Chapter 20: The First Day
Simon munched on his toast as a flock of owls flew into the Great Hall. It looked impressive enough in the films but it definitely felt even more so when you were sitting at the tables where the owls swooped down onto.
Many of the first years received letters from their owls, likely with letters from home congratulating them on their sorting. George looked much better after his talk with Fred and was positively glowing once he read the letter from his family.
Jake was delighted to receive a reply from his parents with socks and a sweater he left behind wrapped in a package with the letter. He kept muttering to himself about how that was so quick and this was the future. Simon knew instant messaging was going to blow this boy's mind.
Sharon had made some new friends from her dorm and had moved on from Simon and George to bombard Patricia Stimpson and Julia Clearwater (possible relation to Percy's future girlfriend?) at breakfast. However, that did not last long when Raze swooped in to pass Simon his letter.
"Wait, is that an occamy?" Roger exclaimed, as Raze pompously did a little twirl in the air.
Simon would have much rather his familiar acted more discretely but in between how Raze loved attention plus Jane said it was unnecessary to get Simon an owl when his familiar could fly (stingy Asian parent behaviours seem to be a wizarding thing too even when they hail from wealthy clans), it was impossible to really keep Raze a secret. And the faculty had been notified that he was attending with a familiar so it was not like he was getting in trouble or anything. The only reason Roger was unaware of Raze's presence was he was fast asleep by the time Simon finished his letter for his family to let Raze out for a spin.
"Yeah," Simon replied briefly, glaring at Raze to go stretch his wings at the Forbidden Forest and return after classes. Raze rolled his eyes and made sure to make an elegant exit.
Seeing as Simon did not want to comment more about his occamy, everyone returned to their meals and let Simon read his letter. However, Sharon did not seem to read the room.
"How did you get it? What is it called?"
Thankfully, Professor Flitwick came to the rescue with timetables to hand out. Simon was able to ignore Sharon's pestering without looking mean.
"Oh, double potions with Snape first," George groaned, "I heard he only favours Slytherins and is a downright git. Even Percy, the king of gits, dislikes Snape."
"Well, isn't it wonderful that we are having the class with Hufflepuffs and not Slytherins," Simon replied as he skimmed the schedule, "We do have transfiguration with Slytherin later in the day."
"Nice. We can catch up with Mr. Diggory in a bit. I am sure he is doing exceedingly well with the other Badgers," George noted, "And I am sure Phoebe is enjoying her time in the snake den."
Simon was not as sure about the latter point. Phoebe was a Greengrass but not from a favoured branch. And fanfiction he had read in the past never depicted such a background to have it easy in the House of Snakes. Hopefully, things would not be as it seemed. He was sitting next to a Ravenclaw George so there was bound to be some surprises.
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The Ravenclaws shuffled awkwardly outside the potions classroom when the Hufflepuffs arrived. Cedric quickly joined Simon and George's side.
"How's the Ravenclaw tower?"
"Wonderful view. How's the Hufflepuff Basement?"
"Cozy. And also, right next to the kitchen."
George grinned widely at this revelation as Cedric continued, "You all should visit some time. Grab a snack or something…"
The door of the potions classroom suddenly opened. All conversations came to a halt as students filed into the gloomy dungeon. If Simon had to describe the potions classroom at Hogwarts, he would say "Frankenstein's laboratory." The space was dark and cold, with many vials and jars lining the shelves. Simon was certain he saw organs of various magical beasts in the containers. While these ingredients were also used by his father, they looked much less menacing in the Li family cottage's potions room. Lighting really made a difference.
Simon took a seat beside George, his usual potions partner even back at home. Cedric sat on their other side with the Hufflepuff who was sorted after Simon named Michael McManus. Before Simon had the opportunity to get to know Michael better, Snape began his roll call.
After getting every students' name, this Adam Driver lookalike began pacing the classroom with his hands together forming a diamond like German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Simon tried not to laugh at this mental comparison.
"You shall be learning the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. His voice was low and he spoke slowly, articulating every word. With his dark robes and his grim surroundings, it was not hard to understand why this young professor was able to instill fear among many in the student body. He continued with a short speech much like he did for Harry's year about how none of them would truly understand or appreciate the craft.
"Ms Fawcett!"
"Yes!" Sharon looked up excitedly at being called.
