"Too slow, Roger!" called out Boss Abbott.
"Sorry, things were a bit more complicated than I expected," Roger replied apologetically.
Today was the day Hogwarts students were supposed to head back. Since Roger was going to Hogwarts, he needed to sort out the books in his room. This was the room at the pub, not Roger's personal study.
After checking out, Roger had to clear out all the books.
These books, which were crucial records of the magical evolution of wizarding civilization, had been lent to Roger by Professor McGonagall, not given to him. Therefore, Roger's method of dealing with them was simple.
Except for a few he hadn't read yet, and those that were truly worth savoring and revisiting, he would just mail the rest back to Professor McGonagall.
Roger had initially thought this would be a straightforward process, but he hadn't anticipated that mailing things in the wizarding world would be more troublesome than he imagined, costing him an extra 20 minutes to fill out the required postal forms.
... Although Roger had bought his own magical pet owl, to ensure the pet could accompany wizards for a long time, the magical pets sold to first-year young wizards were generally adolescents, not the adult raptors capable of mailing dozens of books.
It would have been possible to make over a dozen trips back and forth, but Roger couldn't bear to put his own magical pet through such trouble.
Since he had bought it, it was family, and there was no need to torment it over such a minor matter.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Roger said as he got into the back of the car after leaving the post office.
"Is there anything else? If we're delayed any further, we'll be truly late," Boss Abbott said.
Roger shook his head. "No."
"What about you, Hannah?" Boss Abbott then turned his gaze toward the fair-faced, golden-haired girl beside him.
The girl's name was Hannah Abbott. She was a member of Boss Tom Abbott's family, and she was also 11 years old this year, a young wizard about to enroll.
The boss figured that since he was already sending his own child, sending one more wouldn't make much difference, so he might as well give Roger a ride too.
"I don't have anything either," Hannah replied from the passenger seat.
Receiving their answers, Boss Abbott stepped on the gas, and the car headed towards King's Cross Station, where Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was located.
As the vehicle traveled, Boss Abbott, with nothing else to do, would sometimes chat with Hannah and sometimes strike up a conversation with Roger. However, there was almost no dialogue between Hannah and Roger.
It wasn't that there was any conflict between them; in fact, their relationship was quite amicable. It was simply that neither of them held much interest in the other.
As far as Roger was concerned, Hannah was just a child, immature in mind and uninterested in magic. He truly had no common ground with her.
Rather than spending time coaxing a child, he'd rather spend it reading more magic books, which was more important for his own growth.
Hannah, on the other hand, had initially been a little interested in Roger. After all, the pub patrons, after a couple of drinks, loved to brag, and the topics they'd been discussing lately were generally limited to two.
One was the legendary Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, who was starting school this year. The other was Roger Virgil, the legendary seer, also a new student.
In the mouths of the pub-goers, these two were always spoken of in almost mythical terms.
Especially some of the older patrons, who always linked these two children with the two figures who had towered over everyone in their era... After all, there were many similarities, weren't there?
But after interacting with Roger more, Hannah found that he didn't seem particularly special. He spent his days reading, just reading, like a bookworm.
He was not the type of boy a young girl would like at all.
She even wondered sometimes, 'What if the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, is also like this, completely different from the rumors?'
Seeing the two children completely ignoring each other, Boss Abbott sighed inwardly.
As a pub owner with vast experience with people, he could tell that someone like Roger, who could pour all his energy into one thing without distraction, would surely achieve great things in the future, even if he wasn't a seer.
Moreover, he already thought Roger was a good person, so he naturally hoped his own child could become friends with him.
The wizarding world had never been a peaceful place. Where there were people, there were conflicts.
Even though the majority of British wizards came from Hogwarts, and strictly speaking, they were all fellow students, the conflicts that should arise still did.
The conflicts of the previous generation would even be passed down to the children at school through word of mouth and example.
In a place like Hogwarts, with its boarding school system, the conflicts between students, the mutual suppression, had never ceased.
Whether in school or in society, having a powerful figure willing to look out for you was never a bad thing.
Powerful wizards and pure-blood families who controlled resources were the true rulers of wizarding society. Being on good terms with powerful wizards could even trigger effects like 'a photo with a powerful figure can ward off enemies.'
