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Looking at Ron, who still had that clueless expression on his face and was already ready to throw his own father under the bus, Dudley continued.
"Where does your father work?"
"At the Ministry of Magic, in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office."
Ron answered somewhat absentmindedly.
"And that flying car you mentioned, where did it come from?"
"My dad bought it from Muggles."
Ron answered again.
"Do Muggle cars fly?"
"Of course not."
After answering, Ron still looked at Dudley in confusion, as if saying that was far too obvious.
"Then, if you take that car, get seen by Muggles, and they find out Mr. Weasley was the one who modified it, what do you think the Ministry of Magic will do?"
Ron answered automatically.
"My dad will be fired."
As soon as he finished speaking, his face turned as red as a ripe apple.
He had finally understood.
"Exactly."
Dudley patted him on the shoulder.
"Good. You're not completely hopeless. If this gets discovered, he might not even be able to keep his job."
To Dudley, not being able to board the Hogwarts Express was too small a problem to even be called a problem.
"With this many people here, what exactly is there to worry about..."
After all, they were not the only ones left behind.
There were plenty of children around them, including many first-years.
"So we're just going to stand here and wait?"
Dudley shook his head.
"No. We can file a complaint."
"Complain?"
Ron did not understand, and Dudley did not bother explaining any further.
"Parents, please listen."
Dudley raised his voice.
When he noticed that the adults accompanying the students were all looking at him, he continued.
"This is a serious incident."
"As you can all see, the passage to the platform has been blocked for some reason. There are about ten minutes left before the train leaves, which means we have most likely already missed it."
Dudley tapped his fingers against the sealed pillar.
The dull sound confirmed that it was still completely blocked.
The train that ran from King's Cross to Hogwarts was a special line.
There were only a handful of trips throughout the entire year.
It was not as if there were no other ways to get there.
They could still go to Hogsmeade first and then make their way to Hogwarts from there.
But that would waste unnecessary time.
Being late might not seem like much.
But for first-year students, it could become a lifelong regret.
A Hogwarts entrance ceremony only happens once in a student's life.
"In my opinion, someone needs to take responsibility for this. Someone needs to solve this problem. This is not our fault."
"I suggest everyone contact the Ministry of Magic. The Hogwarts Express has always been operated by them. They should come here and explain what happened."
The wizards present seemed to finally realize this and began using their own methods to contact the Ministry.
And of course, none of them were in a friendly mood.
This time, Ron had learned his lesson.
He did not go around telling everyone that his father worked at the Ministry.
Otherwise, the situation would probably end up being dumped right onto his father's lap.
And that definitely would not be a good thing.
"Mr. Dursley."
Dudley heard someone calling him.
At the moment, there was only one type of person who still addressed him in that respectful tone.
Slytherins.
And indeed, it was a Slytherin.
A pretty girl.
If Dudley's memory was not wrong, she was quite close to Pansy and was part of that little group. Those biscuits Dudley had liked chewing before had come from her.
Crunchy, firm, and with a nice texture.
They were pretty good.
What was her name again?
Dudley searched his memory for a moment.
Right... Daphne.
Daphne Greengrass.
"Hello, Miss Greengrass."
Dudley responded with perfect politeness.
"You remember me! You remember me!"
It was only a simple, polite response.
But for some reason, it seemed to touch something inside her.
Daphne let out an excited scream right then and there, so loud that Ron, who was standing beside Dudley, jumped and nearly flung Scabbers away.
"Of course. We're classmates. And in the same House."
Dudley tried to calm her down simply.
All that screaming was starting to hurt his ears.
There was something in her eyes that was difficult to describe.
It was the look of a fan seeing her idol in person.
"Ahem."
Hermione, standing beside Dudley, cleared her throat, trying to draw the other girl's attention.
She did not like the way Daphne was looking at Dudley at all.
Besides, the girl was standing too close.
Almost touching him.
"Miss Granger! It's Miss Granger!"
Daphne let out another shout.
This time, even more excited than before.
Hermione jumped in surprise.
Ron trembled again too.
If before she had seemed like a fan seeing a celebrity, now she looked like a completely obsessed fan.
Daphne grabbed Hermione's hand and began asking question after question.
The admiration in her eyes did not seem fake at all.
"H-hello!"
If the other girl had come looking for trouble, that would have been easier to handle.
But like this, Hermione had no idea how to react.
She had not even known she was this popular in Slytherin.
Wasn't something wrong here?
Wasn't Slytherin supposed to care about blood purity above all else?
She was one hundred percent Muggle-born.
After a somewhat awkward conversation, Daphne seemed to remember something and pulled a timid little girl to the front of the group.
"Mr. Dursley, Miss Granger, this is my sister, Astoria Greengrass. She's starting at Hogwarts this year. And she'll definitely be in Slytherin too."
When she mentioned Slytherin, Daphne showed enormous pride.
Astoria had long blond hair and pale blue eyes.
She looked a lot like Daphne, maybe seventy or eighty percent similar.
She was a very pretty little girl.
The problem was that every time Dudley spoke to her, she hid behind her sister.
She was far too timid.
Dudley smiled at her.
In the next instant, Astoria's lips trembled, and her eyes immediately grew shiny with tears.
This time, Dudley understood.
That was not shyness.
She was afraid of him.
"Ah! Potter! It's Mr. Potter! What a great honor to meet you here!"
There was no need to ask.
Daphne had found Harry now.
Fortunately, this time Ron did not jump again.
Otherwise, at this rate, he was going to shake himself apart.
Ron looked at the friends beside him and felt that he also needed to make his presence known.
So...
"Ahem..."
And he did, in fact, successfully draw Daphne's attention.
Only the result was very different from what he had expected.
"Oh, Weasley Turnip. When did you get here?"
Daphne raised her chin slightly.
Her voice carried three parts contempt and seven parts arrogance, as if she were looking at something dirty.
There was not the slightest attempt to hide the disgust and revulsion in her eyes.
Her attitude had done a complete one-eighty.
Ron: ???
The Ministry personnel finally arrived, though late.
It was a wizard who looked quite young.
At that moment, he was surrounded by a group of wizarding parents, sweating coldly as he tried to explain the situation.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please listen to me. This was only a small accident."
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