Chapter 110: Distant Relatives
During the remaining three weeks of the holiday, Ethan spent half the time in Croydon.
After returning to England, Cyril frequently went out to deal with family affairs, so Ethan lived in the manor where he had stayed last summer, traveling to Shafiq Manor daily to practice spells.
The day before school started, Hermione called, "Ten o'clock at the platform tomorrow?"
"Sure, see you tomorrow." After a brief communication, Ethan hung up the phone and packed his luggage.
With the help of the black bag, he didn't need to bring so many boxes this time to take all his things to school.
He put important things in his small bag, and the rest, like clothes that weren't so important, into the trunk.
A night of peaceful sleep.
The next morning, accompanied by Cyril, the group arrived at the familiar Platform 9¾.
They arrived very early, not yet nine-thirty. Hermione's family hadn't arrived yet.
Ethan waited for Hermione's arrival in front of a carriage door, surrounded by three adults.
At this time, another family entered the station from the ticket barrier.
"Hi! Ethan!" A blond boy shouted his name excitedly.
"Oh, Draco." Ethan looked toward the source of the voice and saw his roommate and two wizards, a man and a woman.
Lucius Malfoy, with the same blond hair and gray eyes as Draco, was dressed exquisitely. His black clothes were embroidered with exquisite silver patterns, and he held an exquisite cane, looking indifferent.
Narcissa, also blond but with blue eyes, was dressed just as exquisitely. Her long black dress was dotted with dark green floral patterns, and she wore a pair of green gem earrings, looking equally proud and indifferent.
Draco whispered something to the two beside him, then pushed his luggage and ran toward Ethan.
In front of Ethan's parents, Draco behaved like a normal child, without his usual arrogance toward Muggles.
He knew the man and woman standing close together must be Ethan's adoptive parents, but he didn't know Cyril next to them:
"Mr. Jones, Mrs. Jones, and this gentleman, hello. I am Ethan's roommate, Draco Malfoy."
Faced with the polite Draco, Cyril also responded warmly and introduced himself. "I am Ethan's grandfather, Cyril Shafiq."
Draco knew that Ethan was from the Shafiq family, so Lucius and Narcissa knew as well. However, the two were accustomed to being arrogant toward Muggles, so they stood far away, watching Draco socialize.
The two, who originally hadn't wanted to walk over, looked at each other upon hearing this name and quickly approached.
"You must be the current head of the Shafiq family, Hogwarts school governor, Mr. Cyril Shafiq. A pleasure, a pleasure," Lucius, with a brilliant smile and holding the arm of the equally smiling Narcissa, greeted Cyril.
"I am. You are Lucius of the Malfoy family? I remember hearing your name before." Facing the two, Cyril's smile was relatively formulaic.
The conversation between Cyril and Lucius consisted of mutual business flattery, without any substantive content.
Cyril knew that the Malfoy family pursued pure-blood supremacy, especially since Lucius had joined the Death Eaters.
Cyril had no intention of introducing them to Sofia and Albert.
So the seven people split into two groups. Cyril and the Malfoy couple engaged in business flattery, while Draco stayed with Ethan's family of three, telling some interesting little things that happened to Ethan last school year from his perspective.
Prompted by a look from Ethan, Draco selectively chose some things to tell his parents from the perspective of a bystander.
Although Ethan had already told his parents about the interesting things that happened at school during the holiday, Draco's narration still gave them a new understanding of their son's performance at school.
In a peaceful atmosphere, Hermione and her parents also passed through the ticket barrier onto the platform.
At a glance, she saw the Jones couple facing them, while the Grangers recognized Lucius's back.
Mrs. Granger tugged Hermione's sleeve. "Hermione, is that person with his back to us the one who fought with your classmate's father that day?"
"It's him." Hermione then noticed that in front of the Jones couple, besides Ethan, there was also a Draco Malfoy she disliked.
Hermione waved from a distance and didn't walk over.
"Ethan, Hermione is here." Albert looked at his wristwatch; the time was just about right.
"Okay, then let's get ready to board." Ethan turned around and saw Hermione and her parents.
"Grandpa, we should board the train."
"Alright, need me to help you lift it up?"
Cyril, stopping his reminiscence with Lucius, felt a burst of relief in his heart.
