Volume 1

The Hogwarts Express is a pretty enchanted train with red carriages. Quite a noticeable attraction of the magical world, surprising many exactly maglocks… Quite a status, but completely useless thing. That's exactly what the last Draco Malfoy thought, but I was inclined to disagree with him.

Nevertheless, the tradition of sending schoolchildren by train did not appear from scratch. Tom certainly knew the reason for the emergence of this specific tradition. Still, he studied during the Second World War, it was his generation that got to Hogue for the first time not by train. It was during his time that the fireplace network was almost completely destroyed, and therefore she needed an alternative.

Hogwarts Express became such an alternative. Later, after the war, the fireplace network was restored, but the tradition of getting to school by train had already become boring. Yes, she was not completely useless. It was really convenient to take Maglocks to school by train. Well, especially smart students used the train also for their own benefit. And the trigger that helps to come to terms with the imminent start of studies, he was just wonderful. After the train, most of the students were already mentally ready for the new school year.

In general, I recognized some usefulness of the current one. And I was going to take full advantage of all the advantages of trips. Nevertheless, it was during the trip that it was possible to "accidentally" cross paths with people of interest to me. And there were plenty of interesting people on my list, but only two of the main ones could be distinguished – Potter and Greengrass. I wanted to start this year with a little fight with Potter, so as not to break traditions, and just to remind the hero of his existence.

Quite a ridiculous goal, to be honest, but the feud with Potter was quite profitable for me. She was a great screen for my main plans. Yes, and put me on a par with a local celebrity. Surely a great man will not be distracted by any shelupon? It won't, any wizard understands this almost instinctively. So they draw those parallels between me and Potter, unknowingly raising my status. Useful, in general, enmity, which does not require at least some serious effort from me.

With the second task, everything was somewhat more complicated. I had to meet my future wife, Daphne. And not only because of the request-the order of my father, I could ignore that if I wanted to. It was much more important to meet the girl in person, who will soon become my official bride. We haven't announced our future engagement yet, but this Christmas it will be held according to all the rules, further strengthening the magic contract. In fact, it doesn't matter anymore, the contract can't be broken anyway, but it's still unpleasant… And so that the situation does not turn into an outright nightmare, it would be better for me to get used to the girl imposed on me by my father.

Well, the Hogwarts Express was far from the worst place to start communicating, especially since the girl herself, as far as I know, is not particularly friendly with anyone, which means she will be almost alone in the compartment. However, before meeting with the bride, it is still desirable for me to finish my business with Potter. After all, the calf may not wait for me, it will get into some kind of adventure, and there I will already look somewhat faded.

Guided by a similar principle, I went in search of Potter. Fortunately, the squires managed to be left to look after Pansy. The girl went to bed too late yesterday, fuck knows why, and therefore she was lying down right in the car today. Leaving her alone would be just a pig, and therefore my guards stayed with her. Otherwise, I wouldn't be walking around the train cars alone, frankly bored.

Well, how not to be bored? Still, to find Potter, all I needed was to activate a search spell in each new car. Useless running was kept to a minimum, and there were no useless meetings at all… That's just a problem, I found Hermione Granger in one of the compartments, it wasn't difficult to identify the girl, yet the spell transmitted a black-and-white image of the surrounding reality right into my head... so what am I talking about? Oh, yes! Hermione was riding alone in the compartment, Potter and his guide friend Weasley were not with her.

And it seemed strange to me. Still, they usually hung around together everywhere, and here you are. Yes, and the train was already starting to end, there was only a car of first-timers ahead of me... After thinking about the situation, I still decided to go along with the girls. You never know what happened to Potter there. Maybe someone ate him on vacation, and I'm spending my time on a corpse here?

- Malfoy? - Somehow the girl even exclaimed in fright, as soon as I opened the door to her compartment. Wow, what a cheerful reaction. It feels like the girl is afraid of me, especially without the support of her friends. But even that bravado is enough to make this fear almost invisible. An interesting reaction, but I don't really want to think about it. You never know what fears anyone has. Maybe the girl is afraid of my squires in general, and not of me. - What are you doing here? - Reducing the eyebrows to the bridge of the nose and putting on the most menacing look, the girl asked. She changes her behavior quickly…

"Be polite, Granger. I'm not a Weasley, so you can talk to me like that. - I gave out in a dry voice, slightly pressing the girl with mental magic. A simple broadcast of anger, nothing complicated, but the interlocutor immediately begins to feel uncomfortable. - Yes, and I didn't come to you. I'm only interested in Potter. I added, lifting my chin a little, but not taking my gaze away from the girl.

"I didn't know you were into boys, Malfoy. - The girl gave out with difficulty. It was obvious that she was scared, but she was too hurt by my arrogance. And she reacted very aggressively to the mental pressure… However, I did not expect such a hit-and-run from her. Usually such jokes and witticisms appear closer to the fourth year. Oh, well, yes, she's almost a year older than her fellow students.

- Oh! I didn't know you cared so much about my preferences, Greenger! She didn't really put her eye on me, did she?! - I abruptly changed my style of behavior, adding more cheerfulness and mockery to my voice. Such changes in the interlocutor are very confusing, I know by myself... - Sorry to upset you, but I'm already busy. I have a fiancee, you know. - I sympathized quite sincerely, causing even more dissonance in the girl's head... by retiring at the end.

A little crooked, I shattered Hermione's emotional state, paving a direct path to her mind. And from there I easily found out that Potter and the sixth Weasley were not on the train. If they are late, then they will simply arrive at Hogue by another way. It doesn't matter, the main thing is that my original goal now doesn't make sense…

But, I have a new goal! In the mind of the Gryffindor, I found a very entertaining couple of first-year students who are traveling in the next compartment. And if I'm not interested in the seventh Weasley, it's just interesting to check if she has my diary, then here's her traveling companion… I had never heard of the genus Lovegood, but too young a representative of this genus resembled a natural shaman. An extremely rare and unique gift for England, and even if I'm not sure if a certain Luna Lovegood has it, a simple check won't hurt.

And I didn't want to go to my fiancee's compartment, and I had already found her in the company of my younger sister, without achieving at least some result. And they are not waiting for me, you can stay a little longer…