Chapter 5: First Clash on the Express Train and Recruiting Harry (Patreon)

September 1st, 1991. King's Cross Station, Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

The scarlet steam engine belched thick white clouds, and its whistle cut through the noisy crowd. Owls beat their wings restlessly inside iron cages, and trunks of every shape thudded dully against one another on their trolleys.

Raven Capet walked through the brick wall between platforms nine and ten alone.

He carried only a small leather case under a featherweight charm. He had changed into a brand-new, plain black school robe, its collar fastened with a flawless Windsor knot. With his handsome, deep-set features and that cool, aloof air, he stood out sharply in the crowd.

Ignoring the awed and curious looks around him, Raven walked straight onto the train and found an empty, quiet compartment toward the middle-rear.

He slid the door shut, tossed his case onto the luggage rack, and sat by the window. From inside his robe he drew a thick copy of Ancient Runes Made Easy and began flipping through it, quite content.

Before long, hurried, clumsy footsteps sounded in the corridor, along with the panting of someone dragging something heavy. With a click, the frosted-glass door of the compartment was timidly pulled open a crack.

"Excuse me... is anyone sitting here? All the other compartments are full..."

A small boy poked his head in. He was thin and slight, wearing an old checked shirt that was absurdly too big for him. On his nose sat a battered pair of round glasses, wrapped around with tape, and his black hair stuck up in every direction. Beneath the messy fringe on his forehead, a faint lightning-bolt scar stood out.

Harry Potter. The famous "Boy Who Lived" of the wizarding world looked, at this moment, like a trembling cub that had wandered into a wolf pack, his eyes full of fear and self-doubt.

"Go ahead. It's only me in here."

Raven closed his book and looked up with a gentle smile, neither too eager nor the least bit dismissive.

Harry let out a breath of relief. He was struggling to heave his heavy old trunk into the compartment, his thin arms turning red with the effort.

Raven didn't even draw his wand. He simply flicked a fingertip through the air, entirely at ease.

A barely perceptible, silent Silent Levitation Charm took hold. The trunk, which must have weighed dozens of pounds, suddenly became light as a feather and drifted obediently up onto the rack.

"Wow..." Harry stared, wide-eyed, his green eyes full of shock and admiration. "You didn't even use a wand?! That's so cool!"

"Just a little trick of basic wandless magic control. Once you get used to the flow of magic inside you, you'll be able to do it too." Raven gestured for him to sit. "Let me introduce myself. Raven Capet."

"Harry. Harry Potter." Harry sat down across from him, stiff and uneasy, and spoke softly, his hand instinctively pressing down his fringe, as if afraid of seeing that fanatical look strangers in the wizarding world always got.

But Raven only nodded calmly, his gaze clear and unguarded. "Nice to meet you, Harry. If you don't mind, try one of these? Capet Manor's homemade mint honey drops. They help with travel sickness."

From his pocket he casually handed over a small, exquisite silver tin.

Harry had grown up under the Dursleys' cold stares and abuse. When had anyone ever treated him as an equal, so gently and with such graceful manners?

A warm current welled up in his chest. He took a sweet and put it in his mouth, and the tension in his body seemed to melt away. Without realizing it, the way he looked at Raven had taken on a sincere note of admiration.

"Mr. Capet... I mean, Raven. Are all wizarding kids as amazing as you?" Harry couldn't stop himself from asking quietly. "I only found out I was a wizard a month ago. I'm really scared I won't be able to keep up with the classes..."

"Relax, Harry."

Raven took an unhurried sip of water, his tone carrying a soothing power. "The essence of magic lies in heart and will, not in bloodline or in how early you started. If you're willing to focus, you'll never be inferior to anyone. If there's anything you don't understand, you can always ask me."

"Really? Thank you so much, Brother Raven!" Harry's eyes warmed with tears, and the form of address came out with admiration all by itself.

Just as the two were chatting happily, the compartment door was suddenly shoved open with a bang!

"Hey! Crabbe, Goyle, I told you I heard something coming from this carriage—"

A clear, haughty voice, like silver bells but with a whiff of gunpowder, shattered the quiet of the compartment.

