Chapter 74: Astoria Greengrass

The three of them quickly found an empty carriage.

Although there were only three of them, many young wizards avoided entering the compartment after spotting Erwin.

Over the past year, his reputation had grown considerably among the student body, and some younger students even showed a hint of apprehension when they saw him.

This gave him certain small privileges.

Before long, the train departed.

Hermione seemed puzzled, having not seen Harry or Ron anywhere along the platform.

"Erwin, did you see Harry and Ron earlier?"

"No."

Erwin stretched comfortably and answered in a lazy tone.

The sunlight streaming through the window felt warm, and it made him drowsy in the cozy cabin.

At that moment, Erwin was leaning against the window, looking quite sleepy.

Seeing him like this, Hermione decided not to bother him further.

She went out to check if Harry and Ron were somewhere else on the train.

After a while, Hermione returned, her expression troubled.

"I walked through the entire train and didn't see them. Fred and George don't know where they are either."

Seeing how worried Hermione was, Erwin tried to comfort her.

"It's alright. If they missed the train, there are other ways to reach the school. They could drive, for example."

Hermione rolled her eyes and was about to say that the joke wasn't funny at all when the compartment door suddenly slid open.

A young witch with blonde hair and blue eyes walked in, asking hesitantly.

"Hello, can I join here? I've been searching for ages and can't find an empty seat."

Erwin glanced at her and noticed that this girl was cute and beautiful.

Her curly blonde hair was carefully arranged over her shoulders, and the long eyelashes framing her blue eyes made her look almost doll-like.

"Go ahead."

Erwin was momentarily surprised but quickly returned to his usual composure.

It had to be said that after being around Fleur's stunning beauty, he wouldn't be too affected by seeing another pretty girl.

Seeing that Erwin agreed, Cho and Hermione naturally didn't object and gave the young witch a friendly nod.

Noticing the girl struggling with a large trunk, Erwin stood up and helped her lift it onto the luggage rack.

"Thank you." The girl smiled, revealing two shallow dimples.

"My name is Astoria Greengrass! It's nice to meet you."

Erwin thought for a moment. He didn't recall hearing that name before and simply nodded.

He introduced himself, along with Cho and Hermione.

Unexpectedly, the young witch suddenly cried out in surprise.

"Are you Erwin Gaunt? The genius wizard who refused to join Slytherin?"

The corners of Erwin's mouth twitched at that, and the two girls beside him covered their mouths to stifle their laughter.

Apparently, his reputation had already spread to the newly enrolled students.

Feeling somewhat rude, Astoria quickly apologized and explained.

"I kept hearing my sister talk about you this summer. She said you're the most talented student in recent years and that you created a new record for the House Cup."

Erwin nodded in understanding. So she came from a pureblood family.

"Who's your sister?"

"Daphne Greengrass."

Erwin found the name somewhat familiar. He'd heard Cho mention it before; apparently, she was the Slytherin leader of his so-called fan club.

At the time, he'd been baffled to learn he had such a following. Why had fan culture invaded Hogwarts of all places?

After the introductions, the girls quickly became friends, and the train moved smoothly toward Hogwarts.

Suddenly, Erwin noticed something outside the window.

Looking uncertain, he pulled out his wand and tapped it against his temple. Then his expression turned peculiar.

"What's wrong?"

Cho noticed that Erwin's eyes had been fixed outside the window with a strange look on his face. She asked aloud, while Hermione and Astoria looked over curiously.

Erwin thought for a moment and decided it was too complicated to explain verbally.

He cast [Hawkeye Vision] on the two girls, gesturing for them to look out the window.

Seeing Astoria's curious expression, he included her as well.

Now everyone could see something in the sky outside the window, a Muggle car actually flying through the air.

With [Hawkeye Vision] active, they could clearly make out the two people inside the vehicle.

"Harry and Ron?"

Hermione cried out.

She could clearly see the terrified expressions on their faces.

The car was also bouncing up and down, looking very unstable.

She grabbed Erwin's arm urgently.

"Erwin, can you help them?"

Erwin shook his head.

They were too far away, and there was nothing he could do.

So the four of them could only watch as the car flew farther and farther into the distance.

Hermione kept muttering about point deductions, which Erwin found amusing.

Hermione truly was a model student who valued grades above nearly everything else.

"The Harry you're talking about, is he the savior, Harry Potter?"

Astoria asked Erwin uncertainly.

"Yes," Erwin confirmed.

This made Astoria's worldview shift a bit.

Was the famous Mr. Savior really this reckless?

However, Erwin explained that the car belonged to Mr. Weasley's collection, reassuring Hermione that there shouldn't be any safety concerns.

He also pointed out that since school hadn't officially started yet, there were no house points for Harry and Ron to lose.

This put Hermione's mind at ease.

Erwin bought some snacks to pass the time on the journey and invited Astoria to share them.

The young witch was a bit embarrassed at first, but after some encouragement from Cho and Hermione, she accepted and ate a little.

Along the way, Astoria and Cho developed an unexpectedly close friendship.

Perhaps because Cho was older, her gentle demeanor gave Astoria the feeling of having an older sister.

If it weren't for the fact that the Greengrass family traditionally attended Slytherin, she might have chosen Ravenclaw because of Cho.

Gradually, the train reached its destination.

After the three of them escorted Astoria to Hagrid, they headed toward the area where returning students boarded the carriages.

Hermione explained Harry and Ron's situation to Hagrid, and he looked very worried after hearing about it.

However, since Hagrid needed to lead the first-years to the Sorting Ceremony, he couldn't go to Professor McGonagall immediately.

He had to ask Hermione to find the professor as soon as they arrived at the school and explain what had happened.