Lin Shu was left with a tiny head full of giant question marks. With no one to explain it to her, she only half-understood what was going on, feeling completely unsatisfied and that it wasn't much fun at all.
Perhaps it was because she wasn't a local, but the things these people found so terrifying meant absolutely nothing to her.
Still, seeing that everyone else found it difficult to speak about, she decided not to press the matter.
The rest of the journey passed quickly. The train chugged forward at high speed, and Lin Shu closed her eyes to rest. Jolted around all the way, she was genuinely exhausted.
Harry and Ron, meanwhile, bought plenty of snacks and began to eat, until a girl with bushy brown hair entered the compartment, shattering the original peace.
"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger. Have any of you seen a toad? Neville lost one."
Ron was sitting closest and answered directly:
"Haven't seen it."
"Alright! Well, you three had better put on your robes. We'll be arriving shortly."
Lin Shu opened her sleepy eyes, clearly not having slept enough. As for robes or anything of the sort, she certainly didn't have any.
She had dawdled for a long time on her journey here and hadn't had a chance to purchase the required items for enrollment. Besides, she had brought plenty of magical instruments and talisman papers from her own sect, figuring she wouldn't need any special shopping, so she hadn't bothered to buy robes, a wand, or anything like that at all.
"Oh! That's a bit troublesome. Do we really have to wear robes? I didn't buy any at all. I just hope the teacher lets me in!"
She murmured a soft complaint, then rubbed her eyes and shouldered her small personal backpack, waiting for the train to arrive.
Hearing her muttering, Hermione quickly chimed in:
"Oh, my God, you don't have robes? It's written right there in the freshman handbook."
"Ah, unfortunately, my home is in the East, and it took a lot of time just to get here, so I simply didn't have time to buy any. Besides, I'm a stranger in a strange land and have no idea where I'm supposed to buy them, so I suppose I'll just make do!"
"So that's how it is. It really has been hard on you."
Hermione couldn't help letting her imagination run wild, clearly categorizing Lin Shu as coming from an impoverished family background just like her own, which filled her tone with a touch of shared sympathy.
Yet the thick-skinned Lin Shu didn't notice this at all and continued chatting quite naturally:
"Not hard at all, not hard at all! When I left home, my senior martial brothers and sisters stuffed my bag with plenty of good things. You can't even buy those with money—I made a massive profit."
Thinking of the magical artifacts she had acquired, Lin Shu couldn't help breaking into a beaming, intoxicated smile—hahaha—
She couldn't help it, she really couldn't!
Thinking of it this way, leaving her homeland to be an exchange student didn't seem hard at all anymore.
Her cheerful mindset directly soothed the nervous tension of the other three, and soon the train pulled into the station as night fell.
Lin Shu didn't carry many personal items, having stashed all her odds and ends into the storage bracelet given to her by her Master, making her the most travel-light person of all.
The train doors opened, and Lin Shu followed closely behind the main crowd as they disembarked.
During this time, she didn't separate from Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Having managed to forge a bond on the train and facing an unfamiliar environment, they all wanted to stick together and form a group.
"First-years, this way!"
"Come along, first-years! Don't be shy, get off the train quickly and follow me."
A booming, high-pitched voice rang out. Lin Shu looked in the direction of the voice and saw a giant-like bearded man. He was tall and burly, with a huge, protruding belly, giving off an invisible sense of oppression.
"Wah, are there really giants in this world?"
Lin Shu whispered uncertainly to herself, never expecting anyone to answer her, but Harry spoke up:
"Don't be afraid, Shu. That's Hagrid, and he's really kind. He was the one who accompanied me all the way when I bought my school supplies and went to the platform. To be honest, he's genuinely warm and friendly."
"That's wonderful! It just goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover."
Soon, following the surging crowd, they naturally moved toward the front. After Harry exchanged greetings with Hagrid, the crowd behind them had mostly gathered.
Hagrid raised his booming voice again, holding an illuminating lamp in his hand as he cleared the path ahead with an air of "one man can hold off ten thousand":
"Everyone here? Follow me over this way to the boats, hurry up, keep up with me."
A small boat could seat four people. Lin Shu, Harry, Ron, and Hermione happened to fit four to a boat, so they didn't need to team up with anyone else. Soon the boats began to drift, gliding across the surface of the water. As the distance grew shorter, Lin Shu finally got a clear look at the ancient castle looming ahead.
This was entirely novel to her, something she had never seen before in the Eastern world of Cultivation.
The distant ancient castle looked like a sleeping giant crouching over the wilderness, its massive outline looming indistinctly under the gloomy blue moonlight.
The outer walls were built from alternating rows of faintly glowing magic crystals and pitch-black meteoric iron. Inside the magic crystals, light swirled as if countless stars were trapped within, flashing incessantly, while mysterious runes engraved on the meteoric iron occasionally flickered with a ghostly green phosphorescence. Together, they set each other off, outlining a cold yet luxurious texture.