Platinum curls glittered in the sunlight. Draconia Malfoy strode in with her arms crossed and her chin raised high, like a little swan patrolling her territory.

Today she wore a tailored, form-fitting black Slytherin dress robe, with a dazzling pure-silver serpent brooch pinned to her chest. Everything about her radiated the dignity and sharp spirit of a pure-blood young lady.

Behind her followed two stout boys like iron towers, never more than a step away.

Draconia had heard that "the Savior, Harry Potter," was somewhere in this section of the train, and had brought her lackeys over on purpose to show off the Malfoy name and presence.

But when her gaze swept over the tall, slender figure in black sitting by the window, she froze solid!

"Raven Capet?!" Her voice shot up an octave. The proud, icy little face flashed with visible shock, and then flared into volcanic embarrassment and rage!

Talk about enemies meeting on a narrow road!

The towering humiliation of being dumped to her face in Diagon Alley had replayed in her dreams every night for a month, and had made her smash several expensive crystal vases at the manor!

She had dreamed of catching this bastard at Hogwarts. She never expected to run straight into him on the train!

"Miss Malfoy." Raven turned a page without so much as lifting his eyelids, his tone as flat as if greeting empty air. "Shouting in a public corridor. It seems a month of holiday hasn't taught you how to control your voice."

"You...!" Draconia's chest heaved violently, and she ground her teeth.

But when her eyes landed on the boy beside him and caught sight of that famous lightning scar, her eyes flicked, and she forcibly smothered her anger and put the lofty, haughty pose back on.

She gave Raven a disdainful glance, then lifted her head slightly and held out a slender hand in a delicate white lace glove to Harry, drawing out her words: "You're Harry Potter, aren't you? I'm Draconia Malfoy."

With a slight tilt of her chin, she announced proudly: "You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to mix with the down-at-heel paupers or the riffraff. I can give you the best advice when it comes to choosing friends."

As she spoke, she slanted a provocative look at Raven, her eyes glittering with the thrill of revenge: See that? This is the sort of ally a savior should have!

But Harry, sitting opposite, looked at Draconia's lofty arrogance, then at Raven, who had just patiently guided him and been so approachable.

The little savior hesitated not at all. He plopped straight back down next to Raven, didn't even offer his hand, and refused her flatly:

"I think I can tell good from bad myself, Miss Malfoy. Brother Raven just taught me loads of things. He's a lot more polite than you."

"Brother... Raven?!" Draconia's outstretched hand froze in midair. She looked as if lightning had struck her, her gray-blue eyes full of disbelief and absurdity!

The Savior was calling this ruined, down-and-out fiancé-dumper "Brother"?! And in front of Crabbe and Goyle, he had ruthlessly turned down the olive branch the Malfoy family had extended?!

"Pfft."

Raven finally shut his book and couldn't hold back a soft laugh. He lifted his deep black eyes, looking half-smiling at the flushed girl who was now stuck on the tiger's back: "Miss Malfoy, it seems not everyone in this world swallows your lofty charity."

"You... you two!!"

Draconia snatched her hand back, her little face swelling red as a ripe apple. She stamped her foot in fury, her gray-blue eyes even misting over with hurt. "Harry Potter! You'll regret this! And you, Raven Capet! Tonight's Sorting Ceremony... just you wait!!"

After flinging out a threat with no menace in it at all, she tossed her platinum hair with a sharp flip and fled the compartment, slamming the door behind her and leaving a gust of fragrance full of grievance and fury.

In his mind, the System's mechanical chime rang out right on schedule!

[Ding! Detected that key character "Draconia Malfoy" has once again experienced frustration and a breakdown of composure!]

[Main-plot character "Harry Potter" has deviated greatly in his perception of fate and has established trust in the Host!]

[Causality Reversal Points +400!]

[Total remaining Reversal Points: 1850!]

Raven leaned back against the soft cushion and watched the fields rush past the window, the smile at the corner of his lips growing more playful.

The Sorting Ceremony, huh... With his current qualifications, which House would he end up in?

He was actually a little excited...