Chương 17: ITW,H - Chapter 17 - (2) First Day at Hogwarts

(Word Count: 2, 715) When it was getting close to 9: 00, they packed things up and started making their way to the Transfiguration classroom. Even leaving the library close to 9: 00, Harry and Hermione ended up being one of the first two students to arrive. This class appeared to be more in line with a normal highschool or elementary school classroom. Tables for two were lined up in a grid, with the teacher's blackboard and desk up at front. On the blackboard were drawn diagrams with Greek symbols.

Harry recognized them as the written arithmancy for some of the basic inanimate to inanimate transfiguration spells. On the teachers desk was a housecat. Professor McGonagall. Harry gave a small nod in recognition, and she looked surprised. As time got closer and closer to the start of class, more students began filtering in. They had Transfiguration together with the Hufflepuffs today, and as they were coming in, the class ended up being divided. Gryffindor on the left, Hufflepuff on the right.

Though one thing that got Harry to worry was that Ron still hadn't shown up. Just as the bell rang—and yes, there were bells in Hogwarts—Ron and Seamus came running into the classroom, with a huge sigh of relief.

"Phew! Made it!" Ron said, turning to Seamus.

"Can you imagine the look on McGonagall's face if we were late? Cat McGonagall leapt off the desk down the aisle, transforming smoothly back into her human form. Ron gawked at her.

"That was bloody brilliant, Professor!"

"Thank you for that assessment, Mister Weasley. Perhaps it would be more useful if I were to turn one of you into a pocket watch? That way one of you might be on time!" Ron and Seamus shared a contrite look.

"Sorry, Professor," They murmured.

"Take your seats." They came to sit at the table behind Harry and Hermione.

"Hey, Ron, Seamus," Harry whispered, "What happened?"

"We got lost. Where were you?" Ron whispered back.

"I was with Hermione down at the library. It's massive, mate." Instead of taking roll, Professor McGonagall had us go around the room and introduce ourselves to the class. Everyone took turns introducing themselves, until it got to Harry. Without thinking too much, it was just an introduction after all, Harry stood up and said, "Hello, everyone, I'm Harry Tosser… Harry Tosser. Tosser!" The entire class was laughing and snickering at him. Hermione looked horrified, remembering the prank from Sirius.

Professor McGonagall gave him a stern disapproving look. He sighed, before chuckling to himself.

"Hermione, could you say my name, please?"

"Harry Tosser!" As soon as she said it, Hermione gasped in horror, slapping her hands over her mouth. That sent the entire class on another fit of laughter.

"It's alright, Hermione, I think I know what that prank did now," He said to her, before turning back to the class.

"Yup, that's me, Harry Tosser," this time he actually meant to say Tosser instead of Potter, "It's nice to meet you!" And he sat back down.

"What is the meaning of this, Mr. Potter?" Professor McGonagall said angrily.

"If this is your idea of a joke, then it is in very poor taste! 5 points from Gryffindor."

"I'm sorry, Professor McGonagall, I was hit with a prank this morning. I'm only now realizing what the prank actually did. I can't seem to actually say my name." When introductions have all finished, McGonagall started the actual lesson.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned." She then turned her desk into a large pig and back again.

"Transfiguration differs from charms, jinxes, and hexes, in that we are not applying any sort of effect to a target. Instead, we are changing the target's outward form. There are two types of targets we can affect when using Transfiguration: Inanimate, or animate. Inanimate refers to anything non-living, without a will of its own, like metal or stone. Animate refers to something living, with a will of its own, like a frog or pig.

"There are several types of Transfiguration: Inanimate to Inanimate, where we change one type of material to another. Inanimate to Animate, where we change some sort of material to a living creature, like I've shown with my desk. Animate to Inanimate, where we change a living creature into something non-living. Animate to Animate, where we change one type of creature into another. Lastly, we have Conjuration and Vanishing: Nothing to Inanimate, Nothing to Animate, and vice versa.

"Any questions so far?" Justin Finch-Fletchley raised his hand.

"Yes, Mister Finch-Fletchley?"

"With the Animate to Inanimate, are we… killing things?" The boy asked nervously.

"Rest assured, Transfiguration is usually temporary. Any Transfiguration is easily reversible as long as there's no serious mishap." The class went on to cover the very first Transfiguration spell, turning matches into needles. With the spell incantation being "Acutifors." Towards the middle of the class, McGonagall passed out matches to everyone and had us practice. Transfiguration was one of the subjects Harry was most studied in since he needed it for his preparation to become an animagus.

