Hogwarts' First Weekend

"Severus, I never intended that. No two people in the world are exactly alike." Dumbledore smiled with interest.

"It's like two feathers from the same Phoenix. As long as the wand's material or length differs, two different Wands will still be born."

"Another weapon?" Professor Snape looked grim. "Wands won't submit a hundred percent either. You should know about 'Wand Backfire,' right?"

"Of course I do." Dumbledore let out a long sigh, his brows drawing tightly together. "Back then, I had to face Grindelwald, and I neglected Voldemort, who was still studying here."

"Severus, I'm not as energetic as I used to be, and the situation I face remains grim. I need the help of others even more."

"Why do you keep telling me all this?" Professor Snape narrowed his eyes slightly. "Because I gave him points?"

"He's different from Voldemort. He's willing to feel the beauty around him." Dumbledore shook his head gently. "You must have noticed how unique he is, right?"

"Just a little cleverness." Professor Snape did not deny it. He sat down in front of Dumbledore. "Those eyes of his can see through appearances to the essence."

"Just as I thought... No wonder!" Dumbledore nodded, his brows relaxing. "I'm not only telling you this. I've also asked Minerva and the others to help."

"You don't need to do anything deliberately. You only need to guide him appropriately, so that he stays on the right path. I believe his character will lead him to make the right choice."

"Minerva and the others? Heh..." Professor Snape folded his arms across his chest, a cold smile curling at the corners of his mouth. "Including Professor Quirinus? I don't need to tell you how important Defence Against the Dark Arts is, do I?"

"He..." Dumbledore wore a pained expression. "This is what I wanted to tell you. Could you keep an eye on Quirrell?"

"So it really is him!" Professor Snape's gaze instantly sharpened. "Then why did you let him take part in the Fourth Floor obstacle course?"

"Lure him in by giving him what he wants, Severus," Dumbledore said. "At least for now, Quirrell appears to be acting alone. I want to draw out the person behind him."

"Then what about Harry Potter?" Professor Snape pressed. "If he really appears, what will happen to Harry Potter?"

Dumbledore interlaced his fingers, his thumbs circling one another. "If the judgment we made ten years ago was correct, he shouldn't be in mortal danger."

"The judgment from ten years ago?" Professor Snape drew a deep breath. "Because of that judgment, he spent ten whole years beside two foolish Muggles!"

"And now you make light of it, saying he needs to face Quirrell directly, even the Dark Lord? And you still say he 'shouldn't' be in mortal danger?"

"It's precisely because I need to keep an eye on Harry that I can't afford to be distracted." Dumbledore let out another long sigh. "Vizet is counting on all of you."

"I hope you remember your own words." Professor Snape stood, gathered his robes, and hurried out of the Headmaster's Office.

Over the weekend, Vizet's life was just as fulfilling.

After sending his letter in the morning, he went to the Great Hall, where several dormmates immediately gathered around him.

"Morning, Vizet!" Chris handed him a cup of Pumpkin Juice. "I saw you doing your homework last night. Have you finished it already?"

"Thanks." Vizet accepted the Pumpkin Juice. "More or less. I wanted to find some reference material to enrich my Match to Needle essay."

"How much have you written?" Chris asked. "Don't tell me you haven't met the required length."

"I've met the required length." Vizet said, "Professor McGonagall taught me some extra material, so I want to add something about the 'Animagus'."

Terry immediately offered a suggestion. "How about we go to the library after you finish eating? The Transfiguration class essay... I haven't met the required length."

Anthony followed right after him. "And there's the Potions Class homework. The properties of the ingredients for the Pimple Healing Potion—I feel like I missed something."

Michael nodded in agreement. "I haven't finished looking either. I didn't complete 'Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi,' and I wrote a little less than Anthony."

The unpleasantness during the Flying lesson had not lasted long. He and Anthony had already made up and had begun discussing their homework together again.

Looking at the buttered bread, cured meat, and roast ham they handed him, Vizet asked with an amused smile, "Did you plan this together?"

The dormmates smiled sheepishly.

Terry said, "There's only a little more to write. Once we finish, we can go out and play!"

Michael shrugged. "There are Quidditch tryouts this afternoon. Anthony and I were planning to go watch."

"Once the homework is done, we won't have anything weighing us down," Anthony added.

"Oh, right... The Quidditch tryouts this afternoon." Vizet remembered that Cho Chang had mentioned it to him last night as well.

Cho Chang planned to attend the tryouts and see whether she had a chance to join the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team. She had also invited him to cheer her on.

Under the expectant gazes of his dormmates, Vizet nodded and agreed.

It was the first weekend after the start of term, and there were not many students in the library.

Most of the people there came in groups of three or five. Some gathered in front of the shelves to search for materials, while others sat in the lounge area and discussed things in low voices.

"That looks like a Gryffindor. Now that's a rarity." Michael looked toward the far corner of the lounge area.

Hermione sat there alone, her bushy brown hair covering her cheeks as she appeared to be writing her homework with her head lowered.

Ravenclaw had its own library, but its collection was incomplete, so some materials still had to be found in the library.

Vizet was not surprised. He often saw Hermione here, always alone.

He said quietly to his dormmates, "For the Potions Class homework, look for the seventh issue of 'Practical Potion Master' from 1986. It has the relevant material. It was published by Professor Snape."

"And there's the second issue of 'Today's Transfiguration' from 1895. It contains an essay on Match to Needle, written by Headmaster Dumbledore. I completed my homework based on those two magazines."

"Impressive!" His dormmates all gave him a thumbs-up. "You've actually read so many."

Vizet smiled and waved his hand. "It was all thanks to Madam Pince. She helped me discover that magical magazines could actually be so interesting."

Ilma Pince was the librarian at Hogwarts. As long as no one broke the library's rules, she was a fairly kind woman.

Although she rarely smiled, her knowledge of books was astonishing. Vizet could always learn from her where to find the books he wanted.

His dormmates went to the periodicals section to look for the magazines, while Vizet approached Madam Pince. "Madam Pince, could you tell me where I should look if I want to read books about the 'Animagus'?"

"At your age..." Madam Pince looked Vizet up and down. "Coming into contact with the 'Animagus' could be dangerous."