Hogwarts: Voldemort, don't stop me from studying!

"They can buy everything in the world from home?"

Wade laughed: "Actually, online shopping started about ten years ago, and it will definitely become more convenient in the future—but I don't really know much about this."

Wade was not a computer expert; in his previous life, he was just an average college student, and he had forgotten most of the C programming he had learned after passing the exam.

Reborn into this world, knowing the future development of computers, Wade considered delving into this technology to bring WeChat, TikTok, shopping websites, smartphones, and so on to the world ahead of time, perhaps becoming the world's richest man before the age of thirty. But Wade's studies had barely begun when he received an acceptance letter from Hogwarts…

Faced with the choice between being the world's richest man and magic, Vader hesitated for only 0.1 seconds before choosing the latter.

Michael said incredulously, "But what you said just now seemed so reasonable—"

“I just said some things I read in a magazine—sounds impressive, right?” Wade leaned against the carriage and laughed. “You guys don’t understand, and Pewter and the others certainly don’t understand either, but I’m confident—they’ll think I know a lot, but they can’t communicate with me, so they have to go away, otherwise just listening to me would be very uncomfortable.”

“Merlin!” Theo exclaimed. “I thought you were a computer expert among Muggles! I’ve watched their TV shows, and the experts there don’t say anything as incomprehensible as you do.”

For a moment, Theo wondered if he was hearing English, or if Muggles had invented a language specifically for their computers.

—Oh right, Wade seemed to have mentioned this concept earlier… something about computer languages… C, C++, Java, Python…

Theo fell into deep thought.

So Muggles really did that? They invented a machine... and then invented many complex languages ​​for that machine...

"You seemed a little nervous just now?" Wade asked Michael. "Who are they?"

"They are one of the more troublesome groups among the purebloods—the kind of people who might immediately and gladly join forces with the Mysterio if he were to return."

Michael said, "Jom Prewitt, you probably haven't heard of him before, he's a sixth-year Ravenclaw student who loves to host all sorts of parties, big and small, in the common room. He got excellent grades in the OWLs exams in Defense Against the Dark Arts, even though he only studied it on his own, but he's even better at all sorts of minor curses. He's narrow-minded, so it's best not to mess with him."

Ryan sighed and said, "Before I entered Hogwarts, I thought Ravenclaws were all bookworms! Did you see that Prewitt? He looked like he couldn't wait to be Axley's pawn!"

"—Because Pwett wasn't the real Pwett," Theo recalled. "I think I heard someone say that his great-great-grandmother married a half-blood wizard named Dion or Dick, and later, when the Pureblood Register was published, they changed their surname to Pwett, one of the 'Holy Twenty-Eight Tribes'."

"And then?" Wade asked curiously, "The Pwett family accepted this relationship?"

“No, they’ve never been recognized by the Prewitt family. But both Prewitt brothers were killed in the war against the Void and the Death Eaters. Prewitt—I mean, Jom Prewitt’s father and uncle—are now high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Magic, and they call themselves pure-blood Prewitts, and nobody cares.” Theo looked at the gossipy expressions on everyone’s faces and said with a smile, “Actually, the closest Prewitt blood relatives in the school are probably the Weasleys from Gryffindor.”

"Weasley?" The group was all surprised.

“Yes, Ron Weasley’s mother’s last name was Prewitt, and the two brothers who died were her older brother,” Theo said.

"Are they all dead?" Ryan asked.

"Yes."

"It was terrible—I mean the war. Thankfully it's over."

Ryan silently expressed his gratitude to Harry Potter in his heart—although the boy had not shown any extraordinary talent or strength, he had truly saved the world, and that alone was enough.

Many people, including Ryan's parents, are very grateful for and respect the boy who survived.

“What about Yaxley and Foley?” Wade asked.

