Chapter 87
At this point, Ye Ting suddenly realized that Susan seemed to have been silent for a while.
She sat quietly aside, staring at someone intently.
When Ye Ting turned his head to look at her, she hurriedly looked away, with a trace of panic on her face.
It was obvious that there was a problem.
Ye Ting took the initiative to ask,”What are you thinking about?” Susan was stunned for a moment, then stammered,”I… I’m reading The Tales of Pitto the Bard》”
Ye Ting glanced at the book in her hand and chuckled,”The book is upside down.”
“Huh?” Susan hurriedly looked down and then breathed a sigh of relief.”Hate it, you lied to me.”
“Just kidding you.” Ye Ting laughed:”I feel like you have something to say to me, right?”
“Ah… uh… yes!”
Susan hesitated for a long time before whispering:”Well… this holiday I… I will stay in Hogwarts with you.”
In fact, she was going to go back during the holiday, but after realizing that Ye Ting was homeless, she made a temporary decision.
“But I won’t stay in school during the holidays.”Ye Ting said something that shocked her.
“Ah, you’re not staying?” Susan covered her mouth,”Where are you going on vacation?”
Zhang Qiu and Hermione also came over curiously.
“I went to France,” Ye Ting explained,”Nicolas Flamel invited me to his home.”
“Is that the alchemist you were communicating with?” Susan’s tone was much lower,”Okay… okay.”
She silently took back the notice, and then crumpled it under the table.
Hermione also breathed a sigh of relief. She finally didn’t have to blame herself for going home.
The next morning, the holiday officially arrived.
Although Ye Ting did not plan to stay in school, he did not want to appear too different, so he did not use the teleportation anchor, but left Hogwarts in a normal way with others.
After packing their luggage, Ye Ting, Hermione, Susan, and Zhang Qiu took the school’s Night Thestral carriage and set off on the snow-covered road to the Hogsmeade station.
The carriage drove slowly on the snow, leaving a string of hoof prints between the two ruts.
“”What are you doing?” Ye Ting noticed that Hermione stretched out her hand curiously and asked in confusion.
Hermione pointed to the snow,”Don’t you think it’s strange? This carriage seems to be pulled by something. Look at the footprints on the snow, aren’t they left by the horse?”
“Something is pulling the carriage?” Zhang Qiu and Susan looked at each other in disbelief.
Especially Zhang Qiu, she had made this kind of carriage when she started school and had always thought that the carriage was driven by magic.
However, the clear footprints on the snow made them believe that there were indeed invisible horses pulling the carriage.
“This is a Thestral.”Ye Ting explained softly,”Legend has it that only people who have experienced death can see the Thestrals.”
Hermione immediately recalled what she had read in the book,”Thestrals… I’ve read about this kind of creature in the book. They are considered a bad omen and are said to bring disaster to those who see them.”
Ye Ting smiled slightly and defended the Thestrals,”Don’t think too much. The Thestrals are actually a kind of flying horse. They don’t have a good reputation for being associated with death, but since Hogwarts chose them to pull the carriage, it means they are trustworthy.”
Soon after, they arrived at the station. The four of them boarded the express train with their luggage and looked for an empty carriage to rest.
Since many young wizards chose to stay in school, it was not difficult to find an empty compartment now compared to the beginning of the school year.
In order to avoid being disturbed, Ye Ting immediately locked the door with magic after entering the compartment to ensure that they could enjoy a quiet journey.
The train roared and drove until the evening, then slowly stopped at Platform 9 3/4.
Susan’s mother was already waiting for her at the door of the carriage.
Susan was shy and did not dare to get off the train with Ye Ting. She said goodbye to him and shyly followed her mother away.
“Hi, Neville.” When Ye Ting got off the car, he saw Neville and greeted him.
“”Hi! Ye Ting, Hermione… and Senior Zhang Qiu!”
Neville ran over and said,”I wanted to look for you in the car, but I couldn’t find where you were sitting.”
“Let’s meet again next time we have a chance!” Ye Ting patted Neville’s shoulder in a friendly manner.
Passing through the bustling platform, they saw many parents of students waiting here.
In the crowd, Ye Ting recognized Zhang Qiu’s father at a glance – after all, this Chinese face is particularly eye-catching among white people.
If it was someone else, Ye Ting would not think of getting to know him, but the person in front of him is a fellow villager after all.
