Chapter 020 New Classmates

"Yes, my name is Catherine." The red-haired girl held out her left hand towards the other.

"My name is Hermione, Hermione Granger!" The brown-haired girl hurriedly reached out and shook her hands, and asked in surprise, "Did you make all this magic yourself?" ”

"I can't change it myself, someone else has helped me." Catherine smiled.

"Oh!" The brown-haired girl's shocked expression began to fade, but then reappeared.

"Your parents are Muggles, right?" Catherine asked suddenly.

"How do you know?"

"They're not out there." Catherine gestured to her reluctant parents outside the window.

"I could bring them in, but they couldn't get out on their own, so I sent them out first." Hermione lowered her head in frustration, and suddenly realized that the other party seemed to be in the same situation as herself, "Your parents are Muggles too?" ”

"I don't know." Catherine looked out the window and said calmly, "I'm an orphan. ”

"Yikes! I'm sorry! Hermione apologized sincerely, much to Catherine's surprise.

"It's okay." Catherine smiled and said, "Anyway, there must have been a lot of inquiries during the first time of school, and I'm ready." ”

"That's right......" Hermione pondered for a long time before she thought of a relatively safe topic, "Is there a professor going to pick you up?" ”

Catherine nodded and asked rhetorically, "What about you?" Which professor picked you up? ”

"It's Professor Minerva McGonagall!" Hermione excitedly said, "She told me that Hogwarts is the best school of witchcraft and wizardry in Europe. I'm really glad I was able to go to school there, I never thought I was a wizard, even though there were always strange things happening around me before. She spoke as fast as a cannon, "I wish I could be as good as Professor McGonagall, who teaches Transfiguration. What about you, which professor are you going to pick you up? Is Professor McGonagall too? ”

"No," said Catherine, shaking her head, "it's Professor Severus Snape, who teaches potions. ”

"I've heard Professor McGonagall say," Hermione asked in a low voice, "he's a very stern man, isn't he?" ”

"Yes," Catherine nodded, remembering Snape's unapproachable appearance, "and he is cold to many people, and he speaks mercilessly. ”

Hermione gasped, thought of something, patted her chest and said, "Thankfully I memorized all the textbooks." ”

"You've memorized all your textbooks?" Catherine looked at her in surprise.

"Of course, I also bought a few extra reference books, "Modern History of Magic", "The Rise and Fall of the Black Arts", "Important Magical Events of the Twentieth Century", etc., and I can write down most of them." Hermione said ostentatiously.

"I've read these too."

"Really?"

The two discussed the history of magic, and soon Hermione discovered that Catherine's memory was surprisingly good, which prompted the two to turn the conversation to the textbook.

Catherine is unforgettable, and Hermione is a bookaholic, and she memorizes every textbook. They were all different in the eyes of others, and now that they have found another person who has the same experience, they immediately introduce each other as confidants.

They were happily talking, unable to interrupt the arrival of the lunch car, until a reluctant voice rang out at the door of the cubicle: "May I ask ......?"

A round-faced boy in his new Hogwarts robe stood with tears in his eyes, and when Hermione and Catherine looked at him at the same time, he took a step back.

"Is there something wrong?" Catherine asked softly with a smile.

"Well," said the boy tremblingly, "I would like to ask—have you—seen a toad?" ”

"Nope." Catherine smiled and shook her head.

"Your toad is missing?" Hermione's tone suddenly became a little arrogant.

"Yes," said the boy, regaining a little composure, "I've searched everywhere, but I still haven't found it, and my grandmother will scold me to death!" ”

"I'll help you find it!" Hermione stood up and said, "My name is Hermione Granger, this is Catherine, what about you?" ”

"Neville Longbottom." The boy replied with tears in his eyes.

"Catherine, are you coming too?" Hermione asked, looking at Catherine, her eyes full of anticipation.

But Catherine didn't nod, but looked at the boy named Neville: "Is your toad the size of a palm, with a yellow body, but green stripes on your limbs?" ”

"That's right!" Neville walked into the cubicle in surprise, "Do you know where it is?" ”

"Didn't I just say I didn't see it here?" Catherine asked rhetorically with a smile.

"And how do you know what his toad looks like?" Hermione asked.

"Because when he first came in, I happened to see him holding the toad." After explaining to Hermione, Catherine asked Neville, "Did you have a contract with your pet?" ”

"This ......," Neville thought hard for a long time before nodding vigorously, "Yes!" ”

"What's the use of signing a contract?" Hermione interjected.