As such, he succeeded on his first try. By the end of the class, the only other student that managed the spell was Hermione.

"Well done, Mister Potter, Miss Granger. 5 points to each of you," McGonagall praised. When Transfiguration ended, it was time for Charms class. They had Charms with Slytherins today. They made their way mostly as a group all the way to the new classroom. There was 15 minutes until charms, but because they were all new students, it seems like no one wanted to use the time to wander. The Charms classroom was a long hall, with student desks lining the long sides of the room, leaving a long open area in the center.

The end of the room had the teacher's podium and stacks and stacks of books and loose papers. Despite the students being so young, the classroom gave a college level lecture room vibe. Everyone filed into the classroom, choosing either side without much regard for house, surprisingly. Seeing this as an opportunity to make new friends, Harry made sure to snag a seat next to Greengrass. Hermione, not wanting to sit away from her only friend so far, followed after and sat on his other side.

"Good morning, Miss Greengrass," Harry greeted. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. She gave him a slightly surprised look, but she quickly schooled it into a neutral face.

"Good morning, Potter."

"Let's do our best in class, yeah?" She nodded, but otherwise ignored him and just pulled out the Charms textbook. Professor Flitwick came in, and expertly climbed up onto a stack of books so that he was level with the podium.

"Good morning, class! I am Professor Flitwick! Let's call the roll, shall we?" He went down the list, and when he got to Harry's name, he squeaked and toppled over behind his podium. The class laughed as Flitwick picked himself off the ground and dusted himself off.

"Right… Harry Potter?"

"Present!" Flitwick squeaked again, but cleared his throat to cover his embarrassment and moved on. When he was done, he began: "Since you've all been introduced to each other during your morning study hall, we won't be wasting any time today and we'll be jumping right into our first lecture on magic!" There were a couple of groans around the classroom, and Harry even heard Ron, who was sitting across the room, mutter "on the first day?" just a little too loudly.

"Yes, yes, I know. But things move quickly in charms class! There's too much to cover and too little time! I expect all of you to review the syllabus for this class on your own time. Now, I hope that by the end of this class, all of you will have succeeded in casting your first spell!" There was a whisper of excitement around the classroom.

"Now, I pose this question to the class: what is magic? Can anyone tell me?" Hermione's hand shot up.

"Yes, Miss Granger," Flitwick called.

"Magic is a force of will that seems to be omnipresent throughout the world. Wixen and other magical beings and creatures can channel magic to power spells," Hermione answered.

"Oh? You make it sound as if magic is alive. Why is that?" Flitwick asked.

"Well, sir, the closest example would be our wands. The way Mr. Ollivanders talked about them made it seem like our wands are alive, and they choose us. I've also noticed that if you try to place too many enchantments on a single item, it gains a sort of intelligence and acts on its own," Hermione explained.

"Very good, Miss Granger! Well done, 5 points to Gryffindor! There is a misconception about magic. That we "have" magic, or in better words, that magic is ours to do with as we please. Magic is something that must not be taken lightly or carelessly. Let this be a warning to all of you. If you mess around with magic thoughtlessly, magic will mess around with you." In Harry's own experience, that was true. Magic was its own deity who granted the world a portion of her power. It demands due respect.

However, it seemed to him that there was a portion that was granted individually to each person. For example, family magic. Harry's own magic was colored by the history of those that came before him, making his magic already responsive to charm work and curses. It's one of the examples pure-blood supremacists like to point to to say they're right.

However, unless they're talking about magical gifts like metamorphmagus, parseltongue, or a Seer's eyes, then any muggleborn can train their own magic to the same or higher level of responsiveness as any pure-blood. Flitwick continued.

"Going along those lines, there are three rules you must understand when it comes to spellcasting! Rule number one! Never cast a spell whose effects you do not know!

"Rule number 2! Never cast a spell when you do not know the counter spell!

"Rule number 3! Never cast a spell until you've fully read its contents! Make sure you've read any and all warnings that come with it."

"That being said, let's go over the different parts of a spell, the incantation and the wand movements, and why they're important in focusing our magic." The rest of the class was spent in lecture about how the incantations were usually in some form of bastardized latin, then the how wand movements help in the control of magic, and finally in the last portion of the class he covered the Lumos charm. By the end of the class, everyone managed to at least get some glow from their wand.

