11 First Day of School
Alex, who woke up at six by habit, just couldn't go back to sleep. Looking around Peverell saw that Malfoy was still asleep. Getting out of bed, the boy headed for the shower. Ten minutes later, Alex came out into the common living room, which was empty. Taking one of the armchairs, the freshman started to read a book on blood magic. He spent two hours in this position. Two hours later, the upperclassmen began to appear. Among them were several freshmen, including Malfoy and Bellatrix. The girl saw Alex and went straight to him, followed by Malfoy, strangely enough.
- Good morning," Black and Malfoy greeted the boy, sitting down next to him
- Morning," Alex replied, taking a break from his book.
- How did you sleep? - Bella asked.
- Not bad," she replied.
- How long have you been awake? - Another question from the girl.
- Two hours ago," both Malfoy and Black stared in surprise.
- Why did you wake up so early? - The girl continued her 'interrogation'.
- I've been getting up at six in the morning since I was five. I'm used to it," the boy said with a shrug of his shoulders
- What are you reading? - question already from Lucius. In response, Peverell silently picked up a book, showing the title of the book.
- You must know that blood magic is considered dark and forbidden by the Ministry, right? - The girl asked, lowering her voice to a whisper, and the boy nodded.
- Then why are you reading this book without hiding? - Bellatrix hissed, a little annoyed by the guy's silence and terse words. In response, Alex again silently picked up the book, showing the title of the book, and there to the surprise of Malfoy and Bellatrix was written "etiquette and Traditions of purebloods".
- It's an illusion," Malfoy was the first to guess.
- Yes, an illusion, and I must say a strong one, which can't be removed without blood," Alex confirmed Malfoy's guess.
- It's funny, a book on blood magic, which is protected by an illusion based on blood magic, - Bellatrix grinned, to which the guys only smirked. Then within ten minutes, the others started to appear in the living room.
The door to the living room opened and the Dean of Slytherin walked into the room, accompanied by the Heads. Walking to the center of the room, Slughorn coughed and spoke.
- Good morning everyone. Congratulations on your admission to Slytherin," the Dean's cheerful voice echoed through the living room. - Before we go to breakfast, I'd like to say a few words," the wizard continued.
- First of all, Slytherin is one big family where everyone helps each other. If there's anything wrong, don't be afraid to go to the upperclassmen, the Heads of House, or me. Next, Slytherin is the smallest of the four faculties. To my deep regret, the other faculties don't like us very much, so try not to go alone. That's all for now, go to breakfast," the Dean finished his little speech. - Oh yes, you'll get your schedule at breakfast. Classes start at nine, don't be late," Slughorn left, and the Heads and the rest of the faculty went to the Great Hall. To the students' surprise, Slughorn was already there, as was all of Ravenclaw, a third of Hufflepuff, and half of Gryffindor.
Taking a seat next to Bellatrix and Malfoy, Peverell began to eat his breakfast. To his displeasure, it was oatmeal, which Alex hadn't liked since his Harry Potter days. About ten minutes later, the head teachers handed out the timetables.
- What classes do we have today? - Bella turned to Lord Peverell.
- Dual spells with Gryffindor, dual transfiguration with Gryffindor, and Potions with Gryffindor," Alex read.
- I hate Mondays," the girl muttered, clearly unhappy about having to spend so much time with the red and gold faculty. After breakfast, the trio went to the spellcasting class, which was on the fourth floor. Half of Slytherin and some Gryffindors, including Longbottom, were already standing outside the spell room. With ten minutes to go before class started, the spelling teacher came in and opened the door to the classroom, and invited the freshmen inside.
The Spell Room hadn't changed a bit. A teacher's desk at the far end of the room opposite the door, student desks on either side of the teacher's desk, and a huge window in the wall behind the teacher's desk.
- Come in and have a seat," came the cheerful, squeaky voice of the Dean of Cogtevran. After the teacher's invitation, the Gryffindors were the first to rush into the room, followed by the Slytherins. The entire first-year Gryffindor class took up the right half of the desks, and the Slytherins the left half. On either side of Peverell were once again Malfoy and Black.
- Welcome to the first spellcasting lesson," Flitwick said, climbing onto a stack of books. - So, what do you know about spells? - Asked the first question the professor asked. Several hands went up from the Slytherin side in response, Bellatrix being one of them.
- Miss Black please," said the little professor.
- Spell is a discipline that studies the various movements of the wand, with the spell itself being cast at the same time," the girl replied.
- Okay Miss Black, ten points to Slytherin," the girl smiled and sat back down.
- Miss Black is right, also spells are divided into combat magic, protection magic, levitation spells, elemental magic, medical spells, mental magic, light spells, household spells, and cancellation spells. Over the next seven years, you and I will study each of these types of magic, except for combat magic, which you will learn in DADA classes with Professor Moody. And we'll start with light charms. Light charms are spells that summon light from a wand. And our first spell is the Lumos spell, which is used for illumination.
