In front of the Burrow, with a rumble and the sound of an engine starting, the absurdly spacious car that could seat eight people without feeling crowded slowly started up and drove out of the yard.
Looking back at that strange-looking building, Harry's eyes showed some reluctance.
"I wonder when I'll be able to come back again."
An extremely faint voice came from above his head, and an invisible cat paw patted his head as if comforting him.
"You'll definitely come back, meow!"
Smiling, Harry nodded slightly.
"Mm, I believe so."
He just didn't expect the return would come so quickly.
Five minutes later.
George returned to the car carrying his Filibusters Fireworks, showing a brilliant smile.
"Haha, this thing's a bit small. Always easy to forget about."
Mrs. Weasley looked at George impatiently and waved her hand.
"Hurry up and get in. We're already leaving quite late!"
The car drove off again. Though there had been a small incident, it was nothing serious.
There was still over an hour before the train departed, and they only needed half an hour to reach King's Cross Station.
Time was still very ample.
Looking at the buildings gradually receding in the distance, Harry became somewhat sentimental again.
"This time, I really don't know when I'll be able to come back."
"I have a bad feeling about this, meow..."
Another five minutes later.
The car stopped in the yard again. Under Mrs. Weasley's furious gaze, Fred returned to the car carrying his flying broomstick, also showing a brilliant smile.
"Haha, this thing's too big. Not so easy to remember either."
The car started up. Looking at the nearby Burrow, Harry opened his mouth.
"This time..."
But before he could finish speaking, he was suddenly silenced by an invisible paw.
"Don't say it again, meow! If you keep talking, we'll miss the train, meow!"
However, stopping Harry couldn't prevent accidents from happening.
Ten minutes passed, and the sound of the car engine stopping rang out again.
Mrs. Weasley's face was now as black as coal, clearly on the verge of exploding.
But this time, she held back her anger, because the one who had forgotten something was Percy.
Without making any excuses, Percy returned to the car red-faced, carrying a stack of letters that he stuffed into his bag.
Seeing those letters Percy stuffed into his bag, George and Fred's eyes lit up like car headlights.
Then one of them went limp and collapsed into the other's arms, beginning their performance without any warm-up.
"Oh, Percy, I really miss you so much, you know?"
"Oh yes, Penelope, I know, because we've always loved each other deeply!"
"You two knock it off!"
Amid the twins' laughter, Ron asked somewhat curiously:
"Seriously though, didn't you already bring a bunch of letters?"
The blush on his face fading slightly, Percy explained somewhat embarrassedly:
"These are from last term. I left them in my drawer. I thought I had brought them..."
"Quick, hurry up."
With only fifteen minutes before departure time, they finally reached the station. Several people rushed onto the platform carrying luggage and owls.
Percy was the first to pass through, followed by Mr. Weasley and the twin brothers George and Fred. Time flew by quickly, and by the time Ginny and Mrs. Weasley found a gap to enter the station, only two minutes remained.
"Come on, let's go through together."
Making eye contact with Ron, the two pushed their trolleys together and charged toward the wall ahead.
CLANG!
Violent vibrations traveled up from the trolleys in their hands. Harry and Ron fell to the ground, Hedwig's cage was sent flying, and the bird inside cried out in panic.
The gazes of nearby Muggles looked their way, seemingly puzzled about why these two people would randomly crash into a wall.
"Why? The time hasn't passed yet!"
Quickly scrambling to his feet, Harry picked up Hedwig's cage and charged at the wall again.
But this attempt yielded the same result as the last. The wall before them seemed to have become a real wall, completely impassable.
On Harry's head, the little black cat that no one could see had obvious anxiety in her emerald eyes.
She looked at the large clock overhead. There was clearly still over a minute left. Why couldn't they get through?
Did these wizards not keep time properly? Could they even move up departure times?
Her emerald eyes surveyed the surroundings as the little black cat tried to find other possible ways to pass through the wall.
But suddenly, she spotted a somewhat familiar figure.
It was a small creature with bat-like ears and a long, thin nose. It was hiding behind a pillar, staring at the platform they had just tried to pass through, extending one hand while muttering under its breath.
She had seen this creature before. When she was with Harry at his uncle's house, it had personally framed Harry and nearly got both her and Harry locked in that house. If those red-haired young wizards hadn't come to rescue them in a flying car, they really wouldn't have been able to go to school!
It must be this troublemaker again!
A flash of anger crossed her emerald eyes. The little black cat leaped down from Harry's head, quietly circled behind the creature, and bit down hard on its arm.
"Oh!"
The suddenly attacked creature instinctively cried out and was forced to interrupt its spellcasting.
"Why are you stopping us from going to school, meow!"
Breaking out of her invisible state, the little black cat angrily stared at this creature that had repeatedly caused them trouble.
But the creature paid no attention to the little black cat, instead staring at Harry's back and muttering in terror:
"Oh... no, no, Dobby cannot let Harry Potter go to school. He will encounter danger..."
However, Dobby's earlier cry seemed to have attracted the attention of the surrounding Muggles.
They turned their heads toward where the cry had come from.
"No... no..."
Looking desperately at Harry, who was still standing dazed by the platform, Dobby twisted and deformed before the Muggles could look over, instantly disappearing from the spot.
As a house-elf, it could not violate the rules set by wizards, and being seen by so many Muggles in a public place was absolutely unforgivable.
It could no longer help Harry Potter...
Watching the creature vanish into thin air, the little black cat's eyes showed some confusion, but she didn't investigate further. Instead, before the Muggles could shift their gazes, she became invisible again and ran back to Harry's head.
The second hand on the large clock was just ten marks away from reaching twelve. Standing on Harry's head and seeing his somewhat dejected appearance, the little black cat shouted as loudly as she could while still being audible only to him:
"Try once more. One last time!"
Hearing the little black cat's words, Harry, who had been somewhat downcast, forced himself to rally and patted Ron's arm beside him.
"Alright, mate, if you want to try."
The two grabbed their trolleys again and, while the surrounding crowd was looking toward where the earlier cry had come from, charged toward the wall between platforms 9 and 10.
"3, 2, 1!"
The scenery around them instantly changed. A train that was blowing its whistle appeared before them, its doors still not yet closed.
They had succeeded.