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With Dudley around, the luggage wasn't a problem at all.
He lifted everything onto the train with ease, and the three of them stepped into an empty compartment.
The carriages on the Hogwarts Express were divided by school year.
Each class usually stayed in its assigned carriage.
As soon as the train started moving, Dudley and Hermione pulled books from their bags and began studying.
No one spoke.
To pass the time, Harry was forced to open a book as well.
To be honest, he found books from the wizarding world interesting.
He could read them out of curiosity.
But studying with the level of focus Dudley and Hermione had?
That was definitely beyond him.
The only sound in the compartment was the steady turning of pages.
…
"Hi, can I sit here?"
The door slid open, breaking the silence.
A red-haired boy covered in freckles leaned halfway inside.
"All the other seats are taken…"
Then he saw Dudley.
"Sorry. I think I got the wrong carriage. I thought this was the first-year one."
He was about to hurry off when Dudley stopped him.
"Wait. You're not mistaken. This is the first-year carriage."
Dudley had lowered his voice as much as possible, but to the boy it still sounded like a loudspeaker right beside his ear.
"But…"
The redhead hesitated, scanning Dudley from head to toe.
With no other choice, Dudley pointed at himself.
"I'm a first-year too."
That didn't help much.
The boy looked even more suspicious.
His older brothers loved pulling pranks, so he was wary of everything.
Harry was the one who finally explained the situation, which convinced him at last.
Even so, after sitting down, he kept sneaking glances at Dudley.
…
"Hey, what's your name?" Harry asked, breaking the silence.
He was far too excited about Hogwarts to focus on reading.
"My name's Ron. Ron Weasley."
The moment he heard the surname, Dudley automatically looked up.
Ron happened to be looking at him as well.
Their eyes met.
A chill ran down Ron's spine, and he shrank slightly into his seat.
It was a common reaction from people meeting Dudley for the first time.
But his attention was quickly drawn entirely to Harry.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Harry. Harry Potter."
Ron's eyes widened.
"Y-you're Harry Potter?"
Without realizing it, a respectful tone slipped into his voice.
Harry looked uncomfortable.
"You don't have to do that, Ron. Just call me Harry. Just Harry."
"So it's true? You know…" Ron pointed at his forehead.
Dudley thought the gesture was a bit rude.
But Harry didn't mind.
He brushed aside his fringe and revealed the lightning-shaped scar.
Ron's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Before he could say anything else, Harry quickly covered it again.
Before the trip, Dudley had told him not to go around showing the scar unnecessarily.
"Was it You-Know-Who who did that?" Ron asked, completely curious.
"Sorry. I don't remember anything from that day."
"Nothing at all?"
Ron tried to press further.
"Ahem… hey, Ronald," Hermione cut in before Dudley could. "I think Harry doesn't want to talk about that."
Then she added, pointing at the side of her own nose.
"And you've got something strange on your nose, you know. Right there."
Her blunt, unfiltered tone made Ron shift uncomfortably.
Hermione was brilliant.
But she wasn't exactly socially graceful.
She often sounded bossy without meaning to.
When she first learned who Harry was, she had been shocked too.
But after spending time with him, she realized he was just an ordinary boy.
Just Dudley's cousin.
Ron was completely different.
He had grown up hearing stories about the famous Harry Potter.
Having the real Harry sitting in front of him felt extraordinary.
He couldn't stop himself from asking questions.
"And who are you?" Ron asked, a little annoyed.
"Hermione. Hermione Granger."
Short and direct.
Harry then remembered to introduce Dudley.
"And this is my cousin. Dudley Dursley."
"N-nice to meet you…"
Ron felt an enormous pressure sitting beside him.
From a distance, Dudley just looked big and solid.
Up close, he had an intimidating presence.
Dudley closed his book.
"You can just call me Dudley."
He had decided that at Hogwarts, he wouldn't be the way he used to be at his old school.
So he needed to get along with his classmates.
He even tried to smile.
In his head, it was a friendly smile.
In Ron's heart, it nearly caused cardiac arrest.
Ron forced out a smile that looked more like he was about to cry.
He was already thinking of an excuse to leave when there was a knock at the door.
A timid voice came from outside.
"E-excuse me… have you seen… a toad?"
The door slid open.
A round-faced boy stepped inside, looking nervous and on the verge of tears.
"Sorry, we haven't seen any toad. You are…?" Harry asked.
"I-I'm Neville. Neville Longbottom."
Between stammers, he explained that his pet toad, Trevor, had gone missing.
"I've looked everywhere… Could you help me?"
He looked at all of them.
When his eyes landed on Dudley, he instinctively took a small step back.
Just like almost every child did the first time they saw him.
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