Not long after the train started moving, a woman pushing a snack trolley passed by their compartment. Altair's eyes lit up, and he quickly called out to stop her.
"Ma'am, I'll take all of it."
Altair could not care less how Harry Potter and Ron were supposed to use these sweets to awkwardly become friends now that he had bought everything. At the moment, he urgently needed these snacks to keep Hermione's mouth occupied.
This adorable little girl was simply far too curious. Altair needed her to stay quiet for a while.
He bought everything on the trolley, spending less than seventeen Sickles in total.
Money was not something he lacked now. When he had looted Knockturn Alley before, Altair had not only taken all their magical items and materials, he had also emptied every bit of cash stored in their shops.
At this point, the pile of Galleons in his System space had already become a small mountain.
"Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Liquorice Wands, Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkin Pasties, Strawberry Milk Pudding..."
Altair spread all the sweets across the table and seats, then clapped his hands.
"Hermione, Neville, these are on me."
It was already noon, and Hermione was feeling a little hungry, so she did not stand on ceremony. She picked up a pudding and began eating.
Neville, on the other hand, looked embarrassed. Altair grabbed a handful of snacks and dropped them into his arms. Neville stared in surprise, then thanked him several times with a red face.
"Go ahead and eat. We're friends now, aren't we? No need to be polite."
Altair looked at him with a smile.
Neville pressed his lips together, thanked him again, and only then opened a packet of Pumpkin Pasties and started eating.
"Wow! It jumps!"
Hermione opened a box of Chocolate Frogs, and a chocolate frog leapt right out of it, startling her badly.
She caught it, but it kept struggling in her hands. Hermione did not quite dare eat it, so she held it out toward Altair's mouth.
"You eat it."
"Thank you."
Altair did not stand on ceremony. He opened his mouth, and Hermione, blushing furiously, fed the Chocolate Frog to him. Her fingers seemed to brush against his lips, which only made her face burn even redder.
"There's a card inside."
Hermione did not dare look at Altair, so she hurriedly changed the subject and pulled out a card from the box.
"Chocolate Frog boxes come with collectible cards. A lot of people buy them just to collect the cards. They've all got famous witches and wizards on them."
Neville had gained a little courage by now, and he took the initiative to explain it to Hermione.
Hermione pulled out the card. On it was a brown-haired wizard who looked scholarly and well-read.
"Newt Scamander, Magizoologist, author of the bestselling book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, recipient of the Order of Merlin, Second Class, the first wizard to capture Gellert Grindelwald..."
A delighted expression appeared on Hermione's face.
"So he's the author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I already read that book a few days ago. It was very interesting."
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was one of Hogwarts' required textbooks, and Hermione had already finished it during the past month.
"But I feel like I've heard the name Grindelwald somewhere before. Um... I remember now. It was in the extra books I bought, A History of Magic, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century. They all mentioned him."
Hermione looked at Altair and asked, "Do you know who he is?"
"I don't know, but since Newt captured him, I imagine he must have been some dark wizard who did a lot of bad things."
Altair answered while swallowing the last of the chocolate in his mouth.
"That's right. He was one of the most evil dark wizards in history and did many terrible things. But in the end, he was defeated by Dumbledore. You know Dumbledore, right? He's the headmaster of Hogwarts."
Hermione immediately started lecturing Altair again.
Altair clicked his tongue. The Chocolate Frog had been a little too sweet. He rummaged around, tore open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, and picked out one to try.
"You really do know a lot. The professors are definitely going to like you. This one tastes like steak. Not bad. Want to try one?"
"Really? Let me taste."
Hermione stopped obsessing over her educational mission and took a bean from Altair's bag.
"No, that's not right. It's blueberry flavored. Let me try another one... ptooey, what is that awful taste?"
"Every Flavour Beans come in all sorts of flavors. I've heard some of them even taste like bogies and earwax."
When Neville saw Hermione's face scrunch up in horror, he wanted to laugh but did not dare. Instead, he helpfully explained it to her.
Hermione spat out the bean in her mouth, took a bite of Pumpkin Pasty, and only then recovered.
"I am never eating those again."
After saying that, she glared at Altair, who was laughing at her from the side, huffed, and left him with nothing but a very pretty eye-roll.
Because Altair had warned Neville earlier and because of all the snacks, Trevor never went missing, so Hermione did not end up meeting Harry and Ron.
The three of them sat in the compartment eating sweets. Neville was no longer as stiff and awkward as before, and the three chatted about all sorts of things. Altair did not know much about the wizarding world's basic situation, so he managed to draw quite a lot of information out of Neville.
And Altair also learned something rather interesting.
Hermione was actually a year older than he was. She was already going to be twelve this soon.
Because her birthday was in September, she had not yet had her birthday before Hogwarts started the previous year, which meant she had not received her admission letter then.
That also cleared up a small doubt Altair had always had. Cedric Diggory and the Weasley twins had clearly been in the same school year, yet Cedric had been able to enter the Triwizard Tournament while the twins had still been exposed by the Goblet of Fire even after using an Aging Potion.
As time passed, the excitement of the young witches and wizards on the train gradually began to fade, and one by one, they all started to feel a little sleepy.