Not too surprising, as it was literally the most basic spell. As the class ended, and students were packing up to leave, he stopped Greengrass.

"I'm going to be forming a study group, would you be interested in joining?" Hermione perked up, "that's a great idea!"

"I doubt I'll need any help with Charms class," Greengrass said plainly.

"I don't plan to only cover Charms. I intend for this to be a group where we can ask for help in any subject, or even just personal studying. I've been studying ahead of the curriculum and I'm currently studying fourth year material for Charms and Transfiguration, but I've been ignoring the other subjects mostly." Greengrass looked impressed.

"Fourth year? Then… alright. I'll be happy to join, so long as I can bring two of my friends along with me. Tracey Davis and Blaize Zabini."

"I don't have any problem with you bringing your friends along. But this is a study group, so if they don't take things seriously, then they're out. At least, for that day," Harry said. It's best to set the rules early. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"The same applies to your friend, Weasley, I hope? He doesn't seem to be interested in studying." Harry nodded.

"Same rules apply. If he can't be serious during the study group, then he'll be out."

"Good," she said, and she turned and left. After Charms, it was time for lunch, then History of Magic together with the Ravenclaws. One would think History of Magic at Hogwarts, taught by a ghost, would be incredible. Instead, it was the most monotonous class ever. It would explain why there's so few history enthusiasts in Britain. Professor Binns's lectures killed any enthusiasm for the subject. There was no roll call, no introduction to the class.

Instead, Binns began with, "To get your minds excited about history, let us start this year talking about an exciting event, the Gargoyle Strike that nearly broke the Statute of Secrecy in 1911. Gargoyles all over the cathedrals of Northern Europe…" and he droned on and on. While the subject matter should have been interesting, Binns's voice made it hard to stay awake, especially just after eating lunch.

Only 5 minutes in, and the only ones awake were those that were just reading their own things, which was most of the Ravenclaws. Most of the Gryffindors were sleeping. Harry just chose to read from the textbook, since he still needed to know the subject. At least this way, he would manage to stay awake. Blissfully, the class eventually ended and it was time for the last class of the day: Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. They made their way outside where there were 6 greenhouses in two rows of three.

According to Hogwarts: A History, there used to be one huge greenhouse that was attached to the central hall building as its own wing, but it was since replaced with these separated greenhouses because of a terrible incident where the entire wing was shattered. They were guided to greenhouse 1, for the first years. Inside, the greenhouse was surprisingly empty of plant life. Though, not that he thought about it, the plants will be growing throughout the year, wouldn't they?

In the center of the greenhouse, was one long table that stretched the entire length, with a bunch of stools to sit on around it. Wrapped around the edges were a bunch of counters, with empty clay pots and bags of fertilizer underneath. Harry made sure to stick close to Neville for this class. Ron was on his left, Neville on his right, and Hermione across from him next to Susan Bones.

"You'll have to help me with this class, Neville, I've heard you're great at this," Harry said. Neville smiled shyly.

"Really? It must be an exaggeration. I mean, I'm alright, but -""Rubbish! Tell you what, I'm forming a study group. You want to join? You help me with Herbology, and I'll help you with charms and transfiguration. I'm great at those."

"S-sounds good, yeah," Neville smiled. Professor Sprout came in.

"Good afternoon, class! I am Professor Sprout, welcome to Herbology! You may think this will be an easy class, but you are wrong! This will be very hands-on! You'll be getting your hands dirty, and, if you're not careful, you could be losing a finger! I require all of you to pay utmost attention in class!

"Herbology is a field of study that is broader and more varied than any other you will be studying here at Hogwarts. There are an uncountable number of magical plants out there, and at least half of them can maim you if you're not careful! That is why, for the first few weeks, we will first be studying how to identify classes of plants. Then, for the majority of your first year here, you will first be learning proper techniques of plant care using more mundane flowers.

"That's not to say there's no magic in these flowers, no sir! These flowers will still be useful in your potions class. Now let's jump right into the different classes of plants!" There was a lot of terminology thrown around, with Harry hastily writing down all them and their definitions. He could already tell that he wasn't going to like this class one bit. Thank Merlin for Neville. Finally, after dinner, Harry went up to the Headmaster's office to see what he wanted.