The fireplace at King's Cross Station was very crude, you could even say it was terrible to the extreme.
When Harry came out of it, his whole body was covered in pitch-black soot, and that messy bird's nest of hair on his head was the worst-hit area.
This forced him to quietly pull out his wand on the spot and cast several cleaning spells on himself.
After finally tidying himself up into something that at least looked like a person, Harry then noticed something unusual.
In the past, during the daytime, King's Cross Station was always a scene of bustling activity.
At night, there might be some homeless people carrying bottles, hanging around with nothing to do, coming here to stay.
But during the day, this place belonged to office workers. Everywhere you looked, people were in a hurry, and walking here would make your own pace speed up without you even realizing it.
But today was different.
At King's Cross Station, especially around the Floo Network fireplaces and the entrance to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Harry actually noticed many figures who looked idle and leisurely.
Although these people were all dressed in Muggle clothing and pretending to be in a hurry, the special aura they carried stood out very clearly to Harry.
Especially since, among them, Harry spotted two particularly familiar people.
One tall and thin, the other short and fat. Two Aurors.
They were sent here almost every year to maintain security at King's Cross Station and Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Harry could basically see them every time he came here.
And if that was the case, then those people dressed similarly to them… were they also Aurors?
Harry found it a bit hard to believe.
Although the Ministry of Magic had been expanding the Auror force over the past year or so, their numbers shouldn't have increased to the point where they could send so many people to guard King's Cross Station, right?
With that doubt in mind, Harry cautiously moved closer to the tall and short Aurors and asked in a low voice, "Gentlemen, have you been assigned to stand guard here again this year?"
As soon as Harry finished speaking, the tall and short Aurors reacted like cats whose tails had been stepped on, jumping back in fright.
The tall, thinner one, who was more agile, even had his hand in his pocket, clearly gripping his wand.
Fortunately, they obviously recognized Harry.
"Ah! It's our Savior Harry!"
The tall, thin Auror pulled his hand out again and let out a sigh of relief.
Harry nodded awkwardly. He felt their reaction was a bit too intense.
It didn't really match the elite image Aurors had in his mind.
"I just wanted to ask," Harry said, "why have you sent so many people here this year?"
"You actually noticed?"
The short, fat Auror said in disbelief.
"Yeah. You two are too conspicuous. From your behavior and outfits, it's easy to identify the others' identities as well."
Hearing this, the short, fat Auror and the tall, thin Auror looked at each other, their faces turning extremely ugly.
"You're saying you discovered all this because of the two of us? We're done for, totally done for this time!"
"That's right, Hilljer is definitely going to kill us!"
"What are you talking about?" Harry said, confused. "Who's going to kill you?"
The tall, thin Auror turned pale and said,
"Hilljer, our captain. If he finds out that it was because of us that this security operation was exposed, he'll definitely dock all our wages… no! Not just that, he might even demote us straight into the Hit Wizards unit!"
"Since when did the Auror department have such a rule? I've never heard of it."
"Forget you, I hadn't heard of it three months ago either. Actually, it's a new regulation issued after the Ministry's restructuring, meant to weed out some incompetent Aurors."
As he said this, the tall, thin Auror instinctively pointed at himself.
Clearly, he didn't think he counted as a competent Auror.
This almost made Harry laugh out loud.
He forced himself to hold it in and continued asking, "So what exactly are you all doing here?"
"Same as before, maintaining security at King's Cross Station and Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Honestly, I'm not too sure either."
"Maybe our new director thinks this place isn't very safe. Anyway, we're just soldiers, we follow orders. But I did hear some rumors. They say…"
"That's enough! Don't say any more!"
The short, fat Auror cut him off with an ugly expression. "Harry Potter, hurry up and go to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters!"
"You've already delayed us too long! If this keeps up, you're really going to get us transferred to the Hit Wizards unit!"
As he spoke, the short, fat Auror directly pushed Harry into the wall. By the time Harry reacted, he was already inside the much livelier Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
This made him frown deeply.
He instinctively felt that something big might have happened.
