章節 30: Chapter 29: The First Day - (Part 1)
Waking up to such a fancy bedframe is something Ill need to get used to… Looking around I saw the clock in my room and noted the time was early morning, around the same time id usually get up and go downstairs at New Leaf for breakfast. Lessons wouldn't start for a bit so I had plenty of time. Chucking on my robes, I made sure I had my wand on me along with all my other possessions. I debated whether or not I should keep the extension pouch on me or leave it here and in the end decided it was best to have it on me for now.
Today was the first day of lessons and I wasn't really sure what to expect honestly. I had already learnt a vast majority of first year spells due to having the first volume of the standard book of spells early however there were other classes to do with other things I had encountered yet. Astronomy, Herbology and History of Magic was naming a few.
History of Magic was a particularly interesting one in my eyes as it could include details about Merlin, although I imagined it would be fragmented anecdotes of what is already documented rather than a full scope of the man and his capabilities. Knowing a bit more on top would never hurt though, I welcomed any information I could get. After all I had the key on me from Merlin's inheritance that I needed to track down the use for. Considering the broadness of that 'test' I shelfed it for now and hoped I would get lucky, If I didn't get any inkling in due time I would have to actively search by any means.
Heading out into the common room area I spotted the Slytherin prefect from yesterday. As he saw me a slight scorn flashed on his face for a moment before walking over to me.
"You headed off too quickly yesterday so I forgot to give you this"
The prefect handed over a piece of paper that noted all my weekly timetable of lessons. It seemed today I would be attending Charms, Potions, History of Magic and finally Defence against the dark arts. As the days went on the lessons of course alternated to others leaving one lesson unchanged. 2 lessons in the morning, lunch, 2 lessons in the evening are the schedule. The schedule was different to Harrys however that was evident considering I was starting in a different year, 1990.
I looked up at the Slytherin prefect he seemed to be judging me with his sly eyes. I gave him a quick nod and headed off slowly without a single change in my expression. Judging by how he was acting, the words Snape spoke yesterday must be spreading around Slytherin as a 'rumour' right now. As that rumour snowballs it will probably be a bit troublesome… Looks like Ill have to start charming the door to my room. Or could it be more direct to just rough a few of them up directly? Nah, that would become more troublesome. I've read those damn novels where I beat Side character 1 and then side character 1 grabs his senior, side character 2, and then I have to train and beat him who then has a senior himself and so on.
Ill just stick to keeping my eyes peeled and when the time comes where I can just overwhelm them all I will. It was unrealistic right now at my level to cause havoc but if they came at me directly looking for a fight, I wouldn't hesitate to knock them down.
Heading out of the Slytherin common room, I first headed off for breakfast. Entering into the great hall I sat down and plated myself up a meal, quickly eating it up. I wasn't one to savour my food unless it was Nanas so I immediately left after eating and started to walk through the castle towards my first lesson. Even though Hogwarts was detailed in the books greatly seeing it in person and walking through its vast halls was something else. Honestly a few times I felt like I was going to get lost but I managed to get to my first lesson in the end. In front of me was the door to my first lesson.
'Charms'
Looking at the time on the way, it seemed I had arrived around 10 minutes before the lesson was set to start. I walked on in and seated myself down in one of the seats. Since I had time to kill, I stealthily grabbed a book out from my extension pouch, this book was a book on Occlumency that I had gotten in Flourish and Blotts. One of the most difficult challenges I had with magic now was surrounding this topic. I had put up flimsy defences on my mind just using reference from books that explained 'what' Occlumency is instead of 'how' to master it.
Essentially, I was looking at the answer without seeing how the problem was solved. I knew what it led to but I didn't know how to do it myself, I could only adapt and improvise which led to the defences I had now. Honestly if Dumbledore did decide yesterday to delve into my mind he probably would have succeeded with little effort, the main goal though before getting here was to have 'some' defence on my mind so I could tell if he tried. If I felt him attempt, then I would go from there knowing he had those details. Thankfully the headmaster wasn't as wilful as what some made him out to be, he had a conscience and reeled back for now.
