"I've heard of his family," says Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side."

"Yeah, he sounds like the kind of person who was raised by someone who buys into that."

"He does sound that way."

"It's horsepoop, anyone who's looked at any history knows it, the whole thing is ridiculous, and I refuse to take an eleven-year-old who thinks he's so superior because of his last name seriously—and seriously what is this, the eighteen hundreds—?"

"I don't think he would listen to you if you told him those things."

"Point is not convincing him, it's not letting myself—and you guys—buy into any of it. We're all eleven."

"B-but—his family—"

"Yes, Neville?"

"They're in the Wizengamot, a-and they're rich and p-powerful..."

"Then I will be sure not to laugh at them."

"I'll laugh for you." They hear the train whistle. "And perhaps we should search separately, cover more ground that way, we'll be arriving soon."

"Good idea," says Victor. "You and Ron can go to the front, and Neville and I can keep looking from here."

Off they go.

Where is this toad.

That sounded like a rather toadlike noise coming from that corner over there.

And when he investigates?

That's a rather toadlike toad in that corner over there!

"Trevor!"

He picks it up and holds it out to Neville.

Neville accepts it and starts petting it, and then a voice echoes through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

"Muninn, please find Dayo and tell him we found the toad," he says, and then he returns to their original compartment to put his robes on.

Muninn finds Dayo.

"Hello, there," he greets the bird.

"We found the toad!" he says, settling on Dayo's shoulder.

"Oh, great, we barely have time to change—you are very cute you know that?—let's go!"

Down the train he runs.

Ron runs after!