> Platform Nine and Three-Quarters <
> Please board before eleven o'clock. No late entries allowed. <
Dressed in a child-sized tailcoat and wearing a top hat, Louis looked every bit like a miniature old-school British gentleman as he lowered his head to glance at the ticket in his hand.
His outfit was a bit flamboyant, but at his age, flamboyance wasn't necessarily a bad thing. People tend to be more forgiving with children—especially when compared to those occasionally spotted in the crowd wearing bizarre robes and behaving even more oddly. By contrast, Louis looked downright normal.
"Every year around this time, all sorts of weirdos show up at the station…"
As Louis pushed his trolley past a train attendant, he caught the man muttering a complaint.
It was to be expected. The start of the school year always brought a wave of wizards passing through.
While most pure-blood wizards had their own means of getting to Hogwarts, traveling by train was a tradition. Even the most Muggle-loathing pure-bloods were forced to swallow their pride and brush shoulders with non-magical folk.
But these haughty pure-bloods, having never bothered to engage with the Muggle world, had no sense of its trends or social norms. Their eccentric attire and behavior often earned them confused looks—or ridicule.
Not that they cared, of course.
"Nine… Nine… One, two… three?"
Louis counted the pillars along the platform as he pushed his luggage cart, then suddenly stopped.
"What a hassle," he muttered, turning around and summoning his Magic Hand to help guide him.
There were repelling charms cast around the entrance to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters as well—nothing too strong, just enough to make Muggles subconsciously overlook the area.
Otherwise, someone was bound to notice the students pushing trolleys through a solid wall sooner or later.
With the distance corrected by Magic Hand, Louis finally passed through the subtly veiled space and arrived at the correct pillar.
"Guess I really can't let my guard down," Louis murmured, adjusting his top hat as he stared at the wall before him, hesitating slightly.
Charging straight at a wall went against every instinct of a normal person.
"Better take it slow."
He approached the wall with his trolley carefully. Once he saw the front wheels vanish into it like slipping into water, he sped up with confidence.
Still, even like this, Louis couldn't help but shut his eyes instinctively the moment he hit the wall.
It was human nature—not something to be embarrassed about.
He passed through a stretch of darkness, and when the shrill blast of a train whistle reached his ears, Louis opened his eyes.
Before him was an old-fashioned train station. Thick steam billowed from a vintage steam engine, cloaking the entire platform in mist.
"Leave the luggage to me," said a man in a red train attendant uniform, taking the trolley from Louis's hands. He glanced at Louis's outfit, shrugged, and pointed ahead. "Please head that way. Tickets are being checked over there."
"Much appreciated."
Louis tipped his hat politely in thanks, then pulled a ribbon from his coat pocket. With a smooth flick of both hands, he transformed it into a cane.
Under the astonished gaze of the attendant, Louis leaned on the cane, handed over his train ticket, and stepped aboard the train.
Among the little wizards dressed in robes, Louis stood out like a crane among chickens. Thanks to his flamboyant top hat, he stood a full 170 centimeters tall, making him especially eye-catching.
Louis smiled faintly, basking in the curious gazes around him. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he reached up and tapped his top hat with a high-quality replica of the Elder Wand.
Whoosh—
His tailcoat suddenly unfurled and transformed into a wizard's robe. In an instant, the flamboyant Louis turned into just another ordinary young wizard.
The carriage erupted in astonishment. Every young witch and wizard who had seen the transformation gasped aloud, and those who hadn't peeked their heads out to see what the commotion was about.
For a moment, it felt like the entire train was on the verge of exploding with excitement.
> You've used a basic costume change trick to bewilder a group of underage wizards.
> [A harmless deception]
> You've earned 2,000 Trick Points.
> Current Points: 2,560
As expected, it was easy to rack up Trick Points with wizards.
With a smile, Louis tipped his hat and bowed to the crowd like a magician gracefully exiting the stage after a show.
And then he spotted Hermione Granger waving at him from a compartment up ahead.
"Louis, over here!" Hermione looked genuinely happy to see someone she recognized—even if that someone was a boy she'd only met once, for less than five minutes.
"Miss Granger, good afternoon," Louis said with a smile as he made his way over, carefully navigating around the curious young wizards trying to tug at his robe.
"Just call me Hermione. We've exchanged letters, haven't we? I'd say we're friends by now," Hermione said warmly. "Want to share a compartment?"
"It would be my honor," Louis replied with a nod.
Inside the compartment, Hermione wasn't alone. There was also a round-faced boy who looked quite timid, accompanied by a toad.
"And this is?" Louis asked.
"He's Neville—Neville Longbottom," Hermione introduced. "And this is Louis Wilson, a magician."
"H-Hello, Mr. Wilson." Neville stood up hesitantly and greeted Louis. "What's a magician? Is it a kind of powerful wizard?"
The English word magician is derived from magic, and in the wizarding world, there's no real distinction between the two.
Clearly, Neville hadn't had much exposure to Muggles—he had no idea what stage magic was.
"Nice to meet you, Neville. Just call me Louis," Louis said with a smile. "As for what a magician is… it's just someone whose job is to bring joy to others."
Neville looked even more puzzled by the vague answer and was about to ask more when Hermione beat him to it.
"Louis, that trick just now—was that sorcery, or stage magic?" she asked eagerly, her brown eyes sparkling like starlight.
...