21 Encounter on the Hogwarts Express and the Arrogant Malfoy

Ch. 19 – Encounter on the Hogwarts Express and the Arrogant Malfoy

Simon sat in a compartment, which luckily was empty. He took a Discman from his jacket pocket and a CD with recorded music. Looking at the contraption in front of him, Simon almost cried when he remembered his old iPod.

- "Damn this era."

He leaned back on the seat, sighing, and looked outside as he pressed play on the device. Listening to Michael Jackson, Simon took out a small notebook and began to read his notes, making some small changes, and drawing some alchemical runes.

Simon has a high level of knowledge about the three types of alchemy, and although he has mainly worked with biological alchemy for the past 6 years, he has not abandoned his studies in other areas.

He developed his own combat alchemy, which involved using air as a weapon, due to the damage caused by Ed and Al's fighting style in the environment.

For now, it wasn't perfect, allowing him only to create pressurized air blades that could cut even metal. But he knew that soon he could create oxygen-free vacuum zones, causing hypoxia in his enemies. He could also cause death by carbon dioxide inhalation or use oxygen as a oxidizer and combine it with hydrogen gas, like Mustang.

But for now, he decided to set that aside. Simon was about to take another step and study alkahestry. Unlike the alchemy mastered by the Elric brothers, alkahestry is exclusive to the ancient alchemists of Xerxes and was taught to the people of Xing by Hohenheim.

It is mainly focused on treating diseases and creating elixirs, but it can also be used in combat and in some aspects may even surpass Amestris' alchemy.

Simon didn't have much knowledge about this alchemy, and the little he knew was what Al had studied with May Chang. However, now that he would have some time to specialize more in it, he decided to do so.

Suddenly, the door of his compartment opened, and a chubby boy appeared. Simon briefly looked up and recognized Neville.

- Can I... sit here with you? The other compartments are full.

- No problem.

Neville smiled and sat in front of Simon. Regarding the other compartments being full, it was a clear lie; he just sought the boy in front of him because he wanted to try to have a conversation with him.

Neville was silent for a while and didn't know what to say when he saw Simon wearing headphones and writing some things. And so they both just sat there quietly.

Simon didn't mind Neville's discomfort; he just wanted to take advantage of the trip to study a bit. Minutes later, another person knocked on the door.

- Can I sit here?

Neville stayed silent, even more nervous, while Simon raised his eyes and looked at the girl who was at the door. Curly brown hair, slightly protruding front teeth, and brown eyes, wearing regular Muggle clothes.

Simon just nodded once again, and the girl entered and sat next to him. She then started talking about how excited she was to go to Hogwarts, while Neville shrank not knowing how to speak, and Simon simply ignored them and continued writing.

- What are you writing?

Suddenly, the girl leaned a bit closer to Simon, and he closed the notebook and looked at her.

- It's impolite to peek at other people's things, miss...

- Hermione Granger, and you?

- Simon Morgan, and this is Neville.

Hermione nodded slightly to Neville before turning to Simon again. Looking at his Discman, she smiled, exposing her pointed teeth.

- You were a Muggle too, right?

- Yes.

- Which school were you in before? I studied at St. Brás Primary School.

- Well, I used to study at home.

- Really? Your parents didn't enroll you in a school?

- I live with my adoptive grandfather. I don't know my parents.

- I... I'm sorry.

- It doesn't matter.

Hermione was silent for a while, and Simon also stopped talking. Suddenly, he felt the train starting to leave the station, and at that exact moment, Michael Jackson's music ended, and "Carry on Wayward Son" by Kansas began to play.

Simon gave a slight smile listening to the music, and so the train left the station. The rest of the trip was quiet, with the three talking about their families and other topics. Well, it was mainly Hermione talking, Neville nodding slightly and speaking occasionally, and Simon mostly listening and speaking only occasionally while still writing some things in the notebook.

At some point, Neville's toad disappeared, and he went out to look for it. Hermione wanted to go along, but he insisted on going alone, saying he would be back soon.

Simon believed that Neville just wanted some time away from Hermione. Not that he didn't appreciate the girl's presence or was afraid of human contact. He was just socially awkward. In fact, in the few hours they spent in the compartment, he spoke quite a bit.

However, Neville still felt uncomfortable in such an environment, so he needed some space to recover. Hermione also wasn't happy about being left behind. She urgently wanted to prove herself useful.

- Any problem, Hermione?

- No.

She spoke briefly and sat in Neville's place, in front of Simon, and stared at the landscape outside. She was a smart and somewhat arrogant and conceited girl. But beneath all that, she was quite nervous, feeling insecure about her future at Hogwarts. When they were talking about the wizarding world, she felt bad seeing that, even being a Muggle-born like her, Simon seemed to know more about this new world, and Neville, although shy, also had a lot of knowledge about the magical world.

