Готовый перевод Тейлор Поттер и философский виал / Taylor Potter and the Philosophical Vial: Глава 2. Вормвартс - экспресс

Chapter 2. Wormwarts Express
* * *

September 1, 2022

Grand Central Station in New York was still as central, noisy, and chaotic as ever, but this time, unlike last year, Taylor knew what to do. Not to mention, she arrived at the station accompanied by Lisa Granger and the entire Weasley family — five of Sarah's children were going to Wormwarts this year.

Having habitually activated her ticket key, Taylor stepped inside the "column," which was actually a passage to the hidden platform 9 3/4. Now the system would recognize her, and she would step into the wonder...

"Authorization failed," came an unpleasant mechanical voice. "Intruder!"

"Wait!" Taylor cried, but it was too late.

Nozzles emerged from the walls, and a stream of yellow-white mixture poured out. It immediately began to swell rapidly, quickly engulfing Taylor. The last thing Potter saw before the foam engulfed her was an ugly face on the screen and the words // "Don't go anywhere!"

*
"There's a system glitch," Lisa said, wiping Taylor's face with a damp cloth.

The napkin was soaked not in just anything, but in a foam solvent that has an unpleasant, pungent smell and a vomit-green color.

"You're saying the same face appeared on your tablet and then the Dursleys' house went crazy?"

Taylor just nodded and sighed, realizing that now, after being scrubbed with foam remover, she looked like a pathetic, wet, and plucked chicken. Not to mention that she was dripping all over the seats in her compartment, and that the train had been delayed because of her! Furthermore, everyone had to disembark and wait while the Wormwarts Express' systems were rechecked.

"My tablet's glitching up too!" Amy noted.

“That’s because it’s already ten years old, and you also hit it against a column,” Lisa immediately answered.

Amy's freckled face flushed, which, combined with her chestnut-red hair, made it look as if someone had set her head on fire. The system had locked Taylor in the column, but Amy, unaware of this, tried to get inside. She tried very persistently, even asking Victoria for help, and ended up hitting the tablet much harder than usual. The designers of the school models, of course, took into account that the users would be young superpowered individuals, but the tablet was not completely indestructible.

"This is all very strange," Amy muttered, looking away. "We should ask Professor Lockhart to figure out what's going on."

"He's a professor, of course, but remember what his subject is called?" Lisa squinted.

"DPTS: Defense and Protection, Tactics, and Strategy," Amy replied.
T.N. There are problems with the reverse translation of acronyms.

"There! If we just defend ourselves, we won't catch the attacker!" Lisa said thoughtfully, raising her index finger with the napkin to the ceiling. "We need to set a trap and catch him... although now that probably doesn't make sense anymore."

"Why?" Taylor was surprised.

There were three of them in the compartment, and they could speak without embarrassment. Yet. Until Victoria came, and until anyone else came to express their displeasure with Taylor. As they boarded, she caught several displeased glances and even more displeased gestures directed at her back.

"Why do you think, with teleporters, Tinker devices, and capes that can fly, students travel to Wormwarts and other schools by train?"

“I don’t know,” Taylor replied, looking at Amy hopefully.

"They didn't tell me," she sighed, "but you could ask Carol. Or Eric. Or Crystal."

Carol Weasley was a sixth year and a Prefect, and Eric and Crystal seemed to know everything about Wormwarts, despite being only two years older than Amy.

"Or me," Lisa grinned, hugging Taylor and wiping her ear with a napkin. "So, schools of caping and parahumanism all over the world are autonomous structures, with their own AIs keeping order. While we're riding on the train — a special Tinker train, mind you — we're scanned for viruses, bombs, and foreign influences, our luggage is X-rayed and dissected to make sure we don't bring anything harmful into Wormwarts. Not counting us, of course, because young capes are the most destructive creatures in this part of the universe, as Amy's tablet can confirm!"

"There's just a crack in the screen and a little glitch in the programs!" Amy pouted, drawing her head into her shoulders and tucking her hands under her armpits.

"Okay, okay, don't be offended," Lisa moved over and hugged Amy.

"How touching," came a mocking voice.

Taylor turned her head and sighed. Of course, how could she have done without Max Malfoy and his companions, the twins Jessica and Nessa?

"Potter," Max muttered, "you look exactly as you'll look all year: pathetic and miserable."

"What are you talking about?" Taylor frowned.

"He joined the Eidolorin Quidditch team and is confident he'll win all year," said Lisa, who was studying Malfoy closely. "Because he considers himself the best Tactician in the world."

"He doesn't think so, but that's how it is," Max chuckled, "but how could a first-generation cape understand that? Keep hugging that broken Weasley, that's where you belong!"

