Harley's luck today wasn't very good; she had just left the snake's den only to enter the lion's lair.
After finally managing to soothe Alexandra and making an excuse to leave the Malfoy compartment, Harley, who was heading to find Hermione and passing through the middle of the train, suddenly heard a roar from afar:
"Trevor! Why has my dear Trevor gone missing again? Damned bastard!"
Immediately following that, the nearby carriages instantly fell into chaos, like a giant stone being thrown into a lake, stirring up a thousand waves.
A group of figures wearing bright red ties and looking extremely hyperactive were scurrying back and forth in the narrow train corridor like headless flies, shouting incessantly.
"the chosen one's pet toad is lost again!"
"What? the chosen one's toad is gone? Everyone, hurry up and help find it!"
Harley sighed. What was all this about?
She had just arrived here and happened to catch the plot point where Neville loses his toad on the train. Fortunately, Harley had instructed Hermione beforehand to wait for her in a compartment at the back of the train, so the original female lead hadn't gotten mixed up with this group of Gryffindor students.
Harley moved forward slowly and cautiously through the narrow and crowded corridor. The students of Slytherin and Ravenclaw seemed to prefer gathering at the front of the train, while most of the middle carriages were filled with Gryffindor students.
These chaotic fellows didn't pay much attention to Harley, as they were fully focused on helping Neville find his toad.
This caused the carriage corridor to turn into a messy farce, with various items being tossed around and all kinds of trunks and suitcases piled haphazardly on the floor, as if the apocalypse had arrived and everyone was fleeing for their lives.
Despite this, there were still a few sharp-eyed fellows who noticed Harley's distinctive red hair and couldn't help but mutter curiously:
"Eh, why is there another Weasley—but George clearly said before that his youngest sister wouldn't enter Hogwarts until next year..."
It seemed the Weasley family was quite famous in the Wizarding World; the first thing anyone thought of upon seeing red hair was their family.
Harley didn't stop to explain much. The concentration of Gryffindors here was too high, and she needed to get away as quickly as possible—it wasn't that Harley hated Gryffindor, but rather that for the next seven years, Gryffindor, where the chosen one resided, would be the most restless place. If Harley wanted to live a peaceful life, she had to minimize contact with Gryffindor.
She had already made up her mind. Aside from Hermione, who might be sorted into Gryffindor, and the money-making Weasley Twins, she didn't intend to have deep associations with other Gryffindor students, especially the chosen one, Neville Longbottom.
As Harley passed the compartment where the chosen one Longbottom was staying, she couldn't help but widen her eyes, her face full of disbelief. Was this freaking Neville Longbottom?
If not for the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead, Harley wouldn't have dared to recognize him.
That slightly chubby, somewhat cowardly and forgetful little boy had now undergone a complete transformation. The fat on his body had turned into solid muscle—was Neville planning to take the path of physical transcendence?
One-Punch Savior, right? One punch, one Death Eater.
At this moment, Neville was standing straight at the open compartment door with his brows furrowed. His expression was so gloomy it looked like it could drip water, and his eyes seemed to be spitting fire, a look of someone trying hard to restrain himself.
He was also constantly rubbing that iconic lightning-shaped scar on his forehead with his right hand, muttering under his breath: "I must restrain my emotions, I can't get angry at the drop of a hat like before... I must control my emotions! Hold it together!"
Seeing this scene, Harley couldn't help but frown deeply.
Does Neville get angry often... this is truly strange!
Even if Neville Longbottom, as the chosen one, might develop some arrogance, 'it's easier to change rivers and mountains than a person's nature.' Given Neville's gentle and honest nature, even if he had been raised as the chosen one since childhood, he shouldn't have become so irritable and prone to anger.
And it seemed Neville didn't want to be like this either; he was trying his best to suppress his temper, his face turning red from the effort.
For some reason, Harley suddenly thought of the chosen one Harry Potter from the original books, who was always angry and would rush into danger on impulse.
Hiss~
Harley looked at the lightning scar on Neville's forehead and suddenly understood one thing in a flash of insight—Neville Longbottom hadn't just replaced her as the chosen one; he had also replaced her as Voldemort's Horcrux!
This state of being unable to control his emotions and being irritable was very likely caused by the influence of the Horcrux.
After all, when the trio was on the run in their seventh year, just wearing a Horcrux around their necks for a few days would make them irritable. How much more so for a savior like Neville or Harry, whose brains were invaded by a fragment of Voldemort's soul and who had to maintain the 'Horcrux' form at all times.
"What are you staring at me for? You want an autograph? Then hurry up and bring a pen!"
Harley had been staring at Neville for a bit too long, and Neville spoke while panting heavily.
It was clear that Neville was trying hard to control his temper, but his tone was still not very good.
"Sorry, I'm leaving now."
Harley didn't want any savior's autograph, nor did she want to get to know Neville—this was a living Horcrux similar to Nagini; she'd better stay far away.
It was clear that Dumbledore had big plans for Neville. With so many Gryffindor students gathered around him, there was a faint sense of him being a future Gryffindor leader.
Combined with what she had overheard James and Severus saying during her birthday—that the Dark Lord had been resurgent for over half a year and was causing trouble in the Wizarding World with his Death Eaters, and that Dumbledore and Grindelwald had been extremely busy lately—Neville would likely be pushed to the forefront by Dumbledore as the chosen one at a critical moment... he was a poor soul too.
Based on the plot of her previous life and her ten-plus years of living this life, Harley also had a preliminary understanding of the current situation at Hogwarts.
Ravenclaw never banded together to participate in the struggles of the Wizarding World; when a great war approached, most Ravenclaws would cleverly choose to stay away from danger.
The core figure of Hufflepuff at this time should be Cedric Diggory—this guy was too overpowered; there were no flaws in his appearance, grades, athletic ability, or character.
On the Gryffindor side, Charlie Weasley, who was the Quidditch captain and prefect, had just graduated. Percy and Wood didn't have much charisma, so the core figure was likely the chosen one Neville Longbottom, who had just enrolled this year.
Slytherin had always respected the strong with noble blood. The current leader was the female prefect Gemma Farley. Although she wasn't a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, she was a pure-blood Wizard with great strength and had been the Slytherin House Head since her first year.
However, Alexandra, who enrolled this year, clearly had ambitions to overthrow those above her. Her planned third year would coincide with Gemma Farley's seventh year. It seemed Alexandra didn't want to take over power smoothly, but rather wanted to prove her strength by defeating the previous Slytherin core. It looked like there would be a good show to watch after school started.
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