Struggling to survive at Hogwarts

Chapter 201 On the Train for Fifth Graders

Harry slept poorly the night before starting school; he seemed to have many terrible nightmares, but he couldn't remember anything when he woke up.

"...We'd better hurry, we might miss our train!"

Harry tidied things up amidst the chaos.

But when he was about to leave, Hermione's words made him freeze in place.

"We can't leave yet; one of the guards hasn't arrived yet!"

"Guards?" Harry looked puzzled. "We need guards to get to King's Cross Station?"

“It’s you who needs guards at King’s Cross Station,” Hermione corrected.

“But… No matter what, it’s impossible for Mysterio to just pop out from behind a trash can and cast a killing curse on me!” Harry couldn’t help but joke.

"Stop being so cheeky!" Hermione patted Harry on the shoulder. "The Man from the Dark Lord might not come, but the Death Eaters are very likely to. You know, they're always keen on creating chaos."

In the end, Harry followed Sirius, Mrs. Weasley, and Tonks, while Moody and the others took care of his luggage.

They walked for 20 minutes to reach King's Cross Station, and nothing major happened along the way.

Once inside the station, they casually lingered by the partition wall between platforms 9 and 3. When no one was around, they stealthily made their way to platform 4¾.

A few seconds later, Mr. Weasley appeared on the platform with Ron and Hermione. They unloaded the boxes from Moody's luggage cart one by one, and just as they were finishing, Fred George and Ginny arrived with Lupin.

"Take good care of yourselves," Lupin said, shaking hands with each of them. He patted Harry on the shoulder last, "You too, Harry, be careful."

"If I have the chance, I will definitely come to the school to see you!" Sirius promised Harry repeatedly.

"Never write anything in a letter. If you're unsure, don't write anything at all." This is Moody's advice.

As everyone was talking, the arrival of another group of people made them tense up instantly. Harry saw Moody quietly put his wand in his sleeve.

Lupin and Sirius immediately shielded the children behind them, and even the most mischievous Weasley twins stopped joking.

The leader of the group was none other than Black, the newly appointed Slytherin Prefect. Behind her, Draco, Theodore, and Gellar surrounded her, while on the outermost perimeter were Lucius and several other adults whom Harry could not recognize.

One of the straw-haired men clearly noticed Moody's movement; his eyes narrowed, and he was about to draw his wand almost the next second.

Across from Lupin and Sirius, Harry inadvertently made eye contact with Thea. Harry's breath hitched, while Thea had already looked away.

Just as tensions between the two sides were rising, Thea made her move.

She first reached out and pressed down on the left arm of the man next to her.

"Don't cause trouble."

Unlike the clear female voice she remembered, Thea's voice sounded strangely hoarse, as if she hadn't been getting enough rest lately.

The man seemed displeased, but he still slowly reached his hand out of his pocket. Harry could sense that Mr. Weasley next to him paused for a moment.

Unlike Harry and his friends who were on high alert, Thea seemed nonchalant, as if she had only encountered a few unfamiliar classmates and parents.

"You can leave us here. We can carry the boxes up ourselves."

Hearing Thea's words, the adults nodded, and Theodore, Draco, and Gella also reached out to take the suitcases from their parents.

A moment later, Thea and her companions turned around and got into the car, and the adults behind them disappeared completely, as if they had simply brought the children over.

Harry and the others got into the car after they had all left, but the atmosphere was not as relaxed as it had been before.

The train started moving quickly, and Harry said goodbye to his godfather and the others again through the train window until they were completely left behind by the train.

"Should we go find a carriage?" Harry asked.

Ron and Hermione exchanged a glance.

“We… um… Ron and I should go to the prefect’s box.”

Hermione was a little embarrassed, while Ron looked down at Harry's shoes as if Harry had worn the wrong shoes today.

"...Be careful."

Harry managed to utter those words. He had just seen Thea's eyes; they were calm as still water, yet strangely unsettling.

"……understood."

Ron and Hermione lost interest at the mention of this.

The prefects' compartments were the first two on the train. When Ron and Hermione went in, there were already several prefects in the compartments.

Inside the luxuriously decorated carriage stood a circle of exquisite sofas, around which the prefects sat. Upon hearing the door open, they all turned to stare at Ron and Hermione.

"Feel sorry………"

Ron blushed again, and he instinctively pulled Hermione to a seat.

After they sat down, they realized that the reason these two seats were empty was because Thea was right across from them!

This discovery made Hermione extremely uncomfortable, and Ron was no better off, so he awkwardly looked away.

Draco, standing next to Thea, naturally didn't miss the scene. He let out a disdainful snort, and the next second, Thea's wand struck his hand.

"etiquette."

Draco understood those two words from Thea's indifferent gaze.

"Alright, now that everyone's here, let's begin."

The male student council president spoke up, drawing everyone's attention back.

"As prefects, you must all have exceptional qualities, and of course, the headmaster has also noticed this..."

Like many speeches, the student council president began with a long string of high-sounding platitudes, then expressed his admiration for Dumbledore… Finally, he began to recount his duties as prefect, and concluded with a series of visions for the future.

Draco listened with blank stares, but with Thea standing guard nearby, he couldn't hunch over.

After the male student council president finished speaking, everyone applauded enthusiastically. Next, it was time for them to inspect the carriages.

The prefects left their boxes one by one, and the sixth-year prefects led the way to patrol, leaving Thea and Draco slowly stuck at the back by the crowd.

Hermione was on high alert from the moment she entered the private room, always keeping a glimpse of Thea and Hermione in her peripheral vision.

Seeing that they were blocked at the back, Hermione immediately reached out and grabbed Ron's sleeve, preparing to stay behind as well, hoping to get some useful information.

They did indeed hear Thea and Draco's conversation.

"...cough cough cough..."

A muffled cough sounded, and Draco immediately asked with concern, "Are you alright, Thea...?"

Thea raised her hand to stop the other person from speaking, "I'm fine... You go on the patrol later... I'm not feeling well..."

Hermione and Hermione slowly increased the distance between themselves and Thea, and even though they were moving at a snail's pace, they could only hear a few words.

"...I'm going to find Gella..."

"You shouldn't always stay up so late..."

Draco's persuasion was gradually drowned out by the noisy excitement of the young wizards.