Chapter 30: Familiar Faces, New Beginnings
He found his trunk next to a bed that he assumed was his, and Hedwig was waiting for him on top of it. He opened his trunk to grab a change of clothes and went to bed.
"Goodnight, Hedwig," Harry said to his faithful owl, who hooted back at him. In the end, Harry grabbed his book and kept reading until he fell asleep, excited for his magical education to truly begin.
Harry woke up, after what felt like the best night's sleep he ever had in his life. The bed was very comfortable. Well, anything would be more comfortable than the cheap thin mattress the Dursleys had given him, but this bed was even better than the one he had in the Leaky Cauldron.
He looked at the clock and it was half past six, meaning that he had half an hour to ready himself before the prefects came to get them and lead them to the great hall to eat their breakfast, and get their schedule.
The young wizard was always an early riser. He had to be. Petunia had the tendency to leave without him to school and force him to walk to school. Needless to say, his body was practically conditioned to wake up early.
Harry chose to use this extra time to clean himself, put his clothes in the small closet awarded to him, and take a small shower. As he readied himself, he thought back to what happened the previous day. He was now officially a Hogwarts student; he will start his classes later in the day. He was also sorted in Slytherin, to the obvious shock and disappointment of McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore.
Considering that he was technically a candidate for the prophecy – according to the stories, at least. Neville Longbottom, the only other candidate was attacked by Voldemort, and the Potters were attacked by the Lestranges later. That meant that it was very likely that Harry could be the second candidate for the Prophecy, Dumbledore's backup plan if Longbottom fails, and wasn't that a disturbing notion?
In a way, Harry's sorting in Slytherin was a boon. Because like it or not, it was very unlikely that he would develop with Longbottom since Harry was in the house of Death Eater. In a way, he should be far away from Dumbledore's and Voldemort's machinations, at least he shouldn't be more than an afterthought, a lost opportunity, for the headmaster.
With his preparations done, Harry grabbed the expanded backpacks he bought in Diagon Alley, put enough parchment for a day, a few self-inking quills, and his schoolbooks. He didn't know what classes he had that day, and it didn't hurt to be prepared.
Still, he had enough time and chose to simply get down to the common room, sit on one of the absurdly comfortable chairs and continue reading his book.
He was so lost in his reading that he sprang up when the familiar voice of Gemma Farley spoke up, "You're up early!"
"It's a habit," he simply replied.
The older girl looked at the book in his hands and smirked, "Devouring your schoolbooks already?"
Harry simply shrugged, "It's a fiction book, about the adventures of a curse breaker, not a schoolbook. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't read it just for the fun of it. I'll wait until I know the basics before reading ahead at my leisure."
Harry must have surprised the girl because she froze for a few seconds or so before taking a closer look at the cover of the book Harry was holding, "I think one of my friends told me about it. Is it an interesting read?"
Harry simply shrugged, "It depends. The plot is average, to be honest, the love interest is obviously forced, but I guess it can be called interesting. I would have stopped reading it if it was horrible."
Their conversation was interrupted by the rest of the first years going down the stairs. Blaise walked towards him with a small frown on his face.
"Where were you?" the dark-skinned boy demanded.
"Here, I woke up early," Harry said while shrugging.
Gemma then clapped her hand and started speaking, "Well, welcome to your first day as Hogwarts students, and your main challenge in the first few weeks will be to navigate the castle. Now, actually mapping down the castle is impossible. There are too many spacial manipulating charms, secret rooms, and random changes at any time. By the time you map down the castle, it would end up being different.
"What can be done, however, is to map down certain locations in Hogwarts that are known for not changing. Professor Snape has graciously given you the start of a map that only includes the location of your common room, the great hall, the hospital wing, and the location of each of your classes. The roads outlined between these locations are also unchangeable, but they are not the faster routes to your destination. You will need to discover these on your own. Hogwarts is full of secret passages, hidden rooms, and trick staircases. Remember, if you ever get lost, asking for portrait should be your first reflex. You are expected to get lost, so, take that into account to not be late for any of your classes. Is anyone confused with what I just said?"
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