8 Chapter-8: Travel Companion

Hermione sat down on the opposite bench look outside the window fallen into thought.

She is very excited about where she is going. It is going to be a new life for her. The prospect of learning new things and making friends made it even more exciting.

"Since this is a new journey for me, why not start it with making my first friend." Thinking to herself she looked at the person in front of her nervously and started to observe him.

After observing him for a while Hermione concluded that he is from a wizarding family of noble origin. Which made her more nervous than she was previously was.

Theo was sitting in his own casual way reading his book while Linda already flew her way to Hogwarts.

But to others looking from outside, it looks like he was sitting very elegantly. And with the high-grade robes, he differently looks like an aristocrat.

But it's not his fault, he was trained to sit with grace and elegance to the point that his casual sitting arrangement showcases grace and elegance.

So, it is quite normal for her to identify Theo coming from an aristocratic wizarding family due to his sitting style and showcasing such a beautiful levitation charm to a first-timer.

Due to ever-increasing nervousness and her habit, Hermione focused on the book in Theo's hands.

"Advanced Applications and Combinatorial of Ancient Magical Runes, Good lord!!! Runes!!! This was an extremely difficult subject which is way above our class grade.

Were the standards of a wizarding family that high?" As the girl's thoughts begun to run away, she grew even more restless and fell into a bad state.

Even though Theo was reading his book, he also secretly observed the girl. He saw that the girl was observing him quite intently. But when he saw visible stress on the girl's face, he couldn't help but ask here,

"Is something on me Miss Granger?"

"Huh... What?" she replied.

"I said is there something on me?"

"Oh... no no no... nothing... But why?"

"Well, you were looking at me quite intently for sometimes."

"What!!!! Oh... I...I'm... I'm sorry... I was... I was just looking at the book."

"Are you nervous miss Granger?" Theo asked.

"Yes, a little bit. Mr.Augustus" Her voice had been rather small as if she was afraid of annoying Theo.

Theo had noticed Hermione's careful approach with some astonishment. So, he tried to cheer her up by saying.

"Please call me Arthur. Whenever people call me Mr.Augustus, I always look around to find my dad."

She laughed a bit at the joke and replied,

"Then call me Hermione as well."

"Alright, Hermione then."

Hermione at this point has totally calmed down. So, She finally asked,

"By the way, Are you reading a book about runes. Isn't it above our syllabus and I also heard it is hard."

"This book?"Theo waved the book in his hands.

"Yes!"Hermione nodded.

"Well to tell you the truth, Runes are not hard of a subject to understand. If you can grasp the language you can definitely understand it. But Application is a completely different thing. One should not practice rune making alone unless you're proficient in it.

Ever since I was small, I was interested in knowledge. I love to read whatever I find interesting.

So, when I first come in contact with magic, among all other things Runes attracted me more.

And for some reason, I could understand it easily since then I am reading about rune where I can find."

Pausing for a moment, Theo watched as Hermione's mouth drop open. Knowing why he continued with a smile,

"That's right I'm actually a muggle-born! My parents are both muggles and I have come from an aristocratic background with a family of a long lineage.

As a result, my family has a little lineage with the wizards. There happens to be a cousin of my Grandfather who was a wizard. He gave me several books on ancient runes and other magical books. So I had a chance to study for several years."

"You're a muggle? Unbelievable! How did you become so good with magic?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Aside from theories and knowledge I got from the books given to me, I don't know much, to be honest.

Actually, after I got my letter I've asked my grandpa Blake to help me regarding that afraid of being behind others.

But He said that any wizards or witch under the age of 11 would be hard-pressed to learn any magic.

At the very most, They would learn several basic potions and look at some magical beasts.

As for someone like me, I'm an abnormality and not someone to be made an example of." said Theo although a little bit of a lie. As his Grandpa Blake told him not to share too much information regarding Theo himself or his family origin.

"Actually, I'm a muggle-born too." The witch spoke.

"Amazing, I didn't think I would come across someone like me!" Theo exclaimed.

By this time both Theo and Hermione became comfortable with each other. They talked about their previous school, what they read, how much they read, what their parents did etc.

They also talked about their expectations regarding the magic school as well as the magical world in general.

In the field of magic, Theo could be said to be completely dedicated to academics. Combined with his similar background, he and Hermione had quickly hit it off.

In truth, a bookworm in academics was generally seen as a crazy fanatic in the eyes of many, and for good reason at times.

"What do you think about the Goblin Rebellion?" Hermione asked.

"The Goblin Rebellion, which was caused due to the discrimination from the other races and started to throw off that discrimination. It was an important factor in the industries… (1000 words have omitted)

"My opinion differs from yours, you see…"

As they talked, the train had already left the ever-familiar London city and reached the countrysides where herds of sheep and goats were seen roaming around the fields.

About 4 hours have passed since the train left the station, there was a creaking sound within the corridors of the train as a beaming woman with dimples slid open the door, "Would you like anything sweet from the trolley, dearies?"

Theo has eaten whatever food he brought completely long ago during his hot debate with Hermione.

And also due to this debate, he felt more hungry. Besides that, he has a unique fascination with food.

Originally, he had been a foodie of the highest degree. Where he goes, he always tries to eat the local food of that place.

Or he always tries to eat new types of food when he found one.

Although the majority of the food on the trains were snacks that could be found anywhere in the magical world.

This was the very first time he had eaten such foods before. Besides being a son of an aristocrat, it's often hard to eat food from outside or having food from cafes or fast-food shops.

And so, he took out some money and bought all the items found at the trolley to eat with Hermione while they were talking.

"Agh! With all the magic researching and practice, I've completely forgotten about eating all kinds of snacks found in the magical world. What a loss! This is the greatest humiliation for a foodie!"

Theo thought to himself as he ripped open a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

"I must eat all the good food within the wizarding world!" He had thought.

Afterward, he threw a single red bean into his mouth and began to chew.

"Mmmmmggghhh!"

His' face grew extremely hot as tears began to leak out. What the heck! It's high spicy chilly papers.

Hermione had laughed in delight from his pain from that.