Special Operations Office Upgrade Underway

At last, Snape's Potions class was over. Roy finally let out a sigh of relief as he stepped out of the gloomy Potions classroom.

Thursday's classes were all finished. Tomorrow, Friday, he only had one History of Magic class during the day, followed by Astronomy at midnight, and then he could finally rest.

Glancing at the bright sunshine outside the window, Roy saw that it was only a little past three. Since he had no more classes today, he thought it over, packed up the important things, slung on his backpack, and headed into the Forbidden Forest to continue upgrading his base.

He had always come after dark before. Now that he finally had some free time during the day, he could get some proper work done while it was still light out.

He tossed the backpack he had brought onto the workbench in the clearing, rolled his shoulders, pulled out his wand, and continued felling trees.

The few plants he had brought out from the greenhouse and planted himself had not shown much change yet. Other than watering them, all Roy could do now was wait for them to grow on their own.

One tree after another fell beneath his spells. Roy then used the Levitation Charm to stack the logs beside the foundation. The wood intended for the walls needed moisture-proof treatment, so he was in no hurry to cut it into planks yet.

Over the past few days, Roy had learned from a book about a dye that could protect wooden planks from moisture and insects. It was very simple to make, and the materials were not complicated either, so Roy had specifically brought his cauldron along.

He tossed several basic ingredients he had swiped from Potions class into the cauldron, scooped up some water from the stream, and added it in. Then Roy set the pot over the campfire to heat.

He gave it a few casual stirs with a stick he had picked up, then left the rest to time.

Looking up at the sun nearing the horizon, Roy estimated that he should be able to finish everything before dinner.

After washing his hands in the stream, Roy used Transfiguration to turn an armchair into existence in the clearing. He took out a sandwich he had packed earlier, reclined in the chair, and read one of the books he had brought while eating. Breathing in the fresh forest air and feeling the warm sunset spill over him, Roy could not help but sigh in comfort.

"This is what you call living!"

As the woods grew darker, Roy closed his book and walked over to the cauldron. The liquid inside had now become a thick green paint.

The finished product in the cauldron was exactly as the book described. Roy had even deliberately added green dye. It seemed that everything Roy used was colored green.

He poured the entire pot of paint over the stacked logs. Next, the logs needed to be left somewhere well-ventilated to dry for quite some time.

"All right, that's enough for today."

After packing up his things, Roy returned to the castle before it became completely dark.

At dinner, Cedric and the others, having noticed that Roy had disappeared all afternoon, asked where he had gone.

As for his secret base, Roy planned to bring others there only after it had been completely furnished. Faced with their questions, he could only brush them off by saying that he had gone to the library.

There were no classes the next morning, so Roy rushed into the Forbidden Forest early to check on the lumber he had treated yesterday.

The Forbidden Forest was quite damp in the morning, with a thin mist drifting through the trees. Roy walked over to the woodpile and touched the soaked logs. He found that the treated wood had become quite good in texture. Satisfied, Roy began turning the logs into planks.

Roy planned to use a frame structure for the wooden cabin walls. Though this structure was somewhat less sturdy, it looked better and provided better insulation.

With spells to help him, the logs were quickly cut into planks of varying lengths and stacked neatly in the clearing.

Roy found a branch and roughly sketched out a design on the ground. After imagining what the finished cabin would look like, he rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

He spent the entire morning processing materials and putting up walls. By the time lunch approached, he had only completed one and a half walls.

There was plenty of time in the future anyway. After doing manual labor all morning, Roy was exhausted. Looking at the cabin, which was only a little more than a quarter finished, and seeing himself covered in dirt and dust, he simply decided to go back and take a bath first.

He finished bathing just in time for lunch. As Roy sat down at the Hufflepuff table, he saw Cedric gathered with several first-year students, discussing Flying class.

If no one had brought it up, Roy would have forgotten about the class. Flying mainly taught young wizards how to use broomsticks.

There was only one Flying class a week. It was a little like combining physical education and driving lessons in the Muggle world. Every first-year student was clearly restless in anticipation of it, and Roy even heard some students discussing Quidditch team tryouts.

Roy had briefly looked into the rules of Quidditch. All he could say was that it was neither a reasonable nor a fair sport. However, it was the only popular competitive sport in the wizarding world, and with no competitors, Quidditch naturally won most people's affection.

Roy was not particularly interested in Quidditch, nor was he especially enthusiastic about broomsticks. Still, everyone else clearly liked both, so he did not say anything to spoil the mood.

After lunch, Roy returned to the dormitory after a morning of physical labor and collapsed into bed. He did not wake until Cedric shook him awake. Still groggy and bleary-eyed, he followed everyone to History of Magic.

In History of Magic, Professor Binns was nothing more than a reading machine that recited straight from the textbook. Roy had originally planned to secretly read one of the books he had borrowed, but the professor's droning was practically a powerful Sleeping Charm. Before he had read for long, he was slumped over his desk asleep along with the entire class.

After class, everyone was especially excited. The next lesson was the long-awaited Flying class. Whether Roy had gotten enough sleep or been swept up by the mood around him, he too began looking forward to it.

Flying was taught to all four houses together. By the time Roy reached the field, nearly every first-year student from this year had arrived.

Madam Hooch, who taught the class, was both a veteran Quidditch referee and an excellent Quidditch player. When she did not have classes, she was even invited to officiate Quidditch leagues.

The weather was particularly good today, with abundant sunshine and gentle breezes. It was perfect for flying.

Roy heard Marcus Flint of Slytherin loudly bragging about his flying skills, while quite a few Gryffindors showed off their own flying experiences. The Weasley Twins in particular were so eager to ride broomsticks that Roy could feel it from far away. The two of them bounced around nonstop like a pair of red-haired baboons.

Seeing that nearly everyone had arrived, Madam Hooch took out the attendance list and began calling names. When she finished, no one was late or absent. Apparently, no matter where they were, students never wanted to take leave from physical education.

Madam Hooch had the four houses each gather into their own groups. Holding a broom in front of everyone, she began explaining the proper way to use a broomstick.

Madam Hooch could tell that many of the students before her were not listening at all. Children this age never took danger seriously. Having taught Flying for so many years, she had long understood their temperaments. Almost every year's first Flying lesson had some sort of accident.

The goal of this class was simple: make the broom on the ground fly into their hand on its own, then mount it and lift off the ground. That counted as passing.

Madam Hooch gave everyone an old broomstick, told them to spread out, and let them practice on their own in the clearing.