Losing myself in my book the 10 minutes until the lesson passed in a flash. The room started to fill up with first year students and eventually when I lifted my head, I noted people had sat next to me now also. I hid the book in my robes and pushed it down into the extension pouch, hiding it away. Looking down at the front of the class, I could see a small man walk on in as I finished hiding the book.
"Welcome first years to your first Charms lesson. Charms is a subject of magic that is seen as 'softer' by many witches and wizards out there. However, Charms being 'softer' allows for your creativity to flow forth as you delve down its path"
"My name is Professor Flitwick and I'll be your Charms teacher. Today my students we will be attempting the 'softening charm' otherwise known as 'Spongify'. I always thought its best to get stuck into these things instead of me rabbling on explaining it. I will first give a demonstration and you all should give it a try yourself"
Softening charm hmm? It was a simple first-year charm as far as I was aware. I half expected the first lesson to be the classic 'Wingardium Leviosa' lesson but I believe that one was actually a little later on in the year. Perhaps Flitwick introduced with this spell as a way to gauge a students abilities? As much as I recall practicing this spell in New Leaf it was one that required a lot of control so he's probably gauging our abilities early on.
"Now then…"
With a flick of his wand, Flitwick sent towards each student in the room a singular brick.
"First watch me and then try yourselves. The wand movement for this one is like an 'S' that doesn't go all the way… Well, allow me to show instead of try and put it into words"
Pointing his wand at his own brick in front of him, Flitwick did the wand movement required and a orange light emitted from his wand. He uttered the words as he did this;
"Spongify"
As the spell was cast, it collided with the brick in front of him. The brick at first looked the same as before however Flitwick picked it up with his hand and squeezed it like a sponge showing the spell had succeeded.
"It's a fun little charm, isn't it? Now, how about you all give it a go!"
With those words all the first years looked around the room first before pulling out their wands and giving their own attempts. The majority of them were failing off the bat with nothing happening and even some backfire going their way whilst some were making minor progress, softening parts of the brick but not all. The ones that were only softening part of the brick seemed to understand how to cast the spell but their control when it was casted was the problem. Flitwick started to walk around and advise each student how to improve their charms casting.
Meanwhile for me I was wondering what to do. It was a simple spell, something I could probably even do wandless at this point but I pondered would standing out so bluntly be a good thing? Surely that would make everything more bothersome. I could picture Flitwick looking at me with glowing eyes stating "Very well-done Mr. Osbourne!" singling me out on the first day.
I had no qualms with receiving attention and praise for my work but at the moment when I'm trying to remain low-key whilst keeping my identity as the Descendant of Merlin a secret as I train up to a certain level here it seemed foolish to stand out too much. I decided instead to keep pace with a few of the most talented students in the class who were partially softening the brick.
Controlling my magic, I purposely made it only soften parts of the brick when I casted the spell. It felt weird altering a spell to be 'wrong' however looking at it partially softening something could still have its applications in some places as well. Flitwick eventually walked over to me with a happy glint in his eye.
"Good work Mr. Osbourne. Seems as though you are able to cast the spell but your control is still unrefined. That's fine though, keep practicing and I'm sure you'll succeed soon! You want to try and make the spell spread out through the entire brick instead of just portions of it…"
Flitwick started to give me advice which I wordlessly nodded to until he left me alone. Eventually the lesson came to an end with me and a few other students being able to soften the brick after a few tries.
"There's definitely some potential here in this class! I look forward to seeing how you grow this year! Now off you go to your next lesson"
All the students got up and left with their groups as I trailed behind. It was such a simple lesson yet it made me wonder about that specific charm a bit more and even charms at a first-year level as a whole. Despite being first year charms, they had their uses when applied correctly. It was a note in my mind that any spell could be useful and didn't just need to be powerful.
