"Good day, Mr. Granger, Mrs. Granger, Hermione."
Altair greeted the three of them.
"It's good to see you, Altair," Mr. Granger said with a smile. "We were just worrying. Hermione has never taken a train on her own before."
"There's no need to worry, Mr. Granger. Hermione is a very clever girl. I think we'll be able to look after each other."
Altair winked at Hermione. She pressed her lips together, and her cheeks seemed to flush a little.
"You really are a good boy."
The more Mrs. Granger looked at Altair, the more she liked him. Mr. Granger checked the time and said, "All right, it's almost time. You two should get on the train."
"Goodbye, Mum, Dad. I'll be back at Christmas."
Hermione waved goodbye to her parents. Altair said farewell to them as well, and then he and Hermione passed through to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
There were still plenty of people on the platform. A deep red steam train rested quietly on the tracks, with a sign on the front that read Hogwarts Express, Eleven O'Clock.
The platform was noisy and crowded. Some young witches and wizards were saying goodbye to their parents. Owl hoots rang out everywhere, mixed now and then with the cry of a cat.
Altair and Hermione squeezed through the crowd, boarded a quieter carriage, and found an empty compartment to sit in.
After stowing his own trunk, Altair helped Hermione slide hers under the seat as well. Hermione poked her head out of the compartment and looked over the other young witches and wizards, but did not think there was anything especially unusual about them, so she went back and sat down again.
"Altair, did you do any reading this past month? I read several books at home, and I even tried using a few spells. There are already some that I can use quite skillfully."
Hermione looked at Altair, her eyes bright with eagerness. There was a faint note of pride in her voice, along with the clear desire to compare herself against him.
"Really? Then that's impressive."
Altair praised her before continuing, "I've studied some magic too, but there are certain spells I find rather difficult. I probably still can't use them yet."
Altair was telling the truth. He could not use things like Bone Dragon Summoning or Lich King Summoning from necromancy. Besides that, holy magic and life magic were both rather difficult to study, and Altair could only manage the most basic spells in those branches.
There was also the matter of higher-level elemental magic...
In any case, Altair was not lying.
"There are indeed a few difficult spells in The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 that I haven't mastered yet either. Perhaps once classes begin, we'll learn the trick to casting them."
Hermione comforted Altair, then started discussing some of the finer points to keep in mind when casting certain spells.
To Altair, all of this was a little too elementary. He had completely mastered The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 in ten minutes, so as he talked with Hermione, he pointed out quite a few places where her understanding was off.
Hermione's mouth stuck out in a rather pouty way. At first she looked displeased, but gradually that changed into surprise. By the end, the look in her eyes when she turned to Altair had already become one of admiration.
You're a Muggle-born wizard with no one to teach you too, so how are you this good?
The two of them kept chatting until the train whistle sounded, and then the train slowly began to move.
The compartment door opened, and a chubby young wizard with a red face stepped inside. It was Neville Longbottom.
"Sorry. There aren't any seats left in the other compartments."
"That's all right, you can sit over here."
Hermione stood up at once and gave up the seat on that side, then sat down beside Altair with reddened cheeks.
"Thanks. My name is Neville Longbottom."
Neville put away his trunk, then took out a toad from inside it. He glanced nervously at Hermione and Altair, worried that they would dislike his pet.
"His name is Trevor. He's a very good toad. I hope you don't mind."
"It's fine. My name is Hermione. Hermione Granger."
Unlike many other little girls, Hermione did not show any disgust at the sight of a toad, which made Neville relax a little.
"Altair Shelby."
Altair nodded to Neville, showing that he did not mind the plump toad either.
"I think you'd better shut the door. Otherwise, your toad might run off."
Altair reminded him. Neville slapped his forehead, thanked him, and quickly locked the compartment door.
The compartment fell silent for a moment, and then Hermione suddenly asked, "Are your parents wizards?"
Neville looked up and realized Hermione was speaking to him, so he nodded.
"Yes, they're both wizards."
Neville's parents had been tortured into madness by Death Eaters, and they were still being kept in the Janus Thickey Ward at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. He had grown up under his grandmother's care, but he had no intention of bringing that up.
Hermione also noticed that Neville seemed timid and not very good with people, so she did not press further. Instead, she turned back to Altair and resumed discussing Hogwarts with him.
Altair had never read Hogwarts, A History, but he had read the original books and seen the films, so he knew quite a lot. That made it easy enough for him and Hermione to keep talking.