HP: Hogwart's Journey

The scholars claim that the pumpkin pasties in the Harry Potter world are likely similar to Cornish pasties, only without the meat, filled instead with pumpkin. Thinking about this, Robert swallowed and felt a bit hungry... 

Ten minutes later, a smiling ticket seller and food delivery lady left, leaving behind a scattered array of gear—uh, I mean food. The twins had bought a lot of candy, which had used up half their pocket money, while Robert got himself some pasties and cakes. The pasty was about the size of half a palm, with a soft, flaky crust and filled with sweet pumpkin. Robert thought it was more like a folded pumpkin pie, and most importantly, it tasted really good. The cauldron cakes, on the other hand, were the size of small fists, looking somewhat like cauldrons filled with various jams. Each one had a small chocolate biscuit stick inserted into the jam, and the different colors of the jams made them look colorful.

"Want to try Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?" George offered a box, which resembled the pointed top of a fairy tale tower, with a little opening at the top that one could stick their finger through. 

"Just pick one," George grinned mischievously. "That's the essence of it." 

Robert shrugged. Well, it seemed like a tradition at this point—an opportunity to give first-time visitors to the magical world a deep understanding of how things worked. He extended his finger and randomly grabbed one. 

"Ah, it's green," George said. "Let me guess, the last time I had a green one, it was..." 

Fred looked at the bean and laughed loudly. "This one's definitely earwax flavor!" 

"Maybe it's spinach flavor," George suggested. 

Robert hesitated. After all, in his memory, green was indeed associated with the taste of earwax... wait, why did wizards even know that? He thought, "Why not earwax instead of nosewax?" Furthermore, Bertie Bott's beans actually had an earwax flavor, so they really knew the difference between these bodily secretions! 

"Hey, Robert, remember, no take-backs," Fred said proudly. "Once you pick a Bertie Bott's bean, you have to eat it." 

Alright then. Robert closed his eyes and popped the bean into his mouth. 

Hmm, it tasted a bit earthy... wait, not spinach... oh, it clicked. Robert opened his eyes and said with an odd expression, "This... this tastes like grass." 

"Ah..." came the twins' voices in disappointed unison. "Alright, grass flavor, not bad." 

But of course, this wasn't the end. Fred, grinning, grabbed another bean from his brother and raised an eyebrow. "Why is it green again? Is green our lucky color today?" 

With that, he tossed the bean into his mouth. 

"Oh! Merlin!" Fred's face contorted in disgust. "This tastes like boiled cabbage!" 

He groaned. 

George quickly pulled out his own bean, saying, "Looks like I'm lucky; this one's gold!" 

With that, he popped the bean in, and his face instantly changed. "Ugh, ugh, ugh!" He spit three times and grabbed a soda to wash it down. "It's earwax flavor!" 

Fred and Robert burst into laughter, watching George contort his face. This would definitely be their source of amusement for the whole year! 

"Hey guys, want to see a real magical creature?" a young Black man poked his head through the door. His voice was booming, with a rhythmic quality to it. Robert thought, "This must be a natural talent!" 

"Whoa!" The twins exchanged a look and then said with interest, "Yes, we want to see! Come in!" 

The young man eagerly complied, quickly stepping into the compartment and shutting the door behind him. 

For some reason, a thought popped into Robert's head: "When God closes a door, He also closes the window." 

With this strange thought in mind, the three round heads leaned forward. 

"Huh, what's this?" The young man noticed a cup on the table, filled with clear liquid, with bubbles clinging to the sides. 

Robert quickly handed him a cup of soda, saying, "I made this myself—fruit soda. You can give it a try and let me know what you think." 

The young man took the soda happily but didn't drink it right away. Instead, he rubbed his hands together and carefully opened the paper box. 

A flash of bright green flickered before their eyes... 

The three stared blankly at the squirming figure inside the box. 

Flobberworm—brown, 10 inches, a toothless worm, danger level X. 

The long, malnourished creature weakly lifted its head before returning to gnaw on a lettuce leaf. 

"Is this a...?" George said uncertainly. 

Fred leaned over to get a closer look, curiously poking the worm, which immediately froze. 

The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures classifies magical creatures into levels X-XXXXX, with five levels in total. This worm, which posed no threat and simply chewed plants while secreting mucus, was in the lowest classification, X (Dull). 

Robert almost laughed. In the Muggle world, this would probably be no different from a caterpillar on a leaf, but its mucus was a natural thickening agent, so calling it a magical creature was not far from the truth. 

However, this clearly wasn't what the twins had in mind. 

They quickly dragged the young man over and began to try to find some fun with their new, possibly equally mischievous companion. 

At that moment, something fluffy and round rolled out of Robert's luggage. With no limbs, the little creature bounced over to Robert's arms, catching the attention of everyone in the compartment. 

"Oh, Robert, I think I see a Puffskein?" Fred spoke first. "It looks a bit like Ron's." 

"Ron? But I didn't see him with his Puffskein... oh, right, its name is Pudding," Robert said, somewhat curious. He knew Ginny would have a Gnome Puffskein in the future, but did Ron have one too? 

Fred looked a little embarrassed. "Well, actually, Ron's flew away." 

"Flew away?" Robert was stunned, glancing at the little creature in his arms, then at Fred. "Puffskeins can fly? I had no idea!" 

George immediately sold his brother out. "He hit Ron's Puffskein with a Quaffle and made it fly away!" 

"I just swung the bat instinctively, and it flew off!" Fred hastily explained, but it didn't stop the others from giving him a knowing look. 

After a brief round of teasing, Robert asked, "What's a Quaffle?" 

Everyone stared at him in surprise. 

"My gosh, Robert, you don't know Quidditch?" 

Robert gave a perfectly innocent look. "I know Quidditch, since my father mentioned it in his diary, but what does that have to do with it? Isn't it just about catching the Golden Snitch in a game?" 

(End of Chapter)