"Yes, Harry," Tyler said gently. "There's a church in Godric's Hollow, and your parents are buried in the churchyard there. Many other witches and wizards are buried there too."
"Dad… Mum…" Harry's eyes reddened at once, and tears gathered behind his glasses. His voice was so quiet it almost disappeared under the rumble of the train.
"Harry…" Ron looked at him helplessly, clearly wanting to say something comforting but having no idea what would help. He shifted awkwardly in his seat, clutching Scabbers in both hands as if the rat might somehow give him advice.
"Harry, your parents loved you," Tyler said. His voice remained calm, but there was a seriousness in it that made Harry look up. "They gave their lives to protect you. If you want to visit them, then when this school year ends, I can take you to Godric's Hollow."
Tyler knew why Harry had been sent to live with his aunt. The protection left behind by Lily Potter's sacrifice could only continue working while Harry lived with his mother's blood relatives, and Petunia Dursley was Harry's only remaining family.
But that had still been a decision made for him. Harry had never been given a choice, never been asked what he wanted, and never been told the truth about the people who had died for him. If Harry had been allowed to choose for himself, Tyler suspected he would have chosen almost anywhere over the Dursleys' house.
Adults always liked to say they were doing things for a child's own good. Yet somehow, they often made every decision themselves and never gave the child the chance to choose.
"Really?" Harry asked, eyes widening as if he hardly dared believe it. "You'd really take me?"
"Of course," Tyler said. "They are your parents, and you are their child. No one has the right to stop you from visiting them. No one."
"Thank you," Harry said, his voice trembling. "Thank you, Tyler."
He was deeply moved. In that moment, Harry had already started thinking of Tyler as one of his closest friends, because Tyler had given him something no one else had ever offered him: a path back to his parents.
Tyler was right. No one could stop him from visiting their graves. Godric's Hollow was a place he had to go.
"Oh, it's getting late," Tyler said suddenly, glancing at the time. "It's nearly lunch. Harry, Ron, are you hungry?"
"Grrr."
Harry's stomach answered before he could. He touched it in embarrassment, but the truth was obvious. He had not eaten anything that morning, and after the rush of King's Cross, he was starving.
"I brought sandwiches," Ron muttered.
He pulled out a small, crumpled package from his pocket, looking rather embarrassed. The wrapping had been pressed flat in his luggage, and the sandwiches inside looked a little squashed.
"Well, since everyone is hungry, lunch is on me," Tyler said with a smile.
He reached into the pouch at his waist and took out several lunch boxes, setting them neatly on the table. Then he glanced at Ron and added, "And Ron, there's no need to be embarrassed. Your sandwich may not look fancy, but your mother made it for you. That alone makes it better than plenty of things money can buy."
Ron paused, clearly not expecting that. His ears turned red again, but this time he did not seem quite as ashamed.
"Calefacere."
Tyler drew his wand and cast a warming charm over the lunch boxes. Within moments, steam rose from the containers, and a rich, mouth-watering aroma filled the compartment.
Sometimes, magic truly was convenient.
The smell made Harry and Ron feel even hungrier. Even Scabbers, who had been sleeping soundly in Ron's hand, twitched his nose and opened his eyes.
"Eat," Tyler said. "Don't be polite. I've never been fond of ordinary British packed lunches, so these are all meals Timo prepared at home."
He opened the boxes one by one, revealing neat portions of rice, roasted meat, vegetables, and several dishes cooked in a warm, savoury sauce. The food looked rich, colourful, and far more appetising than anything Harry or Ron had expected to find on a train.
"Thank you, Tyler," Harry said.
Neither he nor Ron continued pretending they were not hungry. When good food was placed right in front of them, only a saint could keep holding back, and neither boy had any intention of being saintly.
"Ron, do you want me to warm up your sandwich too?" Tyler asked. He glanced toward Scabbers, whose whiskers were twitching as he stared at the food. "Your rat looks hungry as well. You could give it the sandwich."
"Oh, okay," Ron said at once.
He handed the sandwich to Tyler without hesitation. His mother's cooking was not bad, but he had eaten the same sorts of sandwiches far too many times. With a better meal in front of him, he naturally did not feel much attachment to the squashed old package.
"Calefacere."
Tyler warmed the sandwich and placed it in front of the grey rat. Scabbers sniffed it, then began nibbling with far more energy than he had shown all morning.
"Delicious," Harry said around a mouthful of food. "This is really delicious."
"I've never eaten anything this good," Ron said, gobbling his portion so quickly that sauce smeared near the corner of his mouth.
Both boys ate like they had not seen a proper meal in days. Their mouths were full, their hands moved quickly, and neither cared much about manners at that moment.
Tyler's own eating was much calmer. He ate slowly and neatly, with none of their desperate energy. After all, this was not his first time eating Timo's cooking, so he was not overwhelmed in the same way Harry and Ron were.
"You started eating without calling me?" Jamie, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, finally stirred awake because of the smell. He opened his eyes and looked at Tyler with mild dissatisfaction. "That seems unfair."
"You were busy," Tyler replied indifferently. "Besides, the lunch boxes are on the table. If you want to eat, take one yourself."
Jamie picked up a lunch box and began eating as well. Though the two of them possessed strong magic, they were still human. As long as they were human, food remained something they could not avoid.
"How did it go?" Tyler asked after a moment. "Did you sense anything?"
"The train is indeed powered by magic," Jamie replied. "I sensed several important magical nodes, but if I want to make the train speed up, I'll need to test them first."
Before Tyler could answer, there was another knock on the compartment door. It slid open a moment later, and a round-faced boy with tearful eyes stepped inside.
"I'm sorry," the boy said, his voice thick with distress. "I wanted to ask, have you seen my toad?"
He had clearly been searching for a while. Then he noticed that everyone in the compartment was eating, and the warm smell of the meal drifted toward him. His stomach immediately growled.
"If you don't mind," Tyler said, "you can come and eat with us."
.....
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