"The contract restricts the pet's range of movement and doesn't get too far from its owner, so it's impossible for it to stay at the station or jump off the train halfway."

"That is, it was indeed in the car, just hiding in a corner somewhere."

Catherine nodded and was about to say something when she was interrupted by shouting from outside the cubicle.

"Catherine!" The shouts of the two boys rang out in the doorway, and they broke into the cubicle together, followed by two men, one woman and three freshmen, who were standing behind them, and Neville, who had been standing in the doorway, was pushed out by the group.

"Catherine! Why are you staying here? As soon as the platinum-haired boy entered the cubicle, he looked around with a disdainful gaze, which drew a displeased snort from Hermione.

"Catherine! Why didn't you go to me? Another black-haired boy with glasses looked at Catherine with his plaintive green eyes, and she shuddered at the sight.

"Do you know what time I'm here?" Catherine got up and smiled.

"What time is it?"

"At eight o'clock, as soon as the platform opened, Professor Snape sent me here, excuse me—" Catherine deliberately lengthened, "where were you then?" ”

The two boys immediately lowered their heads and muttered a few lowly, which Catherine could only hear because of the proximity, one of them said "just got up", and the other said "getting dressed".

"For the sake of you remembering me so late," the faces of both boys flushed, "Say, do you have anything to do with me?" ”

"Go to me!" The two boys raised their heads at the same time and said loudly, then glared at each other dissatisfiedly, "Don't learn from me." ”

Such a neat gesture can't help but make people wonder, but considering that the people present are not very familiar with each other, except for Catherine, they all coughed to hide their laughter, and for a while, the entire compartment was full of coughing.

This made the two parties even more embarrassed, and they both glared at the others at the same time, trying to stop their fake cough, but their unanimous approach made Catherine laugh out loud, and the laughter infected the others, until the two boys were really angry, and everyone stopped laughing.

"Okay, don't fight, you're all here anyway, just stay here!" Catherine said with a smile.

"It's not as warm and cozy as I am." Compared to the compartments at the front, the last compartment at the rear is of course cold and shabby.

"There aren't as many snacks here as I have." The interest of the two girls is not in their appetite, so naturally they don't buy so much food.

"You have a point." Catherine's words caused the two boys to nod their heads, "It's hard for me to choose!" ”

"Of course it's me!" The two boys shouted in unison again, while secretly stumbling at each other.

"Well," Catherine suddenly smiled, "let's have a game." Whoever wins, goes wherever he goes! ”

"Than what?" The two boys' eyes lit up at the same time.

"First of all, let me introduce you, standing at the door is Neville Longbottom." The round-faced boy who was named weakly raised his hand to signal his existence to everyone.

"His pet toad is gone, and we're going to see who finds it first." Catherine described the toad's appearance, "Since the search is for the entire train, you can get someone to help, but only for first-year students. Is there anything you can add? ”

Both boys shook their heads at the same time.

“Then－－－－Ready－－－－Go!”

Before Catherine's voice could fall, Draco rushed out with the two freshmen who had come with him.

"Why are you still stunned!" Hermione yelled at the two remaining boys in the cubicle, dragging them down the hallway.

Then their shouts came from the next compartment:

"Did you see a toad?"

"Are you a first-year?"

"Can we help, please?"

Sounds like these gradually spread to the front of the car.

"It's so energetic!" Catherine walked to the door and sighed that after a while, the six men ran away from sight.

"Thank you!" Neville said to the girl with a red face.

"No thanks, just take what you need." Catherine replied with a smile.

"Huh?" Neville looked at Catherine in confusion, not understanding what she was talking about.

But Catherine didn't explain, but smiled and asked him, "Want to win?" ”

"What?" Neville's expression became even more confused.

"Let's not forget that we're also first-year students." Catherine's smile widened.

Neville's eyes lit up, then darkened again, "But I've searched the whole car." ”

"Answer me a question first, how high can your pet jump?"

"Probably that high." Neville gestured to his waist.

"In that case, we should be able to win."

"Why?" Neville really didn't understand what his pet's jump had to do with winning the competition.

"Can you do me a favor?" Catherine interrupted his thoughts.

"Of course!" Neville was busy concentrating, "What do you need me to do?" ”

"Help me get the lunch cart over, I need to buy something." Seeing that Neville was about to speak, Catherine added with a smile, "I need a lot of money, so it's better to ask the witch to push the cart here." ”

"Okay!" Neville answered, and immediately ran to the front of the car.