Chapter - 7.3

"... And, of course, getting admission to the best school of witchcraft is no small feat in itself. I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope that..." as the girl was going on and on about whatever was coming to her mind, she suddenly felt light and a strong gust of wind passed her ear.

 

And before she could understand what had happened, the next moment, the girl was outside the compartment, and the door slid shut. It took her more than a couple of seconds to notice what had happened. And when she did, she tried to open the door but failed. She banged the door in anger for a while, but when nothing happened, she finally gave up and had to leave.

 

Inside the compartment, both Harry and Ron were in astonishment. They didn't know what happened so suddenly. They wanted to open the door for the girl, but when Ron tried, even he could not open the door. Only Nicole was looking at her brother with her mouth wide open.

 

"Brother, that was rude, you know," finally Nicole said when she could not hold back.

 

It was only after hearing Nicole that Ron and Potter turned their head to look at the almost non-existent boy in the room. He was still lying down with his eyes closed. But there was a wand in his hand this time.

 

'Rude? Me? Are you guys deaf or what? She had no place in the compartment. She was an uninvited guest, and on top of that, she was being too loud. Not to ignore how bossy she acted, throwing my leg."

 

"She was being too loud," Alex said indifferently to her sister's remark.

Listening to the siblings talking, the other two guys in the room knew that whatever happened now was done by the lazy-looking boy.

 

"Even then, you can't just throw a girl out. It's not how a gentleman acts," Nicole said.

 

"I am not," Alex said, 'A gentleman.'

 

"But..." Nicole wanted to continue, but Alex had pointed his wand at her making her stop. Even though he doted on her a lot, mess with his nap, and he won't go easy, even on Nicole.

 

And that was also a warning for the two boys in the room. They were about to inquire what had happened, but they swallowed their words. And so another conversation in the room died. Looking at the events unfold, Potter finally had a lot to ask Ron, but he was hesitant of Alex.

 

"Ron, you are from a family of wizards, right?" After some time had passed, Potter asked, whispering to Ron, to which the latter nodded, "So you must know a lot about Hogwarts. Tell me."

 

"Well, after we reach Hogwarts, we will be sorted into houses, namely Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin," Ron thought a bit and started to explain, " All my brothers have been in Gryffindor. Even my mum and dad. Don't know what will they say if I am not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad but imagine if they put me in Slytherin." Ron replied as his body shivered even at the thought of it.

 

"What's wrong with Slytherin?" asked Harry.

 

"That's the House Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?" Ron whispered, afraid that someone might hear him, "You know about him, don't you?"

 

Potter nodded, "Well, what else is there?" Not wanting to know more about the houses, Harry asked.

 

"Well, there is quidditch, the best game in the world..." and Ron started explaining about the game.

 

"By the way, have you heard about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles, someone tried to rob a high-security vault." Ron asked out of nowhere.

 

"Really? What happened to them?" Nicole asked. She has read about Gringotts, and it is said to be one of the most secure places.

 

"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. Those who tried haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get around Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything. That's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it." said Ron.

 

Listening to Ron, Harry had an odd expression on his face as if something was on his mind.

 

At the same time, a voice echoed through the train, interrupting their conversation, "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes. Do dress in your robes and please leave your luggage on the train. It will be taken to the school separately."

 

Once the voice died down, Alex stood up, opened his case and took out his robes.

 

"Hey, man, I am Ron Weasley, and this is Harry Potter. We never got to introduce ourselves," Ron hesitated but went through the introduction, extending his hand toward Alex. As they stood together, Alex was about a head taller than Ron and Harry.

 

"Alexender Ashbridge, Nicole's brother," Alex said, shaking Ron's hand and nodding towards Harry.

 

"So, in which year are you?" Ron asked.

 

"This is my first year".

 

"So you two are twins?" Ron looked at Alex and Nicole in amazement.

 

"Can't we? You have two in your family," Alex replied, "We just saw them".

 

"How did you know they were twins?" Ron asked in surprise.

 

"Because they look the same," Alex looked at Ron weirdly.

 

"Well, yeah..." listening to Alex and seeing his expression, Ron couldn't say

anything.

 

Alex wore his robes and opened the door only to bump into someone. It was the girl from earlier. She had come back and bumped straight into his chest. The girl was nothing but trouble, and not paying attention to the girl, Alex left.

 

"Who was that rude guy?" the girl asked, rubbing her forehead.

 

"I apologise on his behalf. My brother... He is not very social," Nicole apologised.

 

"Is he a senior?" The girl asked.

 

"No, he is also a first-year. We are twins," Nicole replied.

 

"Can we help you with something?" Ron interrupted the conversation and asked.

 

"I just came to tell you that we are reaching soon, but before that, they announced it. By the way, I am Hermione Granger," the girl said.

 

"Ron Weasley"

 

"Nicole Ashbridge"

 

"Harry Potter"

 

The three of them introduced themselves.

 

"Are you really?" Hermione asked, surprised, "I know all about you. Of course, I got a few extra books for background reading. You're in 'Modern Magical History', 'The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts,' and even in 'Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century'."

 

"Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed.

 

"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione but then hurriedly changed the topic, "Well, leave that aside for a while. Can you tell me what happened the last time I was here?"

 

Both Harry and Ron looked toward Nicole. She was the best one to explain that.

 

"I am sorry once again. That was my stupid brother's doing. He wanted to rest, but with all the commotion you..." Nicole wanted to curse his brother for leaving her behind to clean up his mess, "It's hard to explain. I can only apologise on his behalf."

 

"It's not that I am angry. It's just that the magic was cast so skillfully. I wanted to know who did it," Hermione said and continued, "What's your brother's name?"

 

"Alexender Ashbridge," Nicole told her.

 

"Alexender," Hermione murmured. She was going to remember this name.

 

Soon the train slowed down and finally stopped.

 

When Nicole got off the train along with Harry, Ron and Hermione, Alex was already waiting for them on the dark platform.

 

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