Chapter 27: The First Class

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Though Kyle never had to worry much about sending letters, having his own owl at Hogwarts was still a good idea. In many ways, owls in the wizarding world were like Muggle phone numbers—they often represented their owner's identity.

This was particularly important.

For example, Kyle's mother, Diana, worked in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic, a department with strict regulations. Except in special circumstances, any letters sent there underwent a rigorous screening process.

Everything was checked—from the owl's identity, origin, and condition, to the sender's name, status, and whether the letter carried any dangerous substances or curses.

Only after ensuring everything was safe would the letters be delivered to the Department of Mysteries in the form of paper airplanes.

That was the rule. Even letters from Kyle couldn't bypass it, though his might move through the process a bit faster.

Given the Ministry's efficiency, this process could take at least a day.

But with Radon, things were different.

Diana could register Radon as a special owl, allowing Kyle's letters to receive priority. The screening process would be greatly simplified too, needing only a quick check of the owl's condition, the sender's name, and a curse scan—everything could be done on the spot.

At Platform 9¾, Diana had reminded him to always use the same owl for sending letters. If that wasn't possible, she suggested buying one from Diagon Alley.

Of course, Kyle would never waste money on something like that, especially now that he had Radon.

Problem solved.

Kyle reached into his enchanted lizard-skin pouch and pulled out some owl nuts and a few bags of Mortula jerky, along with a handful of chestnuts, offering them to the owls gathered around him.

He then fetched some water, mixing in two bottles of owl tonic, and poured it into a stone trough nearby.

It was a small reward for their trouble. After all, they couldn't leave without compensation after all those feathers flying around.

While the owls ate, Kyle and Radon returned to the castle and made their way toward the Hufflepuff common room.

Passing through the corridor near the kitchen barrels, Kyle arrived at the dormitory.

Mikael and Ryan were already gone, likely having headed to class.

Not thinking much of it, Kyle settled Radon on the shelf next to his bed, grabbed his textbooks, and left.

In the common room, he ran into Cedric, who was also about to head out.

"Kyle, I was just coming to find you," Cedric said, walking over quickly. "What's your first class?"

"Charms," Kyle replied, holding up The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1. "What's up?"

"Here, take this," Cedric said, handing him a piece of parchment.

"This is a map of Hogwarts that a prefect gave me when I first started. It shows the locations of the classrooms and gives hints about the staircases' movements.

"I don't need it anymore, so I figured it'd be perfect for you."

Hogwarts was amazing, but it was huge. Inside, it was like a maze, and almost every new student got lost at least once. Being late was practically a rite of passage.

Luckily, most professors understood. Aside from one particular head of house, the others would either turn a blind eye or give a mild reprimand, sometimes docking a point or two, but never making too much of a fuss.

Kyle examined the parchment closely.

It seemed like an ordinary map, but the content was detailed. It not only showed every route from the Hufflepuff common room to each classroom, but also noted the specific positions where one should wait for the staircases to move before proceeding.

It was like a simplified version of the Marauder's Map, but it was more than enough for Kyle.

"Thanks, I really needed this," Kyle said, putting the map away. "By the way, what's your first class?"

"Potions... wait, Potions!" Cedric suddenly exclaimed, then bolted off. "I gotta run, Kyle! Remember, the one class you can never be late for at Hogwarts is Potions. Trust me!"

His voice faded as he disappeared down the hallway. From Cedric's reaction, it was clear that Snape had likely left a deep impression on him—or rather, on most young wizards.

Kyle had a feeling he'd face the same.

"Too bad Harry Potter didn't start a year earlier," Kyle muttered, shaking his head before heading out of the common room himself.

...

The Charms classroom was on the third floor, and with the map, Kyle found it easily.

As he pushed open the door, the first thing he noticed was a stack of books arranged like steps. Four unfamiliar portraits hung on the walls in front of him—likely famous wizards, though Kyle didn't recognize any of them.

On either side of the room hung banners displaying the crests of the four houses, and several long desks stretched across the space.

Kyle arrived with five minutes to spare.

To his surprise, the classroom was still relatively empty, and even Professor Flitwick was nowhere to be seen.

He chose a seat and sat down. Across from him were a few Ravenclaw students, with the two houses seated clearly apart from one another.

As the clock neared nine, more and more students burst into the room, breathless.

Kyle spotted Conner, but the little witch walked right past him, completely ignoring him, looking furious.

At 8:59, Mikael and Ryan slid into the room, just barely making it on time.

"Thank goodness, we're not late," Mikael said between gasps, collapsing into his seat. "Kyle, you won't believe it—we got lost."

"Oh, come on, Hogwarts is a maze! We were heading to the third floor, but when we were on the second, the staircase shifted, and suddenly, we were on the fifth floor!"

"Then we tried going down, but after what felt like forever, we realized we were still on the fifth floor!"

"When we finally made it down, we somehow ended up back on the second floor... Kyle, we were climbing stairs for thirty minutes! My legs are about to fall off!"

Mikael was practically whining at this point, looking utterly miserable.

"Hold on a second," Kyle said, rubbing his temples, trying to make sense of their story. "So you went down the stairs, but somehow stayed on the same floor? That's... a bit much, even for a magical castle."

Getting stuck in the same place despite moving sounded more like some weird metaphysical phenomenon than anything magical.

Besides, the map Cedric gave him hadn't mentioned anything about this kind of thing.

"Whatever, let's drop it," Kyle finally said, giving up on figuring it out. "How'd you two end up finding your way here?"

"Someone helped us," Mikael admitted, blushing as he gestured toward the students across from them. "We ran into a Ravenclaw first-year on the fifth floor. She pulled us off the moving staircase and asked if we were heading to Charms. When we said yes, she led us here."

Kyle instinctively glanced over to see who Mikael was pointing at, only to realize it was none other than Cho Chang of Ravenclaw.

(End of Chapter)