Early Morning
Albert woke to the gentle chirping of birds. He rose from his bed and headed to wash his face, preparing himself for a new day.
After freshening up and putting on his school uniform, he grabbed his class schedule. He saw that he had a total of eight classes in his first year.
Classes were basically from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 12 noon, then 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., with Astronomy lessons only from 8 to 9 p.m. To be honest, this schedule was much shorter than his middle school days in his previous life.
Once he was ready and knowing there were no classes that morning, Albert stopped waking his roommates and quietly went downstairs to the common room.
Hermione was already sitting on the couch, holding a book and reading.
"Good morning, Hermione," Albert greeted, sitting beside her. "Even though there's no class this morning, you still need to have breakfast. Skipping it isn't a good idea."
Hermione flipped her book to a marked page and pointed to the text. "I've been reading 'The History of Hogwarts.' Did you know the castle has a total of one hundred and forty staircases?"
"Some are wide and grand, some narrow and rickety. Some lead to different places every Friday, and others suddenly disappear midway."
"Even worse, there are many doors that won't open if you politely ask or tap the right spot. Some doors aren't even real—they're illusions, making it hard to tell which walls are solid and which are secret entrances."
Closing the book, Hermione spread her hands helplessly. "So, for now, I'm just waiting here to see if someone older can take me to the dining hall for breakfast."
Luckily, it wasn't long before Albert heard footsteps on the stairs. A girl with braided black hair tied in a ponytail came down.
Hermione immediately stepped forward for help. The girl, who introduced herself as Angelina Johnson, enthusiastically offered her hand and asked Albert and Hermione to follow her to the hall.
Along the way, Angelina explained the secret paths and the special ways the staircases moved.
Finally, they reached the hall, and Angelina told them these things changed regularly. If you paid attention, you could quickly remember the staircases' quirks.
While eating, Albert couldn't help but envy Hufflepuff; their dormitory was the closest to the dining hall and right next to the kitchen.
After breakfast, Albert had originally planned to explore the castle since there were no morning classes. After all, as a fan of the Harry Potter series in his past life, how could he not visit the familiar places described in the books?
Unfortunately, Hermione disrupted this plan. She believed self-study before class was very important and invited Albert to join her in the library.
Albert felt if he refused, Hermione might look down on him and he would lose face. Plus, he realized it would be better to learn something in the school library than nothing at all.
After all, the one thing Albert still needed to be truly strong in was knowledge—since most of his previous life had been spent in prison.
So, it was better to read more books about history and such.
Besides, the library was also an important setting in the original story. Albert abandoned his plan to roam the castle and went to the library with Hermione.
The library was located on the second floor of Hogwarts Castle and had a high dome. Thousands of shelves filled the room, housing countless books.
Perhaps because it was morning, Albert and the others noticed few students were there. Hermione found an empty table, sat down, opened her textbook, and began reading—sometimes jotting notes in a notebook beside her.
Albert picked several books explaining the current state of the magical world and began reading. After all, having spent his entire life imprisoned, the novels he had read previously only offered scattered bits of information. But these comprehensive introductions to the magical world were the cornerstone of surviving in this marvelous realm.
After more than an hour, the morning classes ended. The library grew crowded as many students busily searched materials and wrote homework.
The noisy environment made Albert a bit irritated, but he didn't disturb Hermione, who was deeply engrossed in her studies. After consulting several books from Madam Pince, Albert left the library carrying books under his arm.
He still didn't remember the way upstairs, but luckily, he met Nearly Headless Nick, the ghost, on the way, who guided him back to the Gryffindor Tower.
The first challenge of studying at Hogwarts was that almost everything in the castle was alive—for example, moving staircases, suits of armor, oil paintings on walls, and doors that needed special methods to open or hide.
Seeing the descriptions and scenes from the novels and movies come to life before his eyes filled Albert with excitement at first.
But once the thrill faded, the difficulties caused by constantly shifting furniture became clear. The castle's complex interior made Albert spend a lot of time searching for his destinations.
It must be said that life at Hogwarts moved at a relatively slow pace, probably related to these troublesome facilities.
The worst moment came Tuesday afternoon when he encountered Peeves on the way to class, causing him and many classmates to be late for the first lesson with Dean Professor McGonagall.
When they rushed into the Transfiguration classroom, gasping for breath, they found it was not yet time for class, but some students were already seated, doing their own things.
The class didn't differ much from a normal school lesson, except for a strange cat sitting on the desk.
