As they made their way back to the common room, Atlas recounted the terrifying encounter with the three-headed Cerberus dog and the trapdoor that lay before it. Ron couldn't believe Dumbledore would allow such a dangerous beast to reside in the castle, calling the old wizard "nuts."

Upon their arrival, Hermione was waiting for them, arms crossed and brow furrowed. Atlas sent Ron and Harry off to bed, signaling to them that he would handle the situation.

He explained how Malfoy didn't show up and they accidentally stumbled upon the forbidden corridor, encountering the Cerberus dog. Hermione's anger and concern rose to a boiling point. She scolded Atlas for his reckless behavior and threatened to follow them on their next escapade to keep them out of trouble. Atlas could only hang his head in embarrassment, as apart from the fight, everything went exactly as planned. The fight showed him that it was definitely the right decision to change places with Hermione, as there would have been deaths otherwise.

After Hermione's lecture, she wrapped Atlas in a warm embrace, relieved that he was "unharmed." However, Atlas winced in pain, crying out like a wounded animal, as his body was still a mess, even if his ribs weren’t broken anymore. This only alarmed Hermione further, and she insisted on taking him to Madam Pomfrey immediately. Atlas argued that it would be detrimental to Gryffindor if they were caught outside their beds and promised to seek treatment before breakfast the next morning. Hermione begrudgingly agreed, but insisted on treating his wounds for the night with the first aid kit she got from her parents.

Atlas found himself in an awkward situation as Hermione treated his wounds. He had to take off his shirt so she could disinfect the scratches and apply some cream to the huge bruise that covered his whole upper body. The extent of his wounds earned him another short but worried lecture. Her concern for him was heartwarming, but he winced in pain every time she touched him. He didn't want to upset her further, so he refrained from complaining too much. Hermione also refrained from berating him further when he winced in pain every time she touched him.

Atlas couldn't help but notice Hermione blushing when he thanked her. The only thing that disturbed him somewhat was that she also blushed when she first started to apply the medicine. He almost hoped that he only imagined it, as he was much older than her and wouldn't know how to explain it to her if she really felt something more than friendship for him. He knew that eleven and twelve were the ages when most teens got their first crush, but he really hoped that she was just embarrassed for applying the medicine to a boy's body. He tried to read her mind, but all he got was a sense of worry, which relieved him a bit.

The situation became almost as uncomfortable as his wound itself, and he started to wonder if he would be single forever. His unique situation would always create a barrier between him and any potential lover, and the age gap would only widen. In his previous life, he had loved Lily, but she was gone now, and he had come to terms with that. It helped that the situation on his old planet made them talk a lot about death and an afterlife. Although he still dreamed of her from time to time, he knew it was just a memory and that he wouldn’t get her back.

Hermione finished the treatment and instructed him to rest. She promised, in a tone that indicated that she didn’t ask for permission, to personally escort him to the infirmary, so he couldn't sneak away like he did after hexing Ron. Atlas was grateful for her concern and promised to behave.

As Atlas lay in bed, trying to get some sleep, Ron's snoring was driving him insane, again. He cast the silencio charm on him, but it didn't last long, and he had to recast it every five minutes. After two hours of this, he was a master at casting the nonverbal version of the spell. The next morning, Hermione was waiting for them, but Ron was being his usual obnoxious self.

The next morning, Hermione waited impatiently for Atlas, Harry, and Ron in the common room to go to the infirmary.

Before he could even say anything, Ron piped up with an irritated tone, "What are you doing here, Hermione?"

Hermione bristled at his tone and shot back, "I'm here to make sure you lot don't do anything else stupid and end up with even more injuries!"

Ron rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, "Always the bloody know-it-all."

Atlas couldn't help but feel annoyed at Ron's attitude and snapped, "Well, maybe if you didn't act like a reckless idiot and accepted a duel at midnight, we wouldn't need someone to babysit us!"

The tension was thick as they made their way to the infirmary in silence, until Harry finally spoke up, his voice laced with nervousness. "How are we going to explain these injuries? We look like we've been hit by a car!"

Atlas glared at Harry but ultimately calmed down, "What could possible explain how we got injured to such a state without breaking any school rules?"

Hermione looked worried as she chimed in, "We can't just make up some story. We have to be honest with Madam Pomfrey."

Ron scoffed, "As if. We just need to be creative. It’s not like she's going to believe we were attacked by a tree or something."

Atlas crossed his arms, "Actually, that's not a bad idea. There is the whomping willow on the Hogwarts grounds. We could say we were exploring the Castle when the tree suddenly attacked us."

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

Ron, Hermione and Harry looked a bit shocked that there is a tree that would actively try to kill someone on the Hogwarts grounds.

Ron shook his head, "See, this is exactly why Dumbledore is crazy for keeping dangerous things like that around students!"

Harry nodded in agreement, "Yeah, he's definitely lost it."

As they walked into the infirmary with their made-up story, Atlas couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. Madam Pomfrey's expression spoke volumes, but she didn't even ask any questions. Atlas found himself wondering if she already knew the truth, but decided not to dwell on it. The important thing was that they were all patched up and ready for breakfast.

