A sharp whistle blew, and all the train doors closed. The engine hissed steam, chugging forward, and Wade waved from the window, watching his father's figure gradually recede.
He turned and sat down, his heart heavy.
The Book of Friends warmed slightly. When he opened it, he saw several new messages on the first page—
[Fiona: Was the journey smooth? The train must have departed, right?]
[Fiona: Miss Eva seems a bit unhappy. I think it might be because you didn't bring her along.]
[Fiona: Is it cold on the train?]
Wade smiled, took out his pen, and replied to each message—
[Wade: Everything went smoothly on our journey. The train just departed, and Dad should be on his way home now.
If Miss Eva is unhappy, perhaps you could give her some dried fish? That's her favorite snack. I remember it's on the second shelf of the cabinet. Or some dried beetles or locusts, she'd be very happy with those too—but don't let her eat too much, or she might get an upset stomach.
Of course, I'm sure you already know all this.
Also, there's probably a warming charm on the train to maintain the temperature, so it's not cold at all, and the scarf is very warm.
I'll remember to take more photos.]
"Hey, Wade!" Just as Wade finished writing, Michael poked his head in and said happily, "I knew you'd be in this direction—guys, over here!"
He waved in another direction, then dragged his trunk into the compartment, excitedly saying, "Big news, right, Wade?"
"—What?" Wade was a little confused.
"The Book of Friends, of course!"
Michael pulled out his Wand, levitated his trunk onto the luggage rack, and sat down, saying, "Before school started, my parents were rushing to get one! They were all so surprised when they found out I already had a whole book! But I thought it was a secret among SSC members, and then suddenly I heard it was being sold in Diagon Alley—so that rumor is true, right?"
"—What rumor?" Wade realized he was a bit out of sync with Michael's conversation after three weeks apart.
"Oh, we all heard it. Some people even came to ask me because they knew we were in the same year—" Just then, Theo entered the compartment and continued, "—But I have to say, they didn't seem to believe it much, they thought someone was lying!"
"Hey, Wade. Long time no see—" Ryan followed him in. He said, "I guess you probably don't check the SSC chat page much, do you?"
"Uh—because I still have to study..." Wade asked.
"I figured as much, otherwise you couldn't have stayed silent—" Ryan shrugged. "Let Theo explain, he knows more about it."
Theo Mancini, although his surname wasn't among the legendary Sacred Twenty-Eight, was actually a Pure-blood and quite well-informed.
"It's like this, there were rumors even before the Book of Friends officially appeared—" Theo looked at Wade and said, "They said a new, cheap, and more convenient way of communication was coming, which might break the current loose structure of Wizards and bring people closer together—"
Michael said, "At the time, I wondered—could they be talking about the Book of Friends—"
So, even though he had a Book of Friends in his hand, he didn't dare share it with his parents or friends. Instead, he hid it at the bottom of his trunk, using studying as an excuse to secretly chat with friends every day, and repeatedly told them not to reveal the Book of Friends.
But at that time, aside from Michael, who kept his entire Book of Friends to himself, everyone else had at least given a page to their parents. So, everyone quickly tried to cover it up, instructing their parents to keep it a secret.
Unexpectedly, two or three days later, the rumor seemed to have spread worldwide, and everyone knew about it.
"For a few days, we used Floo Powder several times faster than usual at home," Ryan said. "Lots of people wanted a piece of the action. My dad said he knew a Pure-blood noble who tried every possible way to get the American distribution rights—"
"But the owner of Aslan's Magic Workshop—Marchioni—is a cunning and elusive character—that's my grandfather's assessment," Theo continued. "He said Marchioni is like a hyena; if someone provokes him, he'll pull their intestines out of their... backside."
Grandfather Mancini's words were actually cruder, and Theo was too embarrassed to repeat them, so he vaguely glossed over it.
"No one dares to provoke Marchioni—no one has ever gotten the better of him. However, some say that Marchioni also obtained the license for the Book of Friends patent from someone else, and the inventor is just a first-year student at Hogwarts—" Theo looked at Wade.
"Some people were frantically trying to find you. I was really afraid to hear your name then, Wade," Ryan said with a hint of worry.
Theo continued, "But the great Alchemist, Terence Murray, publicly declared at a banquet that the inventor was his student, and he would absolutely not tolerate anyone causing trouble or difficulty for his student. If anyone bypassed him to seek out his student, it would be considered an insult and provocation to Terence Murray—"
Ryan added, "I only found out after that, Professor Murray holds a very high position in certain fields—and Hogwarts also has Dumbledore—"
Just then, a witch pushing a snack cart passed by the door. They paused their conversation, and each bought some snacks.
Then the interrupted topic continued.
"Professor Dumbledore also said he hoped everyone would respect his students, otherwise he would have no choice but to defend his students' rights—and suddenly, everything became calm again."
Theo, unwrapping a Chocolate Frog, said, "I heard that those who had ideas are now going back to Marchioni. Perhaps they figure provoking Marchioni is less costly by comparison—oh, my Chocolate Frog!"
The frog suddenly hopped out, and Theo tried to grab it but failed. Finally, just before it jumped out the window, Wade caught it.
"Thank you, Wade."
Wade handed the Chocolate Frog back and asked, "So... my name wasn't leaked?"
"Most people don't know it; many of them still think it's a sixth or seventh-year student!" Ryan said. "But I guess it probably can't be hidden from those Pure-blood nobles—even with Professor Dumbledore and Professor Murray speaking up, Wade, you'd best not be alone at school—"
Michael reached out and put an arm around Wade's shoulder, laughing, "Don't worry, we'll stick together like conjoined twins—speaking of which, bro, the rumor says Marchioni paid a huge amount of Galleons to buy the usage rights—some say you're already rich beyond measure, is that true?"
While the other two avoided the topic, he asked it frankly.
Wade tried his best to say in a calm tone that didn't sound like bragging, "It's not that exaggerated, only fifty thousand Galleons."
Michael grimaced as if he had a toothache: "Fifty thousand Galleons! I've never seen that much money in my life!"
Theo, however, laughed relaxed, "Some even said a million Galleons! What nonsense—"
Ryan suddenly pressed his shoulder, and Theo immediately stopped talking.
A knock came from outside the compartment.
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