"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!" Michael couldn't help but give a thumbs-up. "I thought you'd just snap back at him!"
Wade wondered when he'd given Michael the impression that he was a Gryffindor.
"You just have to look at Malfoy and Potter to see how vengeful Slytherins can be." Wade shrugged, used a spell to block out the train car's noise, then poured himself a glass of water. "I don't want them bothering me every day at school."
Theo nodded. "You're right—Yaxley holds grudges. And unlike Malfoy's petty antics, he likes to use underhanded tactics. Not even the professors have caught him. Ryan, you really need to control your temper."
Ryan pouted, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Instead, he asked, "Wade, can Muggle… computers really do all that?"
He thoughtfully recalled what Wade had just said, finally extracting a small portion he could barely understand.
"They can buy things from all over the world from home?"
Wade chuckled. "Actually, the earliest online shopping started about ten years ago. It's definitely going to become even more convenient in the future—but I don't really know much about it."
Wade wasn't a computer expert. In his previous life, he was just an average university student, and most of what he learned in C language programming was forgotten after the exam.
After being reborn into this world, knowing about the future development of computers, Wade had thought about delving into the technology, bringing WeChat, TikTok, shopping websites, smartphones, and so on, to market earlier. He might even become the richest person in the world before he turned thirty. But Wade had only just begun his studies when he received his Hogwarts acceptance letter…
World's richest man or magic—Wade hesitated for only 0.1 seconds before choosing the latter.
Michael said disbelievingly, "But you were just talking about it so eloquently—"
"I just repeated some things I read in magazines—sounds impressive, doesn't it?" Wade leaned back against the train car, smiling. "You don't understand it, and the Prewetts certainly don't either, but I sound confident—so they'll think I know a lot. But they can't talk to me about it, so they'll just keep their distance, otherwise, just listening would be painful for them."
"Merlin!" Theo exclaimed. "I thought you were a Muggle computer expert! I've seen their television, and the experts on there don't sound nearly as—as incomprehensible as you do."
For a moment, Theo even wondered if what he was hearing was English, or if Muggles had invented a language specifically for their computers?
—Oh, Wade seemed to have mentioned that concept earlier… something about computer languages… C, C++, Java, Python…
Theo fell into deep thought.
—So Muggles really did that? Invented a machine… and then invented many complex languages for that machine…
"You seemed a bit nervous just now?" Wade asked Michael. "Who are they?"
"They're a troublesome group among the Pure-bloods—the kind who would eagerly side with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named if he ever returned."
Michael said, "Yom Prewett, you probably haven't noticed him before. He's a sixth-year Ravenclaw student who loves hosting all sorts of parties in the common room. Even just self-studying, he got an Outstanding in Defense Against the Dark Arts for his O.W.L.s, but he's better at using minor hexes. He's narrow-minded, so it's best not to provoke him if you can help it."
Ryan sighed. "I used to—before I came to Hogwarts—think Ravenclaws were all just bookish nerds! Did you see how that Prewett was acting? He looked like he'd do anything for Yaxley!"
"—Because Prewett isn't a true Prewett." Theo recalled. "I think I heard someone say his great-great-grandmother married a Half-blood Wizard named Dion or Dick, and later, when the Pure-Blood Directory was published, their family changed their surname to Prewett, one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight."
"And then?" Wade asked curiously. "The Prewett family just accepted them as relatives?"
"No, they've never been recognized by the Prewett family. But the two Prewett brothers were killed fighting He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the Death Eaters. Prewett—I mean Yom Prewett's father and uncle—are now high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Magic. They claim to be Pure-blood Prewetts, and no one bothers them." Theo looked at everyone's gossipy expressions, smiling. "Actually, the closest blood relatives to Prewett in the school are probably the Weasleys in Gryffindor."
"The Weasleys?" Everyone was surprised.
"Yes, Ron Weasley's mother's maiden name was Prewett. The two brothers who died were her older brothers," Theo said.
"They all died?" Ryan asked.
"Yes."
"How terrible—I mean the war, thankfully it's over."
Ryan silently thanked Harry Potter—even though the boy didn't show any extraordinary excellence or power, he truly saved the world, and that alone was enough.
Many people, including Ryan's parents, were very grateful to and respected the boy who survived.
"What about Yaxley and Foley?" Wade asked.
"Yaxley—" Theo's face paled slightly. "His father, like Malfoy, served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. After He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named disappeared, they all claimed they were under the Imperius Curse and used money to escape punishment. Unlike Malfoy, his father still works at the Ministry of Magic. He's said to be a brutal, cold-blooded man. I have no doubt—Yaxley must be skilled in Dark Arts."
Michael was surprised. "Even if they really were controlled by the Imperius Curse, they must have done a lot of bad things, right? And they're still officials at the Ministry of Magic?"
"Yes, that's right." Theo said with a bitter smile. "Unbelievable, isn't it?"
Michael fell silent. This intelligent boy suddenly felt the Ministry of Magic's grand image crumbling in his mind.
"As for the Foley family—" Theo continued, "They were followers of Grindelwald. After he was defeated by Dumbledore, the Alliance also disappeared from public view, and the Foley family became low-key. But no matter what, the Alliance used to be scarier than the Death Eaters, so you need to be especially careful of him."
The train compartment was quiet for a while.
Michael and Ryan, both Half-blood Wizards, didn't know much about the Wizarding World's families, powers, or past wars. Some things aren't recorded in A History of Magic. Young Wizards like them, born in peacetime, mostly thought of war as stories in textbooks, or maddening exam questions, not realizing that the shadow of war's wings covered their own classmates.
Thinking of Professor Quirrell, possessed by Voldemort at school, and then thinking of those classmates who might aspire to become Death Eaters, the young children couldn't help but sigh deeply, feeling heavy-hearted.
The rest of the journey was very peaceful. Occasionally, students would come to gawk at the "inventor of the Book of Friends," but Wade would use his "internet concept" as a weapon, ending the conversation within minutes. By the time they had to get off the train, no one was coming to talk to him about these brain-numbing topics anymore.
The train slowly pulled into Hogsmeade Station. Students changed into thick clothes and stepped off the train. In the distance, the brightly lit Hogwarts awaited them.
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