Castle

Tierra's long-established body clock woke him at six in the morning.

After lying in bed with his eyes open until six ten to clear his head, he quickly got up, washed, fed Raven some birdseed and insects, then opened the cage and let it move about freely.

"Caw—" Raven called softly before flying out through the dormitory window.

Tierra was not worried that Raven would fly away or get lost.

As his pet, Raven was the first magical creature to swallow a Merlin Pill. As a result, Raven had a mother-bird-like dependence on Tierra.

Besides, ravens had always been intelligent birds. Letting him fly around might mean he figured out the layout of the castle even sooner than Tierra did.

Hogwarts was vastly different from the one he had seen in movies in his previous life. At the very least, it was more than twice the size of the castle in the Harry Potter area of Universal Studios that he had visited.

The decorating style had also changed slightly.

After brushing his teeth and washing his face, Tierra left the Gryffindor dormitory and wandered around.

Of course, he was not going to the third-floor corridor. The real Philosopher's Stone was already in his hands.

He simply intended to familiarize himself with Hogwarts in advance.

A stronger spiritual dimension seemed to correspond with enhanced magical recovery.

Therefore, although Tierra had been exhausted yesterday and had nearly drained his magic, after sleeping through the night, he felt light all over and full of energy.

The material dimension, spiritual dimension, and mental dimension all influenced one another.

This was recorded clearly in Merlin's notes.

Growth in the material dimension, meaning the normal growth and development of young wizards, drove the growth of the spiritual dimension and magic.

A powerful mental dimension also accelerated the growth and recovery of the spiritual dimension. But in the material dimension, it only manifested as sharper senses and quicker reactions, far less obvious than its effects on the spiritual dimension.

The three dimensions of ordinary young wizards were all extremely fragile.

But Tierra was clearly not an ordinary young wizard.

He had originally been an adult, so the strength of his soul naturally surpassed that of ordinary young wizards. When he crossed over, he had also merged with a fragment of this world's Tierra's remaining soul.

This made Tierra's mental dimension stronger than that of even ordinary adult wizards.

This, in turn, made his spiritual dimension more stable than that of ordinary young wizards.

The effects of this stability were faster magical recovery and growth, quicker physical reactions, slightly increased strength, and a vastly reduced need for sleep.

In his previous life, even ten hours of sleep a day never felt like enough, and he never got up before ten.

Now, he was wide awake at six in the morning and could even take a stroll around Hogwarts.

This strength of his mental dimension was also why Tierra could take Huris Potion at this stage without fearing that the potion would shatter his mental dimension and turn him into a madman or an idiot.

After all, this was a reagent Merlin had invented for himself to resist the influence of the Outer Gods. He had never considered what would happen if young wizards who had not even started school drank it.

But since it was a potion, dosage determined toxicity.

Tierra began experimenting with the potion at a concentration of ten to the negative seventh power.

He increased the potion's concentration one gradient at a time.

At first, he determined that the most suitable concentration for him was ten to the negative second power.

In other words, a concentration diluted one hundred times.

After the effects of the potion at that concentration weakened... meaning that drinking it no longer produced hallucinations, Tierra increased it by 1% at a time.

The final concentration was now 6%. It could produce hallucinations without becoming so intense that they put him into shock.

First-year classes did not begin until nine in the morning.

So Tierra was in no hurry. After leaving the Gryffindor common room, he first asked the paintings on the walls for directions, then went all the way down to the Hogwarts entrance hall.

Unfortunately, it was still too early, and the place was completely deserted.

Tierra had no choice but to continue downward, arriving in the Hogwarts basement.

Tierra passed the Potions Classroom, the Slytherin common room, and Snape's office, heading directly to the entrance of the Hogwarts kitchens.

The House-elves who had just woken up were bustling around preparing breakfast.

One House-elf who looked like the leader spotted Tierra and hurried over. Bowing deeply, with his eyes fixed on Tierra's shoe tips, he said, "Oh, esteemed wizard master, what are your orders?"

"Um... I was just looking to see if there was anything to eat. I woke up a little early, and I'm a bit hungry now."

"But wizard master, there is only bread and milk here right now. The delicious breakfast is not ready yet."

"Then bread and milk will do. Thank you."

Tierra's thank-you seemed to leave the House-elf flattered beyond measure. He quickly grabbed a bag of freshly baked bread and a bottle of milk, holding them above his head with both hands in humble offering.

"You are a very, very wonderful and capable House-elf." Tierra felt a little embarrassed by his attitude, but then remembered that these House-elves were the wizards' complete slaves. They needed neither wages nor bonuses, so he could only offer a few words of praise.

Sure enough, the leading House-elf was overjoyed as if he had eaten honey. A hideous, humble, yet somewhat adorable smile spread across his wrinkled face.

Tierra quickly left the basement, eating as he made his way toward the library on the fifth floor.

Having lived and grown up under the Plain Red Banner, Tierra had never seen a scene like this—such naked, undisguised slavery.

It had to be said that the Anglo-Saxons truly had a knack for keeping slaves: House-elves in the Wizarding World, Black Africans in the Muggle World.

Apart from the Restricted Section, the Hogwarts library was not locked.

But because it was so early, the librarian Pince had not yet arrived.

Tierra still conscientiously stood outside and finished the last of his milk before entering the library.

The library was enormous. He did not know whether an Undetectable Extension Charm had been cast on it, but it appeared far larger than its proper capacity.

Tierra did not rush to start reading. Instead, he spent more than an hour walking through the gaps between the bookshelves, lightly tapping the spines with his fingers one by one.

Book title after book title flowed into his mind.

The Blessing of the Great Race of Yith blessed people, not places.

So even if Tierra was not inside the library, he could still understand the knowledge within those books.

In the end, Tierra pulled out a book titled "Modern Principles of Magic," sat down at a table, and opened it.

It was not until Pince arrived at the library at eight that Tierra returned "Modern Principles of Magic" to the shelf, then took out the "Principles of Potions" and "Introduction to Alchemy" he had picked out earlier and handed them to Pince to register.

"It is the first time I've seen a young wizard come to the library so early to borrow books on his first day of school." Pince returned the two books to Tierra after registering them.

"I am Muggle-born. I can't compare to children from wizarding families who have been exposed to magic since childhood, nor am I as clever as other Muggle children. I can only work hard," Tierra said.

"I remember now." Pince's stern face suddenly softened considerably. Everyone liked hardworking, studious, ambitious children. "You are the child from yesterday's Sorting Ceremony who ought to have gone to Ravenclaw. Why did you choose Gryffindor?"

Pince herself was a Ravenclaw, so she was very puzzled by Tierra's choice.

"I wanted to be with my friends." Tierra gave a fairly acceptable answer. "I met the Weasley family on the train here."

Pince nodded, seemingly accepting Tierra's explanation, but immediately added sternly, "Stay away from those Weasley twins. They are two troublemakers, and sooner or later they'll be expelled from Hogwarts."

You got that right, Tierra thought. In the end, the Weasley Twins really were expelled.

"All right, go to class. I remember Gryffindor's first lesson should be Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class. Do not be late. Professor McGonagall hates tardy people the most. When she was young, she loved turning late students into pocket watches. Unfortunately, after Dumbledore took office, he issued a rule forbidding the use of Transfiguration to punish students." Seeing Tierra nod, Pince casually gossiped about the professors' old stories.

Darlings, because I have to go back this weekend to do experiments, I may only be able to post one chapter a day tomorrow and the day after. So I'm giving you five chapters tonight! Happy reading.