After Flitwick finished his lecture, he waved his wand and the room darkened dramatically, then Flitwick spoke.
- "Lumos",-after saying the spell, a small ball of light lit up on the tip of the professor's wand. - As you can see, there is nothing complicated, the main thing in this spell is pronunciation. One mispronunciation and the light might not be there, or there might be so much of it that we could all go blind," Flitwick said, keeping the light on.
- Let's practice," said the Professor and turned out the light. The room immediately went dark, and a second later three new lights appeared from our trio.
- Excellent Mr Peverell, Miss Black, Mr Malfoy. Your spell worked on the first try. Ten points each," the little professor cheered.
- Now that you've managed to perform the spell, practice for forty minutes until the end of the class, if you can keep up, you'll get forty points each," the Dean of Clawton gave a new task and a good incentive. Gradually the others began to get the spell, and by the end of the task Gryffindor got sixty points, and Slytherin another seventy. The trio kept at it, but eventually, with ten minutes left before the end of the class, the girl was exhausted, and Malfoy seven minutes later. Peverell admitted, to his shame, that he had been doing rather little training for the time. Though by his training, his magic reserve was far greater than the others and he did make it to the end of the class, but there was no escaping the heavy and rapid breathing. Still, he earned another forty points for Slytherin. After the spellcasting class, the Slytherin first year came out very happy, if only they had beaten all three faculties on the first day.
- What's our next class? - Bella turned to Lucius.
- Double transfiguration with Gryffindor," Malfoy replied.
- Again with Gryffindor," the girl groaned.
- We have Potions with them for the rest of the year, so bear with me," Alex said nonchalantly.
The transfiguration classroom was on the ground floor, which hadn't changed a bit either. It was a large room with desks arranged in rows of three and four. At the far end was the teacher's desk, with two blackboards and a large globe next to it. Upon arriving in the room, the Slytherins saw that almost the entire first year of Slytherin and strangely enough the entire first year of Gryffindor were gathered in the classroom. On the teacher's desk sat, very familiar to the ex-Harry, a striped cat.
- Hello, Professor McGonagall," Alex said to the cat, and then everyone looked at him like he was blind, and Gryffindor started laughing at him. But all the fun was blown away when the cat jumped and transformed into a very familiar professor, whom all the freshmen looked at with widened eyes.
- Hello, Mr Peverell. May I ask how you know I'm an animagus, I have to admit I like to shock first-year students with it," McGonagall admitted.
- The seniors at breakfast told me," the boy lied without blinking an eye.
The professor believed it and went back to her desk, but Bellatrix and Lucius' eyes narrowed suspiciously. They had been with him the whole time and could assure anyone that the young lord hadn't spoken to anyone but they and they weren't upperclassmen. Taking the first desk again with Bellatrix, Peverell got ready for class, to his slight surprise Malfoy on the contrary went to the back of the desks, saying he wasn't very good at transfiguration.
- Welcome to your first transfiguration lesson. Transfiguration is a very important subject. Who, what can tell us about transfiguration? - asked the professor. The answer was no one. And the professor was about to continue when one student raised his hand. It was the not-so-famous Lord Peverell.
- Answer, Mr Peverell," McGonagall asked.
- 'Transfiguration is an extremely difficult subject that requires a certain amount of magical power and very great concentration from the person using it. It is the study of magical ways of turning one object into another, inanimate into animate and vice versa, as well as one animate object into another," replied the young lord.
- That's right, Lord Peverell, ten points to Slytherin," the professor praised the boy. - I would like to add that transfiguration is not a simple subject, it obeys certain magical laws. And now let's go to practice, - with these words, the professor with one stroke of her wand turned her table into a pig and back again. Everyone looked at it with huge eyes of surprise.
- Well, your first task for today is to turn a match into a needle by the end of the class, - and as an example, she turned one match into a needle. The professor in his repertoire is a minimum of theory and immediate practice. Then came the practice. Everybody tried to turn a match into a needle, but nobody succeeded or only partially, everybody realized that transfiguration is not spells and it is much more complicated. And Alex just read the book and didn't even try to do anything. In the middle of the class, the professor noticed it and didn't like it very much, which she expressed.
- Lord Peverell, why aren't you even trying to do the assignment? - McGonagall asked and was about to continue when the young lord turned a match into a needle with a wave of his wand. And not just any needle, but a silver one. The professor was so shocked.
- How did you do it?" the professor asked in a trembling voice.
- Very simple. I had a good teacher, and he taught me the basics of transfiguration. He divided any transfiguration into three parts. The first, the simplest part, is the spell and the wand movement; the second, the more difficult part, is representation, you have to visualize the thing and what it's made of; and the third, the most important part, is confidence, you have to believe that it's even possible. It is the representation of the object and confidence that gives the result, - Alex said clearly and distinctly remembering one of Darius' lectures.