- "What if I'm not good enough, what if I answer a professor's question wrong? What if I misspell a spell?"

Simon didn't know what was going on in Hermione's head, but he could guess. It had been years since he last saw the movie, but he still knew a lot about the main trio of the saga.

From what he remembered of her personality, Hermione was an insecure girl at the beginning, covering her discomfort with a facade of indifference while trying to prove she deserved a place in the wizarding world. In fact, much of her adventures with Harry and Ron were her trying to show herself useful, and it was thanks to her intelligence that they escaped many times from certain death. It was only after various challenges and with the help of Harry and Ron that she grew up and left her insecurities behind.

As for Harry and Ron. At the moment, Harry was just a boy who went from being despised to being respected. For a child like him, praise was all he needed to feel good and accepted. Of course, it made him more confident and a bit arrogant, but Simon wouldn't judge; after all, he was just an 11-year-old child, and besides that, he was a good person.

Now Ron was a difficult subject to comment on. Simon didn't hate the boy, but he didn't think he would get along with him. I mean, it's normal to envy a little friend who has a toy you don't have, but Ron took it a bit too far. For four years, he basically lived in Harry's shadow, like his little puppy seeking some attention given to his owner. At least, that's what Simon felt when he remembered the character.

- Which house do you want to go to?

Suddenly, Simon was awakened from his thoughts when Hermione started talking to him again.

- I didn't think much about it. And you?

- Of course, Ravenclaw.

- Really?

- What? Do you think I'm not smart enough to be in Ravenclaw? Know that I was the smartest in my class.

- It's not that. It's just that you seem like someone who seeks logical answers and isn't very willing to go beyond that.

- What do you mean?

- I'm not sure how to explain, but usually, those who belong to Ravenclaw need more than just intelligence.

Hermione lowered her head a bit, and after a while, she looked at Simon; her eyes lacked the sparkle they had a few minutes ago when she spoke.

- Which house do you think I'll be in?

- I think Gryffindor. House of the courageous, brave, and fearless.

- Seriously?

Hermione adjusted her posture and began to smile slightly; Simon's words made her feel more at ease, although she was still a bit anxious.

Time passed slowly, and shortly after, Neville returned and sat next to Simon, a little downcast for not having found his toad.

- Don't worry, Neville, I know we'll find him when we arrive.

- I hope so.

While Hermione tried to cheer up the downcast Neville, the compartment door opened once again. Simon looked at the door and saw a boy with platinum blond hair, light gray eyes, and an arrogant expression.

- Hey, Neville, I heard you lost your pet toad.

- Did you find him?

- Of course not. I just came here because I'm going to talk to Harry Potter, and by chance, I heard you looking for a toad. And as if that weren't enough, now you're associating with Mudbloods? You really tarnish the pure-blood image.

Neville was irritated by Draco's words and stood up to confront him.

- Take back what you said, Draco.

- Or what?

Simon remained silent, staring at Draco and his cronies. Like Snape, it was a bit difficult to describe what he felt about Draco. He wasn't essentially a villain and was more like a boy seeking parental approval.

He knew that, as a typical pure-blood heir, he had inherited the blood purity doctrine well and saw himself as superior, at least until the Battle of Hogwarts seven years later.

Besides, as the heir to the Malfoy family, he had a great responsibility on his shoulders, and his actions and opinions meant the actions and opinions of the family. Still, he liked Draco's character more than Ron's.

Malfoy stared at Neville with a certain surprise; he knew him from some gatherings of important wizarding families. Although the Longbottoms were not rich, they still had some influence, especially being recognized as one of the Sacred 28.

Initially, Draco wanted to befriend Neville, but he was disappointed with his cowardly and unexpressive attitude and decided to distance himself from the boy. But now, the same boy decided to confront him directly, which was a bit surprising.

- Humph, whatever. If you want to mix with that kind of people, be my guest. I won't worry about it anymore.

Seeing Draco leave, Neville sighed and sat down.

- What's a Mudblood?

Hermione, although upset, was confused about what a Mudblood was, so she decided to ask Neville, who immediately felt embarrassed and didn't know how to respond.

- Mudblood is a derogatory term by which Muggle-born wizards are known. Some wizards preach the ideology of blood purity, arguing that Muggle-borns and half-bloods shouldn't exist.

Listening to Simon's words, Hermione became furious and started reprimanding Draco. Neville was a little scared by the sudden outburst of the girl but remained silent. Meanwhile, Simon smiled slightly when he noticed that the girl ended up becoming a bit more anxious to prove herself.