Chapter 14: Hogwarts
"Why should I run? I'm still planning on going to Hogwarts."
Ezio waved his hand dismissively, then once again raised his wand and pointed it at Draco Malfoy.
'Is he going to kill him to silence him?!' Harry's heart leaped in shock. Ezio was scaring him to death.
"Scourgify."
Just as Draco closed his eyes in despair, resigned to his fate, he heard the wrong incantation. It wasn't the Killing Curse.
He felt the cold dampness in his trousers disappear. Something was gone.
He reached down to check. Little Draco was still there, but the wet, pale-yellow liquid was gone. His trousers were exceptionally dry.
"Since you came to make friends with Harry, your goal has been achieved, right?" Ezio lazily put his wand away and started eating the Chocolate Frog Harry had given him earlier.
"Yes…" Draco looked up at Harry and swallowed silently. "We are… friends, right?" he asked uncertainly.
At that moment, Harry reached out a hand to help him up, but then his body stiffened as he realized Draco had just been touching his own crotch. The two of them stared at each other, and the atmosphere became extremely awkward.
"Well, you've said your hellos, so I won't keep you for a chat," Ezio said, waving Draco away. "Remember to take those two guys on the floor with you when you leave."
"Y-yes… right! Okay!" Feeling as if he'd received a pardon, Draco scrambled to his feet. As he pulled open the compartment door, he heard two loud, alternating snores coming from Crabbe and Goyle. Several people peeked their heads out of their compartments, pointing at the two boys, laughing and whispering amongst themselves.
'They're not dead?!' A thousand questions flooded Draco's mind, but this wasn't the time for questions. After closing the compartment door, Draco forcefully kicked the two louts a few times. However, Crabbe and Goyle merely rolled over and continued to sleep soundly.
His nose practically crooked with rage, Draco gritted his teeth, rolled up his sleeves, and began to painstakingly drag them by their feet. His own compartment was some distance away; this was going to take a lot of effort.
Witnessing this scene from inside the compartment, Harry looked at Ezio in astonishment.
"You didn't kill them?"
"The color of a Wand-Lighting Charm can be actively changed, and I have two wands," Ezio explained simply. "I've already mastered non-verbal casting for quite a few spells. What I used just now was a green light plus two Sleeping Charms. It's enough to keep them asleep until we arrive."
Harry let out a huge sigh of relief. "I really thought you had used the Killing Curse."
"I even deliberately mispronounced the incantation. I said 'Avada Ke-da-vera, not the standard pronunciation of 'Kedavra'."
"Oh, oh!" Harry nodded, only half-understanding.
"By the way, Ezio," Harry said suddenly. "Just now, when you cast that spell, I suddenly saw an image. It must have been from when I was very, very little. I heard a woman's voice, and I saw her trying to protect me."
As he spoke, Harry's voice became much lower. "That must have been my mum. She was begging Voldemort not to hurt me, to spare me, and then she threw herself in front of me to protect me… but Voldemort used that green spell. It's the Killing Curse, right? He killed my mum, and then he was going to kill me."
Harry pulled his knees to his chest, curled up in the corner, and hugged himself. He buried his head in his legs. His eyes were red, but he hid his tears, refusing to look up.
"You were less than a year old when it happened. Normally, you wouldn't retain memories from that time," Ezio said calmly from the side. He saw a small flame ignite within Harry's reddened eyes. "But in the wizarding world, things might be a little different. Perhaps the magic of the Killing Curse, while leaving you with that scar, also branded the image of that moment into your heart."
"Maybe…"
Ezio fell silent. After a moment, Harry couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked, "Maybe what?"
"Maybe magic wants you to remember this moment. To remember everything your parents did for you."
Upon hearing this answer, a string inside Harry's heart suddenly snapped. He began to sob quietly, trying hard not to make a sound.
The blurry faces of a man and a woman seemed to appear in his mind. Harry couldn't see their features clearly, but he knew they were the two figures hidden in his memory, figures that, though hazy, would never disappear.
"I miss you so much… I wish you could call my name, even just once."
He imagined having a happy family, with parents who loved and doted on him. But the illusion had barely flashed through his mind before a blinding green light filled his entire world.
"Voldemort…"
Harry clenched his fists. At that moment, he seemed to understand something. He couldn't put it into words, but he felt he understood.
------
Night fell quickly. The Hogwarts Express traveled on under the starlight. During this time, Hermione came by again, asked a few small questions about spellcasting, and told them they could change into their robes now, as they would be arriving at Hogwarts soon.
They changed into their Hogwarts uniforms. A man's voice echoed through the train: "We will be arriving in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school for you."
Harry pressed his face against the windowpane, trying to catch a glimpse of Hogwarts through the darkness.
With a jolt that made them unsteady on their feet, the train came to a stop at the station. People pushed and shoved, flooding towards the doors. Following the flow, Ezio and Harry arrived on a small, dark platform.
The warmth of the crowd couldn't fend off the cold night wind. Just as the young wizards were wondering where to go, a huge voice boomed a deafening call: "First-years! First-years over here!"
Hagrid's towering figure was particularly conspicuous on the platform. He was holding a huge lamp in his hand, and he looked in Harry's direction.
"That's Hagrid!" Harry waved to Hagrid, then turned to introduce him to Ezio. "He was the one who took me to Diagon Alley. Hagrid is a great person."
Following in the giant's footsteps, the first-year wizards stumbled along behind him. They walked down a narrow path. Next came the boat ride across the Black Lake, and from a mist-shrouded dock, they finally set foot on the grounds of Hogwarts Castle.
Under the eager and curious gazes of all the young wizards, Hagrid walked to the front of the castle's great doors and knocked three times with his fist, producing three muffled 'thuds'.
The doors swung open at once. A stern-faced witch in emerald-green robes appeared before the students.
"The first-years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."
Professor McGonagall's gaze swept over the crowd in front of her, and the young wizards immediately fell silent.
"Follow me."
******
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