After all, the ones currently in charge of the Ministry of Magic were Link and Percy.
The old Ministry under Fudge might have made some strange, incomprehensible decisions.
But Link and Percy definitely wouldn't.
If they suddenly sent so many people to King's Cross Station, there had to be a reason.
With that doubt in mind, Harry squeezed onto the train, randomly found a compartment, sat down, and while staring at the noisy crowd in front of him, he rubbed his chin and fell into deep thought.
"Woo!"
With a long whistle, the train gradually began to accelerate.
The carriage swayed constantly, but it still couldn't interrupt Harry's train of thought.
He felt he needed to figure out the reason behind all this.
Unfortunately, this state didn't last long.
Because soon, two people wearing mascot costumes dressed as Himalayan snowmen came up to him and held out a basket of candies with exaggerated clown smiles painted on them, saying in a muffled voice, "Hey, brother, want to give it a try?"
"The latest creation from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, Laughing Candy. It'll make you laugh non-stop for a whole day!"
Harry, who was deep in thought, didn't want to deal with these obvious salespeople. He waved his hand, signaling them to leave.
But the "snowman" didn't back off. Instead, he grabbed a handful of candy and stuffed it directly into Harry's hand.
"Come on, give it a try! Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes is having a grand opening sale right now. Hogwarts students get a 20% discount!"
"And not only that, as a supported enterprise of Hogwarts, we also have a workshop inside the Hogwarts castle."
"If you want to place an order, you just need to go to the Weasley workshop on the seventh floor of Hogwarts."
"We're running a factory direct sale there, which gives you another 20% off on top of the original discount! Round it off and it's basically a crazy profit!"
With the "snowman" interrupting him like this, Harry's broken train of thought could no longer reconnect.
He somewhat disdainfully threw the candy back into the "snowman's" basket and said, "Compared to your discount, I actually have a better deal here. Do you know what it is?"
The two "snowmen" looked at each other and shook their heads in unison.
Harry let out a cold laugh and said, "That is, not buying saves 100%!"
"Pfft!"
The other "snowman" burst out laughing.
Hearing that voice, Harry froze.
Because that laugh felt extremely familiar.
'That sounded like… Hermione?'
He suddenly turned his head to look at the other "snowman."
Thinking back to what the other had just said, he suddenly realized that Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was the shop opened by George and Fred.
Which meant…
"Ron?", Harry said tentatively.
At that, the two "snowmen" took off their headgear at the same time. Sure enough, it was Hermione and Ron.
"Harry, what you just said must not spread around, otherwise no one will buy our stuff!"
Ron complained, though there was a bright smile on his face.
Harry burst out laughing and hugged Ron and Hermione.
"My god, why are you dressed like this? Helping George and Fred with promotion?"
"Of course, we're brothers!"
Ron patted his chest as he said it, but Hermione beside him sneered, "I've never heard of helping out while taking a commission."
She then said to Harry, "Actually, Ron just became a salesperson for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. He helps George and Fred sell things and takes a cut."
Ron's face turned slightly red as he glared at Hermione.
"And you've got the nerve to talk about me? Aren't you doing the same thing?"
"I'm not the same as you," Hermione said, crossing her arms and lifting her chin. "I'm helping George and Fred as a friend, for free!"
"Ha! You think you're noble? With George and Fred's personalities, they'll just treat you as a free worker!"
"A free worker is fine. So what? As a friend, being able to help them makes me happy, and that's enough."
Hermione shook her head as she spoke. Then she and Ron both looked at Harry at the same time.
When it came to helping and showing support, even the two of them combined couldn't compare to Harry.
They still remembered the day Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes opened. Harry had practically bought one of everything in the shop.
That moved George and Fred so much that they immediately declared Harry their best friend in this lifetime, no exceptions.
That kind of spending was simply outrageously lavish.
But it was normal.
After all, Harry had inherited a large sum of money.
On top of that, Sirius Black had also given Harry the inheritance rights to the Black family's assets.
Although the Black family's properties had already been divided up by members of the Wizengamot, leaving nothing for Sirius, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse. The remaining savings of the Black family were still an astronomical amount to ordinary people.
