Last night was...something. I mean the results were surprising but it really didn't matter much, I guess? I mean as long as I could learn I guess the choice of house didn't really matter. Although I'm a bit grateful, I didn't get sorted into Slytherin, no way in hell am I entertaining those racist bigots. But this entire sorting event gave me a valuable lesson: Focus on things at hand.
After my sorting was over, I stumbled over to the row of tables where Gryffindor students were sitting. Katie and Cormac rejoiced at me being in the same house as them. The Weasley twins came and gave me a clap on the back saying:
"Good job, Sol-"
"-We knew you were Gryffindor material."
You guys knew? Do you guys know divination? Mind teaching me?
"Yeah, thanks.", I reply.
"We'll have lots of fun.", they both add with a mischievous smile.
Don't drag me in your pranks.
After that, the other students got sorted and when that ended, Dumbledore welcomed the new students and the new year. Then he made a joke which made me question if he had kids or not and declared the start of the feast. But not before starting to urge all the students to sing the school's anthem. When I heard the lyrics, I swear to all the gods that I wanted to off myself right there:
Hogwarts, Hogwarts,
Hoggy Warty Hogwarts
Teach us something, please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.
Jesus Christ, my head just went to blank when I heard the other students started singing this wretched song. It made me question if the founders were dropped on the head as a baby.
WHAT THE HELL?! Do you people know what those lyrics mean? They're basically calling us retards.
I was already full of disbelief and questions but when I saw Dumbledore tearing up, it really made me want to ask what kind of brainwashing you need to undergo to be a principal.
As soon as the song stopped, I praised every god that I knew. And when the feast started, dishes full of food appeared on the table in front of us, automagically. Damn, there was a lot of food, enough for everyone to have a full course meal and then ask for seconds. Though most of them were really greasy.
Mages are already weaker than warriors. What the hell are you doing, Dumbledore?! Fattening them to be handed on a silver platter to the warriors? Oh, right, there are no warriors in this world.
After the feast ended, the prefects showed us to our dorms. We followed a Gryffindor prefect to our room, as he led us to some flights of...shifting staircases. I can't even begin to fathom the use of a shifting staircase the shifts on its own. Hell, at least let them shift on command.
As if to prove my point, the first years led by the prefect had to stop several times for a staircase to come back to get where they wanted to go.
Why would you do this? This is gonna be such a massive pain in the ass.
We follow the prefect to a painting of a fat lady ironically named the Fat Lady. The prefect came up to the Fat Lady when she spat out a single word, "Password."
The prefect spoke a phrase presumably the password when the Fat Lady... opened herself? How do I explain this? I think she's the door to the Gryffindor dorms, and to enter you need to say the password which I only think only Gryffindors know. Then she will grant you entry by swinging out of the way like a door. I mean it's a good idea and I can guess that the other dorms have a similar method to enter. But do they care if a student from a different house enters the dorms of the other houses? Will they grant you access as long as you have the password? I think not. The portraits I've seen so far lead me to believe that the residents are somewhat sentient. That's also good or else you can bully someone in giving their house's password to gain access and wreak havoc.
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Aside from that, we go through the portrait and we see a big room which I'm guessing is the common room. And let me tell you, Gryffindors really wave their signature color in your face. Practically everything is red. The walls, the carpet, the sofa even the fucking chairs have red cushions. Dear God, I hope other houses are like this too. Oh lord, just imagining the Slytherin and Hufflepuff common rooms are enough to make me laugh. That shade of dark green and yellow everywhere? Shudders.
We hang around in the common room, students are talking to each other. I chatted and joked a bit with Katie and Cormac, the Weasley twins, and Lee. I learn that Professor McGonagall is the headteacher of our house. Soon, the prefects tell us that we need to go to sleep. The boys retire to their sleeping quarters and the girls go off to theirs upstairs. The students' sleeping quarters are divided by gender then years. So, all first-years are in one room. As we change into our pajamas, Cormac suddenly asks, "Woah dude, what the hell happened to you? Look at your body. It's full of scars."
