Chapter 526: Nineteen Years Later

Benjamin Tennison dragged his suitcase down the aisle of the Hogwarts Express, passing one packed compartment after another, until at last he spotted an empty seat—but when he reached the door, he realized two girls were already inside.

Inside the compartment, a petite girl leaned against the window, looking unwell, her eyelids slightly drooping. Her pale golden hair lay disheveled along the sill, half-obscuring her face, yet still revealing a delicate and beautiful visage.

The other girl, seemingly unfamiliar with her, sat proudly on the outer edge of the seat, the tips of her hair catching a faint reddish glint in the September sunlight. She held a book in her hands, but her attention clearly wasn’t on it.

“Hey, what are you looking at?” The brown-haired girl yanked the compartment door open. “Are you a first-year too?”

“Uh, yes, I haven’t found a seat yet,” Benjamin stammered—it was his first time speaking to a girl, and he was naturally nervous.

“Perfect, sit down. Let me introduce myself—I’m Gwen… Cooper.” As she said her surname, she hesitated briefly, but quickly masked the anomaly with a curious smile. “What’s your name?”

Before Benjamin could answer, the girl leaning by the window sat up straight, awkwardly adjusting her hair, as if forced to answer a question—though Gwen hadn’t even looked at her while speaking.

“Hello, Gwen, I’m Benjamin Tennison,” he said. “Uh, is she—uh, this friend—”

“Ignore her,” Gwen snapped. “She seems unwilling to talk. Let her rest!”

“Ben, I noticed the violet pin on your bag—are you also a citizen of Dalaran?” Gwen swiftly changed the subject. “When are you planning to awaken your Supra-Wizard power?”

“I—I live in the Muggle world,” Benjamin couldn’t help glancing again at the blonde girl, who had slumped back against the window, listless.

“The Muggle world? I know almost nothing about it—I’d love for you to tell me,” Gwen said earnestly, as if hoping to command all his attention. “I heard the Prime Minister is a wizard too.”

"Yes, Prime Minister Granger is considered the most influential PM in recent years, but I don’t know much about her," Benjamin replied reluctantly. "Uh, about Supra-Wizard power—my dad told me it’s usually tied to the Patronus. I plan to wait until third year, after I learn the Patronus charm, before considering it."

“How adorable. You should be more confident,” Gwen laughed. “Not everyone gets the chance to set foot on Dalaran. Your father must wield some Supra-Wizard power from the School of Transformation.”

“I don’t know him well—he’s always coming and going,” Benjamin said uncomfortably.

“No wonder you got on so late—you must’ve had a lot to say to him at the platform.”

“No, I came alone,” Benjamin finally found his voice. “I was late because I saw General Potter at the platform—he was with his wife and two children. I couldn’t help staring. It was fascinating! His youngest son looks exactly like him.”

“Albus? I’ve heard enough about him,” Gwen shrugged indifferently. “I mean, everyone in Dalaran knows. They talk about it every day.”

“Oh, really?” Benjamin believed her—he rarely visited the floating city.

“But did you know?” Gwen leaned in conspiratorially. “They’re all saying the Potter family doesn’t have just two children—there’s an eldest son. But all traces of him were erased. No one knows what happened. Some say he committed an Unforgivable Act. Others say Vladimir’s terrible spell erased him from reality. Do you believe such a spell exists?”

“Uh, maybe… maybe no such spell exists,” Benjamin thought carefully. “Otherwise, Vladimir could just directly attack General Potter—or any other high-ranking official. Why target only the general’s eldest son?”

“Ha! That’s exactly the point of Supra-Wizard power! Don’t you see? Every one of our great figures possesses it—that’s why they’re immune to such cowardly attacks!” Gwen said, pulling out some Galleons from her pocket. “Speaking of great figures, I just remembered I’m missing one more Newt card. Look—the snack cart’s here.”

As the wheels drew nearer, a pale-skinned female vendor, around twenty-four or twenty-five, halted her cart and asked in a calm, slightly languid tone if they needed anything.

“I’ll take Chocolate Frogs,” Gwen stood up and leaned on the cart. “Friend by the window, want some chocolate? It’ll make you feel better!”

“Thank you, I—” The blonde girl reached for her money, but Gwen stopped her.

“I’ll buy it for you—of course, since I need to draw a card.” She reached out, grabbing a box. “I only need to glance at the edge to guess—see this red hair? Definitely a Weasley. I don’t want this one.”

