Years of training made Cassian faster than the man in black. With a flick of his right wrist, his wand was already drawn. The stranger's wand was only halfway out of his sleeve.
The man froze. His eyes darted left and right, clearly calculating which way to bolt—both sides of the carriage were blocked, and Cassian only had to cover one.
At that exact moment, a snack trolley rolled up at a leisurely pace, completely sealing off the man's escape route on one side.
"Anything from the trolley, dears? Chocolate Frogs, Every Flavour Beans, Liquorice Wands, Pumpkin Juice…" The woman pushing it was in her thirties, her cheerful call echoing down the corridor.
"Hello, Mrs Weatherspoon." Cassian gave a small nod, shifting to block the other end of the passage.
"Oh, it's young Cassian. Trouble always seems to follow you, doesn't it?" Winnie Weatherspoon's eyes stayed locked on the man in black even as she spoke.
In the stranger's eyes, this trolley witch suddenly felt even more dangerous than the younger man.
The man in black sighed and raised both hands. "Fine. I'll get off."
He turned, opened the carriage door, and leapt from the speeding train.
Cassian hesitated—his advantage was clear. Should he stop him?
"Let him go," Winnie said quietly. "I know who he is. He's looking for the Rosier girl."
The man jumped out and vanished into the blur of the countryside.
"Rosier? Which Rosier?"
"Isabella Rosier," Winnie replied. "She ran away from home this summer and applied to Hogwarts instead. Dumbledore approved it."
"Fair enough. Let Dumbledore deal with that headache."
"By the way, Cassian, why has the Department of Mysteries sent you out again? Something big brewing?"
"Nothing major. We've been picking up strange magical fluctuations all over the country. They wanted me to keep an eye on the first-years—especially with Harry Potter starting this year."
"Find anything interesting?"
Cassian's fingers brushed the ticket punch in his pocket. "A few surprises. More than I expected." He didn't elaborate.
Winnie didn't press. "Ever since you joined the Department, you've become all mysterious." She gave the trolley a push. "Right, out of my way. I've got a business to run."
"Chocolate Frogs! Every Flavour Beans! Liquorice Wands! Pumpkin Juice…"
---
Back in the last carriage.
Julien's attempt to calm things down had failed. Liriya and Isabella were still glaring at each other, magic crackling in the tiny space. The compartment temperature swung wildly between freezing and stifling, and a thin layer of frost had formed on the window glass.
Suddenly a loud ribbit shattered the tension.
A plump golden toad had somehow hopped out of a gap in one of the trunks. It landed in the middle of the floor, puffed out its cheeks, and croaked twice more.
Liriya instinctively stepped back. Her ice-blue eyes widened in surprise, and the blue glow around her hands faded.
Isabella blinked too. The light at the tip of her wand dimmed as she stared at the toad tilting its head at them.
"Oh—this must be Neville's toad," Julien said, recovering first. He bent down to grab it, but the toad hopped nimbly toward Liriya's feet and croaked again.
"Who's Neville?" both girls asked at the same time, then immediately shut their mouths.
Liriya looked at the little creature by her shoe. Her tense shoulders slowly relaxed. "We don't have toads like this in the eternal-night forests of the north. Only glowing moss and snow wolves that can survive the cold."
She sat back down, fingers brushing the feather charms on her cloak. "I come from an ice tribe in northern Europe. My people survive on ancient nature magic and guard a magical standing stone—a pact we made with Dumbledore long ago."
"I wasn't even born when the Rosiers came for us." Her voice trembled. "They wanted the stone for Grindelwald. My grandmother used her last magic to shield the tribe from their curse… and never woke up again. So yes—anyone from the Rosier family is an invader. A thief."
Isabella stayed silent for a long time, fingers absently tracing her silver snake brooch, eyes glistening.
"My parents' business meant I was born on our estate in Belgium, not the old German manor. I was raised on 'pure-blood superiority.' I've seen family members use dark magic to hurt Muggle merchants."
She lifted her head, eyes steady. "But I hate those shadows. I hid my mother's old notebooks and ran away to London this summer to apply for Hogwarts—because Dumbledore is here."
She turned to Liriya. "I didn't know about your tribe. The things my family has done… I can't deny them. But I refuse to become like them." Her voice softened. "I'm sorry for what they did to you."
Liriya pressed her lips together. She didn't speak, but she gave a tiny shake of her head. The hostility in her ice-blue eyes had thawed considerably.
At that exact moment the compartment door burst open again.
The same bushy-haired girl stood there, face full of panic. When she spotted the toad on the floor her eyes lit up—then her gaze landed on Julien and instantly switched to a whirlwind of shock, joy, and hurt.
"Julien!" She rushed in and grabbed his arm. "You—you're a wizard too! We're going to be in classes together!"
"Wait—no, you knew all along!" The realisation hit her. "That's why you wouldn't tell me which secondary school you were applying to! And all that talk about a 'surprise' when the time came…"
Her eyes welled up, nose twitching. "I thought… I thought you didn't want to be friends anymore. Especially after I found out I was going to Hogwarts. I was terrified I'd never see you again."
The toad seemed to sense her distress. It hopped over and rubbed against her shoe with another soft ribbit.
Julien looked at her reddening eyes and hurried to explain. "I wasn't trying to hide it. Grandpa said I had to keep it secret. I wanted to find you the moment I got on the train, but…" He glanced at Liriya and Isabella. "We ran into a bit of trouble here."
"Hmph! Jerk!" Isabella and Liriya said at the exact same time. They glared at each other, then both turned away.
But the corners of their mouths were twitching with the tiniest, reluctant smiles.
The tension in the compartment finally melted away. Outside the window, the Scottish Highlands rolled past in bright, sunlit glory.