Obviously, Hermione, who had come with Albert, was a cat lover and tried to scratch the cat's chin. Unfortunately, the cat deftly dodged, and Albert looked at Hermione in amazement as she entered the classroom, focused on finding an empty seat.
He hadn't expected Hermione, usually so composed, to show this mischievous side.
Albert gently pulled Hermione back, who still wanted to play with the cat, and greeted the feline.
Hermione looked at Albert with questioning eyes. Returning to her seat, she asked, "Why did you greet that cat?"
"You don't seem to be a quick learner after all. That cat on the desk is Professor McGonagall. She's one of seven known witches or wizards in this century who can transform their bodies into certain objects."
"Look at the cat's eyes. The texture is exactly the same as Professor McGonagall's glasses," Albert said softly.
Hermione blushed deeply, burying her face in her arms and whispered, "Why didn't you tell me if you knew this before?"
Albert didn't know how to answer and thought, A cat standing on the podium isn't natural. How could I guess you'd try to touch her directly?
A few minutes later, as class time arrived, the classroom door opened again, and Harry and Ron hurried inside.
"Great, Professor McGonagall isn't here yet," Ron said happily to Harry.
As Ron finished speaking, the cat on the podium jumped down and simultaneously transformed into a human form.
"Professor McGonagall!" Ron suddenly went pale.
"I suppose I should turn you into an alarm clock so you won't be late," McGonagall said with mild anger.
"We were late because of Peeves, Professor."
"Then I should turn you into a map, so you'll be late next time. Now, back to your seats."
The two ran back to their seats, dejected.
"Albert Black, you're the first new student this year to recognize me. It seems you have excellent observation skills and prepared well before class. Gryffindor earns ten points," Professor McGonagall said, then climbed the podium.
She continued, "Transfiguration is the most complex and dangerous spell in your Hogwarts curriculum. Anyone who causes trouble in my class will be asked to leave and barred from re-entry. But consider yourselves warned."
She then transformed her desk into a pig and back to its original form.
All the students were fascinated and eager to begin learning, but soon realized transforming furniture into animals would take time. After taking many complex notes, she handed everyone a matchstick and asked them to try turning it into a needle.
For Albert, it was as easy as drinking water—he had practiced this spell daily while in prison, turning stones into pens. He quickly transformed the matchstick into a needle within ten seconds.
Transfiguration could be simple or difficult. For example, a first-year student could transform a ball into a needle, but an expert could make needles from different materials and patterns, with the effect lasting hundreds of years.
Beyond magical power differences, the gap lay in understanding magic itself and mastering the properties of various materials. This last point required time and energy accumulation, not shortcuts.
As expected, Albert's extraordinary talent shone. He had learned all spells from his father within six years and spent the next three years gathering experience, discovering weaknesses and strengths to use them well.
Professor McGonagall and Hermione were surprised at Albert's speed, as he transformed the matchstick into a needle before Hermione was ready.
McGonagall approached Albert, saying, "From what I just saw, you've trained this spell well. Well done, Albert. Two points to Gryffindor."
Albert's Gryffindor classmates applauded, knowing these points increased their chances of winning the House Cup at year's end.
Seeing Albert's talent and speed, Hermione was motivated to be faster. Eventually, she transformed a matchstick into a needle in one minute.
When class ended, Professor McGonagall nodded at Hermione, awarding her a point. For beginners, being able to transform objects in a minute was impressive—Albert was just an exceptional case.
Besides McGonagall's Transfiguration class, Albert gained much from other lessons, whether magic or Herbology.
In magic class, Professor Flitwick was a tiny wizard who excitedly fell off a stack of books when he heard Harry Potter's name—a bit exaggerated, perhaps—but he possessed deep magical knowledge and happily answered students' questions.
In Herbology, Albert found himself quite good with plants, even earning extra points from Professor Sprout. Though nervous about his unfamiliarity with basics, he quickly realized many principles were similar to what he had known before.
However, Astronomy and History of Magic were less exciting. First-year Astronomy was only about some observation records and simple calculations of celestial cycles—quite boring.
History of Magic was taught by Professor Binns, who droned on monotonously while students took notes. From his lectures, Albert gained much knowledge beyond history books, including many major historical events Binns had witnessed firsthand.
Still, Binns's dull style and endless lecturing made people sleepy. So after each class, Albert had to borrow Hermione's
notes—the only student who never fell asleep—to copy from!
---