Chapter 3

Arriving in the clearing, I found myself on a small stone balcony, overlooking part of the Castle. Below, I could see a courtyard of some sorts, with many students clamoring about. A light refreshing breeze once again blew over my face, and I sighed in relaxation. In the distance, I could see a few long poles, with a circular opening in the middle. Besides that, many multicolored stands stood there. It was the Quidditch Pitch.

This place was nice. Maybe I'd come here in the future to do my homework and such. After all, it was a very peaceful, yet lively place. Above everything else, no one could see you, so it provides some privacy, but the courtyard below provides one with some lively white noise.

I sat down on a small stone block by the side of the balcony, inspecting its carved stone railings. Intricately carved, you could see the detail that the craftsperson put into it. I could see a few roses, some vines, and even a deer. Fascinating.

Walking around, I noticed that this place wasn't actually as old and undiscovered as I thought, with a few stone markings on the side. A few hearts, some doodles, and such. Students really loved to vandalize school property sometimes.

Then, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a wand. This was my wand to be exact. An ordinary one, it was polished, with a comfortable handle. Made completely of beech wood, if I could recall, Mr. Ollivander said that it was nine and a half inches, flexible, containing a dragon's heartstring. Nothing fancy, but it wasn't like I was complaining.

Polishing it with a small cloth, I brandished the wand and spoke quietly.

"Lumos."

As expected, nothing happened. Raising my wand again, I muttered once more, this time, clearer.

"Lumos."

And again, nothing. Wasn't expecting anything, to begin with though.

I waved my wand once more. Maybe I shouldn't be using this spell? In the Standard Book Of Spells, it did mention that if one was to do it wrong, the wand could possibly be caught alight. Then could it possibly be used as a lighter…. Hmm…. Well, I wasn't risking my wand.

Maybe the old Wingardium Leviosa.

Not at the moment though.

Pocketing the wand, I sat there, deep in thought. I still had about thirty minutes, and no one would really care that I was gone. This place was indeed very relaxing. Next time I came here, I could bring a pillow perhaps.

In the winter, I could bring along some hot chocolate. That would be nice, just sitting here as the white powdery snow fell from the heavens….

"Umm… Hello?" Then from behind, someone spoke, shaking me out of my stupor.

Turning, I stood from the stone block. In front of me was a young girl. Well, technically we were about the same age, but I was in total around thirty-five. Mentally five years old though. I am extremely immature. While I retained the memories of my previous life, I had in a way, cast away part of myself. Each and every moment, I was becoming more and more, of the Reed Grim of this world in a sense. I was losing acceptance of my previous life. Well that didn't mean I was forgetting it, still remembered most stuff, but it was hard to say.

She was a neck taller than me, of Asian origin. The girl possessed inky black hair coming down straight, a slightly freckled nose, and a pair of Ravenclaw robes. She had deep brown eyes, warm and friendly.

I blinked for a second before replying:

"Hi."

Well, this was going to be awkward.

"Hello." She smiled back politely, before speaking once more:

"Nice to meet you, I'm Cho Chang, a Second Year Ravenclaw."

"Reed Grim, first-year Hufflepuff. Delighted to meet you." I said in my bland monotone drawl, before continuing on:

"Oh. What I said before, I truly mean it. My voice just sounds emotionless. Don't mean to be rude…."

Cho smiled once more in understanding, only slightly phased by what I had just said.

"I usually come up here when I just want to relax. It's a lovely little corner, isn't it?" She grinned, chuckling a bit.

"Yup. I always enjoy a nice scenery. Very peaceful and quiet." I got up from my seat on the stone block, my voice seemingly showing absolutely no enthusiasm. "Once again…. This is sadly just my voice. Can't really do anything about it."

We faced each other, talking for a while more. Making small talk. The weather is lovely. Wasn't today's food good? How was your summer? So it was a rather uneventful conversation.

"I hope you have a good time at Hogwarts! See you around…" She said, and I waved back, exiting through the corridor.

"Bye~" I coughed.

Ten Minutes Later…..

"Here you go Mr. Grim. I hope we have a lovely school year!" I instantly liked Professor Sprout. She was a very kind and down-to-earth person who actually seemed fitting for the Hufflepuff house. Despite the large chance of injury, I was very much looking forward to her classes.

Taking a look at my schedule, I sighed. School schedules. They had always been a pain. Especially the dread of new classrooms. I really couldn't get used to it. Finding classrooms during a new semester, trimester, or whatever had always been a tough thing for me. It just felt really awkward to me if I was to step into the wrong one.

I skimmed through the schedule, shrugging my shoulders. All first years had the same schedule. Most of the classes seemed interesting, but I knew that I wouldn't enjoy two of them. History Of Magic and Potions. Why? Apparently, professor Binns, a ghost, was a very uninspiring and lazy ghost of a teacher, and Snape seemed like a jerk in the series.

What fun I was going to have.

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The main focal point of this story is slice of life.