"Thump, thump, thump."
A gentle knock sounded on the carriage door.
Theo, who was sitting closest to the door, got up to open it. "Hello?"
Wade and the others then heard voices from outside—
"Mancini? You're in this carriage?"
"I heard Wade Grey was over here—"
"Looks like I got it wrong—should be a bit further ahead—"
The people outside discussed amongst themselves, preparing to search other carriages, but an unintentional glance caught sight of Wade sitting inside.
The student froze for a moment, the casual expression still on his face quickly transforming into an enthusiastic smile—
"So you really are here?" He squeezed past Theo, bringing the other two inside, and said as if they were old friends, "Hey, Gray, how was your holiday?"
Theo was squeezed into a corner, helplessly watching the three students, significantly taller than him, enter the carriage, making the space suddenly feel cramped.
Who are you?
Wade raised an eyebrow slightly, about to speak, when Michael suddenly cut him off. He stood up and said with a smile, "Long time no see, Prewett. I heard you went to Iceland for Christmas?"
Prewett finally turned his gaze to Michael, smiling. "Yes, I saw some impressive scenery. When I came back, I heard about the Book of Friends—" His eyes landed on Wade as he continued, "—It's truly amazing! I immediately bought the complete hardcover set of the Book of Friends, twelve volumes in total, one for each month of the year."
Michael played along, praising, "As expected of the Prewett Family, even Marchioni had to make concessions. We only managed to grab one copy due to the purchase limit; it'll probably be two weeks before we can buy a second."
"Don't worry, it won't take that long. As long as there's money to be made, Marchioni's speed is as fast as riding a Granian. Of course—the limited December edition was only available in the first batch, and only sold to truly ancient and noble Pure-blood families, unlike some… well, different."
He said this arrogantly and meaningfully, seemingly glancing at Theo by accident.
The Mancini Family wasn't actually bad, at least much wealthier than the Weasley Family. But Theo had been sorted into Hufflepuff, and it seemed he'd been branded with the label of "idiot" or "fool," immediately placing him at the bottom of these arrogant Pure-bloods' heirarchy of contempt.
Ryan's face was cold. He was about to stand up but Theo pressed his shoulder, stopping him from speaking.
Michael seemed to miss the implied meaning in his words, smiling as he said, "The Prewett Family is indeed very ancient—and these two are—"
The two standing behind Prewett had been observing Wade with considerable interest, occasionally glancing at Michael, completely ignoring the two Hufflepuffs. Their scarves were largely green with silver stripes, and their expressions carried a hint of gloom—clearly, they were both Slytherins.
Among the houses, the only one with a somewhat decent relationship with Slytherin was Ravenclaw, but "decent" simply meant they would greet each other and exchange a few polite words when they met; it wasn't common for them to travel together.
Prewett had been waiting for someone to ask, so he immediately introduced, "This is Gaston Yaxley—"
The blond, bushy-browed boy smiled and nodded at Wade.
"And this is O'Neal Fawley—"
The darker-skinned boy with a softer face smiled warmly.
"—They are both sixth-year Slytherin students. They heard the inventor of the Book of Friends was in this carriage, so they wanted to meet him."
Prewett said this, and though he still smiled, his eyes met Michael's with a challenging intensity, signaling—You, kid, get out of my way!
Michael couldn't block them any longer, so he awkwardly stepped aside, winking at Wade as he turned, silently conveying a message.
The boy named Gaston Yaxley then stepped forward, extending his hand politely. "Hello, Mr. Gray."
Under Michael's slightly nervous gaze, Wade stood up and shook his hand. "Hello."
Though his tone was bland, people were naturally more tolerant of talented individuals.
As long as it wasn't an outright refusal, in the eyes of a Slytherin, it was a sign of friendliness.
A faint smile appeared on Yaxley's pale face. "I never expected the inventor of the Book of Friends to be so young. Ravenclaw hasn't seen such an outstanding student in many years. Mr. Gray, you are truly a talented and gifted individual; your future will be no less bright than Terence Murray's. I believe you need a larger stage to fully unleash your brilliance."
He paused, drawing out his words, "The Yaxley Family would be very willing to offer you some assistance."
Though Prewett still maintained his smile, an uncontrollable hint of jealousy flickered across his face.
Michael glanced at him, then his gaze swept over Fawley on the other side—the smile on this Slytherin's face was impeccable, revealing no discernible thoughts.
"Thank you very much for your kind offer; I am deeply honored," Wade said politely. "However, I am merely an apprentice in Alchemy and still far from comparable to Professor Murray."
"Of course—Professor Murray's skill is beyond doubt, but I admire your future more." Yaxley's words carried an unintentional air of superiority. "While the Alchemy involved in the Book of Friends is quite basic, something many sixth and seventh-year students could achieve, what's truly admirable is the ingenuity behind it—how did you come up with it?"
Wade nodded. "Speaking of that, I can't really claim to be the originator—do you know about Muggle Internet?"
"—Muggles?" The three of their faces changed almost simultaneously, as if they'd heard some contaminating word.
"Yes," Wade said with a smile. "The core communication protocol of the Internet is the TCP/IP Protocol. Data is divided into packets for transmission, and the client sends requests to the server, then receives and parses the server's responses. The server then returns the processed results to the client. The sequence of operations and original data during input…"
Wade politely explained the working principles of computers, then went on about the Internet, Cloud Computing, Electronic Chips, WAN (Wide Area Network), Data Plane, and a whole host of other concepts, even rambling about the future of E-commerce, the deep integration of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, Blockchain Technology, and Digital Currency.
Only his voice remained in the carriage; everyone else stared blankly, as if they had become bewildered infants. This included some students who had rushed over, wanting to meet Wade Grey, standing at the door, afraid to enter, as if there were some strange seal here.
When Wade finally paused, the three who had politely endured without interrupting immediately rose to take their leave, their faces ashen as if they had just been drenched by a downpour, their retreating figures even showing a hint of frantic escape.
Theo walked over to close the door, seeing the few people still in the corridor hastily avoid his gaze, as if afraid he would drag them in for a brainwashing session.
Theo closed the door, locking it with a spell, and the four of them burst into laughter simultaneously.
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