Chapter 97: On the Train (Edited)

"Come on down!" Harry yelled to Ron, "We need to fly lower to see the train!"

"I know the way, I once flew across the Pacific Ocean in a Thunderbird, I have the best sense of direction, let me show you the way!" Lockhart recovered to the fright of the clouds that had just descended upon him and made his presence known, "We should fly in that direction!"

"I see it! Just ahead, there!" shouted Harry, pointing to the Hogwarts Express train below them that was traveling in the opposite direction from the direction Lockhart was pointing.

Lockhart: "..."

"Actually, this direction is the closest distance in a straight line." Lockhart said weakly, but at that point Harry and Ron simply assumed that Hedwig, in the back seat, had suddenly learned to speak.

The reason for their descent was not only the view, but also the temperature. Today was a sunny day in London, but the maximum temperature was miserable, and it is well known that in the troposphere, the temperature of the atmosphere decreases as altitude increases. Every meter above sea level, the temperature drops..... The Ford had just reached a thousand meters altitude and the surrounding temperature was almost, or only, as low as the ground.

That's still a bit cold. Not to mention the fact that the Ford obviously didn't consider the issue of thermal insulation.

So they flew the car a little lower. Harry and the three of them were in for a fantastic ride: the sun was shining, they were flying through white clouds, and there were endless fields and a train beneath their feet....

What a poetic journey! And what's even better, they found a packet of candy under the board; luckily, it wasn't the product of Fred's pranks.

Soon, however, the fun of traveling by car faded. There was no drinking water in the car, the candy was making them thirsty, and flying in the car was getting on their nerves....

Lockhart had stopped talking too much. But suddenly something occurred to him, "I know a wonderful spell!" He pulled out his wand, "Behold, (Aguamenti)!"

In theory, a spring of fresh water should have gushed from the tip of his wand to feed the thirsty throats of the three of them, but the water that gushed from the tip of Lockhart's wand was foul! It smelled strongly of fermented proteins.

"!!!" Harry and Ron's minds exploded: the car was now like opening a package of spoiled chicken breasts, with a lingering stench.

Harry couldn't help but look at the train below: the train aunt must have been selling cold pumpkin juice.

"Two glasses of cold pumpkin juice, and a cold chocolate, please." Tom stopped the lady passing by and bought a couple of drinks and some snacks.

In the carriage were two very pretty girls - Hermione, in a white shirt with a gray vest over it, and Peggy Grossman, in a red dress.

Tom and Hermione met the Grossman father and daughter at the station and, like old people, helped them find the entrance to the station, and sat down in a compartment as a matter of course.

"Thank you, sir," Peggy said with a sweet smile, "How did you know I liked chocolate best, sir?".

Hermione, who was sitting across from her, looked at her discreetly as she took a sip of her pumpkin juice.

"Mr. Grossman told me." Tom placed the snacks on the small table, "Here, a special snack from the magical world, don't miss it."

Peggy opened a chocolate frog box, and the magic frog inside felt the air of freedom, so he gave a little push and jumped out of the box, but before he could "swim out to sea" Peggy grabbed him by the hind legs.

She grabbed the chocolate frog by the back legs so that it was at eye level and watched it struggle, "That's a little gross." Then he popped the chocolate frog into his mouth, "But chocolate is chocolate, and it tastes just as good."

The crunchy sound of chocolate echoed through the compartment, and Tom even watched the chocolate frog's little paw twist at the corner of his mouth, so that a tiny pink tongue rolled it into his mouth. Soon, the chocolate frog was gone forever.

It was just a snack, but Peggy felt like she was devouring a living creature.

"Oh, is there a card here?" Peggy picked up the card from the chocolate frog's box, "Morgana?" she looked at the description, "A powerful dark witch, a witch from the time of King Arthur? Sounds impressive."

Morgana was the queen of Elysium and holds the apple branch, the Celtic symbol of peace and abundance. She is a cultured and beautiful woman, but this fairy is also the goddess of winter, who rules darkness and death. She is both a noblewoman and a fox, an evil witch-queen and a beautiful fairy. She has two distinct images: that of a beautiful maiden and that of an old woman. Whatever her identity, she is usually the embodiment of evil and a skilled healer.

Tom also opened a box of chocolate frog and got a character card, "Merlin?"

Merlin was a wizard of King Arthur's time, the most famous of all time, known as "The Prince of Enchantments." He was the equivalent of a non-magical God in the magical world. Merlin was a powerful and wise man who could see the future and was skilled in enchantments. Born from the union between a nightmare and a mortal woman, Merlin inherited supernatural powers and abilities from this lineage.

Merlin could transform into all kinds of animals and talk to them; he could even become a virus, which is how he defeated Morgana. Legend has it that it was Merlin who led King Arthur to the Holy Sword and united England.

The welcome letter from Slytherin House said that Merlin had attended Slytherin House at Hogwarts, which Tom thought was basically nonsense, remembering that the historical Merlin had been active with King Arthur in the fifth century AD and that Hogwarts had been founded after the tenth century, a span of five hundred years, and that even if Merlin had been alive at that time, Salazar Slytherin would not have been qualified to be his master.

So the three of them ate and drank, Tom bought snacks and drinks, Hermione brought out her mother's boxed lunches, and Peggy exaggerated, her father had packed her a huge box of sushi and sashimi, as he said, it would be cold on the train, and of all the cuisines, Japanese food was best served cold. Peggy was fine with sharing it with Tom and Hermione, because her father had not made it himself, but had ordered it from a Japanese restaurant.

During this time, Tom answered some of Peggy's questions.

But suddenly, a shadow crossed the window, attracting the attention of the three of them.

"Is that... a car?" asked Hermione, somewhat unsure.