A tall, lanky boy stood in front of the bed by the window on the left, rising onto his toes as he tried to shove a book so thick it could almost knock someone unconscious onto the top shelf.
He wore a pair of round glasses. His eyes behind the lenses were focused yet slightly nervous, and his light-brown hair stuck up messily, as though it had just been blown by a strong gale.
When the boy saw him enter, he gave him a shy but polite smile. "Hello, you're Shiloh Yulian Black, right? My name is Edgar Finch, from a magical family in Yorkshire."
Yulian smiled and greeted him as well. "Just call me Yulian."
"Hi, Yulian."
The speaker was the owner of the bed on the left near the door. He was half reclining against the headboard, tossing a Golden Snitch model up and down in one hand. His black hair was slightly curly, his complexion somewhat dark, and his eyes held an air of nonchalance.
"My name is Kayson Moretti. I hope you don't snore at night."
Yulian couldn't help laughing. He put down his suitcase and walked to his own bed—the one on the right by the window.
"Don't worry. I'm not old enough to snore yet. But if you grind your teeth in the middle of the night, I might join in."
Boys of eleven or twelve were lively by nature, and before long, the three of them were chatting together. The tall arched window stood open, and the night breeze gently brushed past, carrying moisture with it.
Morning at Hogwarts. Sunlight generously spilled into Ravenclaw Tower's Dormitory 307. Yulian was awakened when Kayson Moretti threw the Golden Snitch at him—the little thing landed precisely on the tip of his nose, and its chilly touch startled him upright.
"Rise and shine, young master!" Kayson lazily leaned against the headboard. "If you don't get up, breakfast will turn into lunch."
"Our first class today is Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class. I heard that anyone who's late or performs badly will be turned into a porcelain figurine and placed on her desk as a decoration."
Yulian rubbed his eyes and saw that Edgar Finch was already fully dressed. He was meticulously straightening every crease in his robes before the mirror, muttering to himself, "A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration says, 'Concentration is the cornerstone of success...'"
"Don't be nervous, Edgar." Yulian pulled on his "couture" school uniform and smiled. "Professor McGonagall looks strict, but as long as you take things seriously, she's actually very fair. Besides, I bet she won't turn us into figurines. That would be such a waste. We'd at least have to be goblets."
The three of them hurried to the dining hall while joking around and saw that many young witches and wizards had already started eating.
The dining hall was not normally arranged with four long tables. Instead, the tables were scattered in groups of three or four.
Yulian had just found a table and sat down when he saw Hermione hurrying over from the side with a plate of toast. Her face shone with the confidence of someone who had already previewed every lesson.
"Good morning, Yulian!" She set down the bread. "What classes do you have this morning? We're taking Potions class with Slytherin. I read through Beginner's Guide to Potions again last night and memorized all the recipes once more. I'm sure I'll earn points for Gryffindor."
Yulian yawned and glanced at Hermione, thinking that Hermione was still too naïve at this point.
"You've memorized it all, but do you know about Harry, Ron, and the other students? Maybe not only will you fail to earn points, but they'll lose points instead."
"Ugh! Why do you sound just like the Weasley Twins? You can't stand seeing anyone else do well." Hermione gave him a strange look. "As for Harry, well, I already reminded them."
Yulian was about to respond when Harry and Ron came rushing over from the other side like two gusts of wind, Ron still clutching a half-eaten sausage.
"Thank goodness you're here!" Ron panted. "We almost got lost! The staircases in this castle are practically playing tricks on us!"
Harry, meanwhile, looked somewhat troubled. He leaned closer to Yulian and whispered, "Yulian, I think I saw Professor Snape staring at me just now... My scar hurts a little again."
"Don't worry, Harry." Yulian patted him on the shoulder. "Maybe it was just a coincidence. Maybe something else was staring at you. But you should indeed watch out for Snape today. I hear he's especially difficult to deal with."
"Yulian's right," Ron cut in. "George and Fred told me that Snape keeps his eyes on Gryffindor just to take points away."
"It's Professor Snape!" Hermione corrected him from the side. She stormed off after saying that, but turned her head after only a couple of steps. "You lot, hurry up! It's the first class of the new term. Don't be late!"
"She acts like she's a professor or something." Ron had been rather unhappy with Hermione's attitude ever since they got off the train.
"Haha, that's just how she is. Don't take it personally." Yulian explained from the side.
"Right, Yulian, what classes do you have this morning?" Harry promptly changed the subject.
"We have Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class with Hufflepuff this morning, and Potions class in the afternoon."
"I wish we could attend with you," Ron muttered. "Seeing that bunch from Slytherin puts me in a bad mood."
Harry nodded repeatedly beside him.
Sunlight filtered through Hogwarts' stained-glass windows, casting mottled patches of light across the stone corridor.
Yulian followed his dorm mates toward the Transfiguration classroom, stepping on the tail end of the morning mist. The Silver lime wood wand in his pocket trembled faintly, restless as though anticipating something fun.
When the classroom door opened, they saw that the young witches and wizards from Hufflepuff had arrived even earlier.
Yulian spotted Lyria in the corner at a glance. She was still wrapped in that feather-trimmed cloak, her head lowered as she fiddled with something. When she saw Yulian enter, she merely lifted her ice-blue eyes before quickly lowering her head again.
Yulian led Edgar and Kayson to seats by the window in the middle-back section of the classroom. It was a habit he had developed over many years of attending classes.
Soon afterward, the young witches and wizards from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff also filed in one after another, including Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, and Terry Boot.
Yulian recalled that these people would apparently all become members of Dumbledore's Army later on. So who said Ravenclaw was full of bookworms who only knew how to study? Hufflepuff certainly wasn't foolish either.
Professor McGonagall did not seem to have arrived yet. A dark-striped tabby cat crouched on the teacher's desk, with square patterns around its eyes.
Of course, unlike the other transmigrators, Yulian had no desire to go up and pet it just to show off his uniqueness.
What he didn't know was that, before he entered, Lyria, who was fond of living creatures, had wanted to go up and play with the kitten. However, the tabby cat had jumped away and refused her.
The class bell rang.
The tabby cat sitting on the teacher's desk suddenly leaped lightly to the floor. Its fur rippled like waves and swelled, transforming in an instant into black wizard's robes.
The cat's elegant arched back stretched into an upright figure, while the patterns of the square spectacles faded into the air, leaving only a pair of sharp, stern eyes behind the lenses.
Amid the cries of surprise from all the young witches and wizards, Professor McGonagall straightened her collar and hid every emotion beneath her unsmiling expression.
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