"We always have some Ravenclaws like you each year, taking notes the moment I speak," Sharon flushed at Snape's comment as she had been jotting down his speech word for word, "5 points off Ravenclaw for trying to act smart when you clearly are not. You shall all *only* begin note-taking when words appear on the blackboard."
If any students were unfazed by the rumours about Snape and his speech just now, they were now.
"Today, you would be making a cure for boils..."
Soon, all the students had made notes of the instructions on the board and began collecting their ingredients. Having often assisted his father and experimented with George, Simon found this lesson to be quite straightforward. He smiled when pink smoke rose from his cauldron. Unsurprisingly, George had similar results. Given how meticulous Cedric was, his potion also turned out alright. However, Michael was less fortunate as his potion emitted a foul green smoke. Snape made no comment regarding the three boys' success, only sneering at Michael's end-product. Snape flicked his wand to wipe away Michael's potion and promptly deducted 10 points from Hufflepuff.
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Simon and George waved at Phoebe as they approached the Transfiguration classroom with the other Ravenclaws. Phoebe nodded curtly and Simon noticed a judging look from some Slytherin girl with brown curls and a strong jaw. Simon assumed that girl was probably from some pure-blood supremacist family who did not like inter-house mingling. Thus, it was reassuring to see a girl with glasses and platinum blonde hair beside Phoebe who seemed rather friendly.
"Hi, I am Phoebe's roommate Rowena," the girl introduced herself.
"Odd you are not in Ravenclaw," George joked, causing Phoebe to roll her eyes.
"You are not the first to say that," Rowena replied nonchalantly, "Just call me Row! And my godmother and namesake was indeed a Ravenclaw. But I am in Slytherin so I guess I am a Rowle through and through."
Simon grimaced internally at the last name. He hoped this girl was only a distant relation to the death eaters sharing this last name.
Once class began, Simon found himself seated with George next to Phoebe and Row in the middle of the classroom. Unlike with the Hufflepuffs, there was almost no mingling between the two houses and Simon felt like the gap between him and Phoebe essentially formed the "point" at which blue turned to green in the room.
Class overall went as expected. Unlike the books and much like the movies, Professor McGonagall demonstrated her animagus abilities. After a short introductory speech and some explanations, the students were tasked with transforming their matchsticks into needles.
Simon was excited to finally be doing some wand work and was certain he could complete this transfiguration in one-go. However, he did not want to raise too much attention. So, he decided to see how others were doing before he proceeded. Having had magical martial arts training for years, George and Phoebe's matches showed specks of silver already after two to three casts. Simon decided to do just that with his first cast. When Professor McGonagall reached their table, Simon made sure to cast once more to make the matchstick *slightly* more silver in colour.
Once they were nearing the end of class, Simon finally did the incantation and wand movement more seriously to get a silver colour and needle-like shape that Hermione was said to have achieved in the first class. Phoebe managed to do so too by the end of class. They both received house points for their achievements but Phoebe did look a little disappointed that Simon succeeded before her.
Simon was honestly enjoying his first day of classes quite a lot. He had missed the feeling of going to school in his past life, especially since much of his final years were spent learning remotely in bed. However, he wished the day would end faster so he could get down to business.
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After noticing all his roommates were fast asleep, Simon transfigured his pillow to resemble the shape of a sleeping body and covered it with his blankets. He proceeded to pull his suitcase onto his bed and stepped in.
A Chinese painting hung on the wall beside the study room desk.
"You made me wait *two* days young man! With nothing but that occamy keeping me company and only for a few hours! Shame on you!"
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Dear Simon,
It is great that you got into Ravenclaw! Your mother and I were making bets between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. She currently owes me 10 galleons and a kiss.
Enough about us – your dormmates all sound lovely. It is wonderful you have a good friend like George living with you. Also, try not to make fun of Roger that much. I once knew a boy at the Academy whose last name sounds like "Not" in Cantonese and his family only gives the children superlatives for names. So, he was Mr Not Great and his sister was Ms Not a Beauty. He came from a part of China that spoke another dialect but that did not stop the Cantonese speaking students from taking the mickey out of him. Anyways, Roger does not have it that bad.
Keep us updated about your studies and adventures! Sue does not say it but she definitely misses you!
Love,
Dad
P.S. Did you take the portrait of Lord Lian to Hogwarts with you?