A round-faced, chubby boy knocked on the compartment door.
"Excuse me," he said, tears welling up in his eyes, "but have you seen my toad?"
All four shook their heads, and he burst into tears immediately. "I've lost him again! He always tries to escape from me!"
"It's okay, we'll help you find him." Hermione volunteered, stepping forward.
Then, she suddenly remembered something and turned back to ask, "You'll help too, right?"
"Of course, that's just like Hermione," Ye Ting thought reluctantly as he stood up and replied, "Alright, I'll help look for him too."
Cho Chang and Marietta exchanged glances, originally intending to stay out of it, but they both sighed. Not wanting to disappoint their two newly-made friends, they reluctantly joined the search.
Seeing this, the round-faced boy was moved to tears. "Thank you! Thank you all! My name is Neville Longbottom, and thank you for helping me find Toady."
Ye Ting comforted him by patting his head. "It's okay, we're all classmates. We should help each other. And—" he paused, somewhat proudly, "—when it comes to finding things, you need a professional."
With the others looking at him in confusion, he called out, "Himari!"
A cute little white cat emerged from his backpack with a "Meow~" and lightly jumped into the boy's arms.
"Such a cute kitten!" Cho Chang and Marietta, who hadn't noticed Himari before, were instantly charmed by her.
Ye Ting affectionately patted the kitten's head.
"Himari, we need to find a toad. This boy is its owner, got it?" He pointed to Neville as he spoke.
Himari sniffed the boy's scent and then "Meowed" to show she understood.
Ye Ting nodded satisfactorily and placed Himari on the ground.
"Alright, let's go," he commanded.
At his command, Himari gracefully wandered down the train corridor, sniffing the air as she walked.
Ye Ting led Neville and the three girls behind her.
"Can she really understand you?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, Himari has intelligence similar to humans, so she can understand." Ye Ting replied.
"Then she must be a magical creature," Marietta concluded. "Is she a Kneazle? Or a cat with Kneazle blood?"
"No, Himari is a cat demon." the boy denied.
"I know about cat demon. They're a type of 'youkai,' which are Eastern magical creatures." Hermione eagerly answered.
"Yes, cat demon are indeed youkai," Cho Chang, who was also Chinese, nodded. "My dad told me that in the East, all plants and animals have the potential to become demon if given the chance."
"How scary! Why would you keep a demon as a pet? I would never keep a demon." Neville said, frightened, and instinctively slowed down to walk at the back of the group.
"What's scary about it? Himari is so cute." the girls retorted.
"Right, Himari isn't scary at all."
"You're such a coward." they mocked Neville.
Usually, girls would be more afraid of such strange things than boys, but Himari's cuteness had captured their hearts. They all agreed, "Even if it's a demon, it's okay if it's cute."
"Indeed, looks are justice in this world," Ye Ting said thoughtfully as he touched his face. "My future is definitely bright."
After walking down the corridor for a while, Himari suddenly stopped and turned into a compartment. The five of them immediately followed and found two boys sitting opposite each other inside. One had black hair and wore glasses, while the other, a red-haired boy with somewhat worn clothes and a movie-character-like appearance, was easily identifiable by Ye Ting as the original story's protagonist, the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, and his sidekick, Ron Weasley, who had married Hermione despite seeming like an unlikely match.
The table in the compartment was piled with snacks and wrappers, indicating that they had been enjoying a feast. However, the scene now was that the black-haired boy was curiously watching Himari, while the red-haired boy was hunched in fear, holding a squeaking mouse in one hand and pointing a rusty wand at Himari with the other, green light seemingly emanating from its tip.
Ye Ting was startled by his movements, knowing from the book that Ron always had accidents when casting spells hastily.
"Expelliarmus!"
Ye Ting flicked his wrist, and a purple wand appeared in his hand. A red light shot out from the wand's tip and hit the red-haired boy instantly.
The boy let out a loud cry as his wand flew out of his hand.
Ye Ting casually reached out with his other hand and gracefully caught the flying wand.
"Cool!" the boy with glasses exclaimed in admiration.
"You can actually use magic! What's that spell called?" Hermione asked excitedly.
Cho Chang and Marietta were also impressed by the lightning-fast scene and applauded him, their eyes full of admiration.
"Thanks." Ye Ting nodded to them and then bent down to return the rusty wand to Ron. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that, but please don't point your wand at my Himari next time."
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。