He wasn't originally born in England. Although as an adult he frequently traveled between the two countries due to Shafiq family connections, his understanding of some British families wasn't particularly extensive.
It was only in these recent years of searching for Ethan that he frequently traveled around England and made some contacts with other British wizarding families, but the contacts weren't close.
"Okay, Mr. Shafiq, then we will take our leave first." After instructing Draco with a few words, Lucius and Narcissa walked past them as if they didn't see Hermione and her parents, disappearing onto the platform.
After they left, Hermione led her parents toward Ethan's family.
By this time, Draco had already moved his luggage onto the train.
Hermione looked at Ethan and whispered, "Long time no see. We'll chat after we get on the train."
Ethan simply introduced Cyril to Hermione; this was their first meeting.
Both families watched the two get on the train, chatted briefly on the platform, and then watched them wave from the window before leaving the platform hand in hand.
No one else entered the compartment they were in now. Hermione lowered her voice. "I remember I should have told you about what happened when we went to Diagon Alley to buy books."
"I know, but the relationships between Pure-blood families are intricate. I only learned this year, when looking through the family tree, that Malfoy women had married into our family before, so Draco and I are considered distant relatives by blood."
The conflict between Draco and Harry was already very sharp, and with the events of the summer vacation, it became even sharper.
"Let's not talk about that. How was the rest of your summer vacation?" Ethan had intended to meet Hermione after returning from Diagon Alley.
But unfortunately, her grandparents missed their granddaughter very much, so she went to the countryside to visit them.
Mentioning her summer vacation, Hermione didn't want to talk about the Malfoy family anymore. She chattered about her experiences in the countryside.
Meanwhile, Neville, who had been sent by his grandmother, also entered the compartment. Hermione was curious about the holiday lives of pure-blood children other than Ethan, so she focused more on Neville.
Time passed bit by bit, and soon it was time for the train to depart.
"Where did Harry and Ron go? Why haven't they come yet?" Hermione was a bit puzzled. "Didn't see Fred and George either. Are they all late?"
Just as she spoke, she saw a group of redheads hurry past the window.
"Thank goodness! They finally arrived." Hermione didn't look closely.
After the last few people on the platform hurried onto the train with their luggage, Ron's parents, Arthur and Molly, turned and left in a panic.
The train started. The red-haired Fred and George led a girl with equally red hair and opened their compartment door.
"Ginny, you sit here. Harry and Ron should come over in a while. We'll go find our roommates first." The twins greeted the people in the compartment cheerfully, left Ginny's luggage, and went to find seats in other compartments.
Hermione, who had met Ginny over the summer, guided the somewhat shy little girl to sit down. Ethan used a Levitation Charm to place Ginny's luggage on the luggage rack.
"Your Levitation Charm is really good, Ethan. Sadly, I might never learn such a good Levitation Charm in my life." Neville's tone carried envy and disappointment.
Ethan put away his wand and said modestly, "This is just a very simple application. I believe if you practice more, sooner or later you can achieve this level too."
The two girls sat next to each other. Hermione asked, "Ginny, why were you guys so late? Where are Harry and Ron?"
Ginny, meeting the other two for the first time and not being very familiar with Hermione, was a little shy. She lowered her head and said:
"Everyone was forgetful today. We kept going back home to get things, so we arrived a bit late. Ron and Harry should be right behind; they'll come over in a while."
But things didn't go as they had hoped. By the time the train started, Harry and Ron still hadn't come to their compartment.
Hermione was a bit anxious. She opened the compartment door and looked into the corridor, confirming there were no signs of Harry and Ron. "What's going on? Why haven't they come yet?"
Ethan knew the two had probably missed the train, so he didn't say anything.
However, Ginny comforted her in a relatively calm tone. "Maybe they sat down in another compartment. We got on so late; they might not have had time to walk this way."
Ethan chimed in, "And even if they really did miss the train, there's no need to worry too much. There are always other ways to get to school."
"No, I have to go check." Hermione was still anxious. She stood up, ready to go check each compartment to see if Harry and Ron were there.
"I'll go too." Ginny, not wanting to stay with two strange boys, followed Hermione out of the compartment.
Ethan shrugged. "Let them go. How was your summer vacation, Neville? I heard you chatting with Hermione just now; seemed quite good."
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2.Marvel: Cosmic Forger of Infinity = CHAPTER 181
3.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 261
4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 108
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