An hour later, Fred and George finally completed every piece of homework with Lucien's help.
The twins looked as though they had survived a life-threatening disaster.
Fred immediately threw one arm around Lucien's shoulders.
"Brother," he declared emotionally, "from today onward, you are family."
George wrapped his other arm around Lucien's neck at the same time.
"You'll definitely become a Ravenclaw."
Lucien nearly suffocated under the combined assault.
Meanwhile, Hermione sat nearby rolling her eyes so hard they practically reached the ceiling.
If Lucien had not been helping teach her magic as well, she absolutely would have abandoned the compartment long ago.
"Actually," Lucien managed while prying himself free, "I think Slytherin is more likely."
"Another pure-blood!"
Fred gasped dramatically.
"A future customer!"
Unlike most Gryffindors, the twins held very little hostility toward Slytherin. In their eyes, Slytherins were simply wealthy people with loose wallets.
Most of their future prank business would probably rely on them eventually anyway.
Besides, the Weasley family itself technically belonged to the Sacred Twenty-Eight.
They were simply… financially challenged.
"There, proper introductions," Fred announced grandly while extending a hand. "Fred Weasley."
"And George Weasley," George added immediately afterward.
"The famous Weasley twins," Lucien replied with amusement while shaking their hands.
Then he gestured politely toward Hermione.
"This is Hermione Granger."
Fred suddenly clutched his chest dramatically.
"George."
"Yes, Fred?"
"Our reputation has already spread to first-years."
"A terrifying burden."
Hermione tried desperately not to laugh.
She failed completely.
Her shoulders immediately started shaking while she fought to maintain an angry expression.
Just as the compartment atmosphere became lively again, loud shouting suddenly erupted somewhere outside.
The noise rapidly spread down the train corridor.
Hermione looked worried immediately.
"Should we check what's happening?"
Lucien originally had no intention of getting involved.
In his opinion, most school train conflicts amounted to little more than children behaving stupidly.
Completely harmless.
However—
The familiar voices mixed within the shouting quickly caught his attention.
Fred and George were already halfway out the door before anyone else reacted.
"Come on!"
"How can you ignore entertainment like this?"
With no real choice left, Lucien followed after them.
…
As expected.
The moment Lucien approached the crowd, he immediately spotted Draco's unmistakable platinum-blond hair.
Behind Draco stood several pure-blood first-years gathered together in support.
Opposite them stood a furious red-haired boy.
Ron Weasley.
And caught awkwardly between both sides—
Harry Potter himself.
The moment Lucien appeared, several Slytherin-aligned students visibly relaxed.
"Lucien's here!"
The crowd parted almost instinctively to allow him through.
Fred whispered beside him immediately.
"That's cool."
Then George elbowed him sharply.
Both twins had finally realised their younger brother was apparently one of the idiots involved.
Ron noticed them as well.
Instead of calming down, however, he became even louder.
"It had to be you!"
He pointed furiously toward Draco.
"The Malfoys are all rotten! Death Eaters!"
"Trevor disappeared, and only you lot were wandering through the compartments!"
"So who else could've taken him?"
Lucien quietly glanced toward Pansy Parkinson nearby.
"What happened?"
Pansy immediately explained.
"Draco was looking for you with Crabbe and Goyle. They ran into Potter, Neville Longbottom, and Weasley while they were searching for Neville's toad."
She folded her arms angrily.
"Then Weasley immediately accused Draco of stealing it."
Lucien nodded calmly.
Around them, the gathered pure-blood students all looked furious.
Over the past months, Lucien had already subtly united many of the younger pure-blood heirs socially. Whether intentionally or not, they had gradually begun viewing themselves as one group.
Seeing Draco publicly accused naturally angered them.
"Weasley," Draco snapped furiously, "I already told you I was just looking for someone!"
"Not everyone behaves like your family!"
Draco had improved considerably under Lucien's influence. At the very least, he no longer shouted about blood purity every other sentence.
Still—
When facing the Weasleys, his tongue remained dangerously sharp.
Ron flushed red instantly.
"Oh yeah? And who's going to prove that?"
"Crabbe and Goyle saw everything!"
Ron immediately scoffed.
"As if your lackeys would tell the truth!"
Lucien silently sighed.
The moment Draco began trying to explain himself logically, Lucien already knew the argument was lost.
No one cared how many bowls of noodles someone ate.
To prove innocence, people rarely trusted self-defence alone.
Unfortunately, Draco still had not fully learned that lesson.
As expected, his anger exploded further.
Before he could worsen the situation, Lucien stepped forward and rested one hand calmly on his shoulder.
"Draco."
Draco spun around furiously.
"Who the hell—"
Then he saw Lucien.
Instantly, his entire expression changed.
Like a wounded puppy finding safety.
"Lucien…"
His voice immediately became aggrieved.
"You believe me, right? I really didn't—"
"I know."
Just two words.
Yet Draco visibly relaxed immediately.
Lucien then looked calmly toward the gathered crowd.
"I apologise for the disturbance, everyone."
His voice remained elegant and composed.
"Please return to your compartments so the corridor doesn't become blocked."
"Thank you for your cooperation."
His natural grace immediately soothed much of the surrounding tension.
Unfortunately—
Ron completely misunderstood the situation.
In his mind, Lucien was clearly trying to cover things up.
At that moment, Ron genuinely felt like some heroic defender of justice standing against evil pure-blood aristocrats.
"No one leaves until Trevor is found!"
Lucien almost laughed internally.
No evidence.
No proof.
Yet Ron had already blocked the corridor and dragged countless students into the argument based entirely on assumption.
And now he refused to let anyone leave.
Wonderful.
If this continued much longer, Ron would destroy his own credibility even if he had originally possessed a reasonable concern.
Beside Lucien, Fred and George were frantically signalling at Ron to stop talking.
Ron ignored them completely.
At this point, his brain was probably already imagining applause from grateful students after exposing evil.
Lucien decided to end things immediately.
"Mr. Longbottom."
He turned calmly toward Neville instead.
"Could you describe Trevor for me?"
Neville immediately looked nervous.
"H-he's a toad," he stammered. "Golden back. Thirteen spots…"
"Understood."
Lucien drew his wand smoothly.
Then he focused briefly before pointing toward a nearby compartment.
"Accio Trevor."
WHOOSH.
A plump toad immediately shot through the corridor and landed neatly in Lucien's hand.
Gasps erupted instantly from nearby students.
"That was amazing!"
"He summoned a living creature!"
"I thought Accio only worked on objects!"
Even Fred and George looked stunned.
Lucien calmly handed the toad toward Neville.
"The Summoning Charm works on living creatures as well," he explained casually. "It's simply harder to control safely."
Fred stared at him like he had discovered Merlin reincarnated.
"You're making the rest of us older students look bad."
George nodded solemnly.
"Very bad."
Neville hurriedly hugged Trevor tightly against his chest.
Then he looked utterly mortified.
"I'm sorry," he blurted toward Draco immediately. "Trevor was hiding in our compartment the whole time."
Draco blinked.
Then awkwardly crossed his arms.
"…Fine."
Neville visibly relaxed.
Meanwhile, Ron's face had already turned scarlet with embarrassment.
The more self-righteous he had acted earlier, the worse this moment became now.
He quietly tried retreating toward the compartment door before anyone noticed.
Unfortunately—
Lucien's calm voice stopped him immediately.
"Mr. Weasley."
Ron froze.
Lucien looked at him quietly.
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
....
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