Hogwarts Raven (Harry Potter)

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His reaction caught Harry's attention.

"These are chocolate, right?" Harry picked up a box of Chocolate Frogs too. Ever thoughtful, he had made sure to buy one for everyone.

"Ribbit~"

As soon as Harry opened his box, the chocolate frog leapt out and slapped itself right onto the window of the train.

"Wait, it's not an actual frog, is it?!" He was already stunned beyond belief. This was something beyond anything he'd ever imagined.

"Of course not. It's probably some kind of magic…" Hermione also looked amazed, carefully poking the frog stuck to the window.

"They only jump once." Ian caught his own frog right as he opened the box.

Such precise anticipation came only from practiced experience.

After all, one of his students back in his private lessons had parents who worked at the Chocolate Frog factory.

"Each Chocolate Frog comes with a card inside, printed with the name of a famous wizard for kids to collect. I've already gathered over two thousand cards, four complete sets," Ian said as he opened a Chocolate Frog and pulled out a card bearing the image of a dignified-looking man.

His head was full of white hair,

But that couldn't conceal his extraordinary presence.

"Look, I drew Merlin Ambrosius. I only have four of these. It's very rare," Ian showed the card inside his box to the other three young wizards.

"Huh? Is it really that rare?" Harry Potter raised his hand in surprise. In his Chocolate Frog was a card exactly the same as Ian's, depicting the same distinguished and awe-inspiring man.

"…"

Ian was speechless.

He had just been enjoying his moment of glory, only to be instantly slapped in the face. A card with a drop rate below 0.05%, and two of them just so happened to appear in the same batch of Chocolate Frogs?

Before he could even process his disappointment—

"What a coincidence," Lirim laughed aloud and held up his card.

Yep.

That same incredibly rare man.

"Ian, I think you're lying. There probably aren't any other cards in these snacks,"

Hermione said suspiciously, holding up her own card like she'd just seen a ghost.

"…"

Ian was starting to suspect that whoever was in charge of putting cards into Chocolate Frogs at the factory must have been drunk that day.

"Unbelievable!"

All the joy of pulling a rare card was instantly gone.

Just as Ian was sitting there a bit deflated, the compartment door suddenly opened, without knocking or even asking. It was yanked open from the outside, rather rudely.

And then—

Three boys walked in.

"Everyone on the train says Harry Potter's in this compartment. Is that true? Then you must be Harry, right?" The one in front had pale skin, a narrow jaw, light blonde hair, and cold gray eyes. He carried himself with pride and swagger, marching in like he owned the place.

The moment he stepped inside—

His gaze locked directly onto Harry Potter.

"Well, well… talk about true love," Ian muttered after a brief pause, quickly grasping the situation. He hadn't expected to meet Draco Malfoy before even running into Ron.

He was sure that no one in the corridor earlier had recognized Harry, who had deliberately hidden his scar under his hair. Which meant this Malfoy kid had boarded the train and immediately gone looking for the Boy-Who-Lived.

As for "everyone on the train said", total excuse!

"Yes, I'm Harry Potter. And you are?" Harry studied Draco Malfoy closely, though his eyes were drawn more to the two stocky "bodyguard" types flanking him.

The two boys behind Draco were short and bulky, looking quite brutish.

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. These are Crabbe and Goyle, my friends. If you'd like, you can be friends with us too," Draco tilted his chin slightly, pretending to speak casually, but his voice carried a hint of anticipation. Ian clearly caught the unfiltered thoughts running through his head.

"If this isn't love, I don't know what is…" Ian couldn't help but muse silently, setting his snacks aside to enjoy the unfolding drama.

"Tsk tsk…" Lirim turned his attention to the window, clearly amused.

"Sorry, I think I've already found the right friends," Harry Potter directly rejected him. To Harry, Draco's arrogant attitude reminded him too much of his cousin Dudley.

"Huh?" Draco Malfoy clearly hadn't expected to be turned down.

He immediately looked a bit flustered and annoyed.

"Hah, Potter, you really don't know what's good for you, can't even tell who's really worth befriending." His voice now sounded like someone who had just had a confession rejected, frustrated and lashing out.

And in that state, people could say all kinds of terrible things.

"If I were you, I'd be more careful. Don't think your fame makes you special! You should be very careful or you might end up like your parents!"

Malfoy's reaction after being embarrassed was truly disgraceful.

"What's wrong with you? Just because someone doesn't want to be your friend, you curse them?" Hermione snapped angrily. She knew Harry's background and felt Draco had gone way too far.

"The way you're acting now… kind of proves I was right," Harry frowned slightly. He really didn't understand why Draco Malfoy had suddenly turned so vicious.

"This isn't a place for you to speak, random little girl who popped up from who-knows-where…" Draco Malfoy didn't even glance at Hermione, his eyes locked solely on Harry Potter.

"Do you know? Everyone says you're the Boy-Who-Lived, so incredible and legendary! But in my eyes, your hollow fame is nothing compared to my family's loyal friend, the heir of House Greengrass, Daphne Greengrass, also known as the Girl-Who-Lived! She's a real hero!"

Draco spoke with indignant pride, as if trying to reclaim his bruised ego.

"You-Know-Who is ancient history! The new Dark Lord is at Hogwarts now, and Daphne Greengrass has escaped from his hands more than once!"

"Hah! I bet you don't know that, because you don't have a family, no one to warn you, no loyal friends to teach you how to survive at Hogwarts!"

Well, damn.

Draco's impassioned rant didn't scare the rather confused and overwhelmed Harry and Hermione, but it did wipe the smirk right off Ian's face and move it onto Lirim's instead.

"????????"

Ian looked like he had just swallowed a fly.

"Who's the new Dark Lord?" Lirim turned back around, clearly enjoying the chaos.

"Boy from the Ollivander family…" Draco Malfoy adopted a haughty tone that made him sound far older than he was, shooting Lirim a disdainful glance.

"I doubt your family forgot to warn you. That Ravenclaw boy, he is the new one-who-must-not-be-named! Or have your two filthy little Muggle friends influenced you into being a complete fool too?"

Draco threw another contemptuous glance at Ian and Hermione.

"Are you insulting us?" Hermione's face darkened with anger.

Draco merely sneered.

"Hah. Trust me, if our families hadn't placed a curse on us that prevents us from saying his name, you'd know exactly how much worse I could've insulted you."

The more he spoke, the more arrogant and insufferable he became.

That overbearing presence was finally too much, even for Ian.

Fighting-flirting with Harry was one thing…

But dragging poor Hermione, and most importantly, him, into this mess?

What the hell was this about?

"Draco Malfoy, right?" Ian stood up.

"Exactly who gave you the courage to run your mouth this close to my face?" Ian's cold voice immediately made Draco and his goons bristle with fury.

However—

Before the three of them could even reach for their wands in threat or bluster—

"Maybe your father can't even afford a photo of me. Or maybe your family's always just been this pathetic. So, perhaps I should formally introduce myself."

Ian spoke softly.

With just a slight flick of his wand—

The three would-be wand-drawers were instantly pinned to the carriage door.

Under Malfoy's horrified gaze—

"My name is Ian Prince." His voice was low, almost calm. "Now tell me, who exactly did you say is the new Dark Lord whose name must not be spoken?"

In his tone, there was a subtle undercurrent of outrage, of someone unjustly slandered.

(End of Chapter)