The First Class

Although Kyle had never had to worry about sending letters, it was still better to have an owl of his own at Hogwarts.

Because, in a sense, owls were like phone numbers in the Muggle world. They usually represented their owner's identity, too.

That was fairly important.

Take the simplest example: Kyle's mother, Diana, worked in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic, where security was extremely strict. Except in special circumstances, all letters sent there had to go through several layers of screening.

They checked everything from the owl's identity, ownership, and condition... to the sender's name, identity, and affiliation, and finally whether the letter bore any unusual substances or curses.

Only after confirming that everything was in order would the letters be delivered to the Department of Mysteries as paper airplanes.

It was the rule, and even letters Kyle sent were no exception. At most, the process would go a little faster.

Given the Ministry of Magic's efficiency, the whole process would take at least a day.

But things were different with Ladon.

Diana could register him as a special owl. His letters would be given priority, and the screening process could be simplified considerably. They would only need to check the owl's condition, the sender's name, and whether the letter bore any curses. It could all be done on the spot.

At Platform 9¾, Diana had made a point of telling him about this, and advised him to use the same owl whenever he sent letters. If that wasn't possible, he could buy one in Diagon Alley.

Of course, buying one was out of the question. Why would Kyle waste money on that when he already had Ladon?

Problem solved.

Kyle took some owl nuts and several bags of dried Murtlap meat from his Mokeskin Pouch, then pushed them, along with the chestnuts in his hand, in front of the owls.

After that, he found some clean water, poured in two bottles of owl tonic, stirred it, and tipped it into a stone trough nearby.

This was their payment for the trouble. He couldn't very well let them lose all those feathers for nothing.

While the owls ate, Kyle took Ladon back to the castle, then headed straight for the Hufflepuff Common Room.

He passed through the barrels in the kitchen corridor and returned to the dormitory...

Mikel and Ryan weren't there. They had probably gone to class.

Kyle didn't think much of it. He settled Ladon on the rack beside his bed, picked up his textbooks, and left.

In the common room, Kyle ran into Cedric, who was also getting ready to head out.

"Kyle, I was just coming to find you." Cedric hurried over. "What's your first class?"

"Charms." Kyle lifted the copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 in his hand. "What did you need?"

"Oh, right. Here." Cedric handed him a piece of parchment.

"This is a map of Hogwarts that a prefect gave me when I first arrived. It shows where the classrooms are, along with some of the patterns in how the staircases change.

"But I don't need it anymore, so it'll be perfect for you."

Hogwarts was great in every way, except that it was enormous and its interior was a confusing maze. New students almost always got lost, and being late was a regular occurrence.

Fortunately, the professors understood. Apart from one particular head of house, the others turned a blind eye, gave them a verbal reprimand, or took off a token point. They didn't make too much of it.

Kyle took the parchment and examined it carefully.

It was a very ordinary map, but it was detailed. It clearly marked every route from the Hufflepuff Common Room to each classroom, and even noted where the staircases needed to be before they could be crossed.

It was a low-budget version of the Marauder's Map, but it was more than enough for Kyle.

"Thanks. I really needed this." Kyle put the map away. "By the way, what's your first class?"

"Potions... Wait, Potions!"

Cedric suddenly jolted, then took off running. "I've got to go, Kyle! Remember, the one class you absolutely mustn't be late for at Hogwarts is Potions. Don't forget..."

Cedric's voice grew fainter and soon disappeared at the end of the corridor.

From the way he acted, it was easy to tell that Snape had left a deep psychological scar on him... or, more likely, on plenty of young witches and wizards.

Kyle figured he wouldn't escape it either.

Too bad Harry Potter couldn't have started a year earlier.

Kyle shook his head, then left the common room as well.

The Charms classroom was on the third floor, and it was easy enough to find by following the map.

When he opened the door, the first thing he saw was a pile of books stacked like a staircase. Four portraits of unfamiliar people hung on the wall in front of him.

They were probably famous wizards, but Kyle didn't recognize a single one.

The emblems of the four houses hung on the walls to either side. Below them stood several long tables,

When Kyle arrived, there were still five minutes before class.

To be honest, that wasn't particularly early, but there weren't many people in the classroom. Even Professor Flitwick was nowhere to be seen.

Kyle found a seat.

Across from him sat a few young Ravenclaws. The two houses sat on opposite sides, clearly divided.

As nine o'clock drew nearer, young witches and wizards began arriving one after another, panting as they hurried through the door.

Kyle also spotted Kanna, but the young witch didn't pay him the slightest attention. She stormed right past him, looking furious.

At 8:59, Mikel and Ryan arrived just in time.

"Thank goodness. At least we're not late."

Mikel sat down, gasping for breath, and immediately started complaining to Kyle.

"We got lost."

"Honestly, Hogwarts is a maze. We were supposed to go to the third floor, but when we were on the second floor, the staircase suddenly changed direction. After we went up, we somehow ended up on the fifth floor."

"Then we started going down again, but after walking for ages, we realized we were still on the fifth floor."

"We finally made it down, but ended up back on the second floor... Kyle, can you believe it? We climbed stairs for a full thirty minutes. My legs are about to fall off!"

The more Mikel spoke, the more aggrieved he sounded. He was practically on the verge of tears.

"Hang on, that's a bit confusing. Give me a moment." Kyle rubbed his forehead. He thought about it for a long time, but couldn't figure out how the two of them could walk down and still stay in the same place.

Even a hopeless sense of direction couldn't make someone forget which way was up and which was down.

Going around in circles like that was practically supernatural. It wasn't the same sort of thing as magic.

And Cedric's map didn't say anything about that, either.

"Forget it. Let's leave that for now." Unable to make sense of it, Kyle gave up and asked, "So how did you finally find your way here?"

"Someone brought us." Mikel blushed and pointed across the room. "We ran into a Ravenclaw first-year on the fifth floor. She pulled us off a moving staircase and asked if we were going to Charms. When we said yes, she told us we could come with her."

Kyle glanced over, only then realizing that Mikel was pointing at Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw.