Chapter 3: Hello... Mr. Pig Snout?

Allen soon found he could barely focus on the "Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration" before him; after sending away a round-faced boy searching for a toad, he felt somewhat thirsty.

He retrieved a water flask from his trunk, cautiously yet swiftly removed his face mask, and gulped down several mouthfuls, just as the compartment door opened again...

A slightly haughty female voice rang out:

"Hello..."

At this moment, the girl seemingly caught a clear view of the boy before her, her tone becoming stuttered from excessive shock:

"Mr. Pig... Snout?"

Caught completely off guard, Allen abruptly set down his flask; placing it down too hastily while startled, two streams of water shot straight out from his pig snout, with some droplets even splashing onto the girl's robes, making the atmosphere intensely awkward...

The first to recover was Allen, who possessed rich experience in social death; adhering to the principle that if he wasn't embarrassed, someone else would be, he calmly put his mask back on under the girl's astonished gaze, extended his hand, and spoke friendly to her:

"Allen Finis, a first-year student this year, pleased to meet you."

The girl stared blankly as she shook Allen's hand, murmuring:

"Hermione Granger, also a first-year student this year."

Only then did Allen notice the girl had a thick head of brown hair and a pair of large front teeth; next, he reached out toward the round-faced boy behind her who had lost his toad, and the boy, finally coming to his senses, hurriedly shook Allen's hand and said:

"My name is Neville Longbottom, also a first-year student this year; I know of you, I read reports about you before, you are truly amazing!"

Finally recovering herself, Hermione exclaimed excitedly:

"Wow, Mr., what spell is this? How did you do it? Just now in the next compartment, a red-haired boy with a dirty spot on his nose tried using a spell to turn his rat yellow, but nothing happened at all; how did you manage to conjure such a realistic pig snout?"

Allen patiently explained his physical condition, only to find Hermione's gaze upon him growing even brighter.

"So cool! No wonder the extra reference book I bought, 'Modern Magical History,' didn't mention you; that book is the 1988 revised edition, but when it's revised next time, it will surely include your deeds; if it were me, I would collect every book that mentions me!"

She finished speaking in one rapid burst like a string of beads, then asked hesitantly:

"Could I take another look at your nose? It's the first time I've seen something so miraculous."

Seeing the excitement in Hermione's eyes, Allen found himself unable to utter any words of refusal, so he had no choice but to remove his mask once more.

Today, Allen's nose was a tender pink pig snout, so tenderly pink it was almost crystal clear (one could refer to the snout of a miniature pig); the snout was very clean, lacking the white stiff bristles often found on other pig snouts, and this tender pink pig snout, rising high on a somewhat pale face, actually possessed a strange sort of beauty.

Hermione widened her eyes, staring at Allen's nose with some fascination:

"Magic is truly miraculous; what does it feel like to grow a nose like this?"

"Actually, once you get used to it, there's nothing special about it," Allen casually explained to Hermione as if giving a popular science lesson; "a dog's sense of smell is thirty to forty times more sensitive than a human's, and a pig's sense of smell is two to three times that of a dog, so this nose is extremely sensitive to odors, which has brought me much trouble; right now, my nose isn't feeling very good."

Neville, standing behind Hermione, heard this and said happily:

"Can you use your nose to help me find my lost toad? I've been looking for it for so long without finding it!"

Hermione and Allen were stunned by the leap of logic in Neville's mind, momentarily at a loss for words.

Neville also realized his slip of the tongue and broke down crying loudly: "I've lost it again; it always tries to run away from me!"

Allen felt somewhat overwhelmed for a moment; after hesitating for a while,

he stammered: "The smells on the train are too chaotic; I'm not sure if I can help you find it, plus I don't know what your toad smells like; there are many toads on this train."

Neville stopped crying, extended the hand he had just used to shake Allen's, and said: "Before it ran away, I was holding it with this hand..."

Allen:...

Hermione:...

Allen cautiously sniffed Neville's hand, then put on his mask, and led Hermione and Neville out of the compartment.

These scents were sufficient for Allen; smelling through his mask in the train corridor, he roughly determined the specific direction of the toad, and quickly led Neville and Hermione to find it.

The three parted ways there.

Allen returned to his own compartment, packed the stationery and books on the table into his trunk, and looking at his reflection in the window glass, fell into deep thought once again...

Actually, if he had a choice, Allen would not want to enter the Wizarding World; traveling to the 1990s, using the memories in his mind to go to Wall Street and earn a lot of money, then returning to his homeland to build it up, was the best path he could envision.

Moreover, the Wizarding World would soon descend into chaos, and his understanding of Harry Potter mainly came from short videos that had risen in popularity in recent years; thanks to them, Allen, who had never read the novels or watched the movies, gained some understanding of the Harry Potter world, but trying to recall specific plot details was out of the question; watching short videos was merely for pastime, no one would expect to later travel into the Harry Potter world, so no one would specifically memorize these details.

Therefore, this world was unknown to Allen; if he were to lose his life again in this unknown and increasingly dangerous world, it would be too unjust; having died once already, he did not wish for that to happen again.

However, there was no choice now; appearing directly in the Muggle World in this state would likely result in him being immediately captured and dissected for research.

Furthermore, this ability was too problematic; overly acute hearing, vision, and smell could only bring Allen various troubles, and since most animals are colorblind, the eyes Allen randomly obtained mostly could not distinguish colors, making life a daily torment for him.

Now, he could only take things one step at a time in the magical world, seeing if he could find a cure for his condition at Hogwarts.

Then Allen thought of Hermione, whom he had just met; although he didn't know the plot, he knew this young girl was the female protagonist in the Harry Potter story; how should he handle his relationship with the protagonists? What if some of his actions influenced the protagonists, thereby affecting the plot, and the Great Dark Lord successfully returned? What then?

Allen felt a headache coming on; this was also a problem Allen had been pondering for the past few months, but until now, he still had no clear ideas, only resolving to study hard at school, reduce his presence in other aspects, avoid too much interaction with the protagonists, and try not to influence the plot, lest he negatively affect the direction of the entire world.

Allen silently thought somewhat negatively; this unfamiliar world was far more dangerous than the safe country he had come from; if things went wrong, people could truly lose their lives!

So he could only take things one step at a time; he hoped the Great Dark Lord would be successfully defeated by graduation, hoped he could find a cure for his condition, hoped troubles wouldn't come knocking on his own door, emmmm... hopefully...

The train began to slow down gradually.

"We will arrive at Hogwarts in five minutes! Please leave your luggage on the train; we will deliver it to the school for you," a voice echoed above the train.

The train finally stopped at a small, dark platform; passengers disembarked in a bustling crowd, at which point a lamp swung above the students' heads, followed immediately by a rough, loud voice shouting: "First-years, first-years over here!"

Allen tightened the robes on his body and followed the line of first-years along a steep, narrow path.

After a small bend, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a large lake, with a majestic castle towering on a high slope on the opposite shore; the castle was bristling with towers, and rows of windows twinkled under the starry sky.

Allen was captivated by this splendid sight; breathing in the fresh air blowing from the lake, he felt an inexplicable surge of excitement in his heart.

Hogwarts, here I come!