Amy, blushing again, tried to get up, but Lisa gently but insistently held her back and shook her head.

"Yeah, listen to your cowardly friend and know your place!" Malfoy burst out laughing, then left.

When the door closed behind him, Amy pushed Lisa away and screamed.

"What's wrong with you?"

"He was clearly provoking a fight," Taylor interjected, "and Lisa did the right thing. If your enemy provokes you, you can't rush into battle!"

"Those are Quirrell's words," Amy frowned.

"Just because they were said by a mega-villain with a Dark Cape in his head didn't make the words false."

"And he's still wrong!" Amy turned away, offended.

Lisa scratched her nose and offered a conciliatory tone.

"Taylor, you need to change, and then let's eat. And let's not talk about what happened, let's talk about summer... no, about Wormwarts and your upcoming studies! By the way, Taylor, do you have your bandage?"

"Of course," Taylor, who was getting a change of clothes from her suitcase, froze and turned around. "Did something happen?"

The bandage made by Dragon, inherited from her deceased parents, made Taylor invisible to all devices, and no wonder Potter was wary after her friend's words. Granger was a Thinker, after all.

"Wormwarts is autonomous," Lisa slowly bowed her head, "but outside of it, it’s better to keep the bandage on you."

"You think that will keep the equipment from breaking down?" Taylor realized.

"These are just guesses," Lisa clasped her hands together and tapped her fingertips together. "That's enough about that. Amy, don't sulk. We need to figure out what's wrong with Malfoy, and then, of course, take vicious revenge within the school rules. Break into the Eidolon premises, for example, and do something wrong there."

"Will it work?" Amy perked up.

"I'm Thinker, you're a biology expert, and Taylor has an invisibility bandage," Lisa grinned triumphantly. "I think together we can figure something out."

Taylor, meanwhile, pulled out a card and placed it on the green rectangle on the table.

"Please make your choice, Taylor Potter," a soft female voice said.

It was exactly the same as the one that should have been playing in the passageway column, but it wasn't. So Taylor couldn't help but sigh with relief and ran a hand through her black hair, as if wiping away sweat and traces of solvent.

"The whole menu twice," Lisa suggested, giggling.

"Seriously?"

"Well, we could all use some food to relieve stress and anxiety, and you don't have to worry about fat; as I already said, we have a biology expert among us!"

"That's possible," Amy shrugged indifferently, "except when you have fat instead of brains!"

The three friends burst out laughing, looking at each other, and, as if attracted by the loud merriment, Victoria appeared in the compartment door.

"Hey, you have fun here!" she exclaimed, sitting down next to Potter.

"The whole menu twice," Taylor continued to giggle as she confirmed her order to the patiently waiting system.

For some time, the only sounds in the compartment were concentrated chewing, sniffling, puffing, sucking down drinks, and contented sighs.

“That’s it, I can’t take it anymore,” Taylor said with regret in her voice, pushing away the plate of candied fruit.

Something shifted in her swollen belly, and she burped powerfully, immediately muttering in embarrassment.

"Sorry."

"What would Professor Lockhart think of you if he heard those burps?" Lisa giggled.

"But he didn't hear," Taylor said, embarrassed.

"And I think he's disgusting," Victoria said.

"Hey!" Amy shouted indignantly. "Shut up! You haven't even had a helmet on your head yet, you're not even a formal student of Wormwarts yet!"

"So what," Victoria snorted, "can't I judge professors now?"

"As if you know anything about them," Lisa teased, and then exclaimed innocently. "What? What if she really doesn't know? Not all blondes are smart, you know?"

"Superpower doesn't depend on hair color! And brains even more so!" Victoria declared triumphantly. "If I get into Herofindor, our head of house is Hannah McGonagall, a weapons specialist. There will also be lessons with Head of House Alexanclaw, Accord Flitwick, on planning and forecasting, and also..."

"Enough, enough," Taylor waved her hands. "We're not in an exam!"

"And then there's Ray Sprout and Thomas Snape!" Victoria finished hastily, covering her mouth with her hands.

"Victoria," Taylor sighed.

From the one side, she was fed up with all this back at the Weasleys' house. From the other side, she'd eaten—no, she'd simply stuffed herself to the point of near-insensitivity and was too lazy to move. From the third, Taylor hadn't had a good day, and irritation was still bubbling somewhere deep down.

"In general, consider that I scolded you harshly, and you listened and agreed with me,” Taylor came to a compromise (as it seemed to her) formulation.

She never expected that Victoria would suddenly burst into tears and fly out of the compartment, knocking down the door as if it had never been there.

"She's been a fan of yours since she was a baby," Amy noted, burping contentedly.

