Elwin had no intention of greeting them and walked straight between the two pillars.
He felt a wave of magic wash over him.
Only then did Elwin understand why wizards walking through walls were never noticed by passing Muggles.
It seemed the pillars had been charmed.
Any wizard who stepped between the two pillars became invisible to Muggles.
Having figured out the principle behind it, Elwin walked toward the stone pillar.
At an unhurried pace, his figure was swallowed directly by the wall.
The next moment, Elwin felt the scene before him shift instantly.
A steam train stood on the tracks, puffing plumes of white steam.
Wizards hurried back and forth, seeing their children off to school.
Elwin turned his head to glance back at the wall.
A single spell separated two different worlds.
Indeed, the magical world made very little scientific sense.
Elwin walked straight toward the steam train.
There was no ticket-checking process whatsoever.
He boarded the train without the slightest hitch, found an empty compartment at random, and sat down.
He leaned back comfortably in his seat.
Before long, the train slowly pulled away.
Hardly had the train started moving when the compartment door slid open.
A head poked in.
"Um, all the other compartments are full! Can I—"
Elwin, who had been resting his eyes, opened them upon hearing the voice.
Red hair. Damn it, a poor wretch!
"No! Get lost!"
Ron had not expected Elwin to say such a thing.
He had already set one foot inside the compartment.
For a moment, he found himself in an awkward position.
Elwin frowned. "Shut the door!"
Anger flared in Ron's chest, but he dared not vent it.
Even from Elwin's attire, it was obvious that he was not someone Ron could afford to offend.
Being naturally cowardly and boneheaded, the only reason Ron had dared to stand up to Malfoy in the original story was because he had Harry Potter by his side.
Now, facing Elwin all by himself, he was genuinely terrified.
How could he possibly dare to make trouble?
He could only slink away in defeat.
Elwin disliked Ron; reading the original books had made him utterly exasperated with the boy.
Forget about decency—if circumstances had permitted, Elwin would have gladly given him a bullet.
No reason in particular; he simply felt like it, and that was that!
As someone who had transmigrated, what was wrong with being a little willful?
It wasn't as if he lacked the strength to back up his whims.
Elwin closed his eyes, intending to resume resting.
At that very moment, the compartment door opened yet again.
This time, Elwin was genuinely annoyed.
What the hell, is this going to be an all-day event?
Elwin's fingers brushed across his ring.
He forcefully suppressed the urge to pull out an AK.
He opened his eyes.
"Hello! Excuse me, have you seen a toad?"
Elwin looked at the bushy-headed figure standing in the doorway of the compartment.
He forced down the irritation rising in his chest.
Well, if only for the sake of being Hermione Granger.
Among the trio, Hermione was Elwin's favorite.
And as for why?
Blame the casting—Hermione was simply too gorgeous.
Even if she did lose her looks a bit later on.
Elwin looked Hermione over. Very good, she looked exactly like she did in the movies.
Elwin said, "I haven't seen it, but I can find it! Do you need help?"
Hermione said in astonishment, "You can find it? That would be wonderful! I've already searched half the train!"
The chubby little boy standing behind Hermione also wore a look of eager anticipation.
Elwin flicked his wrist, and a faint, almost imperceptible flash of light crossed the ring on his finger.
He had long since stashed his wand inside his Space ring.
Wasn't this gadget infinitely more convenient than anything else?
As for the quick-draw wand holster Ollivander had given him, Elwin had no choice but to let it gather dust.
Elwin looked at Hermione. "What's the toad's name?"
Hermione turned to the chubby boy behind her. "Neville, what's your toad's name?!"
Mr. Neville Longbottom had yet to discover his inner courage.
So when faced with Elwin's question, he didn't dare utter a peep.
After Hermione prompted him, Neville timidly stammered, "Trevor, his name is Trevor!"
Elwin rolled his eyes.
Utterly spineless. What on earth was he even afraid of?
Elwin gave his wand a gentle flick. "Accio Trevor!"
With a level-three Accio, failure was no longer an option!
Naturally, Elwin felt the need to show off a little.
However, Elwin had forgotten one crucial detail.
Or rather, he had been misled by novels.
After all, every protagonist in a novel encounters this exact scenario, followed by a casual casting of the Summoning Charm.
Of course Elwin had to respect the conventions of the novel.
After all, he was the protagonist too.
Yet he had overlooked one minor problem.
The Summoning Charm actually makes objects fly directly toward you.
Which meant it followed a distinct trajectory along the way.
And that resulted in a particular outcome.
When Trevor the toad arrived in front of Elwin, several other people arrived right along with it.
At the head of them was a head of platinum-blond hair.
It looked somewhat similar to Elwin's own silver-white hair.
Just by looking at the hair color, Elwin knew who it was.
Draco Malfoy.
Harry Potter's canonical rival.
The pride of platinum blond, master of the "my father will hear about this" defense.
Yet at this moment, Malfoy's face was contorted with fury.
On his right cheek was a distinct red mark.
Faintly visible across it was the imprint of a toad leg.
Elwin guessed the slap must have been quite fierce, especially since Trevor the toad, upon being tossed onto the floor by Elwin, was limping pathetically.
It looked rather pitiful.
Malfoy swept his gaze around the surroundings.
His eyes finally landed on Elwin.
Or more precisely, on the wand in Elwin's hand.
Malfoy looked Elwin up and down, thinking for a moment.
Then he spoke: "Who are you?"
Elwin was slightly surprised.
Well, well, Malfoy actually knew how to probe an opponent?
Shouldn't he have come in guns blazing with a mouthful of arrogant drivel?
Oh no, Malfoy had grown a brain.
Elwin said, "A Hogwarts first-year!"
Malfoy frantically racked his brains trying to place Elwin's identity.
Judging by Elwin's attire and bearing, he suspected Elwin was likely from one of the Pure-blood families.
Malfoy turned his head to look at his two lackeys.
Crabbe and Goyle.
The two of them shook their heads, indicating they didn't recognize Elwin either.
Seeing their reaction, Elwin found it somewhat amusing.
"Alright! Stop racking your brains, kid! I'm not from any of your wizarding Pure-blood families!"
Hearing this, Malfoy didn't react for a moment.
His already meager brain capacity had been utterly overloaded by Elwin's single sentence.
Elwin felt helpless. Wait a minute, shouldn't he be spouting some arrogant nonsense right about now so that Elwin could step in, act cool, and harvest some prestige?
Why was he just standing there in silence!
Elwin felt like he had been a bit too influenced by novels after all.
Screw it, he decided to skip the buildup altogether!
With a flash of light from the wand in Elwin's hand—
"Expelliarmus!"
Immediately afterward, Malfoy was lifted straight into the air, sent flying backward, and crashed heavily onto the floor.
There were quite a few students in the corridor watching the commotion.
Harry Potter and Ron were among them.
To be precise, the two of them had arrived first.
Because right when Malfoy was strutting about and showing off outside their compartment, the toad had smacked him right in the face as it flew past.
Malfoy struggled back to his feet, his eyes filled with utter bewilderment. "Why did you hit me?"
Elwin twirled the wand in his hand. "Because I figured you were about to insult me!"