Next lesson for me was potions and I was well aware of who would be teaching that. Snape who was trying to profile me on Dumbledore's behalf yesterday. I imagined he would try and get some more results during this lesson which would make it bothersome to say the least…
.
Heading through the castle was weirdly therapeutic despite the walks being filled with me in my own mind just thinking on different things. It was nice though as it allowed me to contemplate over what steps I should take and think about things I'm trying to do. One of the main things I was working on recently was the 'cloaking' goal of making an absolute cloak that would mask not only my presence but remove any sound I make and any smells.
Hogwarts was huge so just the invisibility or disillusionment charm would probably be enough to sneak around most places however when it got to a point where I needed to sneak into say the restricted section and such, I imagined then the extra layered spells would be needed to mask every single thing possible. A fourth step that would be great to look into was masking my magic also, fully making a 'stealth' spell.
I would attempt to solve the riddle of the next steps tonight in my room… after I charmed my door from any annoying Slytherins who I predicted would try some bullshit. If I headed off to the library at lunch I wondered if I could gain some information about how I could go about solving this 'cloaking' dilemma…
As my thoughts bounced back and forth, I found myself quickly heading through the castle. Before I knew it, I arrived at my next class.
'Potions'
I had to be a bit careful in this class, Snape was after all on guard around me and trying to pry information from me. Keeping a balance of wits and playing dumb when needed was a must. Walking on into the lesson I headed over to the middle of a table at the back and took a seat. I was going to sit at the far end but that would be too obvious, that was the protagonist seat.
The classroom filled up much quicker than charms, it appeared some students got disorientated coming here and arrived late however Snape didn't arrive until a minute after the lesson so lucky them. As Snape walked on in, he looked around the class, his eyes stayed on me for a moment longer than all the other years before he started to speak.
"Welcome to your first potions class. Seeing as though its your first day here I like to see your talents when it comes to potions. In a moment I will have you all attempt to brew the 'Herbicide Potion'. Before that though…"
Snape's eyes wandered over to me, I clicked my tongue realising he was about to literally copy what he did to Harry in his first year.
"Mr. Osbourne, can you tell me what the purpose of a 'Herbicide Potion' is?"
"Herbicide. To kill or damage plants"
I flat out gave an answer not changing my expression.
"Next, what sort of ingredients are used to brew a 'Herbicide Potion'"
"Professor, I only just started lessons today. How would I know that yet?"
Of course, I knew what ingredients were used I was just trying to throw him off the scent that there was 'more to me' than meets the eye. Snape seemed to click his tongue as he turned to the rest of the class.
"Is there anyone here who knows what ingredients there are in a 'Herbicide Potion'?"
All the first years remained silent, probably due to Snape's glare. Snape sighed as he began to explain;
"Flobberworm Mucus, Horklump Juice and Lionfish spines… these ingredients are used to create this potion. These same ingredients will be found at each brewing station I've put around the class. Follow the instructions and attempt to make the potion"
Snape ushered us all to start trying to brew the potion. When I back talked him I expected some more hostility however unlike Harry he didn't have a grudge against me so it seemed he refrained from saying anything further. Heading over to my cauldron I started to brew the potion we were asked to make. Looking around the class I gauged the abilities of my classmates and kept pace with some of the best ones.
Frankly I hadn't made this potion before so it would still be difficult to perfect it however perfecting and making were two different things. The potion I made Nana was many leagues above this one as it related to healing the body, this one on the other hand was just a poisonous potion for killing plants so a few miscalculations here and there weren't a problem. A miscalculation when brewing the potion, I made Nana would have resulted in issues when it entered her body. Even though I could see other students slipping up on steps, it was clear they would be able to make the potion, it just wouldn't be perfect.
Eventually the lesson started to come to a close as all the students had attempted to brew a potion. Even though it was only out first days Snape viciously tore down any students who made ridiculous mistakes. To the students like me who brewed the potion however hadn't done it perfectly he gave stern instructions for next time and left it be. He seemed to be especially stern towards me however I just nodded and let him ramble on.
