Harry Potter: From Muggle Cousin to Conceptual Archmage

"Whoo —— screech ——"

The long whistle of the steam and the screeching of the train brakes came from the open compartment door, interrupting the daze of Ron and his two other companions.

"Let's get off the train!"

Dudley straightened his robe, grasped the Smelting stick, strolling leisurely like the Boss of a gang on an outing, and led the way out of the compartment.

Harry followed closely behind.

The remaining three with Ron exchanged glances and quickly followed suit.

The sun had set, and the night was closing in.

Passengers on the train left their compartments one after another, got off, and gathered on the open space of the platform.

There weren't many students at Hogwarts. Each grade had about forty students, so there were only around three hundred students in total for the seven grades.

At this moment, two spaces were naturally left empty within this group of three hundred people.

One was the group of five led by Dudley. Many wizards, fearing Dudley's strength and put off by Harry's controversial reputation, voluntarily kept their distance.

Of course, there were also wizards who didn't think Dudley and Harry were that terrifying, but being influenced by the group, they didn't want to go against the majority and approach Dudley's group at this time.

Ron's older brothers noticed their younger brother standing with Dudley and Harry and gave Ron an approving gesture from afar.

The other empty space was occupied by three mud - covered figures, covered in mud and emitting a foul smell like biological weapons that people couldn't avoid fast enough.

These three mud - covered figures covered their faces with spare clothes, kept their heads down, and huddled together, clearly not wanting others to know their identities.

However, this only made others point fingers at them even more. The Slytherin students didn't hold back from showing their contempt, disdain, ridicule, and even insults.

This made the three mud - covered figures tremble with anger, and they lowered their heads even more.

But the mud on them just shook but didn't fall off.

"Hey! First - years, come with me!"

The tall Hagrid walked over with a lantern in his hand. He noticed Dudley and Harry at first sight and smiled at them. He didn't notice the other wizards' exclusion of Dudley and his group at all and was as oblivious as ever.

Seeing Hagrid, Dudley took the lead and led Harry and his newly - acquired companions to the front of the line of first - years, following behind Hagrid.

And the mud - covered Malfoy Trio slunk to the end of the line of first - years.

It was a very rare sight to see the line of first - years divided into three parts.

When the upper - year wizards saw the mud - covered Malfoy Trio trailing behind the line of first - years, besides pointing fingers, they couldn't help but be even more curious.

They were curious about who these people were that they would make such a big fool of themselves at such an important moment of starting at Hogwarts.

Curious as they were, they'd have to wait a while to find out the answer to this question.

The students from the second to the seventh grades didn't take the same path as the first - years. They would take a shortcut led by their respective house prefects and head to the Hogwarts Dining Hall (the Great Hall) in advance.

The first - years, on the other hand, were led by Hagrid to the Black Lake in front of Hogwarts Castle.

The tall, mysterious, and imposing Hogwarts Castle was already in the distance, captivating the hearts of the first - years.

They had to form groups of four and take boats across the Black Lake to reach Hogwarts Castle for the Sorting Ceremony.

Dudley waved his wand and directly commandeered two boats.

He transformed two stones by the lake into two chains and locked the two boats together, forming a two - section chained boat.

"Get on board!"

Dudley beckoned his friends. With a plan of three in the front and two in the back, they boarded the chained boat.

Dudley, Harry, and Ron were in the front boat, while Hermione and Neville were in the back.

Hagrid was used to Dudley's ways. Since he was on duty, he couldn't have a private chat with his friend. So he first helped the other first - years onto their boats, and then took a boat alone to lead the way at the front.

The Malfoy Trio, wearing mud - covered robes, naturally took a boat for themselves and rowed at the back of the fleet.

No one would share a boat with them, nor would anyone get close to their boat.

"Malfoy, should we jump into the Black Lake for a bath? Maybe we can wash off these dirty mud - covered robes!"

On the Malfoy Trio's boat, Crabbe whispered a stupid idea.

Hearing this, Goyle's eyes lit up. He stared at the water outside the boat and was on the verge of jumping.

Malfoy quickly grabbed him and hissed:

"Are you trying to get us killed? There are ferocious mermaids and huge squids living in this Black Lake! Also, can we swim in these mud - covered robes? We'll drown if we jump in!"

"Then what should we do? The Sorting Ceremony will be held once we reach the other side. How can we show ourselves in this state?! Waaaaah—"

Goyle let out a pathetic sob.

Malfoy was also very annoyed. After he woke up, he pointed his wand at their three mud - covered robes and cast several disenchantment spells, but they didn't work at all.

It was also impossible to take off the mud - covered robes by force.

After the train arrived at the station, they could only use spare clothes to cover their faces, which was a stupid way to save a bit of the Malfoy family's face for the time being.

Goyle and Crabbe rowed the boat half - heartedly. Malfoy, sitting at the bow of the boat, looked at the chained boat in the front of the fleet. His eyes were full of indecision.

"Row faster! Speed up! Catch up with Harry Potter and his cousin's chained boat!"

After hesitating for a long time, Malfoy finally made a decision. He immediately ordered his two stupid followers.

"What?!"

Hearing this, instead of speeding up, Crabbe and Goyle completely gave up rowing. "Malfoy, are you crazy?! If we get any closer to that scary freak, we might not even keep our lives!"

Crabbe and Goyle had their memories deleted and tampered with by Dudley, and now their fear of Dudley had seeped into their bones.

"You two idiots! If we don't want to make a scene and disgrace our three families, the only option now is to secretly apologize to Dudley Dursley!

Only when he removes the magic he cast on us can we attend the Sorting Ceremony decently!

Do you want to make a complete fool of yourselves in front of the whole school and teachers?!

Malfoy was extremely anxious. While picking up the oar to row the boat on the lake, he angrily explained the reason to his two lackeys.

How could his teammates be so stupid?

Malfoy felt so exhausted.

Thinking of Dudley's powerful strength and his capable partners, he felt even more exhausted.

"Oh! So that's how it is!"

Crabbe and Goyle suddenly woke up as if from a dream. They quickly picked up the oars again to help row, working together to speed up the boat.

However, their boat was already in the last place and they had wasted some time.

Now, there was really little hope of catching up with Dudley's chained boat in the first echelon before reaching the opposite shore.