortlessly put Ron's luggage up as well.
Ron watched helplessly as Clark lifted his large trunk with one hand, involuntarily swallowing a mouthful of saliva.
Clark sat down opposite Ron as if nothing had happened and casually found a topic: "Is your whole family wizards?"
"Yeah," Ron said truthfully.
After speaking, he seemed to realize something and asked Clark, "Isn't your family?"
"My parents are ordinary people; I'm the only wizard in my family. However, the grandmother next door is a witch. It was she who saw that I had magical talent and wrote to Hogwarts, giving me the chance to enroll."
Clark had nothing to hide. He explained his situation, and Ron expressed his amazement repeatedly.
"Not just Professor McGonagall, you've actually met Albus Dumbledore? Incredible! You should know that man is considered the greatest wizard in the world, right? I collect a lot of cards related to Dumbledore. By the way, do you collect cards? The kind inside Chocolate Frogs."
After all, being the same age, Ron gradually opened up.
Clark was also happy to make new friends and responded enthusiastically.
The two exchanged words back and forth.
The atmosphere was very lively.
After chatting about everything under the sun for more than ten minutes, a newcomer arrived in the compartment—a skinny black-haired boy wearing old round glasses with a scar on his forehead.
Ron was grinning foolishly a second ago.
Seeing the scar-headed boy, it was as if someone had pressed the pause button; he froze instantly.
Clark didn't understand why.
After sizing up the newcomer slightly, he instantly understood something and stood up proactively. "Harry Potter, right? I've seen your name in quite a few books."
Harry twitched the corner of his mouth, said nothing, and struggled to drag his trunk in.
"Leave it to me." Clark was warm-hearted; he naturally took Harry's trunk and casually placed it on the rack.
Just like Ron before him, Harry's eyes went straight.
Wait, such a big trunk, lifted with one hand?
Is this reasonable?
"Sit next to me."
After putting away the trunk, Clark greeted Harry to sit down as if nothing had happened.
Harry laughed dryly and sat down.
He looked up.
He happened to make eye contact with Ron.
Ron was a bit constrained.
Harry pointed at Ron's nose. "You have something dirty right there."
Ron's face quickly turned red.
He muttered softly and wiped back and forth vigorously with his sleeve.
Harry regretted it.
He felt that using this topic to join a strange atmosphere was simply stupid to the extreme.
Clark didn't care about the awkwardness between the two at all and asked casually, "Did you get into the station smoothly? By the way, I was extremely unlucky. If I hadn't met Ron and his family, I guess I'd still be stuck outside."
Harry forced a smile and said, "It was okay, I followed behind someone else to get in."
Ron looked at Clark chatting and laughing with the famous Harry Potter, feeling extremely envious in his heart. However, an indescribable emotion affected him, making him cross his arms and stay silent, pretending to be cool.
As a cheerful country lad, Clark was quite talkative.
Harry soon let down his guard.
Ron wanted to speak several times but couldn't find the right opportunity.
Fortunately, Clark didn't forget his 'brother'. As he spoke, he actively invited Ron to join the conversation: "...I'm the only wizard in my family. Ron is different; everyone in his family is a wizard, right Ron?"
"Yeah." Ron nodded with a blushing face.
Harry looked at Ron with envy. "Your daily life must be very interesting."
Speaking of this, an inexplicable sadness appeared on Ron's face. "To be honest, it's not that great. I mean, when you have a lot of brothers, and those brothers are also excellent, it's hard for your parents not to compare you with them.
They have been Prefects, Quidditch Captains, smart and intelligent with outstanding grades.
If I can't do the things they could do, everyone will think it's unreasonable. Also, if you have so many brothers, don't even think about using new things—wands, robes, textbooks, even pets..."
Seeing that Clark and Harry's expressions were changing, Ron quickly stopped talking, his face becoming even redder. "Sorry, I said too much."
Clark waved his hand indifferently. "What's that? Honestly, being able to get your brothers' stuff is already pretty good. Unlike me, to go to school, I even had to borrow money from the neighbor grandmother just to buy things."
Hearing this, Harry thought of the gold and silver coins in his pocket and felt it was better not to speak at this time.
"What... Clark... You..." Ron seemed not to expect Clark to suddenly 'expose himself'. While his emotions were complicated, he also felt a sense of relief.
Clark clasped his hands behind his head, looking a bit distressed. "My family farms land, where would we get so many Galleons? This money, ah, I'll have to pay it back sooner or later..."
Shaking his head, he smiled again. "Let's not talk about this. By the way, have you guys decided which house you want to go to?"
'Sorting'.
This is absolutely a hot topic among freshmen.
Hogwarts has four houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw.
Every freshman goes through the Sorting Hat to enter the house that suits them best.
"Gryffindor, of course. Gryffindor is the best," Ron said without hesitation. "My whole family is in Gryffindor; I should also be sorted into Gryffindor."
Clark laughed heartily. "I also like Gryffindor the best, but Ravenclaw isn't bad either. Actually, I'm quite smart. I remember the content of textbooks after reading them once, so I should fit Ravenclaw's selection criteria quite well."
"Photographic memory? Sure, I believe you." Perhaps because he had gotten familiar with Clark, Ron rolled his eyes dramatically.
Harry pushed up his glasses and asked weakly, "What are you talking about?"
"Sorting, why, haven't you heard of it?" Clark looked at Harry in confusion.
Harry's face flushed slightly. "Because of some special reasons, I know very little about the wizarding world."
"Is that so—" Clark suddenly realized and patted Harry on the shoulder. "It's okay, let Ron tell you about the four major houses, and you'll understand everything."
Ron took over the conversation and said to Harry, "Among the four houses of Hogwarts, Gryffindor is the best, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are slightly inferior. As for Slytherin... that is a gathering place for Dark Wizards. If I were sorted into Slytherin, Mom would definitely kill me."
Harry nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite. "Gryffindor good, Slytherin bad."
"Exactly—Gryffindor good, Slytherin bad." A trace of relief flashed in Ron's eyes. "Remember, even if you die, don't go to Slytherin."
Harry gave a dry laugh and didn't speak.
Chatting along, the train left London and sped recklessly across the vast fields.
Around twelve o'clock, footsteps came from the corridor. A smiling saleswitch with dimples on her face pushed a trolley piled high with snacks, gently opened the compartment door, and asked, "Children, do you need to buy some snacks?"
Harry, who hadn't had time to eat in the morning, stood up happily and reached into his pocket.
Ron blushed, stammering, "I won't... I brought sandwiches..."
Hearing this, Clark's eyes lit up. "You brought sandwiches too? What a coincidence, me too! My mom made them for me!"
Saying that, he stood up and pulled out a crumpled paper bag from the luggage on the rack.
Opening it up.
Inside were seven or eight sandwiches that had already been squashed flat.
Casually picking one up and stuffing it into his mouth, then picking out two more to give to Ron and Harry, Clark said happily, "Here, taste my mom's cooking. Smoked beef sausage and cheese, my favorite flavor."