ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴅʀᴀᴛᴛᴇᴅ ʟɪʟᴀ ʜᴏʟᴍᴇꜱ || ᴅʀᴀᴄᴏ ᴍᴀʟꜰᴏʏ x ᴏᴄ || ʏᴇᴀʀꜱ 1-3

compelling adversary

It was around noon when a rattling came from outside the compartment door. A lady with a cart stood outside, several treats adorning the shelves. From where I was sitting they looked like Muggle candy, but upon examining the names they seemed pretty unconventional. Chocolate frogs? Licorice wands? Bertie Bot's Every Flavour Beans?

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" Asked the woman. Harry and I both helped ourselves. Ron pulled out a sandwich his mum had made, but Harry and I were quick to offer him our spoils. We all dug into the treats. Harry picked up one of the chocolate frogs.

"These aren't real frogs, are they?" He asked.

"No," said Ron. "But see what the card is, I might get Agrippa."

"What?" Harry asked.

"Oh, you wouldn't know," Ron picked up another chocolate frog. "There's a card in each of them with a famous witch or wizard on it. You can collect them. I've got about five hundred myself."

My eyes widened. That's a lot of cards.

Harry opened his. "So this is Dumbledore," he said, turning the card around to show me. I looked up. He was an older-looking man with a silvery, white beard and half-moon glasses. He smiled at me and then walked out of the frame. I skimmed over the text below him and jotted down some notes about him in my book. Harry eventually faced the card back towards himself and blinked, astounded.

"He's gone!" He exclaimed.

"Well you can't expect him to stick around all day now, can you?" Ron remarked.

"I think Harry's just surprised because pictures in the Muggle world don't move," I told Ron. "It's fascinating. I found out when I started reading last night."

"What? They just stay still?" Ron seemed very surprised by this, looking between us. "Weird."

Soon, after the chocolate frogs had been demolished, we opened a pack of Bertie Bott's. Ron warned us, but I decided to take first pick anyway. I selected a green one. I popped it into my mouth. It tasted the way that grass smelled. Surprisingly, it wasn't distasteful.

"This tastes like grass," I informed them. "But it's refreshing."

They both gave me an odd look, so I simply shrugged and took another. This one was orange. After a second or two I deducted that it was peach.

"I believe this is peach," I told them. "I've been having incredible luck so far."

"I wouldn't call lawn clippings good luck," Ron remarked, popping one into his mouth. "But suit yourself— bleargh, sprouts!"

The Every Flavour Beans were a blast. Each one was its own little adventure. I'd had my fair share of toothpaste flavored ones in the end. I liked Ron. He didn't seem at all like Malfoy or the other pure-blooded boys. He was rather funny, and his reactions to the beans were very amusing.

There was a sudden knock on the compartment door. The three of us looked at each other. Ron, bearing nearest to the door, decided to open it. In the doorway stood a rather pudgy boy with brown hair, appearing quite distraught.

"Sorry," He said, "But have you seen a toad at all?"

We all shook our heads at him. His frown deepened.

"I've lost him!" He cried. "He keeps getting away from me!"

"Why don't I help you find him?" I asked, excited at the prospect of a small mystery. "I reckon he's around somewhere, and I'm very proficient at finding things." I looked at Ron and Harry. "If you two don't mind, of course."