As they made their way to the Great Hall, the tension between them was palpable. No one seemed eager to bring up their earlier argument, and Atlas couldn't blame them. The thought of another shouting match over breakfast was enough to make anyone lose their appetite.

As they sat down at the Gryffindor table, Atlas couldn't help but feel a little relieved. They might not have apologized, but at least they were all here, safe and sound. And if that meant avoiding each other's gazes for a little while, then so be it. Atlas just made up his mind that he would distance himself from Ron as much as possible without pushing Harry away.

The day was looking to be another routine one for Atlas, with no surprises in sight. After breakfast, Ron and Harry had plans to meet up with their other friends, while Atlas had to take care of some personal business. Excusing himself, he explained that he needed to write a letter home and meet up with the Weasley twins later that afternoon.

Hermione, always the studious one, asked Atlas if he wanted to join her for some research into spells later that day. Atlas considered it for a moment, knowing that the Room of Requirement would provide better training. But he couldn't come up with any valid reason not to join her, and he agreed to meet her after he sent his letter.

Atlas slumped back in his chair, frustrated with his attempts at writing a letter home. He had never written a letter before, and he was starting to regret not paying more attention in primary school. He read over his first few attempts, cringing at how childish and unhelpful they were.

The first draft was a complete disaster. "Dear Mom, Why, Just WHY!?!?!?" he had scrawled across the top of the page in big, angry letters. He knew he couldn't send that. His parents would think he was losing his mind.

The second draft was marginally better. "Dear Dad, I love you, Hogwarts is great. Best regards, Atlas." He shook his head at the simplicity of it. He knew his parents would want to hear more than that.

Finally, on his third attempt, he managed to put together a passable letter. He wrote about his new friends, how well he was doing in school, and which teachers he liked or disliked. He even mentioned Professor McGonagall's offer of extra lessons, knowing his parents would be thrilled to hear about his academic progress.

But there was one thing he couldn't help mentioning—his mother's letter to Snape. He wrote about it on the backside of the page, and the “Why” only covered a quarter of the space, and he also offered a brief explanation of his feelings towards it. He couldn't help feeling a little petty, but he just had to vent his anger. He also couldn’t help but lie about having spent all his money in order to get ingredients to practice enough to complete Snape's assignments.

Atlas was eager to meet with Hermione for their study session. As they settled in, they were pleasantly surprised to find Ethan's group also present. With their combined efforts, they made incredible progress. Atlas was especially thrilled when Ethan showed him how to use the Silencio charm in a targeted area for an extended time. It was as if Ethan was a messiah, promising Atlas salvation through his magical expertise. But as much as Atlas enjoyed their study session, he knew he had to leave to meet with the Weasley twins, who had just returned from their secret trip to Hogsmeade.

Luckily, the exchange of goods went smoothly, and the twins didn't pry into Atlas's business. However, they did ask for his help with something on Halloween, which made Atlas a little uneasy. But he knew he couldn't say no, as he owed them a favor. He also reassured himself that Hermione would be fine since her argument with Ron had been resolved. Plus, if a troll did happen to show up, the twins wouldn't be joking around.

As Atlas made his way to the room of requirement, he couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement bubbling up inside him. He had been waiting for this moment for days, and he was finally ready to begin his little garden project. With the help of some special seeds he had ordered, Atlas carefully tended to his new plants, knowing that with time and patience, he would soon have a bountiful harvest.

After his gardening duties were taken care of, Atlas turned his attention to potion-making. He brewed several Wiggenweld potions, carefully measuring out each ingredient and following the improved instructions he learned in Snape's extra assignments.

The Sunday was relatively relaxed as he made up an excuse to go to the room to requirement to train. Atlas was determined to improve his spell-casting skills as well. With the help of Leona, he had been studying different variations of the protego charm, and he was eager to put his newfound knowledge to the test. He spent hours practicing, perfecting his technique until he was able to cast the nonverbal protego charm with ease.

However, what he really wanted to master were the different variations. These variations were amazing! There were some that were incredibly stable against spells that had a physical shape and form. And there were others that could cover the whole body, protecting against smoke or even a sea of fire! The room created something like a baseball-throwing machine that threw different spells at him so that he could practice the variations. Each variation had its own advantages and disadvantages, but what was most interesting was that the incantation and wand movement were the same for every variation. It was all about his intent.

Atlas knew he had a lot of work ahead of him if he wanted to master all these variations, but he hoped it would be worth it.

Atlas first week finally came to an end when he went exhausted to bed.

As the morning sun rose over Hogwarts, Atlas groggily made his way to his first class of the day: Potions. As he trudged along the castle's winding corridors, he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. Potions was always a challenge, and he knew he would need to be on his A-game if he wanted to keep up with Snape's demanding questions.

But despite the daunting task ahead, Atlas found himself feeling more and more excited as the morning wore on. Why? Because after Potions came Quirrell's Defense Against the Dark Arts class, and that was something that all the first years were eagerly anticipating.

For Atlas, the class would be another way to analyze Quirrel, but he had to admit that the reason for his excitement was the same as that of the other students, who were curious about what Quirrel had prepared for them.