Chapter 77: Cat
It was already 11 o'clock in the morning, and the train was running smoothly. Alexander and Harry had found an empty compartment and sat down.
Interestingly, Harry Potter was so thin that he almost looked like a little girl. With Alexander's help, he had dragged his suitcase into the compartment and placed it in the corner.
"By the way, Harry, do you remember which pets are allowed, according to the Hogwarts acceptance letter?" Alexander asked suddenly.
"Students can bring an owl, a cat, or a toad?" Harry replied. Although he had read the letter dozens of times, the years of neglect had left him hesitant and unsure of himself.
"Correct. Now, do you know which of those pets is most common on the train?" Alexander prompted.
"Cat?" Harry guessed hopefully, before being corrected.
"Wrong. It's the owl."
"Ever since we boarded, I noticed you flinch a little every time we passed a cat," Alexander said.
"Yeah…" Harry hesitated, then opened up. "Every year on Dudley's birthday, my cousin, his parents would take him and a friend out—an amusement park, burgers, movies, something fun. They'd leave me with Mrs. Figg, a crazy old lady who lives two streets over."
"I hated her house. It smelled like cabbage, and she'd always show me endless pictures of her cats."
He took a deep breath before continuing.
"This year, on Dudley's birthday, Mrs. Figg broke her leg. I should've felt bad, but honestly, I was glad I wouldn't have to see Mr. Paws, Maomao, Kicks, and Cher for a whole year."
"Maybe that's why I'm not too fond of cats."
After sharing that, Harry seemed to relax, as though he had just stepped out of a long, hot shower. For some reason, he found it easy to talk to Alexander—even though they had only just met.
"Harry, do you know why I asked about the pets?" Alexander said with a mischievous grin.
"Why?" Harry asked.
"Ta-da! Look who I brought to Hogwarts—Jerry!"
Alexander reached into his coat and pulled out a kitten as black as coal. It was purring softly, curled up with its little paws tucked in.
Even to Harry, who disliked cats, Jerry was undeniably beautiful—but there was something unnerving about it. The little feline radiated a strange, icy aura, as if staring into winter itself.
Luckily, the compartment door slid open just then, and a boy with fiery red hair entered.
"Is there room here? Everywhere else is full," he asked, pointing to the seat opposite Harry.
Harry nodded.
Alexander, who was absent-mindedly rubbing his forehead, realized something. In the original story, Ron had really not found a seat, not just stumbled into Harry because of his brothers. That meant everything was unfolding as it had originally.
The red-haired boy sat down, glanced at Harry—and suddenly went still. It turned out that in his nervousness, Harry had exposed the lightning-bolt scar on his forehead.
"Oh my god…" he muttered.
"Could it be… are you…"
"What is it?" Harry asked.
"You're Harry Potter!" the boy gasped.
"Oh, him," Harry replied awkwardly. "Yeah, that's me."
The boy stared dumbfounded, and Harry could feel his face heat up.
"Hey! There's another living person in here, you know. Hello, I'm Alexander Smith," Alexander said, chuckling. "If either of you were a girl, this would probably play out like a romance."
"Um—hi. I'm Ron Weasley," the red-haired boy said, snapping back to reality.
Then, the compartment door slid open again.
"Hey, Ron!" Two identical redheads peeked in. "We're heading to the middle carriage—Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula. Say, is Harry Potter in here? George, Harry's supposed to be on the train."
"Oh." Ron muttered, not answering directly.
"I heard Ron shouting Harry Potter as I walked by," said the other twin. "We're Fred and George Weasley. That's Ron, our baby brother. Catch you later!"
"Bye," Harry and Ron said in unison.
Unlike in the original timeline, the twins didn't actually recognize Harry on sight. That meant the news of his presence wouldn't spread like wildfire—and that Malfoy likely wouldn't show up either.
Alexander, who was once again ignored, sighed. It was partly his fault—he had deliberately tried to lower his presence to avoid being swarmed by fans. Honestly, he was surprised that Harry had even noticed how good-looking he was.
The twins slid the door shut and left.
Ron, still a bit stunned, stared again at Harry's scar and blurted out a question about Voldemort. The mood in the compartment dipped momentarily before lightening again as Ron and Harry began to introduce themselves properly.
What surprised Alexander was that Harry kept glancing at him, seemingly aware of his presence despite Alexander's efforts to fade into the background.
"Is your whole family magical?" Harry asked Alexander curiously.
"All of us. Generations of Ravenclaw graduates," Alexander replied, offering no more than that.
Sensing the end of that conversation, Ron quickly filled the silence.
"Well, I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant or something, but we never really talk about him."
"So, you must already know lots of magic?" Harry asked Alexander.
Alexander just smiled faintly, keeping quiet, wanting to test Harry's instincts.
"I heard you lived with Muggles," Ron said, turning back to Harry. "What was that like?"
"It was awful. Not all Muggles are like that, but my aunt, uncle, and cousin? Terrible people. I always wished I had wizard brothers."
"Five," Ron muttered under his breath, sounding a little sour. "They're all nice enough, I guess… even if I'm stuck with secondhand stuff. Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, Percy's cast-off pet rat…"
"But I do have one new thing! Check this out!" Ron reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny card. "The Skywalker Gold Card!"
Harry looked confused.
"This is the Devil's Passport. Very rare. From Doraemon, the greatest series ever."
"You've never read Doraemon, have you?" Ron asked, now staring at Harry in disbelief. "Blimey, your Muggle family really was awful…"
With that, Ron carefully took out a thick book wrapped in parchment from his suitcase.
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