"Training.", I give a brief reply.
"What the hell kind of demonic training have you been doing to look like that?", asked Cormac in shock.
I chuckled, "Endurance training." I mean I wasn't lying.
We get into our beds which have bedside drawers with them. I turn off the lamp and close my eyes.
As I drift off to sleep, I only think that it's going to be a long seven years.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Next Day
I wake up a bit early in the morning, at least earlier than Cormac. I turn around to see him still asleep. In all honesty, I've woken up way earlier when I had to practice Total Body Reinforcement. I decide not to wake him up and change into my robes. After wearing my robes, I enter the common room and see a few boys and girls, all of whom were from different years, I guess the first years had a really tiring night yesterday. I pass the students and head out of the common room. I enter the great hall where breakfast is being served. I have eggs, a piece of bread and a glass of milk. After I was finished, I sat there in deep thought, thinking what I should do next. As I was planning was my work for this year, unknowingly an hour or so had passed. Cormac and Katie had entered the hall and sat with me.
"Whatcha doing?", asked Katie.
"Nothing just had breakfast.", I replied.
"When did you wake up and why didn't you wake me up?", inquired Cormac.
"I woke up a bit early and thought it would be better to let you sleep."
"How early exactly?"
"Been an hour or so maybe.", I say looking at the windows.
"That's way too early, glad you didn't wake me up.", sighed Cormac in relief.
"Oh please, I had to get up even earlier when I was training."
"Training?", asked Katie curiously.
"Endurance training.", I again give a brief reply.
"Hah! I don't think any training is that monstrous.", said Cormac in disbelief.
"What are you guys talking about?", asked Katie, a bit annoyed and a bit curious.
"Katie, you should see Sol's body.", replied Cormac.
"W-What are you saying?", replied Katie a bit embarrassed.
"N-No I mean, his body has scars all over.", said Cormac as he hastily tried to fix his blunder.
"What? Are you serious?", asked Katie in disbelief.
"Yeah, I'm not joking."
Wait, I don't like where this conversation is going.
"Ooh~ ooh~ Sol come on, show me.", requested Katie eagerly.
"No, wait, weren't you just feeling embarrassed when Cormac told me to take a look at my body. You know, you're asking me to show you my body right?", I pointed out hastily.
Katie seemed to realize what she was doing, turned a bit red, and then said, "S-Sorry."
Looking at her like this, my lips curled up, and then with the best consoling expression I could muster, I say, "No, Katie it's not your fault. It's Cormac's fault for saying these things to a girl."
I then turn to Cormac, "Stop corrupting our pure Katie like this."
"What did I do?!", said Cormac defensively, a bit flustered at this turn of events.
I chuckle and then get up from my seat. "Come on, you two. Classes start in ten minutes."
"It's already time?!", asked a surprised Katie.
"Can't be late for our first classes of the year.", Cormac said as he stood up. Then we all left the great hall to get to our classrooms.
First years had seven classes: Charms taken by Professor Flitwick, Potions taken by Professor Snape, Transfiguration taken by Professor McGonagall, History of Magic taken by Professor Binns, Herbology taken by Professor Sprout, Astronomy taken by Professor Sinistra, and Defense Against the Dark Arts taken by someone I don't really care about. There was also a Flying Class taken by Madam Hooch but that was only for the first years.
There were different classes on each day of the week with each day having a total of three classes. Today we had Charms, Potions, and Herbology.
We head off to the Charms class and take a seat in the middle of the room. Professor Flitwick was already in the room. And when the time started, he began to teach us about the very first charm we would learn. The Levitation Charm, Wingardium Leviosa. He began to speak about the charm and what it does. He also threw in a demonstration. Although it looked like I was paying attention, that wasn't the case. I kept thinking:
Damn, I know this charm. Hell, I can cast in my sleep with just my hands. Shit, what do I do? I've already made the choice not to act like a genius. RIght, I should first look at how others are doing and then act as if I'm an ordinary student.
Yep, that was my plan. I'm not going to attract any attention.
I'll be a very ordinary student.