Transfiguration Class? I'm In!

Transfiguration Class? I'm In!

The next day, while the sun was still struggling to stay in bed beyond the horizon, Ted's biological clock, shaped over the past two months, woke him up.

His roommates were still sleeping soundly. Ted quietly got dressed and washed up. Only Anzu, curled up in his nest, opened his eyes for a look, but he still kept his beak tucked beneath his wing and did not get up.

After finishing his morning routine, Ted briefly checked his backpack.

His pens, ink, and textbooks were all packed. He beckoned to Anzu.

Anzu spread his wings and fluttered onto Ted's shoulder. Just as he was about to say something, Ted stopped him.

Ted pointed at their roommates, who were still dreaming. Anzu tilted his head and nodded.

A little over an hour later, at half past seven, Hermione came down the stairs with her book bag slung over her shoulder and entered the Common Room.

When they had parted the previous evening, she and Ted had agreed to meet in the Common Room that morning.

She spotted Ted at a desk against the wall.

He was reading a book called Basic Magical Power Theory and taking notes. Anzu was quietly perched on the windowsill beside him, looking at the scenery. When he saw Hermione, he greeted her, "Hermione, Hermione~"

"Good morning, Anzu. Morning, Ted~"

"Morning." Ted waved and began packing up his things.

As expected of Ravenclaw, aside from Ted, there were another three or four students studying on their own at this hour.

Hermione could not help blaming herself. How could I start slacking off on the very first day of school?!

If she had known that Ted had been the first person to appear in the Common Room and had already skimmed through the book in his hands that morning, she probably would have regretted it even more.

It was getting late, so there was naturally no time for Hermione to make up for it. The two headed together for yesterday's Great Hall, which also served as the dining hall...

As they walked through the corridors of the ancient castle, the structure built from countless old stone blocks seemed to have condensed time itself. The paintings, statues, and suits of armor around them all carried the weight of accumulated years, as though they were walking through time frozen in the Middle Ages.

The people and animals in the portraits moved about, each busy with their own affairs.

The suits of armor would also subtly adjust their poses, and some even moved to other places on their own.

They descended from the tower and crossed the stone bridge, entering the Main Tower complex.

Watching the staircases constantly shift and change overhead, Hermione could not help frowning slightly.

"According to A Section of School History, Hogwarts has a total of one hundred and forty-two staircases. They all come in different shapes, and they keep changing. Every Friday, some of them connect to strange places. Some staircases vanish halfway up, with the upper half suddenly disappearing..."

She looked at Ted with a headache. "The book says that new students always get lost and arrive late for all sorts of reasons."

Ted nodded. "That's right. Getting familiar with the routes is probably our main goal for the near future. We may even have to start looking for classrooms far in advance..."

People said Hogwarts was full of complicated routes, like a maze. That was certainly true.

The castle had been built a thousand years ago. At the time, wizards and Muggles had not yet been separated, and there was no small amount of conflict between them.

That was why the castle had such strong defensive features. Complicated routes were useful for defense.

Fortunately, Ted had always had a good sense of direction. On top of that, after becoming a Mind Mage, his memory had improved tremendously.

So he did not have much trouble leading Hermione to the Great Hall.

At the moment, the four Long Tables were empty, and no one else had arrived. They were the first and second.

The two did not say much. They sat down wherever they pleased and began studying.

When it came to studying, having someone to keep each other in check with could more than double the results.

After another twenty minutes or so, students gradually began to appear.

Most were upperclassmen. After all, the new students could not figure out the routes so quickly, and without someone to lead them, they would probably need some time to feel their way around.

It was Penelope, the female prefect from yesterday. When she saw Ted and Hermione already studying beside the Long Table so early, a smile appeared on her face.

For Ravenclaw, being eager to learn was absolutely the greatest virtue.

She walked over, placed a sheet of Parchment on the table, then raised her wand and tapped it. "Duplicate~"

After two consecutive casts, the Parchment produced two "copies."

"This is Ravenclaw's first-year timetable. You'll need to copy one down yourselves. The products of the Duplication Charm can only exist for a short time."

"Alright, thank you." Ted thanked her.

Hermione hurriedly picked up the timetable and began reading it.

Penelope nodded. "Just doing my duty. No need to be polite."

Ted picked up the timetable and looked it over. It contained not only the first-year weekly class schedule, but also the daily timetable.

