Huh? There's a magic school here.

As the fog lifted, a colossal steel beast appeared before Andres: a black Hogwarts Express wagon with the number 5972 on its front and a string of crimson carriages trailing behind. The wagon sat quietly inside, awaiting the arrival of the young wizards.

At that moment, an elderly man with gray hair came up from the front of the car. He walked steadily and walked all the way to Andres, took off his hat, and bowed to him.

“Hello, Headmaster Andres. I am Joseph Carter, the driver of this express train, and I am happy to serve Hogwarts again.”

"Thank you for your hard work in picking up and dropping off the children all these years. This is the first time I've seen it. Could you please tell me about it?"

"Of course, I am honored! I also used it to go to Hogwarts to study, until I was thirty years old and took over the job from old Carter, my father."

Then Joseph Carter seemed to drift into distant memories, explaining to Andres bit by bit the history of the Hogwarts Express.

“You know what? The first time I saw it, Headmaster Andres, was when I was eleven! I had just received my Hogwarts acceptance letter and I was so excited! My father, Old Carter, was also very happy, so on my first day of school, he took me into the cockpit! That was the first time in my life that I was in the cockpit of the Hogwarts Express, and I will never forget that feeling of speeding along.”

Joseph Carter then led Andreas into the engine room of the Hogwarts Express. The train's cab wasn't large, about four times the size of an elevator car.

"Headmaster Andres, you see, it's actually not that big here! Originally, the locomotive usually needed two or three people, one to drive and the other to shovel coal into the furnace. But that's the clumsy way in the Muggle world! We're wizards, aren't we? So the Ministry of Magic specially modified this train! From then on, the Hogwarts Express was different from its brothers; it didn't need to burn coal but was powered by magic!"

During the renovation, the Ministry of Magic staff deliberately left the whistle behind. Whenever the whistle is pulled, the Hogwarts Express emits white smoke, just like when coal is burning! Old Carter said it was one of the few joys he experienced while driving! I remember pulling it a few times myself; the sound was incredibly pleasant to me!

Andres stood there listening to the old man reminisce about his childhood.

"You see, I get old and love to reminisce. Let me tell you about the origins of the Hogwarts Express. Headmaster Andres, have you ever considered how young wizards came to Hogwarts to study before the Hogwarts Express existed?"

"Hmm? Wizards should have many ways to travel, right? Like carriages, Floo Powder, or flying brooms and magical creatures? Maybe a flying carpet is a good choice? At least I think a flying carpet is better for carrying luggage than a flying broom!"

“You’re right, Headmaster Andres! They did exactly that! Some even tried to Apparate, but as the headmaster, you should know that Hogwarts Castle and the surrounding area have been protected by an anti-Apparate charm. So many of them were sent far away from Hogwarts, and some were even more unlucky enough to injure themselves!”

Then there are the magical creatures, such as the large number of Thestrals that roam the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. It's said they were left behind during that time; many wizards rode in on Thestrals and then Apparated back, leaving the Thestrals abandoned in the Forbidden Forest. Later, one of the headmasters of Hogwarts decided to take them in, and their only job was to serve as mounts to transport the children during school days and holidays!

“I’ve also considered exchanging for Thestrals, but we have too many students here, so it’s not practical. I’m looking at other ways to get a large number of young wizards to the castle, and luckily I still have time. The vast majority of young wizards this year will still have to come to the castle via the Black Lake!”

"I hope you can resolve your troubles soon. By the way, where were we? Oh right, the way wizards get here! Although there are a lot of Muggle sightings every year, these methods were feasible before the Act of Secrecy, but they are no longer possible after the Act of Secrecy came into effect! So the Ministry of Magic needed an efficient transportation method to safely and effectively send young wizards from all over Britain to Hogwarts! And that's how this big guy came about!"

“Carter, I believe that even so, things didn’t go smoothly at first, right?”

“Yes, Principal Andres, you’re right! The first thing is how to get this big guy! The then Minister of Magic, Ottalay Gamper, made a bold decision. She launched a massive operation involving 167 Obliteration Charms and the largest collection of hidden spells in British history.”

"It's clear that the Ministry of Magic put a lot of effort into handling this matter! So what happened next?"

"Later? Later, to help this big guy better conceal himself, the Ministry of Magic set its sights on King's Cross Station, which the Muggles were building at the time! They set up a hidden platform there, which is now Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. In fact, there's more than just that one platform; there's also Platform Seven and One-Two leading to Europe. However, we might not be able to connect to Europe from here, which may require your efforts, Headmaster! I believe that if the railway could connect to Europe, it would be of great benefit to the future development of Hogwarts!"

"In addition, there was a group of pure-blood wizards who refused to use it, claiming it was a Muggle product. In the end, the Ministry of Magic strongly suppressed them, and they finally gave up their resistance."

"Sometimes these stubborn purebloods really do hinder the development of the wizarding world, don't they?"

"Perhaps, but I don't think we'll have these kinds of problems here!"

"Yes, thank you so much for listening to this old man ramble on about these old stories. Now let's get in the car and take a look!"

Joseph Carter then led Andreas onto the Hogwarts Express.

“Principal Andres, our express train is fundamentally different from Muggle trains. It doesn’t need to burn coal like Muggle trains! Its power comes entirely from magic. As for why it emits white smoke, that’s just a little fun for the drivers. Because the entire train has been magically modified, although it looks like there are only five carriages on the outside, the interior space is still quite large.”

"Are you and the food vendor the only two adults on the train?"

“Yes, usually it’s just me and the food salesperson. Right now, the salesperson in the car is Mrs. Margaret Mason, who is even a bit older than me. I suppose she’s probably resting in one of the private rooms right now.”