But unfortunately, his wish was dashed. The two had no intention of becoming friends. Boss Abbott could only hope that Roger would, out of consideration for him, lend a hand if Hannah encountered trouble at school when he was too far away to help.
...
...
...
"Spatial teleportation, precise cognitive distortion... impressive." Pushing a trolley filled with school uniforms, cauldrons, owl cages, and other items through Platform Nine and Three-Quarters at King's Cross Station, Roger murmured softly as he looked at the crimson Hogwarts Express in front of him.
Just now, at King's Cross Station, a group of young wizards' parents were spouting Muggle nonsense. As the young wizards passed through the platform and disappeared, not a single ordinary person in the bustling crowd noticed. It seemed preposterous.
"Is it a localized spell? Once you enter the area, your will is automatically confused?" Roger pondered the scene he had just witnessed.
"Roger, it's time to go," a voice from behind interrupted his thoughts.
"We've already been delayed a bit. If we don't get on the train soon, it'll be full. You don't want to stand the whole way, do you?" Hannah urged.
"Of course not." Roger replied as he started walking forward.
The two squeezed toward the crowded platform. The noise of the crowd, the cries of various magical pets and beasts rising and falling, and the thick smoke billowing from the steam train intertwined, making them frown as they moved forward.
Even children who had already boarded the train occasionally leaned out of the windows to say goodbye to their families. The various chaotic sounds were truly disturbing to the peace of mind.
Hannah's concern was valid; by the time Roger boarded, the front carriages of the train were already completely full.
The middle and rear carriages were much the same. While not completely packed, they were mostly occupied, with no carriages entirely empty.
"Looks like I'll have to share a compartment," Roger thought as this idea crossed his mind.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a toad clinging to the door of a carriage.
After a moment of clinging with no reaction from the closed door, it turned its vacant eyes towards the approaching Roger.
Then, it cautiously hopped a couple of steps in another direction.
This is...
As Roger walked to within two meters of it.
A slightly simple and honest young boy's voice reached his ears.
"Grandma, I lost Trevor again!"
The boy, leaning out the carriage window, called out with a slightly tearful and helpless voice.
"Ah, Neville..." On the platform, the old woman looked at her grandson's crestfallen face with a helpless expression.
Thump.
The latch was pulled open.
"Excuse me, is Trevor the one you're talking about?"
Neville turned his head and saw a kind-looking boy with soft blond hair standing there.
In front of him, a toad was suspended in mid-air, kicking its legs as if 'swimming,' looking somewhat panicked.
"Trevor!" Neville's eyes widened instantly, his expression one of surprise.
Then he scooped the toad into his arms.
Seeing his reaction, Roger took the opportunity to speak, "Many of the outside carriages are full. Can I join you here?"
Rather than asking carriage by carriage if anyone could enter, only to be refused by those who had arranged to travel together or preferred solitude, this opportunity saved him some trouble.
"Of course!" Neville was very enthusiastic and welcoming to the person who helped him find Trevor.
...Roger knew, of course, that this lost toad was the catalyst for the initial meeting of the original golden trio: Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and Ron Weasley.
His actions might cause some ripples in the future he knew.
But he didn't care about that.
The so-called plot was merely a series of events that might happen over the next seven years.
Even the slightest flutter of a butterfly's wings could stir up a storm thousands of miles away. As long as he existed, he would inevitably influence others and cause unknown consequences.
But should he really spend his energy contemplating how each of his actions might affect the plot? If he thought about all these messy things every day, would he even have time to learn magic? What a joke.
As a prophet, Roger had always believed that nothing was predestined.
Roger also didn't believe that a world with him would be worse than a world without him! In fact, if he weren't so weak right now, unable to withstand potential countermeasures from Voldemort or retaliation from scattered Death Eaters, and if he hadn't missed the later movies of the Order of the Phoenix, leaving him with fragmented information from snippets and rumors without details, Roger would have reported all the information about Voldemort's Horcruxes directly to Dumbledore.
While Roger didn't care much about things outside his path to immortality... at least, he owed Dumbledore a significant debt. He would absolutely not let Dumbledore end up in a grave a few years from now.
Nor would he allow Dumbledore to keep losing students he loved, weeping with old tears.
Wouldn't that make his debt to Roger seem cheap?!
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