Madam Malkin finished measuring Harry, and Draco, still waiting for his father to pick him up, could only stand in the corner with red-rimmed eyes, glaring viciously at Harry.
He actually looked a bit pitiful.
It had to be said that Draco, being a Malfoy, was truly very handsome, and even at such a young age, his future good looks were already apparent.
However, the Malfoys always valued family, and Lucius Malfoy had left his son here for so long that something unexpected must have come up.
After Harry was measured and had agreed with Madam Malkin on a time to collect the robes, he led the Dursleys straight to Ollivanders wand shop.
Harry could roughly guess what would happen when trying wands, and he didn't want to hear three high-pitched screams.
So he didn't let them follow him in, telling them to wait outside.
As Harry expected, he went through over a dozen wands, nearly blowing up the dilapidated shop, and after quite some time, he finally received his own wand.
"Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches," Ollivander muttered. "Oh, the twin wand of that person."
Harry keenly caught this information and made a mental note.
After buying everything, Harry took Dudley to buy a beautiful snowy owl, having spotted this lovely lady at first glance on their way there.
He named her Hedwig.
Dudley enthusiastically bought many things along the way, and Uncle Vernon was already carrying a large bag, refusing Harry's offer to use magic to help.
Then, Harry firmly rejected Dudley's request for a broom, telling Aunt Petunia that if she didn't want Dudley to fall from the sky and crack his head open, she should quickly dissuade him.
Dudley was then dragged off by his mother, who pulled him by the ear.
Finally, Harry led the three into a Silver Sun Group-owned junk shop, the Silver Radiance Prop Shop.
The shop had a mix of various items, and Harry's target was the jewelry here.
These jewels covered the counter, each engraved with powerful magical arrays or runes, making them essentially precious alchemical artifacts with exquisite designs, highly sought after by witches.
One for each of the three Dursleys, very fair.
On September first, Harry set out early, and Vernon drove him to King's Cross Station before leaving.
Harry looked around the station with his piles of luggage, finally stopping between platforms nine and ten.
He sensed magical fluctuations on the pillar before him, and the information he had also described the general situation of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Harry reached out and touched the wall; his hand sank into it without issue, revealing a hidden passage.
He withdrew his hand and pushed his luggage inside.
Not many people were on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters yet; most young witches and wizards hadn't arrived, meaning Harry had plenty of time to choose an empty compartment for himself.
First, he had to get his luggage onto the train.
Lifting all this luggage onto the train wasn't difficult for Harry; he had plenty of strength, but he was also fragile at the same time.
Just as Harry lifted the largest trunk, he heard a crack.
He threw his back out.
Harry's face contorted in pain; with a somewhat grim expression, he set the trunk down and pressed his hand against his lower back.
"Ha ha ha!" A gleeful laugh came from beside him. "What an idiot!"
Harry turned to look; Draco was standing nearby with a tall and a short fat boy following him, sneering at him.
"Your parents and brother can't get in, can they? Why don't you get your things onto the express yourself?" Draco mocked Harry with relish.
Harry narrowed his eyes; coincidentally, he didn't have parents.
He subtly straightened up, standing half a head taller than Draco, and smiled. "That's funny. Why didn't your daddy carry you, the big baby, onto the express?"
Draco: "???"
"You," Draco's face flushed crimson as he glared at Harry.
Before Draco could speak further, Harry quickly interrupted, speaking in a rapid fire: "Why don't you have your father go to Hogwarts with you to be a chaperone?"
"Why don't your parents go to Hogwarts to tuck you into bed?"
"Why," Harry fired off a series of retorts.
Draco was furious; he pointed angrily at Harry's nose, hopping around in agitation. "You vulgar, impolite Mudblood!"
Harry raised an eyebrow, looking at him; seeing Draco's mouth movements, he began speaking in a mocking tone.
Draco's roar and Harry's mocking laughter rang out together: "I'm telling my father~"
Draco stared at Harry in disbelief: How did he know what I was going to say?
How could he, how could he?!
Harry burst out laughing, doubling over. "Ha ha ha ha, I knew it! A big baby who can't leave his daddy~"
Draco shrieked, "Shut your mouth!!!"
"Damn it! Don't let me find out your name, or you're finished!!"
Harry let out a mocking laugh. "Sure, I'll wait."
"But maybe the young master should fix that habit of running his mouth," Harry said with an easy, relaxed air, looking at Draco, who was shaking with anger, his eyes reddening.
Harry paused, looking away; his hand came out of his sleeve without warning, gripping his wand.
It was the first day of school, the platform was busy with people coming and going, and few noticed their argument, so Harry seized the moment while Malfoy wasn't paying attention and tapped him on the head.
A flicker of surprise appeared in Harry's eyes, then quickly vanished.
Harry smiled. "Mudblood, that's quite impolite."
Draco continued shrieking, "How dare you hit my head! Who gave you the nerve!!"
Harry sneered, "Worry about yourself first, young master."
"Did you like my surprise?"
With that, he turned, subtly lightening his luggage with magic, and dragged his things onto the express.
He left Draco standing there, shaking with rage: Like hell he did!
The two behind him, Crabbe and Goyle, exchanged bewildered looks for a moment before tremblingly spoke up, "Young Master Malfoy, your, your head…"
"What!" Draco roared, taking his anger out on them. "Can't you speak clearly?!"
Crabbe and Goyle stared in panic at the top of Draco's head, shaking their heads repeatedly. "Young Master Malfoy, ears! Ears!"
Seeing the foolish looks on their faces, Draco got even angrier. "What ears, what about them? My ears are fine, aren't they?!"
"Ears! On your head!" Crabbe clumsily reminded him.
Seeing the terror in their eyes, Draco finally caught on; he quickly raised his hand to touch the top of his head.
Besides his slicked-down hair, perfectly set with wax, he felt two round things, furry and warm, which even twitched under his touch.
Draco grabbed the two round things in a panic, but the pain made him wince, tears almost forming in his eyes.
"What is it? What is that?!" He grabbed Crabbe by the collar, questioning him in a flustered tone.
"Ears, ears!" Crabbe and Goyle trembled.
"Ah!" Draco suddenly covered the furry ears on top of his head with his hands.
What to do? What to do?!
He had to tell his father!
Draco looked around wildly, finally spotting his parents talking to old Crabbe through the crowd.
He covered his head with both hands and pushed through the crowd, panicked, reaching Lucius in a disheveled state, strands of hair falling loose.
"Father!"
At Draco's tearful cry, Lucius turned in confusion, first surprised by his son's disheveled appearance, then noticing Draco's reddened eyes.
And seeing his hands unnaturally covering the top of his head, Lucius grew tense. "What happened, Draco?"