"Still, that's no reason to react like that," Lisa responded, picking her teeth. "But I'm too lazy to think right now, so I'll agree."

Taylor, feeling guilty, merely sighed. The teachers, the subjects, Wormwarts, and its wonders—all faded into the background before her guilt. But... if she had given in, Victoria would have been all over her, something Taylor had already seen at the Dursleys'.

"Don't worry," Amy advised, "she'll be sad for a while, and then she'll be happily fluttering around again. Then classes will start, all this intrigue and information with Snape, and she'll be angry at him, not you. Unlike Lisa, Vika's head isn't her strong point, and she often flares up like this and then quickly cools down.

"Okay," Taylor muttered.

"But! She'll definitely try to get a place on the Quidditch team!"

"But how?" Taylor was amazed. "We're all full, there are seven of us - the full team!"

"She'll ask to be a substitute, pester Eric and Crystal, whoever else is on your team, and try to talk them into it," Amy explained. "Not only do you play Quidditch, but Victoria also thinks she's a natural-born Dodger."

Taylor frowned, then recalled one of Carlos Wood's lessons, the captain of the Herofindor Quidditch team. The Dodgers were capes who sought to literally knock out opposing players, using the advantage of their superpowers. Throwing the enemy off the field, slamming them into the ground, and so on. Not the instant-victory Snitch, but still a perfectly effective way to win.

Well, you became a Tactician in your first year, so Vicky will consider it her duty to get on the team in her first year, too.

"As if I didn't have enough problems!" Taylor growled, throwing her hands up to the ceiling.

"Oh, come on," Lisa interjected, "we still have the same seven core subjects, plus electives. But before next year, we'll have to choose two more subjects out of five, and then things will get serious. And after fifth year, it'll be even more serious, because..."

"We will be almost adults?" Taylor suggested.

"Because we have superpowers, ooooh-ooh-ooh!!" Lisa howled and then burst into laughter, then doubled over in pain in her stomach, and Amy had to urgently intervene.

After some time of pushing, tickling, treating, and giggling, Taylor asked.

"What kind of subjects will be there?"

"They're still a year away!" Amy exclaimed immediately. "Do we really need to worry about that now?"

"I just wanted to listen; it's always better to gather information in advance," Taylor said conciliatorily, hugging her friend and breathing loudly on the top of her head.

"Quirrell's words again!" Amy said indignantly, almost jumping back. "What's wrong with you, Taylor?"

"What's wrong with you, Amy?" Taylor frowned in response. "Aside from the Dark Cape in your head and other quirks, Jack Quirrell was a great teacher! His lessons helped me with Quidditch!"

"Maybe it was because—" and here Amy's muttering became completely unintelligible.

"What, what, excuse me?"

"She says,” Lisa chuckled, “that you and Quirrell are two peas in a pod, that’s why you found a common language, and that’s why you value his lessons so much, and are ready to stand up for him, even though he was bad and almost killed us all.”

Taylor felt like she'd been plunged into ice water, and she struggled to find the words, unable to find the right ones, yet simultaneously feeling the urge to not just yell at Amy, but also beat her up and unleash a couple of swarms of particularly nasty and vile insects. Amy, huddled in a corner, glared back.

"Two peas in a pod?" Taylor repeated slowly.

"He had Dark Cape in his head. You once encountered Dark Cape and couldn't help but get his imprint," Lisa explained, no longer smiling.

"I see," Taylor replied, because something had to be said.

Lisa looked between them, then said slowly.

"Amy, what's bothering you? Don't turn away, you know I'll find out the answer!"

"Just try it!" she flared up, jumping up and pointing her finger. "I can defeat you with one touch, you know!"

Lisa jumped up, taking a fighting stance, and then lowered her hands and sighed.

"Okay, you can. Sorry. Peace?"

"I'm not sure," Amy narrowed her eyes, "but let's try."

They crossed their little fingers.

"It's our eternal craving for conflict," Lisa muttered under her breath. "We held back too long in the Loft, and then we snapped. Of course, today's events, damn them, helped too!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Taylor.

"That next summer won't just be about swimming and horseback riding, but also proper fighting, traveling to neighboring towns, and beating up a few people. Fortunately, I have some suitable candidates in mind!" Lisa explained. "Wormwarts and the training there are aimed at defusing such desires, so let's hope there won't be any more such quarrels."

"Let's hope so," Taylor nodded.

Amy remained silent, merely waving her hand. Taylor decided not to escalate the situation, but then carefully seized the moment to ask what else was going on with the Dark Cape that Potter herself hadn't heard or known.

The train was approaching Wormwarts.

* * *

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