Looking at the other person’s square face and the Chinese-style English that came to his face, Ye Ting felt a sense of intimacy in his heart.
He walked up and took the initiative to greet Zhang Qiu’s father:”Uncle, nice to meet you.”
“You…are also Chinese?” Zhang Qiu’s father looked at Ye Ting in confusion.
Ye Ting’s fluent Mandarin was much better than his Cantonese.
“Ah, yes, of course.”Ye Ting responded with a smile, and then started chatting with the fellow villager.
From Zhang Qiu’s father, Ye Ting learned about the history of the Zhang family. It turned out that because of the war, the Zhang family moved to Britain from the generation of his great grandfather.
“Although we have lived in the UK for so many years, we still miss our motherland in our hearts.”
Zhang Qiu’s father sighed,”We still have relatives in China, and we go back to visit them and worship our ancestors every once in a while.”
Speaking of this, a deep sense of homesickness appeared on his face.
Ye Ting also felt the same way. After all, they were all wandering wanderers.
And as a time traveler, he obviously drifted… farther.
Although wizards would also divide their countries like Muggles, the exchanges between wizards did not follow the political divisions of Muggles. Therefore, when the exchanges between Muggle countries were cut off, the exchanges between extraordinary people still existed.
According to Zhang Qiu’s father, their Zhang family’s distant relatives in China were doing well among the wizards in China – of course, they did not call themselves that – one of them was even a celestial master on Mount Longhu, and was said to be a greater wizard than Dumbledore. After bidding farewell to Zhang Qiu and his daughter, Ye Ting returned to Hermione and Neville.
The two of them were still there, eagerly looking for their respective families.
Neville looked a little panicked, probably because he did not find his grandmother.
Seeing him like that, Ye Ting could not help teasing him and said,”Neville, could your grandmother have gone to the wrong platform?”
Neville said with a bitter face,”It’s good that she went to the wrong platform. I’m just afraid that she forgot that I have a day off today.”
As soon as the voice fell, an eye-catching old lady suddenly squeezed out of the crowd.
She was wearing a green robe, a fox fur scarf fluttering in the wind, and a unique pointed hat on her head. The most peculiar thing was that the hat was decorated with a lifelike vulture. In her hand, she was holding a striking red leather bag. This outfit was simply unforgettable.
Red and green, this combination is easy to look tacky, but with the hat with the big vulture, the whole look exudes an indescribable weird charm.
Even the usually calm Hermione was shocked by the sudden visual impact.
She stared at the big vulture intently, as if trying to figure out the psychological state of the wizard who made the hat when making it.
“”Grandma!”
Seeing the other party, Neville’s voice immediately lowered eight degrees.
The old lady responded, her eyes swept over Neville, and then turned to Ye Ting and Hermione next to her. She smiled and asked kindly:
“Neville, are these two your friends?”
Neville lowered his head and answered shyly:”Well, they are my best friends.……”
Mrs. Longbottom turned her gaze to Ye Ting and looked at him carefully.
She stretched out a slightly dry hand,”You are Ye Ting, right? I heard Neville mentioned you in his letter, saying that you helped him a lot and he praised you highly.”
Ye Ting shook hands with her modestly,”We are just helping each other, ma’am. In fact, I have also learned a lot from Neville.”
“You are too modest.”
Mrs. Longbottom glanced at Neville along her pointed nose with sharp eyes, shook her head and said,”Neville is a good boy, but his magical talent is really mediocre.”
Ye Ting defended Neville,”Neville’s attainments in herbology should not be underestimated. Professor Sprout favors him very much.”
As he said that, he cast an inquiring look at Hermione,”Right, Hermione?”
Hermione was staring at the lifelike vulture in a trance. After being asked by Ye Ting, she came back to her senses and nodded hurriedly to express her agreement.
“”Oh? Really?” Mrs. Longbottom looked at Neville with a little surprise, and seeing his face flushed with shyness, she couldn’t help but smile.
She turned to Hermione and extended her hand enthusiastically:”Then you must be Hermione Granger, right?”
Hermione was surprised. She didn’t expect that Mrs. Longbottom knew her name.
She shook the lady’s hand and felt a little flattered.
“Neville always praises you, saying that you are the smartest witch he has ever seen.”Mrs. Longbottom said with a smile on her face,”You are all good children with a bright future.”