That lesson then came to an end and Snape let us head off. We now had a break before our next lessons for lunch. Immediately I headed out the class towards my next destination for the day, the library.
.
It took some walking due to the sheer size of the castle in the end though I managed to get to the library just fine. As I walked into the doors of the library, I marvelled at the sheer number of books scattered around in different locations. Some students were currently studying, evidently there were more Ravenclaws here than any other house. Looking over to the front desk of the library I recognised a familiar face behind it.
It was Irma Pince who I saw alongside McGonagall at the Leaky Cauldron a few days ago.
I walked directly towards her planning on using that slight connection to ask her for the books I needed. After all, searching through this library would be some work myself so a little shortcut wouldn't hurt if I could use it. As I approached the desk, I saw her lift her head from her own book and stare at me with a bemused expression.
"So, it's you. I knew you were intelligent considering you went alone at Diagon Alley however to be as attentive to come here and want to read books at break? Heaven knows why you got put into Slytherin"
She closed the book she was reading, marking it with a book mark before doing so and placed it on the table in front of me. Staring at me for a moment she asked the question;
"So, what can I help you with today, Oz?"
"I'm looking for books that include how to cast the invisibility spell. Alongside that, books on 'Arresto Momentum' and a book on charms to block people from entering a room"
"That's an interesting combination you want there. I can find you the book on 'Arresto Momentum' alongside some spells similar. As for the invisibility spell you seek… there's a charms book that has it within I just can't remember which one… I believe that book also includes information on the security charms as well. Why do you even need to lock your door anyway?"
"I just like my privacy"
"Fair enough… just give me a moment to think"
Irma put here hand on her temples massaging them for a moment before her eyes shot open.
"Ah right that's the one"
Irma brought her wand up and flicked it, sending a few books flying over towards us. It must be nice having a system in place here where she can just get the books sent over to her like this from where she's sat. I wonder how she narrows down what books comes? Does she know all the book names and just 'Accio's' them?
"These two here should be what you are looking for. If you need any more help Ill be right here. Oh, and by the way, if even a single page of those books is scratched, the punishment will not be light…"
"Noted"
I immediately headed off to a table and sat down reading the books given to me by Irma. First, I read through the book about charms that included the invisibility spell. There were some charms in here I hadn't read about yet so the book was a good read over all. With how fast my reading speed is along with my memory it was easy to get through both books given to me during the break I had before next lessons. I found a good charm I could secure my room with also so it was a great success on that front as well.
Closing the book that had knowledge on 'Arresto Momentum' I started to contemplate. I had learned a few things here. Firstly, the invisibility charm was definitely a step up from the disillusionment charm. You could say it was the 'improved' version as it charmed objects and people to refract light making them seem invisible. If I could switch out the disillusionment charm for this one, I would be cloaking myself better for sure.
As for the 'Arresto Momentum' book with other spells similar, I got that as I wanted to learn spells that related to movement in some way hoping there would be a theme to modify a spell to mask sound when moving. Sadly, there was no spell in the book I looked in that gave me a direct answer but as I got near the end of the book an idea flashed in my mind.
'Arresto Momentum' essentially meant 'To stop or slow' and 'Movement'. 'Arresto' was a prefix and 'Momentum' was the suffix. If I changed the prefix 'Arresto' to something else and redirected the casting a bit it could be possible to change the spells effect in regards to my movement. It would be a gamble but it was worth trying. There was already a prefix I had planned to put in place of 'Arresto' in my mind so I'd try that when I get back to my room later tonight.
Looking up at the clock I saw that my break had nearly ended. Walking over to Irma, I gave her the books back.
"Thanks, they were good reads"
"You talking like you read both fully during this breaktime for you…"
A just showed a slight smile before waving her goodbye. Keeping an amicable relationship with Irma was probably a good shout considering she had knowledge of the books in Hogwarts and their locations. It would eliminate time for me asking her for advice instead of looking around the massive library.
Heading out of the Library I headed to my third lesson of the day.
'History of Magic'
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