Not just her, but every single newcomer present let out soft gasps of admiration, some high and some low.
Soon, everyone entered the interior of the castle. The decoration inside remained opulent and classical, leaving one's head spinning.
Yet Lin Shu was suddenly struck full-force by a dense wave of Yin energy, making her whole body shiver.
Oh no, there might be a lot of ghosts haunting this place.
She quickly pinched out a "Golden Light Spell".
Accompanied by the incantation, spiritual energy surged around Lin Shu as golden streams of light coiled and wove from within her body, gathering on her skin.
This barrier of light was as sturdy as a divine shield; if any evil entity dared approach, it would be burned by the golden light, howling as it retreated in terror.
The saying "ghosts and demons lose their nerve, spirits and monsters forfeit their form" was certainly no joke.
Amidst the surrounding hubbub, her tiny bit of commotion didn't disturb anyone else.
She continued following the main group until they reached a stairway landing, where a noble, elegant lady wearing a hat and fine attire was standing right there waiting for them.
As it happened, someone among the accompanying students recognized this lady and instantly blurted out her name—Professor McGonagall.
Lin Shu blinked as she looked at her, feeling somehow that this professor was extremely amiable.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. In a little while, we will walk through this door and join the rest of the students. But before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you must be sorted into your houses.
The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."
Lin Shu listened with the utmost attention, yet still couldn't escape the fate of not understanding a word. She had clearly practiced her foreign languages very well, but when it came to the sorting part, she was still completely lost in a fog.
Why divide into four houses? By what criteria? Spiritual Roots? What happens if you get sorted into the wrong one?
Fraught with a bellyful of questions, she had no choice but to bite her tongue and listen on. She heard the professor continue:
"The house will be your home while you are here. Your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose them.
At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup. That's about all; the sorting ceremony will begin immediately."
With that, Professor McGonagall strode off toward the inside, leaving the first-years waiting right where they were. Lin Shu was in no hurry, figuring she could use this opportunity to ask everyone about this sorting business.
Although she was here as an exchange student, she didn't want to get sorted into the wrong house and waste her studies. She had come here aiming to learn more knowledge and skills, and even if Western magic wasn't the same thing as Dongxuan, she would still maintain an impartial attitude to accept the essence and discard the dross.
Unlike other cultivators who imposed limits on themselves as if practicing one Daoist technique meant they could never touch another, to her, even Heaven and Earth had no boundaries, so why should mortals shackle themselves with so many restrictions?
Just as she was about to ask Harry, however, a platinum-blond boy standing on their left raised his chin and spoke up:
"It's true what they were saying on the train. Harry Potter, you really have come to Hogwarts."
As his voice fell, another wave of whispering broke out among the crowd. That half-eaten-melon feeling of being left hanging came washing over Lin Shu once more, and she couldn't help wondering what on earth was so special about the name Harry Potter—what was the big deal anyway?
Could someone please explain it to her?
Why did everyone react as if they'd been triggered the moment that name was mentioned?
She licked her dry lips, watching that platinum head flash right over to them in a single streak.
"I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy!"
Malfoy? That was a rather nice-sounding name, too.
Yet for some reason, Ron on the side suddenly let out a snort of laughter.
Lin Shu looked over, her tiny head once again filled with giant bewilderment.
In her impression, Ron was definitely not an impolite person; at least during their time on the train, Ron had been very gentlemanly and observant of etiquette.
As for why he had suddenly burst into a sneer, Lin Shu didn't understand, so she wasn't about to meddle.
But Draco Malfoy's expression instantly changed, and his next words were astonishingly blunt, with no intention of letting it go:
"What are you laughing at? Do you think my name, Draco Malfoy, is that funny? You don't have to tell me, I already know who you are. Red hair and a secondhand robe—you must be a Weasley.
Harry Potter, you'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others. You don't want to go making friends with the sort.
Though I could help you there."
With that, Malfoy extended a hand in a gesture of goodwill, his gaze locked firmly on Harry. Lin Shu could only feel that the atmosphere right then was taut as a bowstring, and the next second she heard Harry state flatly:
"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks."
Such a blunt rejection left Draco completely unable to step down with grace.
Lin Shu had originally disdained to meddle in other people's business, but she also felt that Malfoy was rather wronged—he had come over enthusiastically to make friends, only to be deliberately mocked and then publicly humiliated.
If it were her, she would have hit back without hesitation. And so, acting on a sudden impulse, she spoke up:
"Harry, he didn't mean any harm."
"Maybe not! But he was rude to my friend, and I don't like it."
Hearing this reply, Lin Shu said no more. However, as their conversation reached Draco's ears, the young master didn't calm down at all—he only grew angrier.
If looks could kill, Malfoy would surely have slaughtered Harry and Ron a thousand times over...