Chapter 60 Farewell

The next morning, when Wade was woken up by his father, he found that it was an hour earlier than the alarm clock had been set.

"It snowed last night, Wade." Ferdinand was still cold, and he urged: "Get up quickly, we have to leave early today."

Wade sat up from the quilt, pulled his messy hair, and opened the curtains. He saw that the snow on the windowsill was about two inches thick, and the yard was also white. There was a circle of footprints around the car, which was left by Ferdinand when he was clearing the snow in the morning.

Wade dressed quickly and went downstairs for breakfast. He heard his parents arguing in the kitchen.

"Listen, dear, it's too cold today. There's no need for all of us to go to the station. It's enough for me to send Wade off alone.

"But I also want to send Wade off. I won't see him for half a year after he goes back to school.

"

The two talked for a long time, and finally Ferdinand insisted that Fiona stay at home. He usually obeyed Fiona, but if he made a decision, no one could beat him.

After the two came out of the kitchen, Wade pretended not to hear their argument. After breakfast, he asked, "Mom, can you help me take care of Miss Ava first? Let her fly to Hogwarts when the weather is good."

"Okay!" Fiona agreed happily and immediately made plans: "I can make her owl food myself. General Bard's rations are almost finished. And Millyne, I think she may need to lose weight. The running wheel I bought before was also bitten-"

Millien is Fiona's pet hamster. She is a shy little guy and doesn't need her to worry about it.

Seeing that she no longer entangled in the issue of seeing her off and instead focused on a few pets, Ferdinand was relieved. They quickly finished breakfast, and Ferdinand picked up Wade's big suitcase and stuffed it into the trunk.

"Goodbye, Mom." Before getting in the car, Wade turned around and said goodbye, and Fiona stood in front of the door and waved vigorously.

The car slowly left.

As Ferdinand expected, the road was slippery on snowy days, and the car drove very slowly. Even so, someone had a collision. Two cars stopped on the side of the road, and some broken parts were scattered on the snow.

The car was very quiet. Wade looked out the window, and suddenly his eyes blurred. A gray car seemed to appear next to them as if squeezed out of the air.

"Ah!"

"What happened?" Ferdinand looked at the rearview mirror and caught his son's surprised look.

"Nothing... I seemed to see a car rear-end collision..."

"Well, it happens all the time." Ferdinand didn't get distracted and focused on the front, so as not to encounter an accident and not have time to brake.

Wade watched the gray car next to him run parallel to them for a few minutes, and then suddenly disappeared from sight. When he found it again, it just chased the car in front and drove through the intersection. The next second, the green light turned red.

No one on the street noticed anything, including Ferdinand, who didn't notice the car that seemed to be jumping forward.

- If an ordinary person could see it, it would probably be regarded as a ghost story, right?

Wade couldn't help thinking.

The slowly moving car finally arrived at King's Cross Station, and it was still more than ten minutes before the car started. Ferdinand took the suitcase off the car, put it on the trolley, and pushed it all the way to Platform 9 3/4. When he got here, Ferdinand walked slower and slower, and finally had to stop.

Vidkin held his hand.

"Let's go in together, Dad." He said.

Ferdinand smiled bitterly: "No, Vidkin - I'm not a wizard, I can't -"

"Yes." Vidkin interrupted him and said: "Platform 9 3/4 has no magical restrictions, even Muggles can enter. It's just that the Ministry of Magic has cast a spell here, and Muggles usually ignore it."

"So - I -" Ferdinand took a deep breath, staring at the brick wall in front of him with eyes as if looking at some monster: "I can also - enter this platform -"

"Yes, come with me." Vidkin held his hand and led him forward. Ferdinand looked nervous, and when he was about to hit the brick wall, he couldn't help but close his eyes - nothing happened.

But the ears suddenly became noisy.

A crimson train stopped at the platform, all the carriage doors were open, and children in Hogwarts uniforms leaned on the train windows to say goodbye to their parents. The platform was also crowded with people, some children were running around in a hurry, and some were hugging their parents reluctantly.

There were cats walking freely on the ground, and the owls in the cage turned their heads and looked around. The older students gathered together and started discussing their homework for the holidays. Some students struggled to get out of their mothers' arms, saying, "Don't kiss me like that, Mom - I'm not a child anymore -"

"Have you put away all your friend books?" An old woman who looked very stern said to the child next to her, "Don't lose them, remember to contact them every day."

The silly-looking child next to her said honestly, "I know, grandma."

"Can I have another friend book, Dad?" A girl begged while clinging to her father's arm, "I have a lot of friends at school - my sister hasn't started school yet, you can buy her one in a few days -"

"Don't even think about it -" a girl who was obviously younger next to her jumped and shouted, "Don't even think about it - that's mine -"

Looking around, at least one out of every three passengers was talking about the Friends' Book, and some couldn't wait to take out paper and start writing, indulging in "online chatting"; some took out the Friends' Book every few minutes to see if there was any new message. In order to reply in time, they even clipped a portable pen in their chest pockets or ears.

Ferdinand watched this scene almost obsessively - Nine and Three Quarters Station was different from Diagon Alley. It was once the starting point of his dream magic, but it eventually shut him out. When he was a child, he had imagined countless times that he would embark on a journey here, but in the end, he stepped into it for the first time at the age of thirty-two.

After a while, Ferdinand retracted his gaze and said in a suppressed, slightly trembling voice: "Let's go, Wade - let's find a carriage for you."

They walked along the platform for a while and found an empty carriage. Wade put away his suitcase, got off the train and said goodbye to his father.

"Ved——"

Ferdinand put his hand on Ved's shoulder, wanting to say something, but he couldn't.

Tell him to study hard?

——Ved has studied harder than anyone else.

Tell him to build good relationships with others?

—— Ferdinand has said this many times.

Tell him... his parents will always be his backers, and he can ask his family for help no matter what problems he encounters?

—— But Ferdinand knew clearly that he and his wife were completely powerless in the face of wizards. Even if Ved really asked them for help, what could they do for him except empathize with his pain?

After a while, Ferdinand tightened his palm slightly: "We are always proud of you, Wade - no matter what challenges you encounter, don't be afraid, don't hesitate, and ask the teacher for help in time when you encounter trouble - understand?"

Wade nodded, looked into his father's eyes, and asked softly: "Dad, you didn't want me to go to Hogwarts at the beginning, right? Why didn't you stop it?"

"... I can't, Wade." Ferdinand smiled bitterly: "I want to, but I can't - because I have heard that if underage wizards cannot learn to control their magic, they will generate a dark force called Obscurus - destroy themselves - destroy everything -"

So he could only watch his son step into the slaughterhouse that was like a death harvester in his eyes with worry...

Can't stop it.

Can't stop it.