So it could be said that Harry was now a standard platinum-rich second generation.
Even richer than Malfoy.
Only one level below Link.
Harry felt a bit uneasy under their gaze and said awkwardly, "Alright, alright, stop looking at me like that. I'll buy it, okay? I'll take all this candy. You don't need to keep running around selling things. Sit down and rest for a bit."
'Such a rich guy!'
Hermione and Ron couldn't help thinking.
But outwardly, they waved their hands.
"No, Harry. I, Ron, might like taking small advantages, but I'm not at the point of making money off acquaintances."
"Ron still has that bit of integrity. As for me, I'm helping for free anyway, whether we sell anything doesn't matter."
As they spoke, the two of them took off their mascot costumes and sat beside Harry.
"Have you heard?"
As soon as he sat down, Ron said excitedly, "Fleur's younger sister, Gabrielle, has transferred here!"
"Fleur?"
Harry couldn't help exclaiming.
He had a very deep impression of the Beauxbatons champion. No, any man who had seen her in person would. She was absolutely a girl with maxed-out charm.
Seeing this, Hermione beside him curled her lips.
Her impression of Fleur was completely different from Harry and Ron's.
Not exactly dislike, but definitely not fondness either.
"That's right. Not just Gabrielle, Fleur's whole family has come to England. Right now her father is working as a translator at Gringotts, and Fleur herself has joined the International Magical Trade Standards Association as a clerk. My father saw her when he went there for business."
Ron gestured animatedly. "My dad said Fleur immigrated to England through Link and entered the Ministry."
"She's currently learning English, and once her language skills improve, she can officially take her position at the Association. That's a great job, the pay is really high!"
Harry nodded, then shook his head.
"But I still don't understand. Why would they come to England? And the whole family at that?"
At this, Hermione and Ron both looked at Harry with strange expressions.
After a while, Hermione said, "Don't you know? Beauxbatons was hit by a terrorist attack not long ago. Not only were a lot of the buildings destroyed, but many students also died. Things over there are in complete chaos now."
Ron continued, "Who would want to stay in such an unsafe school? I guess they were scared, so they came to Hogwarts."
"After all, there's no better magical school in the world than Hogwarts! We don't just have Dumbledore, we also have Link!"
Hermione nodded, rarely agreeing with Ron.
As long as Link and Dumbledore were there, they weren't afraid of anything.
Harry, however, fell silent.
Fleur's family situation was like the final piece of a puzzle.
It completed the thought in his mind.
So it was because Beauxbatons had suffered a terrorist attack that the Ministry had increased security at King's Cross Station?
That did sound reasonable.
But… would it really be effective?
For some reason, Harry felt an uneasy sense of foreboding.
Click!
While Harry was thinking, the compartment door opened again.
A third-year girl, panting, walked in.
"I… I came to deliver this to Harry Po… Potter."
She stammered as she handed over a roll of parchment tied with a purple ribbon.
The moment her eyes met Harry's, her face turned bright red.
Then she stumbled out of the compartment.
"What is it?"
Ron asked curiously, and both he and Hermione leaned in.
"It should be an invitation."
Harry said as he untied the purple ribbon.
The parchment unfolded, and along with a faint scent of lavender, neat writing appeared.
[Mr. Harry Potter,]
[If you could join me for lunch in Compartment C, I would be very pleased.]
[Yours sincerely,]
[Professor H. E. F. Slughorn]
"Who's Professor Slughorn?"
Harry said, completely confused as he looked at the invitation.
Hermione and Ron both shook their heads, indicating they didn't know either.
Just then, a familiar voice suddenly sounded.
"This is a new professor," Neville said, leaning against the compartment doorframe.
"My grandmother mentioned him. He used to teach my parents as their Potions professor. This time, he's probably been rehired by Dumbledore to continue teaching Potions."
"What? Potions professor? Isn't Snape our Potions professor? Could it be that Dumbledore finally realized that guy's malicious intentions and fired him?"
Ron said, overjoyed.
