The next morning, Vid was woken by his father an hour earlier than the alarm was set to go off.
"It snowed last night, Vid." Ferdinand, still carrying a chill, urged him, "Get up quickly, we have to leave early today."
Vid sat up from under the covers, ruffled his messy hair, and pulled open the curtains to see about two inches of snow on the windowsill and the yard blanketed in white. There were footprints around the car, left by Ferdinand when he cleared the snow in the morning.
Vid quickly dressed and went downstairs for breakfast, hearing his parents arguing in the kitchen—
"Listen to me, darling, it's too cold today, there's no need for all of us to go to the station. I can take Vid on my own—"
"But I want to see Vid off too. We won't see him for half a year after he returns to school—"
They talked for a while, but in the end, Ferdinand insisted that Fiona stay at home—he usually indulged her, but once a decision was made, no one could change his mind.
When they came out of the kitchen, Vid pretended he hadn't heard their argument. After breakfast, he asked, "Mom, can you take care of Miss Ava for me first? Let her fly to Hogwarts herself when the weather gets better."
"Sure!" Fiona happily agreed and immediately started planning: "I can make owl feed for her myself. General Bad's feed is almost finished, and also Mirene—I think she might need to lose weight. The exercise wheel we bought earlier was chewed through—"
Mirene was Fiona's pet hamster, a shy little creature that didn't usually require much of her attention.
Seeing her no longer dwelling on the farewell and focusing on the pets, Ferdinand also sighed in relief. They quickly finished their breakfast, and Ferdinand took Vid's large suitcase and stuffed it into the trunk.
"Goodbye, Mom." Before getting into the car, Vid turned around to say goodbye. Fiona stood in the doorway, waving vigorously.
The car slowly pulled away.
As Ferdinand had predicted, the snow made the roads slippery and all the cars were moving slowly. Even then, there were collisions, with two cars stopped by the roadside, and broken parts scattered in the snow.
The car was quiet, and Vid watched the scenery outside the window. Suddenly, he saw a blur as a gray car seemed to squeeze into existence next to them from thin air.
"Ah!"
"What's wrong?" Ferdinand looked into the rearview mirror, catching sight of his son's astonished expression.
"It's nothing... I thought I saw a car rear-end another..."
"Hmm, it happens often." Ferdinand remained focused, looking straight ahead, to avoid any accidents and brake in time.
Vid watched as the gray car paralleled them for a few minutes and then suddenly disappeared from view. When he spotted it again, it was just chasing the car in front past an intersection, just as the light turned red.
The street occupants remained oblivious, including Ferdinand, who hadn't noticed the car seemingly leaping forward.
—If any ordinary person saw this, they'd probably think it was a ghost story, Vid couldn't help but think.
The car finally reached King's Cross Station, with more than ten minutes left before departure. Ferdinand took the suitcase off the trolley and wheeled it to Platform 9 3/4. Here, Ferdinand slowed down, eventually having to stop.
Vid held his hand.
"Let's go in together, Dad," he said.
Ferdinand smiled wryly, "I can't, Vid—I'm not a wizard, I can't—"
"You can." Vid interrupted him, "There are no magical restrictions on Platform 9 3/4, even Muggles can enter. It's just that the Ministry of Magic has placed a spell here, causing Muggles to usually overlook it."
"So—I—" Ferdinand took a deep breath and stared at the brick wall in front of him as if facing a monster, "I can really—enter this platform—"
"You can, come with me."
Vid held his hand, leading him forward. Ferdinand was nervous, and as they were about to hit the brick wall, he couldn't help but close his eyes—
Nothing happened.
But suddenly, his surroundings became noisy.
A deep red train stood by the platform, with all the carriage doors open. Children in Hogwarts uniforms leaned out of the train windows, saying goodbye to their parents. The platform was crowded; some children ran in a hurry, while others hugged their parents reluctantly.
Cats roamed freely on the ground, and caged owls turned their heads, looking around. Older students were gathered, already discussing holiday assignments, while others struggled to extricate themselves from their mothers' embrace, saying, "Don't kiss me like this, Mom—I'm not a child anymore—"
"Have you packed your Friendship Book?" a stern-looking elderly woman asked the child beside her. "Don't lose it, remember to make contact every day."
The seemingly simple-minded child next to her replied earnestly, "I got it, grandma."
"Can I have another Friendship Book, Dad?" a girl pleaded, holding onto her father's arm, "I have a lot of friends at school—my sister hasn't started school yet, you can buy one for her in a few days—"
"Don't think about it—" a younger girl nearby jumped and shouted, "Don't think—it's mine—"
Looking around, at least one in every three travelers talked about Friendship Books. Some couldn't wait to pull out paper and start writing, absorbed in "online chats"; others kept checking their Friendship Books for new messages, ready to respond right away, often holding a pen in their chest pocket or behind their ear.
Ferdinand was nearly entranced by this scene—Platform 9 3/4 was different from Diagon Alley; it had once been the gateway to magic in his dreams, but ultimately kept him shut out. As a child, he'd imagined embarking on a journey here countless times, but only stepped in for the first time at thirty-two.
After a while, Ferdinand pulled back his gaze, speaking in a repressed, slightly trembling voice: "Let's go, Vid—let's find you a compartment."
They walked along the platform, found an empty compartment. After Vid settled in his suitcase, he got off to say goodbye to his father.
"Vid—"
Ferdinand placed a hand on Vid's shoulder, trying to say something, but couldn't find the words.
Tell him to study hard?
—Vid already puts in more effort than anyone.
Urge him to build good relationships?
—Ferdinand had repeated those words to him many times.
Assure him that... his parents would always be his support, no matter what problems he faced, he could seek help from his family?
—But Ferdinand clearly understood, when it came to wizards, he and his wife were utterly powerless. Even if Vid turned to them for help, besides sharing his pain, what could they possibly do for him?
After a long pause, Ferdinand's hand tightened slightly: "We're always proud of you, Vid—no matter what challenges arise, face them without fear, speak up when you encounter trouble, and seek help from your teachers—understood?"
Vid nodded, looking into his father's eyes, softly asked, "Dad, you didn't really want me to come to Hogwarts at first, right? Why didn't you stop me?"
"...I couldn't, Vid." Ferdinand wryly smiled: "I wanted to, but I couldn't—because I heard that if young wizards can't learn to control their magic, it would form a dark force called an Obscurus—destroying themselves—destroying everything—"
So all he could do was watch anxiously—as his son walked into a place he saw as a death machine... Unable to stop him. Unable to prevent it.