Harry and Ron Arrive Late

"Gryffindor students, please follow me. Thank you!"

"The staircases here move, so you need to stay alert at all times."

"If you get lost or get pranked by Peeves, I'm sorry, but I can't help you."

"Unless you can bring in the Bloody Baron. He's Peeves's nemesis."

After the feast, Percy, acting as an upperclassman, led Harry and the others through the corridors and up the staircases as he spoke.

Harry, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and the others were both shocked and excited.

If Percy had not been hurrying them along, they would have liked to stay behind and take a closer look at the moving staircases, wondering where they might lead.

"These portraits can actually move?"

"Oh, they can talk too!"

"Ron, he's staring at you so passionately."

"No, Harry, she's looking at you. I think she must miss you."

"Will she come out of the portrait and go to your room?"

"Oh, Harry, that idea is... far too exciting."

Before long, they reached the end of the corridor, where a portrait hung.

The portrait depicted a very plump woman dressed in pink.

"Password?" the woman in the portrait asked with a smile.

"Dragon dung!" Percy said.

The portrait immediately swung open like a door, revealing the Gryffindor Common Room beyond.

It was a very comfortable circular room filled with squashy armchairs.

"Gather here!"

"Welcome to the Gryffindor Common Room. The boys' dormitories are upstairs to the left, and the girls' dormitories are upstairs to the right."

"Your luggage has already been taken up. Get some proper rest, everyone. Your studies will officially begin tomorrow."

Percy said with a smile as he looked at Harry Potter and the others.

Everyone answered and went their separate ways.

There were five people in each dormitory, and Harry Potter shared one with Neville and Ron Weasley.

Everyone was exhausted, and Ron Weasley and the others fell asleep as soon as they returned.

Harry Potter did not sleep. He sat by the window with Hedwig the owl for company. Bathed in moonlight, he looked somewhat lonely and desolate.

But Harry Potter knew very clearly that this was his home now.

If he could help it, he did not want to return to the Dursleys' house.

The next day

In one corner of Hogwarts School, construction was underway. A massive building was rapidly nearing completion.

Katelyle used his magic to help build the department of Elemental Magic Studies.

It resembled a Roman amphitheater, with tiered classrooms.

Katelyle's magic greatly accelerated the construction of the classroom, and it was believed that it would be finished before long.

"I'm terribly sorry, Kate."

"The place where you'll be teaching still needs some time."

"I've already had people speed things up to build you a dedicated teaching space."

"If you're willing, I can arrange your dormitory there as well."

Although arrangements had been made immediately after receiving Katelyle's reply, his teaching venue was still not ready. Dumbledore therefore felt very regretful and apologetic.

So, when he saw Katelyle helping accelerate the construction of the classroom, he stepped forward and spoke.

Katelyle smiled at this and said, "That's quite a good idea, Albus. Also, you'll need to build me a garden."

Dumbledore smiled when he heard Katelyle's words. "That won't be a problem at all. For a genius like you, I can make an exception."

"So for the time being, I'll have to trouble you to stay in the dormitory."

Katelyle smiled. These matters meant nothing to him.

"Kate, how old are you?" Dumbledore was about to leave when he suddenly remembered that he had never been quite sure of Katelyle's age.

Katelyle had looked like this three years ago, and he still looked like this three years later.

Age seemed to have no effect on Katelyle.

"I'm only eighteen. Do you believe me?" Katelyle did not give Dumbledore a direct answer.

Dumbledore chuckled and left. "Perhaps I really do believe you."

Katelyle did not continue the conversation with Dumbledore. Age changed very slowly for him.

In truth, he was already twenty-eight, yet he still looked only eighteen.

Hogwarts Castle stood atop a cliff. Including the basement, the castle had nine floors, as well as four towers.

The interior of Hogwarts was somewhat bizarre. Some passages were broad and wide, while others were narrow and cramped, and they swayed unsteadily.

Every Friday, they led to different places. Some staircases went halfway up before a step suddenly vanished, and one had to remember where to jump.

There were also many doors here. If you did not politely ask them to open, or poke exactly the right spot, they would not open for you.

Some of those doors were not real doors at all, but solid walls that merely looked like doors.

It was not easy to remember where everything was, because everything seemed to be constantly moving.

Could you imagine it? The people in the portraits constantly visited one another too.

In other words, an hour ago, a portrait might have shown a fat woman, and an hour later, it might show an old man reading a book, or perhaps a fat woman and an old man reading.

So, one careless moment could leave someone lost. It was hardly surprising for first-year students to lose their way.

At the very least, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley got lost on their first day of class.

So they had no choice but to run until they finally found their classroom.

Hermione Granger, Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and the others who were already in the classroom all turned to look at Ron Weasley and Harry Potter.

Hermione Granger could only sigh helplessly at Harry Potter and Ron Weasley for being late on their first day of school. These two were beyond saving.

Malfoy looked rather smug, then amused. You poor things, do you know what class this is? Oh no, you would never guess that the stern-faced witch is already staring at you.

Under everyone's gaze, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley felt awkward and hurriedly found seats.

"We finally made it."

"If we'd been any later, her expression would have scared us to death. I don't want to get lectured."

"Wow, that cat is so cute!"

"Compared with bats, I prefer cats."

"Maybe we could..."

Ron Weasley was slightly out of breath. Then he noticed the cat on the lectern and spoke.

But as he spoke, Ron Weasley could not continue.

Because the cat on the desk jumped down and transformed into Professor McGonagall.

Ron Weasley and Harry Potter looked awkward—extremely awkward, especially Ron Weasley.

Facing Professor McGonagall as she walked up to them, Ron Weasley could not help muttering, "That was an incredibly brilliant trick."

Ron Weasley felt utterly helpless. He realized that he was truly unlucky.

"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Weasley!" Professor McGonagall said sternly as she looked at Ron Weasley and Harry.

"Perhaps I should turn one of you into a pocket watch. At least then one of you might arrive on time."

"We got lost!" Harry Potter explained.

"Perhaps I could turn you into maps, so you won't get lost," Professor McGonagall said forcefully.

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were left speechless.

They did not want to become pocket watches, nor did they want to become maps.