After loudly singing the school song with Dumbledore, watching Peeves, and then climbing all the way from the first-floor hall to the Seventh Floor, Damon could not help shaking his head.
That was the one bad thing about Gryffindor: the Common Room was on the Seventh Floor. Whether going to class or getting meals, it would be quite a hassle from now on. But—so be it. He liked these people, after all.
At the end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very plump woman dressed in pink.
"Password?" she said.
"Dragon Droppings," Prefect Percy said.
The painting swayed forward, revealing a round hole in the wall. Damon climbed inside with great interest—it was Gryffindor's Common Room.
Before him was a cozy circular room filled with squashy armchairs, its walls covered in portraits.
At the top of a spiral staircase, Damon found his bed—five four-poster beds draped in dark red flannel curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up.
Everyone was exhausted, but Harry and Neville still could not help saying happily:
"Damon, you're in the same dormitory as us! That's great!"
As for Ron and Seamus, who seemed to want to say something, they were temporarily ignored.
"Mm-hmm, wonderful, wonderful. Go to sleep now, children."
Damon had already changed into his pajamas. He waved to the children and promptly fell asleep—this day had been far too novel and interesting for him, and he was somewhat tired as well.
As for the others, if the fact that Damon was in the same dormitory had not excited them a little, they probably would have fallen asleep the moment they touched their beds.
Hogwarts first-years had a very light workload.
On average, they only had two classes a day. Aside from Astronomy, which was fixed on Wednesday evenings, all classes were held during the day.
The first day of term was Monday. The timetable showed that they had Herbology Class and A History of Magic in the morning, while the afternoon and evening were free.
Quite a relaxed day, wasn't it?
Without needing an alarm clock, Damon got up early that morning and happily looked at the sunlight beyond his bed curtains.
He got out of bed, dressed, and washed up, taking care not to make too much noise.
Click.
As Damon gently closed the door, the dormitory became quiet again. Yet at that very moment, everyone opened their eyes.
"Damon gets up so early, doesn't he? There's still an hour before class starts."
Ron muttered groggily, rolled over, and buried his face in his pillow.
Harry slowly sat up and glanced at the clock beside his bed—the time was indeed still early. If it had been anyone other than Damon, Ron's muttering might have made him roll over and go back to sleep too.
But—
Harry looked at the shoes beneath his bed and gently pulled back the curtains. Sunlight streamed in, and the air was fresh, carrying a faint morning mist.
Damon was obviously so outstanding, yet he still got up early and prepared everything at an unhurried pace. Harry rarely saw such behavior, but he found it deeply compelling.
"Don't you think we should go to the classroom early and have a look?" Harry quietly asked Ron, a hint of hesitation in his voice.
Ron wrapped himself tightly in his blanket and let out a muffled groan. "What's the point of going so early, Harry? I don't want people thinking I'm some overexcited little kid."
"Ron, do you think Damon is that kind of person—"
"Hey! Damon is Damon, and I'm me. If you want to go, then go ahead. I'll sleep a little longer."
Harry did not want to leave Ron behind directly, but hearing that, and thinking of Damon's departing back, he pressed his lips together before finally climbing out of bed.
Neville and Seamus had also been woken by their conversation. When they heard that Damon was already up, Neville seemed as though he had been jabbed in the backside with a needle. He instantly sprang out of bed and began washing up without a word.
Seeing that they were all getting up, Seamus simply climbed out of bed too. For a while, Ron was the only one still insisting on sleeping.
Once everyone had washed up and was ready to leave, Harry could not help turning toward Ron's bed and quietly calling:
"Ron, Ron, are you asleep?"
There was no response.
Click.
The door closed again. Ron lay in bed with his eyes wide open, yet he refused to get up for a long time.
Herbology Class was held behind Hogwarts Castle—so as to accommodate plants with all kinds of different needs, Hogwarts had specially built a greenhouse there.
Damon strolled leisurely from the Seventh Floor toward the first-floor Great Hall, admiring the magical portraits along the way. The people in them smiled, frowned, and some even turned their heads with his footsteps to watch him.
He found the Gryffindor table, and as Damon sat down, the plates before him automatically filled with bacon, sausages, baked beans, eggs, toast, juice, cereal, and more.
There was such a wide variety that it could satisfy every possible preference. Even in his previous life, Damon had never lived so extravagantly.
Damon took out a Knut and placed it in the little pouch tied to an Owl's leg, then took a copy of the Daily Prophet from its beak.
As the mouthpiece of the Ministry of Magic, Damon was not particularly interested in the main content of its reports. He treated it as casual entertainment, since seeing a newspaper that moved was still quite novel.
Besides, the exchanges in some of the columns felt like reading short story collections to Damon, which was rather enjoyable.
"What are you reading?"
Harry and the others came running over. They found Damon almost as soon as he had sat down and quickly seated themselves beside him.
"The Daily Prophet. You can think of it as the wizarding world's gossip paper."
Damon casually handed it to Harry. Harry accepted it by reflex and skimmed it for a few moments. Aside from finding the moving figures somewhat novel, he quickly returned it to Damon.
"Good morning, gentlemen." Hermione sat across from Damon. "Oh? Is that a newspaper?"
"That's right, a newspaper from the wizarding world." Damon casually handed it to Hermione as well.
"Where did you subscribe to it? I think this would help us understand information from the outside world."
Compared to Harry's indifference, Hermione was visibly eager.
"One Knut is enough. Once you buy it the first time, the Owl will keep delivering it afterward."
Damon put a grilled sausage into his mouth, a blissful smile appearing on his face. Then suppressed shrieks suddenly rang out beside him.
He turned to look and saw several young witches with flushed faces. He smiled and waved at them—the shrieks became uninhibited.
"Oh, I can't stand it. A perfectly good morning has been ruined."
Hermione rolled her eyes, returned the Daily Prophet to Damon, and rapidly began eating breakfast, brimming with fighting spirit.
Their first class today was Herbology. Before going to sleep yesterday, she had specifically reread One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi.
Afterward, she would definitely perform even better than Damon!
School Song:
Hogwarts,
Hogwarts,
Hogwarts,
Hogwarts,
Please teach us knowledge,
Whether we are bald old men
Or children with scraped knees,
Our minds can take in
Some interesting things.
For now our minds are empty,
Filled with air,
Dead flies, and trivial nonsense,
Teach us something worthwhile,
Give back to us
What we have forgotten,
Just do your very best,
And leave the rest to us,
We will study hard,
Until our brains turn to mush.
Before you continue