Chapter 23: First Lesson of the School Year

[Please Vote Stones]

Tom didn't rush to sleep; instead, he first took stock of his gains. He had completed the third stage of his "Traveling in the Mortal World" task at the Room of Requirement, and unsurprisingly, the fourth stage required him to visit eight magical world locations. However, the rewards for the third stage were rather peculiar: a common-looking feathered pen. The pen appeared unremarkable, but the system classified it as a five-star item. The only comment in the item's description was, "A common feathered pen that can write without ink."

Tom shrugged. At least he wouldn't have to buy ink in the future. He couldn't help but suspect that the system had forcefully assigned a five-star rating to this pen just to make him seem generous. What was even more absurd was that he had to pick it up himself – the system wouldn't deliver it to him.

Tom was tempted to complain, but he realized he didn't even know how to submit a complaint to the system.

Next, he checked his main quest. After completing the first chapter, there were no further instructions. It simply advised him to "study diligently every day."

Tom then examined his magic skills by clicking on the "?" next to the experience bar. The system informed him that he could only raise his various spell levels to 1st level, with 99 experience points being the maximum. To reach 2nd level, he needed to complete a breakthrough task. Currently, to go from level 0 to level 1, he had to undergo systematic learning; simply using spells to increase proficiency wouldn't work.

Satisfied with his review, Tom closed the system interface and went to sleep. He needed rest because the Ravenclaw students had two Potions classes in the morning, and starting the year with Potions was quite a dismal affair.

For Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff first-year students, the first day's schedule was rather unfortunate. They began the day with Potions, and afterward, they had their second class, which was History of Magic. This scheduling seemed like a cruel joke.

The following morning, Tom got up early, entered the common room, and was taken aback when he saw Hermione descending the staircase. She was walking briskly, as if nothing unusual had happened the previous night.

Last night had been sudden, intense, and...vigorous, so Hermione should have been in no condition to walk normally today, right?

"Hermione, what about your foot...?" Tom asked, surprised.

"When I left the dormitory, I met a seventh-year student, and she used a healing spell on me. I'm completely healed now!" Hermione enthusiastically recounted the miraculous encounter she had experienced.

For wizards, physical injuries were not something to worry about. As long as you weren't killed instantly, they could heal you. They could mend broken bones, sprains, cuts, and even make your bones grow back in a single night. In the non-magical world, a sprained ankle would take a month to heal, but in the magical world, a well-trained healer could fix it with a simple spell.

After chatting in the common room for a while, the young witches and wizards gathered in groups and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. There had been some amusing incidents this morning. A large group of wizards had cornered Harry in the corridor, wanting to catch a glimpse of the "boy who lived" and his scar. Their fascination with Harry's scar surpassed the Japanese fascination with pandas.

This had caused some trouble for Harry and even affected his ability to memorize the castle's layout. For all new students, memorizing the layout of Hogwarts was essential. They had to remember the routes from the common room to various classrooms; otherwise, they would be late. Navigating Hogwarts was quite challenging – with 142 staircases, some with traps, and even ones that changed directions at different times. This was all thanks to Lady Ravenclaw. Doing something like this without being killed could only mean that Lady Ravenclaw was quite formidable, or perhaps none of the four founders were directionally challenged. After all, if even one of the four founders was directionally challenged, Hogwarts wouldn't have such an excessively complex layout!

Apart from the staircases, the castle also had peculiar doors. Some doors required polite requests to open, while others needed a specific spot to be poked. Sometimes, using iconic objects as markers to remember locations was futile, as everything in Hogwarts seemed to be in constant motion – portraits, suits of armor, and more.

It was rumored that once a student tried to use a foul-mouthed knight on horseback as a landmark and ended up skipping a class.

On the first day of school, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students filled their stomachs and then proceeded to the underground classroom for their Potions class. The warm-up act of Potions for Ravenclaw first-years was cruel. Still, they could console themselves by thinking that they had already tackled Potions, and there was nothing else to fear. However, it couldn't be called a warm-up, considering the second class of the day for Ravenclaw students was History of Magic.

It was a blatant act of cruelty in scheduling! Look at what the Gryffindor first-years got for their first day: no classes in the morning, Herbology in the afternoon, and History of Magic in the evening! How considerate – this was a schedule for their beloved sons and daughters! They even considered the sleeping patterns of little lions!

Early the next morning, Severus Snape, resembling a giant black bat, walked into the classroom. The classroom was colder than the main castle due to its underground location. Glass jars containing preserved animal specimens lined the walls, some of them with murky, discolored fluids. The students' smiles gradually faded as they sensed an unsettling atmosphere in the room.

Snape entered the room and, in a low voice barely louder than a whisper, began taking attendance. Afterward, he couldn't resist making a sarcastic remark, "It's fortunate that we have no distinguished guests today; otherwise, the corridors outside would be filled with onlookers."

The classroom had fallen completely silent by now. Snape's speech was only slightly louder than a whisper, but every student could hear him clearly. It took him just a few minutes to establish dominance over the entire room.

(End of Chapter)