“Axley—” Theo’s face paled slightly. “His father, like Malfoy, once served the Void. After the Void disappeared, they both claimed to have been affected by the Imperius Curse and escaped punishment by paying money. Unlike Malfoy, his father is still working at the Ministry of Magic and is said to be a cruel and cold-blooded man. I have no doubt that Axley is skilled in dark magic.”

Michael exclaimed in surprise, "Even if they were truly controlled by the Imperius Curse, they must have done a lot of bad things, right? How come they're still holding positions in the Ministry of Magic?"

"Yes, that's right," Theo said with a wry smile. "Isn't it incredible?"

Michael fell silent. This intelligent boy suddenly felt that the towering image of the Ministry of Magic in his heart was beginning to crumble.

"As for the Foley family—" Theo continued, "they were once followers of Grindelwald. After he was defeated by Dumbledore, the Mafia disappeared from people's sight, and the Foley family went into hiding. But in any case, the Mafia were once a more terrifying force than the Death Eaters, so we must be extra careful."

The carriage was quiet for a while.

Michael and Ryan, both half-blood wizards, were not very familiar with the families, factions, and past wars in the wizarding world; some things wouldn't be recorded in "The History of Magic." Young wizards like them, born in a peaceful era, mostly thought war was just a story in textbooks, a maddening topic for exams, unaware that the shadow of war loomed over their own classmates.

Thinking of Professor Quirrell, who was possessed by Voldemort at school, and then of his classmates who might aspire to become Death Eaters, the young boy couldn't help but sigh deeply, feeling very heavy-hearted.

The rest of the journey was uneventful. Occasionally, some students would come to see the "inventor of the Book of Friends," but Wade would use "internet concepts" as a weapon to end the conversation within minutes. By the time it was time to get off the bus, no one was coming to discuss these headache-inducing topics with him anymore.

The train slowly pulled into Hogsmeade Station. The students changed into warm clothes and disembarked. In the distance, the brightly lit Hogwarts awaited them.

Chapter 64 The Carriage, Thestrals

“Come with me, students!” a deep voice rang out.

Hagrid, looking like a wild man, was wearing a thick fur coat and carrying a lantern. He waited for them on the dark platform, like a towering giant.

For students unfamiliar with Hagrid's inner world, his appearance was truly intimidating. The previously noisy students immediately quieted down and followed Hagrid along the platform.

In a wide open space, many dark carriages were parked, with dim yellow lights hanging on both sides of the carriage frame, and some of the carriages were swaying slightly.

The students boarded the carriage one by one, and Wade and the others walked forward together when they suddenly heard a voice greeting them: "Hey, Wade, guys, this carriage is empty!"

They looked up and saw Hermione, Padma, Parvati, and Neville all sitting in the same carriage. Padma spoke, pointing to an empty carriage parked beside them, covered with straw.

The group climbed onto the carriage one after another. Michael waved first and said, "Hello everyone, have you had a good holiday?"

“Great, except for one person who never looks at the Book of Friends,” Hermione said. “I was thinking it would be easier to discuss things in the Book of Friends! Especially when studying the Disarming Charm—”

"Oh, Hermione, wait a minute, school hasn't started yet!" Padma stopped her with a headache: "Let's talk about it tomorrow, okay? We can talk about school tomorrow."

Even though she's a Ravenclaw, Hermione's dedication to studying is frightening.

"See you at the library tomorrow afternoon!" Wade suggested. "I'm going to borrow some new books anyway."

Hermione had no choice but to sit back down regretfully, while Parvati next to her quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Although no one was urging her to study, when she listened to the top students discussing their studies while she couldn't understand or participate at all, she felt as if she were trapped in an invisible glass dome and was about to suffocate.

While they were talking, Neville hurriedly jumped off the carriage, clutching his toad Lefur tightly, and squeezed into the carriage with Wade and the others.

“Hey, Neville, we already have enough people here!” Michael protested.