For example, breakfast was from 8:00 to 10:00. Students without morning classes could sleep in normally and still have something to eat when they got up.

Of course, first-years did not have mornings without classes. Their first lesson began at nine.

Lunch was from 11:00 to 12:00, and the first afternoon class began at one.

Dinner was from 16:00 to 19:00. Dinner was more like a buffet cafeteria and was served for quite a long time. Moreover, there were often no classes on Friday afternoons, which meant an extra half-day off.

There were formal feasts at the beginning and end of term, as well as on holidays, so they began later, at six, lasted two hours, and ended at eight.

The curfew for lower-year students was nine, while upper-year students could stay out until ten at night.

Hogwarts had no specific lights-out time, but after curfew, students were not allowed to leave the Common Room. Otherwise, it counted as wandering at night, and getting caught meant house points deducted and detention.

Other than regular class hours and curfew, theoretically, all other time could be freely arranged.

Students could participate in clubs, Quidditch training, and similar activities. Professors could also reschedule classes or arrange extra lessons.

Hogwarts used a three-term system. Christmas, Easter, and summer vacation were holidays. Then, from third year onward, students had no classes on weekends and could even visit Hogsmeade.

Third year was when the elective system began. Study maniacs could take all twelve subjects, while slackers could take only the required Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology, and A History of Magic courses and still have it easy.

Before long, their friends arrived as well. Since they were all Gryffindors, they had come together.

But none of them looked particularly composed. Every one of them looked like they had escaped from a battlefield.

Before Ted and Hermione could ask anything, Harriett started complaining. "Damn it, Sirius told me long ago that the staircases in this school are the sneakiest things ever. They nearly got us sent down to the basement."

Ron straightened his crooked wizard robes and curled his lips. "If you hadn't said you knew the way, we wouldn't have ended up downstairs."

"Oh? So you're blaming me now~" Harriett narrowed her eyes at him.

Ron felt a chill run down his back and immediately fell silent.

Jerry hurriedly tried to smooth things over. "Didn't we make it here? We made it, that's what matters. Come to think of it, those staircases really are mischievous! Right, Neville?"

Neville nodded at once. "Mm, mischievous!"

The school staircases were very unreliable. Not only did they constantly move around, but sometimes they vanished without warning. That really was a problem.

Some parents might ask: what if a student took one wrong step and fell? Don't worry, Hogwarts had complete facilities, including a School Hospital. No one would die!

By the time the four arrived, the feast had already begun. Cups, bowls, and plates had all been placed on the tables.

Everyone was hungry, so they quickly took their seats.

Jerry said, "Pass me the pie, please."

Ron said, "I want a drumstick. And another one."

Anzu said, "Get me some Fries~"

Neville was also eating with his head down. Only Harriett was not properly eating, constantly looking around instead.

Soon, she got a timetable from another Gryffindor.

She looked at her own house's schedule, then at Ted and Hermione's. "Oh, we've got our first class together!"

Jerry asked, "What class is it?"

"Transfiguration Class, a two-hour block!"

"Professor McGonagall's class? Then we'd better get there early." Ron had a drumstick stuffed in his mouth, yet he could still speak so clearly. That might have been a talent.

For first-year students, Herbology, Charms Class, and Transfiguration each had three classes per week, with each class lasting two hours.

They were basically the core subjects, like math, language, and foreign languages! Potions, Flying Class, A History of Magic, Astronomy, and Defense Against the Dark Arts each had one class per week, lasting one or two hours.

The core subjects were probably only so frequent for lower-year students. In a few years, once electives began, there would be fewer of them, with more self-study and additional classes such as Muggle Studies.

Otherwise, even if two houses attended each class together, core-subject professors would still have to teach six classes a week, twelve hours in total.

Across all seven years, that workload was enough to make professors drop dead from overwork! Just as everyone was still studying which classes they would share, there was suddenly a bang behind them. Hermione, who had been studying the timetable with Ted, jumped in fright.

Everyone turned to look and saw one of Neville and Ron's roommates—Demolition Genius Seamus—holding a wand with a face blackened by soot, smoke still rising from his head.

Just now, he had wanted to show off a spell he had secretly learned at home, one that turned fruit juice into alcohol. Instead, the cup burst into a shower of sparks and blackened his whole face.

The Great Hall filled with cheerful air~