- And silver? - The Dean of Gryffindor raised the question again.
- I was just following my words. I visualized the silver needle, I was sure I could do it, and I executed the wand movement correctly, although it took a lot more concentration and magical power," the young lord said with a shrug.
- Twenty points for a well-done assignment and thirty points for the best description of the basics of transfiguration theory I've heard in the history of my teaching," the professor said, to which the Slytherins smiled smugly and the Gryffindors looked shocked.
- 'Professor McGonagall, I'm done,' came the professor's voice from across the room. As the professor approached her, she saw that the Gryffindor freshman had finished her assignment and now there was a needle on her desk instead of a match.
- Good job Miss Loman, ten points to Gryffindor," the professor said, and after that, everyone was surprised, even the Slytherins. They knew that the Dean of Gryffindor didn't like members of the green faculty, but here she had given ten points more than a member of her faculty.
By the end of the class, three more people had completed the assignment. Bellatrix and Lucius, earning the faculty another twenty points, and one Gryffindor. Frank Longbottom, added another ten points to the red and gold faculty.
The bell rang and the students began to gather. And the professor assigned homework.
- By the next class, you must write a one-foot essay on the basics of transfiguration theory. Lord Peverell you are excused from the assignment, as you have already proved that you know it perfectly," at the last words of the Dean of Gryffindor all the members of her faculty looked at Peverell with undisguised envy, and some with anger.
- Oh yes, Lord Peverell, I would ask you to stay a moment," the professor asked.
- Go, I'll meet you in Potions," Alex said to Bellatrix and Lucius after hearing McGonagall's request.
- Your knowledge of transfiguration is impressive, but, I wonder where you got it from. - The professor asked.
- I only had one teacher. He taught me everything I know. But he taught me in his way. He took one look at the transfiguration book and threw it into the burning fireplace. He threw other books on Hogwarts material into the fireplace, too. So I can say that I know a lot, but I don't know exactly how much by Hogwarts standards. I'm doing the task of turning a match into a needle for the first time today," Alex answered.
- What do you mean, for the first time? - McGonagall asked in surprise.
- Yeah. He taught everything personally. We didn't learn anything from the Hogwarts syllabus. He said, 'If you call yourself a Peverell, you must conform,' and the Peverells were the best at everything, without exception," the young lord said, remembering something.
- Well, I see. You may go. Your class has already started potions. Wait, I have to write a note to Professor Slughorn. You don't want any trouble on the first day," McGonagall said, writing something on the parchment and handing it to the boy.
Finding the Potions room, the boy knocked.
- Come in," came Slytherin's cheerful voice. Alex entered the room and saw that both the first-year Slytherin and first-year Gryffindor were already seated in the room. Peverell looked around at those seated and saw Bellatrix and Lucius sitting on the first desk in the front row and an empty seat next to them.
- Hello Professor, sorry I'm late. I was detained by Professor McGonagall," with these words the boy handed the Dean a note from McGonagall. After glancing over it, Slughorn grinned and replied.
- 'Nothing Mr Slytherin. We've only just begun. You may take any empty seat you like," at these words he circled the entire audience with his hand. Peverell only nodded silently and sat down in the empty seat next to Bellatrix.
- So, the first potion you must make this year is a potion to cure boils and pimples. This is one of the easiest potions to make and it consists of only three ingredients. They are snake teeth, horny slugs, and porcupine needles. The recipe is on the board. You have plenty of time. Get started, - after these words, everyone began to fulfill the task. Half an hour later, as the inseparable trio was finishing their potion, they heard a suspicious hiss from the back of the desk.
Peverell turned back and turned white with horror, for Longbottom Senior was sitting behind him. And in his cauldron, instead of the blue potion he was supposed to have, there was something suspiciously brown in color, hissing and emitting smoke, and the Professor was unfortunately at the other end of the room explaining something to Nott.
Realizing that Longbottom's potion was about to explode, Peverell pushed Malfoy out of his seat, and he and Black bounced out of their seats, remembering to cover their cauldrons and other things. The guy's hunch was right, for exactly three seconds later Longbottom's cauldron exploded, showering everyone around him with its contents. Everyone who was doused groaned in pain because the potion was hot. In addition, blisters began to appear where the potion had touched their skin.
- Mr Longbottom, I told you to look carefully at the recipe. We must remove the cauldron from the fire before adding the porcupine needles. Escort all the injured to the hospital wing," with those words, the professor nonverbally Evanesco'd Longbottom's effects away.
- The rest of you finish your work, there isn't much time left until the end of class. After these words, Alex and the company quickly finished their potions and after waiting for the end of the class they went to the Great Hall for lunch, and then the whole day was free.