But as soon as he finished speaking, he froze.
Because he realized that Neville, standing before him now, had changed greatly compared to before.
He had slimmed down a lot.
Not in a weak way, but more like after working out, his body had become well-proportioned and strong.
Not only that, the aura he gave off was completely different.
He looked confident and bright, full of energy.
Even when mentioning his grandmother like before, he no longer gave off that timid feeling.
This sudden change left Harry and the others momentarily speechless.
Neville shrugged and said, "Unfortunately, your wish didn't come true. Professor Snape is indeed no longer the Potions professor."
"But after discussions between Dumbledore and Link, he was given a new position... Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."
"How is that possible? Snape has applied to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for years and failed every time."
"Everyone at Hogwarts knows he must have some hidden scheme! Dumbledore… no! It must be Link! He's on good terms with Snape. Snape must have gone to beg him! Damn it, this is terrible!"
Harry shook his head as he complained.
Given his awful relationship with Snape, seeing Snape finally get what he wanted felt even worse than when Harry's Nimbus 2000 had been destroyed.
"Anyway, we should hurry over first. Professor Slughorn is someone worthy of respect. We can't keep him waiting."
As he spoke, Neville said goodbye to Ron and Hermione, then pulled Harry out of the compartment.
The two of them walked straight toward the rear of the train. Along the way, Harry kept complaining nonstop, until they were about to reach the compartment labeled C. Only then did he calm down and look at Neville with a strange expression.
"But speaking of which, Neville, the change in you is really huge! What happened in these past two months? You look like… like a completely different person."
Neville paused slightly, then turned around with a smile.
"It's all thanks to Link. He gave me the chance to take revenge! That day, after I personally ended Bellatrix's life, I went to see my parents. I hugged them, cried, shouted."
"I told them that I had finally avenged them, that the demon that had hung over our hearts for over ten years had been killed by me. Completely killed!"
"And since then, I feel like I've been reborn!"
Neville raised his hand to his chest and clenched it tightly, as if he were crushing something with great force.
"I feel like my whole body is full of strength. Harry, can you understand that feeling? It's like becoming a completely new person! I decided I must change myself properly. Only by becoming better can I repay Hogwarts, repay Link!"
"Re… repay?"
Harry stammered. "I don't think you need to do that. When Link did that, maybe… maybe he didn't expect anything in return. It was just…"
Neville waved his hand to interrupt, "No, Harry, it's definitely not like that! Link may not have thought about asking for repayment, but as the heir of the Longbottom family, as a man, I absolutely cannot act like nothing happened!"
"This is what my grandmother taught me! It's also my principle in life!", Neville spoke firmly, every word decisive.
The strong sense of determination coming off him made Harry freeze slightly. His mouth opened and closed several times before he finally said, "Then… alright. I sincerely hope you succeed."
Hearing that, a smile appeared on Neville's face.
He rubbed his slightly reddened palm, which had been strained from clenching so hard, as if he wanted to say something more.
But the compartment door not far ahead suddenly opened.
John's impatient face appeared at the doorway.
"Who's making so much noise at the door? It's so annoying, I... oh! So it's you two, Harry and Neville."
After recognizing them, John smiled slightly and stepped aside.
"You got the invitation too, right?"
"John, if you're here, that means… Link is inside too?", Neville said in disbelief.
Everyone at Hogwarts knew about the close relationship between Link and John.
For a long time, the two of them were practically inseparable.
Usually, wherever Link was, John would also be there.
It was hard to say whether Link liked following John or John liked following Link.
John wasn't surprised by Neville's reaction. He chuckled and said, "Of course. Come in quickly, don't just stand at the door like idiots."
Harry smiled and nodded, just about to step forward, when he noticed that Neville had already dashed into the compartment at the speed of a hundred-meter sprint.
That speed even startled John.
"Oh! Link! I'm so happy to see you again, it's really been a long time! Thank you! Thank you! Damn it, I'm about to cry!"
Hearing Neville's excited shouting from inside, John and Harry exchanged a glance, both looking helpless.