Harry Potter: From Muggle Cousin to Conceptual Wizard

Chapter 68 The Entanglement and Frenzied Chase on Black Lake!

"Whoosh—hiss—"

A long whistle and the sound of train brakes came from outside the open compartment door, interrupting Ron and his two companions' daze.

"We've arrived at our stop, let's get off!"

Dali straightened his robe, gripped Smetin's cane, and strolled out of the cubicle with a leisurely gait, like a gang leader on a picnic.

Harry followed closely behind.

The remaining three, including Ron, exchanged glances and quickly followed.

The sun has set, and night has fallen.

The passengers on the train left their compartments, got off the train, and came to the open space on the platform.

Hogwarts doesn't have many students, about forty in each year, and only about three hundred in all seven years.

At this moment, two spaces were consciously left empty in the group of three hundred people.

One group consisted of a small group of five led by Dudley. The other young wizards, fearing Dudley's power and rejecting Harry's distorted reputation, spontaneously kept their distance from them.

Of course, there are also young wizards who don't think Dudley and Harry are that scary, but these people are being swayed by the group and don't want to go against the majority at this time by approaching Dudley and his friends.

Ron's older brothers noticed their younger brother standing with Dudley and Harry, and gave Ron a thumbs-up from a distance.

In another empty space stood three small, masked mud figures, their bodies covered in mud and emitting a foul odor, like biological weapons that people would avoid at all costs.

The three little clay figures covered their faces with spare clothes, lowered their heads and remained silent, huddling together for warmth, clearly not wanting others to know their identities.

However, this only fueled the gossip and criticism from others, with Slytherin students not hesitating to express their contempt, disdain, ridicule, or even insults and curses.

This made the three little clay figures tremble with anger, and they lowered their heads even further.

But the mud on their bodies kept shaking off.

"Hey! First-year students, follow me!"

The tall Hagrid walked over carrying a lantern. He noticed Dudley and Harry at first glance, smiled at them, and remained oblivious to the other young wizards' aversion to Dudley and the others, as oblivious as ever.

Upon seeing Hagrid, Dudley, without hesitation, led Harry and his new friends to the front of the group, following behind Hagrid.

Meanwhile, the three little clay figures, Malfoy and his companions, slunk along at the very back of the first-year student group.

It's quite rare to see a perfectly good team split into three sections.

The older wizards, seeing the trio of clay figures trailing behind the first-year students, couldn't help but become even more curious, pointing and whispering among themselves.

I'm curious which few people would make such a fool of themselves at such a crucial moment in their lives as enrolling in Hogwarts.

Curiosity aside, they wouldn't know the answer to this question for quite some time.

Students in grades two through seven do not take the same route as first-year students. Led by their respective house prefects, they take a shortcut to the Hogwarts Great Hall and Dining Hall to wait.

The first-year students, led by Hagrid, arrived at the Black Lake in front of Hogwarts Castle.

The tall, mysterious, and majestic Hogwarts Castle is already visible in the distance, attracting the attention of many new students.

They had to split into groups of four, each taking a small boat across the Black Lake to reach Hogwarts Castle to participate in the Sorting Ceremony.

Without a word, Dudley waved his cane and took control of two small boats.

He turned two lakeside stones into two chains, which he used to connect and lock the two small boats together, forming a two-section linked boat.

"Get on the ship!"

Dudley called to his friends and, according to the plan of three in front and two in the back, boarded the chained boats.

Dudley, Harry, and Ron were on the front ship, while Hermione and Neville were on the back ship.

Hagrid was already used to Dudley's ways. He was busy with official business and couldn't whisper to his friends, so he helped the other new students board their ships first, and then took a ship by himself to lead the way.

The three Malfoys, dressed in muddy clothes, naturally occupied a boat and rowed at the very back of the fleet.

No one would ride with them, and no one would bring their boat close to theirs.

"Malfoy, shall we jump into the Black Lake and take a bath? Maybe that will wash off these filthy mud clothes!"

On the small boat of the Malfoy trio, Crabbe whispered a terrible idea.

Upon hearing this, Gao'er's eyes lit up, and he looked at the lake outside the boat, ready to jump in.

Malfoy quickly grabbed him, lowering his voice and angrily saying:

"Are you looking to die? This black lake is inhabited by ferocious mermaids and giant squid! Besides, covered in this mud, how can we even swim? We'll drown if we jump in!"

"What are we going to do? Once we reach the other side, the Sorting Ceremony will be held. How can we face anyone looking like this?! Waaaaah—"

Gore let out a pathetic sob.

Malfoy was also very troubled. After he woke up, he took his wand and cast several anti-curse spells on the three people's muddy clothes, but it had no effect at all.

You can't force it off.

After the train arrived at the station, the only feasible and clumsy solution was to cover their faces with spare clothes, temporarily preserving the Malfoy family's dignity.

Goyle and Crabbe rowed their small boat idly, while Malfoy, sitting at the bow, looked up at the first group of ships in the fleet, his gaze shifting between light and shadow.

"Row faster! Speed ​​up! Catch up with Harry Potter and his cousin's chain of ships!"

After much hesitation, Malfoy finally made a decision and immediately gave orders to his two foolish henchmen.

"what?!"

Upon hearing this, Crabbe and Goyle not only didn't accelerate, but completely gave up and stopped racing. "Malfoy, are you crazy?! If we get any closer to that terrifying freak, we might not even survive!"

Crabbe and Goyle had their memories erased and altered by Dudley, and now their fear of Dudley is ingrained in their very bones.

"You two idiots! If you don't want to make a big fuss and lose face for all three of our families, the only way we have left is to secretly apologize to Dudley Dursley!"

Only if he removes the spell on us can we attend the Sorting Ceremony with dignity! Do you want to make a fool of yourselves in front of the entire school?!

Malfoy was extremely anxious. He picked up the oar and stirred the lake water while angrily explaining the situation to his two henchmen.

How could his teammates be so stupid?

Malfoy is so tired.

Thinking of Dali's immense strength and his group of capable partners only made him feel more weary.

"Oh! Is that so!"

Crabbe and Gore snapped out of their daze and quickly picked up their oars again to help paddle, working together to speed up the boat.

However, their boat was already at the back, and they were delayed for a while.

The chances of catching up with the first wave of Dali ships before reaching the other side are now extremely slim.