Alan quickly found himself unable to focus on "a beginner's guide to transfiguration" in front of him.
After sending away a round-faced boy looking for a toad, he couldn't help but feel thirsty.
He found a water bottle in his trunk, cautiously and quickly took off his mask, and gulped down some water.
Just then, the compartment door opened again...
A slightly haughty female voice came through:
"Hello..."
At this point, the girl probably saw the boy's appearance clearly, and her voice became a stutter due to excessive surprise:
"Mr. Pig... Nose...?"
Alan, unprepared, abruptly put down the water bottle.
Because he put it down too quickly and was startled, two streams of water shot straight out of his pig nose.
Some water droplets even splashed onto the girl's robe, and the atmosphere became very awkward...
The first to recover was Alan, who had extensive experience with social embarrassment.
Adhering to the principle that if I'm not embarrassed, then others are, he calmly put on his mask under the girl's astonished gaze, extended his hand, and friendly said to the girl:
"Alan Fenice, a first-year student this year.
Nice to meet you."
The girl blankly shook Alan's hand and murmured:
"Hermione Granger, also a first-year student this year."
It was only then that Alan noticed the girl had thick brown hair and a pair of prominent front teeth.
Then he extended his hand to the round-faced boy behind her who had lost his toad.
The boy finally came to his senses and quickly shook Alan's hand, saying:
"My name is Neville Longbottom, and I'm also a first-year student this year.
I know you; I've seen reports about you before.
You're truly amazing!"
Hermione, who finally recovered, said excitedly:
"Wow, sir, what kind of spell is that?
How did you do it?
Just now, in the next compartment, a red-haired boy with something dirty on his nose tried to turn his rat yellow with a spell, but nothing happened.
How did you manage to conjure such a lifelike pig nose?"
Alan patiently explained his physical condition, but found that Hermione's eyes lit up even more as she looked at him.
"That's so cool!
No wonder the extra reference book I bought, "History of Magic," didn't mention you.
That book is the '88 revised edition.
When it's revised next time, your deeds will definitely be included.
If it were me, I'd collect all the books that mention me!"
She rattled off everything in one breath, then hesitantly asked:
"Can I see your nose again?
It's the first time I've seen anything so magical."
Looking at Hermione's excited eyes, Alan found himself unable to refuse, so he took off his mask again.
Alan's nose today was a tender pink pig nose, so tender it was almost translucent (you can imagine a miniature pig's nose).
His nose was very clean, without the white stiff hairs often seen on other pig noses.
The tender pink pig nose on a somewhat pale face, raised high, actually had a strange sense of beauty.
Hermione's eyes widened, staring at Alan's nose with a hint of fascination:
"magic is truly amazing.
What does it feel like to have a nose like that?"
"Actually, once you get used to it, there's no special feeling," Alan casually explained to Hermione.
"A dog's nose is thirty to forty times more sensitive than a human's, and a pig's nose is two to three times more sensitive than a dog's.
So this nose is extremely sensitive to smells, which has caused me a lot of trouble.
Right now, my nose isn't feeling too good."
Neville, 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 and can't find it!"
Hermione and Alan were stunned by Neville's unexpected idea and didn't know what to say for a moment.
Neville also realized his slip of the tongue and cried hysterically, "I lost it again!
It always tries to run away from me!"
Alan was a bit overwhelmed for a moment.
After hesitating for a while, he stammered, "The smells on the train are too mixed up.
I'm not sure if I can help you find it.
Besides, I don't know what your toad smells like, and there are many toads on the train."
Neville stopped crying and extended the hand he had just shaken Alan's hand with, saying, "Before it ran away, I was holding it with this hand..."
Alan: ...
Hermione: ...
...
Alan cautiously sniffed Neville's hand, then put on his mask and led Hermione and Neville out of the compartment.
These smells were enough for Alan.
He sniffed the train corridor through his mask and roughly determined the toad's direction, quickly finding the toad with Neville and Hermione.
The three then parted ways.
Alan returned to his compartment, packed the stationery and books on the table into his trunk, and looking at himself in the train window, he once again fell into contemplation...
Actually, if he had a choice, Alan didn't want to enter the Magical World.
Transmigrating to the 90s, using the memories in his mind to make a lot of money on Wall Street, and then returning to his homeland to build it, was the best way out he could think of.
Moreover, the Magical World was about to become chaotic, and his knowledge of Harry Potter mainly came from short videos that had emerged in recent years.
Thanks to them, Alan, who had never read the novels or watched the movies, had some understanding of the Harry Potter world.
But trying to recall the specific plot was out of the question; watching short videos was just for entertainment, and no one would anticipate transmigrating to the Harry Potter world later, so he wouldn't specifically memorize it.
So this world was unknown to Alan, and if he were to lose his life again in this unknown and increasingly dangerous world, it would be too unfair.
Having died once, he didn't want that to happen again.
However, now there was no choice.
Appearing directly in the Muggle world like this would probably lead to him being immediately captured for dissection and research.
And this ability was too troublesome; overly sensitive hearing, sight, and smell only brought various problems to Alan now, and most animals were colorblind, so the eyes Alan randomly got were mostly unable to distinguish colors.
Such a life was torture for Alan every day.
Now he could only take things one step at a time in the Magical World, to see if he could find a way to cure himself at Hogwarts.
Then Alan thought of Hermione, whom he had just met.
Although he didn't know the plot, he knew that this little 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 affected the protagonists, and then affected the plot, and the Dark Lord returned successfully?
Alan felt a headache.
This was also a question Alan had been pondering for several months, but even now, Alan had no clue.
He only resolved to study hard at school, reduce his sense of presence in other aspects, and not have too much interaction with the protagonists, trying not to affect the plot, so as not to have a bad impact on the direction of the entire world.
Alan thought somewhat passively to himself, this strange world was much more dangerous than the safe country he was in before; people could really die!
So he could only take it one step at a time, hoping that the Dark Lord would be defeated successfully by the time he graduated, hoping that he could find a way to cure himself, hoping that trouble wouldn't come looking for him, emmmm... hoping... I guess...
...
The train began to slow down.
"We will arrive at Hogwarts in five minutes!
Please leave your luggage on the train; we will send it to the school for you."
A voice echoed above the train.
The train finally stopped at a small, dark platform.
Passengers disembarked bustlingly.
At this moment, a lamp swayed above the students' heads, followed by a gruff voice:
"First-year students, first-year students come this way!"
Alan tightened his robe and followed the first-year group along a steep, narrow path.
After a small bend, the front suddenly opened up, revealing a large lake.
A majestic Castle stood on the high slope across the lake, with numerous tall towers and windows twinkling under the starry sky.
Alan was captivated by this magnificent sight, inhaling the fresh air blowing from the lake, his heart inexplicably stirred.
Hogwarts, I'm here!