Hermione was a little embarrassed by the praise and her cheeks turned slightly red.
When Mrs. Longbottom and Neville walked away, Hermione still stared at the strange hat and sighed,”In fact, Mrs. Longbottom is not as scary as Neville said. She looks quite kind.”
“That’s because we are not her grandchildren.”
Ye Ting explained with a smile,”Many elders are like this, always polite to outsiders, but much stricter with their own children. But I think that Mrs. Longbottom actually loves Neville very much, but she is not very good at expressing it.”
“‘Come to think of it, she is right in one respect.’
At this point, Ye Ting turned his gaze to the 9 3/4 platform in the distance, with a gentle smile in his eyes:”Think about the beginning of school, when you knew nothing about the magic world and were nervous when you encountered trouble. But after one semester, you have become an excellent little witch.”
“Compared to you, how can I call myself excellent?”
Hermione turned her head away shyly,”Also, who said I was nervous?”
“”Okay, okay, you’re not nervous, I was the one who said too much.”
Ye Ting smiled and pointed in the direction of the platform,”But, chanting spells at the wall is not something that ordinary people can do.”
“Oh, why are you bringing up that again!”
Hermione recalled her embarrassment at the time, her cheeks slightly hot, and she punched Ye Ting in pretending to be angry,”Forget it, forget it!”
“It’s not good to be so fierce.”
Ye Ting deliberately sighed and teased,”Hermione, tell me, in the future when we… when you have children, will they be like Neville and tell everyone that my mother is fierce?”
“……”(To read exciting novels, go to Feilu Novel Network!)
“”Shut up! I’m going to fight you!”
Hermione grabbed Ye Ting’s collar in angrily, pretending to be angry and wanting to hit him, but suddenly stopped and turned to run towards a young woman who had just walked over.
The young woman seemed to have been observing for a long time. She looked at Ye Ting curiously, and the expression was exactly the same as when Hermione stared at the big vulture hat before.
“”Mom!” Hermione shouted with a smile on her face,”Why are you here alone? Where are my dad and others?”
“Your father has gone to find a parking space, it’s really hard to find a parking space around here.”
The woman smiled and pushed away the furry little head that Hermione had deliberately blocked in front of her eyes, and looked at Ye Ting,”Who is this?”
“Hello, Auntie. I am Hermione’s classmate. My name is Ye Ting.”Ye Ting walked over calmly and greeted her.
“Oh, you are Ye Ting that Hermione often mentioned?”
The woman looked Ye Ting up and down and said with a smile,”Hermione didn’t mention Ye Ting in the letter.���Praise you, now it seems (good money Zhao), you are more handsome than she described… But I always feel like I have seen you somewhere before.”
Of course, you have also seen me perform magic.
Ye Ting smiled slightly and did not mention this matter
“”Mom, what are you talking about?” Hermione blushed in embarrassment, glared at Ye Ting, and muttered in angrily,”When did I say he was good-looking?”
“”Okay, okay, you didn’t say it, I said it, okay?”
The woman smiled and comforted,”But, what were you two doing just now? Why do I feel like you are bullying Ye Ting, Hermione?”
“”Mom, what are you talking about? It’s obvious that he always takes advantage of me!”
Hermione’s face turned redder, she glared at Ye Ting, pretended to be angry and turned her head away and said,”Tell me, who is bullying who?!”
“……Auntie, Hermione…she really didn’t bully me, nor did she hit me…”
Ye Ting showed an”aggrieved” expression, as if he had been”threatened” by Hermione, so he had to say something against his will.
“……When you get home, don’t punish her… Otherwise, she won’t know where to take her anger out on me when she returns to school.……”
Hermione gnashed her teeth as she listened, but she couldn’t vent her anger. She could only glare at Ye Ting fiercely.[]
After a few more pleasantries, Ye Ting politely declined Hermione’s invitation and left the platform alone.
Looking at Ye Ting’s back as he walked away, Hermione’s mother said to her daughter earnestly:
“”Hermione, Ye Ting is a good kid, and he looks honest. But you are classmates after all, so don’t bully him anymore, okay? It’s really not good.”
Hearing this, Hermione was speechless.
She wanted to tell her mother that Ye Ting was the most cunning person, and how could he be honest?
