Chapter 25: A Chance Encounter

Chu Yang activated his Observation Haki, clearly hearing the sound of someone cursing "Muggle" in his ear. Following the direction of the sound, he quickly found his target.

Just then, a bespectacled boy hurried past Chu Yang, pushing a trunk just like him, with an owl perched atop the luggage.

The boy looked around blankly, appearing lost and unsure of where to go.

Looking at him, Chu Yang asked as if possessed by a sudden whim, "Are you also looking for Platform Nine and Three-Quarters?"

The bespectacled boy spun around abruptly, a look of surprise and relief flashing across his face. "You are too?"

"Yeah! Follow me!" Chu Yang took the lead, and the bespectacled boy followed closely behind without missing a step.

"Are you also a new student going to Hogwarts?" Seeing that Chu Yang was around his age, the boy instantly became more animated, smiling as he said, "Hello, my name is Harry Potter. What's your name?"

"Harry... Potter?"

Chu Yang finally understood why he had felt the sudden urge to speak to him; the boy before him, who felt inexplicably familiar, was indeed Harry Potter.

"My name is Chu Yang. You can call me Yang." In English, names like "Yang" could be pronounced similarly to "Young."

"Yang!" Harry smiled and asked curiously, "Are you from the ancient Orient? Does Hogwarts recruit students from there as well?"

"By blood, I am indeed from there," Chu Yang said with a shrug. "But I grew up in an orphanage in London!"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Harry felt he had offended Chu Yang and apologized hastily.

Chu Yang waved him off generously, saying nonchalantly, "It's fine. In fact, the orphanage wasn't as bad as you might think. I had many friends there, and Matron Anna is a nun; she is very kind and good to the children. Of course, that was only as long as we didn't cause trouble."

Sensing the sincerity in Chu Yang's words, Harry's expression turned wistful. "Hearing you say that, I think it must have been quite interesting."

Suddenly, Harry became somewhat dejected and lost. "Actually, I'm an orphan too, but I don't have any friends."

Perhaps because they were both orphans, Harry naturally began to confide his experiences over the years to Chu Yang.

Chu Yang patted his shoulder and encouraged him, "The moment you board the train for Hogwarts, it means you have said goodbye to your past. Don't worry, you'll make many new friends at school."

Harry immediately felt much better.

At the same time, he felt an urgent desire to reach Hogwarts as soon as possible.

"This is Platform Nine and Three-Quarters!" Chu Yang pointed to a wall in the middle of the platform ahead and explained, "It's under a spell; we have to go through it."

"Go through it?" Harry's eyes widened!

Then, he watched helplessly as Chu Yang pushed his luggage and charged straight toward the wall.

Just as Harry was about to scream in tension...

He saw Chu Yang's figure merge into the wall and vanish without a trace.

"Chu Yang?" Harry called out softly, but there was no response.

He took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and pushed his luggage forward in one go.

After a brief moment of darkness, Harry's vision changed. A brand-new platform appeared before him, with a sign overhead clearly reading "Platform Nine and Three-Quarters."

"Hurry up, the train is leaving!" Chu Yang's urging voice reached Harry's ears. He shuddered and hurriedly pushed his luggage to catch up.

Once on the train, Chu Yang and Harry found an empty compartment to sit in. Since neither was short on money, they cleared out the snack trolley as soon as it arrived.

Chu Yang paid the bulk of it, letting Harry pay a small portion to protect his pride.

The seats were piled high with snacks. Chu Yang and Harry picked through them; Harry was merely curious about these unfamiliar items, feeling that every single one was filled with the mystery of magic.

Chu Yang, however, was a pure foodie. Rather than the dazzling, magic-adorned packaging, he was more interested in what the snacks inside actually tasted like.

Their conversation soon turned to their families.

Upon learning that Chu Yang was also an orphan, Harry felt an inexplicable sense of kinship.

The look in Harry's eyes toward Chu Yang grew more sympathetic and tender, as if he were looking at his former self.

However, those heavy emotions were quickly suppressed by his anticipation for the future.

Not long after they started eating, a somewhat scruffy boy stood in the corridor outside. His clothes were old, and his face was dirty.

Harry handed the boy a pack of snacks and invited him to sit in the compartment.

Harry's warmth made the boy very happy, and his sense of embarrassment vanished.

Holding the snacks Harry had given him, the boy ate while introducing himself: "Hello, I'm Ron Weasley."

Harry smiled. "Hello, I'm Harry Potter!"

Ron's eyes widened, and he asked in shock, "You're the famous Harry Potter?"

Harry scratched his head somewhat bashfully. "If there isn't a second Potter, I suppose it's me?"

"Then do you have *that*? I mean, the one in the rumors!" Ron pointed to his forehead, looking at Harry with eager eyes.

Harry gave a shy smile, then brushed back his bangs to reveal the lightning-bolt scar on his forehead.

"Cool!" Ron shouted excitedly!

He then turned his gaze to Chu Yang's face and asked in surprise, "Mate, are you from the ancient Orient?"

Chu Yang had already guessed his identity, so he simply nodded as a greeting and lowered his head to flip through *A Defense Against the Dark Arts*.

This book could be considered an advanced version of the *Guide to Self-Defense Against Dark Forces*. It was meant for older students and contained a vast amount of knowledge regarding dark creatures, which was exactly what Chu Yang needed.

If the timing was right, Chu Yang would definitely take a stroll in the Forbidden Forest.

As for the lower-year textbooks, Chu Yang had already memorized them by heart and would occasionally take them out to review.

While Chu Yang was enjoying the pleasure of reading, Ron felt a bit slighted. He had greeted him so enthusiastically, yet Chu Yang had only given a casual nod.

Ron didn't know how familiar Chu Yang actually was with him—so familiar that Chu Yang had subconsciously bypassed a formal greeting.

To Ron, who wasn't particularly fond of studying, Chu Yang's extraordinary reading speed didn't look like studying at all; instead, it looked more like he was showing off...

Ron waved a snack in front of Chu Yang and joked, "Hey! Mate, there are no teachers here to teach you, so no need to show off. Take a rest. You can read 'seriously' once we get to school; that's how you'll let the Headmaster and the teachers know!"

Chu Yang knew immediately that he had been misunderstood.

Most people would have misunderstood in this situation.

So, Chu Yang merely looked up and smiled without defending himself, then continued reading his book.