Until the very last moment, Harry Potter and the others never showed up on the platform—meaning they had missed the Hogwarts Express.
But why?
Harry aside, every other member of the Weasley family had made it onto the train without issue. Yet Ron Weasley, who had left the house at the same time as them, was nowhere to be seen. Hermione couldn't make sense of it, and even Ginny was baffled as to what went wrong.
Still, even if Hermione went looking for the Gryffindor Prefect, there was no way the Hogwarts Express would delay its departure just to wait for Harry and the others.
Especially since no one even knew when they might show up...
To Draco, though, it was nothing more than a minor detail. He didn't believe for a second that Dumbledore would actually expel the Chosen One.
So before long, Draco pushed the matter from his mind.
"When did you start drinking this weird stuff?"
"Gurdyroot tea. Want a cup?"
"What tea?"
"Gurdyroot tea."
Correcting Pansy, Draco picked up the cup and took a sip of the Romanian specialty. The look of enjoyment on his face made Pansy lean in with curiosity.
Gurdyroot tea.
Brewed from a plant called gurdyroot, the drink had a mysterious, beautiful lavender color. This plant could only be found in the forests of Romania.
As for the taste—Draco, with a slight smirk and a mischievous glint in his eye, poured Pansy a cup.
The pale purple liquid shimmered beautifully under the sunlight. Thinking it looked lovely, Pansy blinked in anticipation... but the moment she took a sip, she regretted it.
"It smells nice, but... blegh! What is this awful taste?!"
She hadn't even swallowed before the sharp, bitter flavor rushed up like a cavalry charge to her forehead. The strange tang and bitterness nearly made her gag.
"This tastes like someone juiced a bunch of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans!"
Watching Pansy stick out her tongue with a grimace, Draco burst into laughter. Of course, with a normal sense of taste, he fully understood her reaction.
He'd only come to accept the tea's unique flavor after gradually getting used to it—eventually even finding it kind of good.
"This is a Romanian specialty, you know. Not just anyone gets to try it."
"It's disgusting! Get it away from me—I'm not drinking that again!"
"What a pity."
"You did that on purpose..."
Tearing open a Chocolate Frog and taking a big bite, Pansy slumped over the table, giving Draco a tired eye-roll. Her scrunched-up expression made it look like she'd been seriously bullied.
In truth, if there had been anyone else in the carriage, she would never have let her guard down like this...
...
While Draco lounged around teasing Pansy, Hermione was anxiously moving around the train, worried something might have happened to Harry and the others. With no professors on board, her only option was to turn to the house Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl for help.
Naturally, she went straight to Gryffindor's Prefect...
"Don't worry, I've already informed Professor McGonagall. The school will handle it."
"Really? That's a relief."
"But seriously... it's Ron again? Let's just hope we don't lose points over this."
Even though the Prefect in front of her was Ron's older brother, Hermione couldn't help but feel something off in his tone. Especially when Ron's name came up, he looked genuinely annoyed.
She also noticed that Ginny, standing quietly beside her, didn't seem too happy either.
It was as if she didn't even want to see her brother.
Were they not close?
Or was something else going on?
Hermione didn't dwell on it or think it was her place to interfere, so once she confirmed that the school had already been notified, she finally relaxed and stepped out of the Prefects' compartment.
But just as she exited, she felt a tug on the corner of her robe...
"?"
"Hermione."
"Hm? What is it, Ginny?"
"Is there something outside?"
"What do you mean? I don't see anything."
Ginny's words made Hermione pause, and she followed her gaze toward the window. But seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Hermione frowned slightly and shook her head.
She didn't think Ginny was playing a prank, but she honestly couldn't make anything out—aside from the unusually thick clouds today.
Still, Ginny was clearly convinced she'd seen something. She pulled Hermione a little closer and pointed out the window again, trying to help her see more clearly...
"No, look—up there in the sky."
"Huh?! Is that... a car?"
Just as Hermione was about to give up, she saw it—something that absolutely shouldn't have been there. Or rather, in her understanding, cars were meant to drive on roads, not fly through the sky.
"This isn't normal, right?"
"Uh... as far as I know, there are wizards who've used cars as transportation, but usually not so brazenly."
"..."
Actually, among the wizards Hermione knew, Hagrid had a flying motorcycle. But aside from Harry, who had ridden it once, very few people knew about it.
After all, magically modifying Muggle objects and using their technology wasn't exactly legal in the wizarding world. It might not land you in Azkaban, but it definitely came with a hefty fine.
Which made what they were witnessing now an incredibly rare sight.
Still, for some reason, as Hermione watched the car vanish back into the clouds, an uneasy feeling settled in her chest...