"Please, let me stay here, there are only girls over there—"

Neville pleaded in a low voice, looking like he had suffered a great torment, but his body did not hesitate to push Michael into the corner, refusing to get down no matter what.

Michael, forced to sit close to the carriage, said angrily, "What's wrong with being with a girl? The girl sitting next to you is the prettiest girl at Hogwarts! And she's a twin!"

A burst of cheerful laughter came from the girls' side; I wondered if it was because they had heard what Michael had said.

Neville, flustered and head bowed, didn't dare look to see who was laughing, and whispered, "They keep laughing—it's so awkward, I can't stand being there alone—"

Michael, exasperated, yelled, "Neville, you're a hopeless idiot!"

Before the carriage could move, he jumped down without hesitation and headed straight for the girls' carriage. He was on board in no time and began chatting and laughing with Padma.

Neville breathed a sigh of relief, looking very admiring.

The three of them couldn't help but burst out laughing. Neville chuckled and scratched his head sheepishly.

The carriage swayed and bumped along the uneven road, and there was a musty smell inside. There was a thick layer of straw under the carriage.

Ryan couldn't help but say, "I wanted to ask this last time I rode in this car: why isn't there even a seat cushion?"

When they went home for Christmas, they also took these carriages to Hogsmeade Station, but when they left the house, they were all with their own housemates and didn't have a chance to get together.

Theo guessed: "Perhaps it's to follow tradition—it can't be because there's no funding, can it?"

Anyone who has seen Hogwarts' usual mealtime scene would not think that the school couldn't afford a few soft mats.

"What more can we ask for from a school that provides room and board and doesn't charge tuition? Let's just consider this a test for us!"

As he spoke, Wade tapped the haystack on the vehicle with his wand, and the withered yellow straw instantly transformed into a thick cushion.

The group touched the mat and said enviously, "Sigh, Transfiguration is so difficult."

Under Vader's guidance, they did well in Charms class, but Transfiguration was mostly up to them, and Vader couldn't force firm beliefs and clear images into their minds.

"Does school for Muggles cost money?" Theo asked curiously.

“Hmm.” Wade thought about the primary school he attended and said, “Public primary schools are basically free, with only a small miscellaneous fee. But private schools cost at least ten thousand pounds a year.”

"Ten thousand pounds?" Theo asked blankly. "How much is that?"

“That’s roughly equivalent to two thousand Galleons,” Vader said.

Theo gasped, "So expensive! Muggles must be rich!"

Even if he were a pureblood, his family couldn't possibly spend two thousand Galleons a year to send him to school—it would probably take a family as wealthy as the Malfoys to afford it.

“Most Muggle students also attend public elementary schools,” Wade said.

“Speaking of which, these carriages at school are really nice; they can drive themselves. Are they alchemical items too?” Ryan asked curiously. Neville suddenly looked up, his lips trembling as if he wanted to say something, but then he held back.

“No—it sounds like there’s an invisible horse pulling—” Michael leaned forward: “Listen carefully—”

The group held their breath and listened carefully. The invisible creature in the air hissed, snorted, and flapped its wings.

"An invisible horse—" Ryan frowned in thought, "I feel like I've seen this kind of creature in some book before—"

“It’s Thestral.” Vader revealed the answer.

“Yes!” Ryan clapped his hands excitedly. “It’s Thestrals! Legend says that only those who have witnessed death can see them—that’s why we can’t see them!”

"—So, they're not invisible, they're just invisible to people?" Theo frowned, trying to sort out the logic behind it.

"Yep."

Wade casually agreed, nodded, and looked ahead at the carriage.

The emaciated black horse had white, pupil-less eyes, and a face as ferocious and menacing as a demonic dragon. It obediently pulled the carriage forward, its enormous bat wings gently folded at its sides. Perhaps Ryan's voice was a little loud, for it raised its head uneasily and quickened its pace slightly.

The wheels creaked and groaned as they turned, finally coming to a stop in front of the castle's stone steps.