At the critical moment, the fearless Leon stepped up once again.
He sidled up to Hagrid, tugging at his sleeve to grab his attention, his face lit with an overly excited grin and his tone bright and upbeat:
"Excuse me! Are you Mr. Hagrid?
"You're the one Harry talks about, right? Hogwarts' gamekeeper, keeper of keys, big-hearted, master chef, animal lover, dragon-taming expert, Dumbledore's trusted confidant, honest, reliable, blah blah blah—Rubeus Hagrid, is that you?
"Merlin's beard! I can't believe I'm meeting you here!
"Mr. Hagrid, can I have your autograph? I've been a huge fan since I was a kid!"
Hagrid, caught off guard by Leon's barrage of compliments, scratched his bushy beard, chuckling sheepishly and waving a hand.
"Heh, did Harry really say all that about me? Heh, he's exaggeratin', exaggeratin'. No need for an autograph, heh…"
Thanks to Leon's quick thinking and bold distraction, he bought them a few precious seconds.
The train came to a stop, and the doors slid open.
A flood of young witches and wizards poured out like a rushing stream.
Perfect timing. The trio—Leon, Harry, and Ron—tried to slip away in the chaos.
But—
"Harry! Ron! There you are!"
A loud voice cut through the noise. A small army of people was barreling toward them.
The Weasley siblings and Hermione, spotting the trio the moment they stepped off the train, zeroed in fast.
Escape was impossible. The three let out a collective mental groan of "we're doomed" as the group surrounded them.
Hermione's hair practically flew as she ran up, firing questions like a Bludger barrage:
"Where have you two been hiding?! We searched the entire train for you! Every compartment! We nearly lost our minds looking, and still nothing! You—"
Her gaze landed on Leon and froze.
"Leon?"
Before Leon could spin a cover story, Ginny caught up, along with a blonde girl who'd tagged along for no apparent reason.
"Sleeping Beauty?"
The blonde's ethereal voice carried her surprise clearly, her wide, fish-like eyes sparkling.
"You're that Sleeping Beauty from two years ago. Hello again! I'm Luna Lovegood."
Ginny, who'd only been half-sure, gasped at Luna's words.
She took in Leon's current appearance—tall, dark-haired, undeniably male—and her shock turned to outrage, her voice sharp:
"QQ Rowling?! You're a guy?!"
Fred and George Weasley, who'd also met "Rowling" back then, chimed in.
Fred: "Wait, you're Rowling?"
George: "Wasn't Rowling a girl?"
They studied Leon's dark hair, sharp features, and lanky frame.
Fred & George, in unison: "You've had quite the two years, mate."
Ron, finally connecting the dots, forgot his own troubles in his shock.
"What? Leon is Rowling?!"
Only Harry, who'd never met or heard of "Rowling," was still stuck on Hermione's part.
"Hermione, you mean Leon's the one you told us about? The 'Leon' from Gringotts?"
It was chaos. Leon's head buzzed from the noise, his heart racing, but he kept his cool on the outside.
"Oh, you're talking about her? Rowling, you mean? Yeah, that's my cousin. You all know her? What a coincidence… Hey, Hermione, good to see you again!"
Before the next round of accusations could start, Percy Weasley, sporting his shiny prefect badge, swooped in to save the day.
"Alright, break it up! Don't crowd around here.
"Ginny, you and the other first-years head to Hagrid for the boats. Everyone else, get to the carriages—now!
"Thanks to you lot, I missed the prefects' first carriage!"
George: "Oh, what a tragedy."
Fred: "Why doesn't the school get you prefects a proper parade float? A carriage is so beneath your lofty status!"
George: "Exactly! Percy, you should pitch it to the school. McGonagall would be thrilled—"
Fred: "—to know her star pupil's got such a brilliant little brain!"
George & Fred, together: "Zombies would call it a gourmet brain! Delicious! Seconds, please!"
"…"
George: "Hold on, what's a zombie? Some distant cousin of a ghoul?"
Fred: "Wouldn't a ghoul's cousin be a dung-eating ghoul?"
"…"
George & Fred, pointing off-screen: "It's all the author's fault, Mum, not ours!"
In the end, Leon narrowly escaped disaster.
The Weasley boys, whether they bought the "cousin Rowling" story or not, didn't care much either way.
In a family that only got a daughter on the last try, who could swear they didn't have a cross-dressing phase in their past?
Hermione's suspicions about Leon posing as a Muggle-born were a ticking time bomb, but he could handle that.
The real trouble was Ginny, who'd switched to "I'm not listening, chant all you want" mode, and Luna, who was utterly convinced Leon was the "Sleeping Beauty" from two years ago, no matter how he explained it.
"I don't make mistakes. The Nargles buzzing around your ears are exactly the same," Luna said, her dreamy eyes glinting with a touch of mania.
On the path to the Black Lake, Leon was so busy dodging questions and smoothing things over that he barely noticed his surroundings or how they boarded the boats.
While the other first-years gaped in awe at Hogwarts' majestic castle, struck speechless by its grandeur, Leon was still frantically cleaning up his mess.
"It wasn't my choice to dress like that, okay!"
"It was a dangerous situation, and I barely got a chance to escape…"
"I grabbed whatever was in that dark wizard's wardrobe—didn't realize it was women's clothes."
"It was a quick disguise; you can't expect perfection."
"I got lost in the Floo Network, no idea where I ended up…"
"What if I'd gone from one bad situation to an even worse one?"
"What if it was another, eviler dark wizard's hideout?"
"Seeing a bunch of kids made me more scared!"
"It was like a dark wizard had rounded up a bunch of young witches and wizards for some twisted magical experiment!"
"I was terrified, okay? Everyone looked like a villain."
"And then you called me 'sister' the moment I showed up! I'm shy, I didn't know how to correct you!"
"I tried to clear it up later, but I didn't get the chance—I passed out from exhaustion!"
"I didn't just vanish in the middle of the night without a word!"
"I was still unconscious when my family's house-elf tracked me down and took me home."
"The next day, when I woke up, I was going to visit your place to say thanks."
"But the house-elf was strict—no contact with the outside world before Hogwarts. Too dangerous!"
"I was also worried that the dark wizard was still after me. Visiting you could've brought trouble to your family."
"But this year, I'm at Hogwarts, free to roam! I was already planning to visit you over the summer to apologize and say thanks…"
Ginny was overwhelmed by the flood of information, too stunned to interrupt or process it all.
She couldn't tell what was true or what was a lie, unsure if she should forgive Leon.
But seeing his earnest apologies and sincere attitude, her anger faded. She didn't think he was a bad liar anymore.
Well, at least he was a charming liar.
By now, they'd crossed the Black Lake, and the boats docked at the underground harbor.
The first-years clambered ashore, then trudged up to the tunnel entrance carved into the cliffs.
After a long walk through the tunnel, they finally reached the doors of Hogwarts Castle.
The new students climbed the steps, staring nervously at the ancient, imposing doors.
A wondrous, magical world waited just beyond, ready to welcome them.