The vendor seemed about to say something, but didn’t. She simply returned the box to the inner shelf of the cart.

“Black hair? Either Potter or Snape—they’re the most common.” Gwen flipped through box after box. “Stars? Probably Old Wizard line. I’ve got them all… This one’s new, but likely a girl… Krum—this big oaf always makes me laugh….”

The snack cart lingered too long in their compartment—the vendor had clearly extended the compartments with an Undetectable Extension Charm. Gwen kept opening box after box. She misjudged once, pulling out a Dumbledore card—they rarely printed him anymore; young wizards barely recognized him.

Benjamin sat between them, glancing left, then right. The blonde girl nibbled slowly on the Chocolate Frog she’d just opened, while Gwen still leaned over the cart, peering into each box. The vendor didn’t stop her—she simply quietly moved the inspected boxes into another compartment.

“Hey, how long are you going to monopolize the cart?” The door to the adjacent compartment opened, and the boy who’d been peeking in several times stepped out. Curiously, he had short white hair and an exceptionally handsome face.

“Sorry, I’m done,” Gwen said stiffly. “Just one more Chocolate Frog, and a licorice wand.”

“That’s better,” the boy muttered from the aisle, showing no intention to return to his compartment. Instead, he stared at the vendor—though, of course, the vendor was beautiful, an undeniable fact.

After choosing her snacks, Gwen shut the door tightly, unwrapped the licorice wand, and bit into one piece, speaking casually: “His accent—he’s a Rust Belt bumpkin. You know why he’s here? They’ve declared war on the New York Federation again, so wizards from the Great Lakes can’t get to Ilvermorny. It’s hilarious!”

“Oh, can you tell where someone’s from by their accent?” Benjamin looked at her curiously. Gwen’s eyes sparkled—she seemed to know everything.

“Not entirely, but the vowel-shifted Northern dialect, the exaggerated Texan vowels, and that flat, robotic Silicon Valley tone—they’re all unmistakable,” Gwen said confidently. “I see delegates from all over Dalaran—they go to ETO headquarters for meetings… I mean, they often argue on the streets after.”

Benjamin listened, intrigued. In his few visits to the floating city, he’d never seen anyone arguing on the streets—everyone there was leisurely and calm.

“…You know, there used to be an old woman selling apples outside the bank. She always said, ‘Oh!’” Gwen was startled by the Chocolate Frog card, interrupting herself. “Kaslanova—rare. The card says she’s the Prime Minister’s friend, but I’ve never seen her in the news.”

“She works for Silicon Valley now,” the girl by the window finally gathered courage to join the conversation. “I’ve seen her mentioned in the news a few times.”

“Oh? So you’re from the U.S., uh—what country are you from?” Gwen warmly accepted her, launching into questions.

“I live in Nevada with my dad,” she whispered. “We have good relations with Silicon Valley.”

“The Pacific Federation? I heard before its collapse, you were building a colossal war machine. Have you seen it?” Gwen gestured wildly. “It must be visible from miles away.”

“Yes, that giant robot—they call it Father Sky,” the blonde girl murmured. “Now they’re removing the magic component and renaming it Dangerous Wanderer.”

"Ah! That must be related to that accident. I heard the Lawbringer went out of control, right?" Gwen raised a finger. "It’s a classic Flaming Wolf Group move—no matter the problem, just change the name and everything’s fine!"

“Maybe,” the blonde girl blushed. “I live in the countryside. I don’t know much.”

Benjamin nodded in deep agreement. “Gwen, you truly are a child of the sky—your information is incredible.”

For the remainder of the journey, Gwen enthusiastically recounted tales of the magical world—from every corner of Dalaran, to the exiled descendants of the Celestial Empire and Lady Moon, back to the secret intrigues of Yanayev’s power transition in the Far East, to the collapse sparked by Texas’s independence, to Prime Minister Granger’s glorious feat of restoring Britain’s eternal sun, and even the gossip about which white moonlight she still pined for, still unmarried.

Benjamin clearly remembered his father telling him: the people you meet on the Hogwarts Express are very likely to become your best friends over the next seven years. Yet Gwen, so bright, fiery, and confident, ended up in Slytherin, while the quiet blonde girl who occasionally murmured in agreement was the one who sat beside him at the Hufflepuff table.

It was then that Benjamin first heard her full name: Scotia Grinwald—a poetic name from the stars—and for the first time, he began to look forward to his seven years at Hogwarts.