"Harry Potter and the Shadows of Merlin"

closely matching the original text and aiming to keep the word count near 1,800 words:

"No, no problem."

Ron swallowed, leaning closer to Harry, trying to sound calm and collected. He attempted to return to their previous subject:

"The reason I don't like Slytherin is because the Dark Lord came from Slytherin, and most dark wizards come from there—and, of course, criminals from Azkaban…"

Ron abruptly stopped, realizing he'd said too much in front of Daina. Dunat had been petrified and tossed out into the aisle—and Ron certainly didn't want to end up like Dunat Avery. That would be too embarrassing!

"Whoosh—" The compartment door slid open again. This time, a little girl with thick brown hair and noticeable front teeth appeared, accompanied by a slightly chubby boy.

"Has anyone seen a toad?" She asked condescendingly. "Neville's toad is missing."

Neville tugged Hermione's sleeve. He'd avoided confronting others himself—he'd spotted Dunat petrified in the aisle and wasn't sure who was in the compartment. Fearful of being petrified himself, he'd stayed away. Hermione had volunteered to speak instead.

"No!"

Ron immediately interrupted, hoping to deflect Daina's attention from his earlier slip-up.

The girl frowned. "How do you know if you haven't even looked?"

Daina regarded Neville. "Are you in this carriage?"

Neville shook his head.

"Is your toad some special breed?" Daina asked Hermione. "One that can open doors or move things from afar?"

Neville shook his head again.

Daina turned to Hermione. "You see, it's highly unlikely Neville's toad could cross carriage connections to get in here, especially since we don't even have a sliding door in this compartment."

Hermione, taken aback, blushed slightly. "Even if that makes sense… we can't rule out the possibility that Neville's toad came in while someone passed through the carriage," she argued. "Look at Dunat Avery outside—we'd just had an argument. The toad could have slipped in then!"

Clearly, future Minister for Magic material—she was brave. As a Muggle-born student, seeing a petrified wizard outside, she wasn't intimidated. She faced the suspect head-on.

Daina smiled, looked beneath the seats for a few moments, and replied, "Alright, I checked. The toad isn't here."

Hermione froze. The clash she'd expected never came. The white-haired boy had even helped look. Hermione understood logically that it was unlikely the toad would be there—but she'd prepared for confrontation, and suddenly felt awkward. Still, she pointed to the petrified Avery outside and shifted topics: "Did you cast a spell on him? Why would you do that? Undo it, so we can talk!"

Daina shrugged, drew his wand, and tapped it. Dunat Avery regained consciousness. "You committed a cri—" he began.

Suddenly, Daina's wand tip glowed green, startling Dunat.

"You—you—dare!" he stammered, backing away.

Daina tilted his head and flicked his wrist. Dunat fled in fear.

Ron recoiled at the green glow. "That's Avada Kedavra!"

Daina chuckled. "No, Ron, it's just Lumos Solem with a green hue. You'd know that if you did your reading. It's a First-Year spell."

As he spoke, the wand tip shimmered through red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet. Ron stared, speechless.

"Pre-reading?" Ron muttered. He'd never understood why anyone would study ahead. But if pre-reading produced tricks like this, maybe it was worth it.

Hermione, however, smiled warmly. Her earlier discomfort melted away. Here was someone like her in the wizarding world—someone curious, intelligent, unafraid. Still, she'd pledged to help find Neville's toad. Despite wanting to ask Daina about his study methods, she left with Neville.

Harry sensed Ron's unease and quickly reassured him. "Ron, you don't have to fear Daina. He's a good person—he was persecuted and imprisoned in Azkaban."

"Ah? Oh, right—he's a good person." Ron didn't fully believe it, but he saw Daina's practiced movements. It felt like he might cast Avada Kedavra. But Ron wasn't going to back down. "My whole family is in Gryffindor, so I'll be in Gryffindor too." He glanced at Daina, as if saying—see, I'm Gryffindor strong, not afraid of you.

But Ron misread the situation. Daina had already picked up his Basics of Ancient Runes book and hid behind it. He hadn't even noticed Ron's expression.

…

It seemed Daina's compartment would be a busy one today. Before long, the door opened again.

A platinum-blond boy with a pale face stood there, flanked by two burly boys. "So, people say Harry Potter is in here—is that you?"

Harry nodded. "Yes."

"I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

A classic rivalry in the making.

Daina preferred to stay out of it—he just wanted to study Ancient Runes and decipher Merlin's notebook. But Draco first argued with Ron—then, angered by Harry's dismissal, turned on Daina.

The boy sneered. "And who are you? Shouldn't you greet me? I haven't seen you at pure-blood family gatherings—are you a Muggle?"

Daina set his book down, lake-blue eyes quietly observing Malfoy, making him shift uncomfortably.

"I'm Daina Emrys—from Azkaban."

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