Chapter 78: Integration, Learning

After a brief welcome ceremony, Harry, with a mix of nervousness and anticipation, said, "Uh—actually, this is my first time joining a club, so I'm not very familiar with it... What are the rules of the SSC, please? Do I need to do anything?"

Everyone exchanged glances.

"—A club?" Theo asked, bewildered. "Are we considered a club already?"

Neville was surprised. "Isn't SSC a club? I thought it already was!"

"If students form a club, do they need to report it to a professor?" Ryan asked with a hint of uncertainty.

Michael: "I thought we were a society?"

"Societies require membership fees, don't they? We haven't paid any money," Ryan said, recalling fragmented knowledge from his Muggle relatives.

Neville was a bit confused. "I say—what's the difference between a society and a club?"

Everyone fell silent. Yes... what was the difference besides the name?

They couldn't answer for a moment.

Harry never expected such a scene. He carefully replayed how things had come to this, then silently looked at Hermione beside him.

Wade looked at a stifling-a-laugh Hermione and asked helplessly, "Hermione, what did you tell Harry?"

Hermione immediately burst out laughing, "Pfft—" She waved her hand at Harry and said, "I didn't say anything. You and Ron just guessed it yourselves, right?"

Harry: "..."

Right... she hadn't said anything. She had just repeatedly emphasized how important this was, so he needed to be careful, prepare well, and reminded him to bring his wand... Then she watched them anxiously guess what trials joining the "club" would entail.

Ron had even come up with a particularly absurd guess—

"Maybe they'll make you sneak into Snape's office and steal one of his personal belongings—like his underwear or socks. Or throw a Dungbomb in the corridor right in front of Professor McGonagall, to prove your bravery!"

At the time, Ron had looked at Harry with a tragic expression, as if Harry was about to be torn to shreds by an enraged professor.

Thinking back carefully, Hermione's expression at the time was painful—he thought it was pain—but she was actually stifling laughter, wasn't she? Or... was it precisely because of their exaggerated and monstrous guesses that Hermione said nothing?

"It's like this—" Wade couldn't help but chuckle. "We're actually just a study group after classes. Everyone gathers here to practice spells, discuss homework problems, or borrow each other's notes. Generally, we come here to study after dinner, but you can come and go as you please. You don't need to ask permission if you don't want to come, and there are no fixed rules. As for the rules—they're posted on the wall behind you."

Harry turned to look. A piece of paper was tacked to the wall, with only a few short sentences written on it. Things like members should help each other, be friendly and united, and not casually touch other people's belongings. They were basically the kind of basic moral standards even primary school students should follow. The only special one was that no one could bring outsiders into the Umbrella Room without the consent of all members.

Harry felt instantly relaxed—these "rules" were no rules at all, with no strong punishments or restrictions. Clearly, all their previous guesses were wrong. But seeing the last rule, Harry's heart sank again.

—He himself was new. Could he introduce Ron?

"Harry, your seat is here." Neville enthusiastically led Harry to the side.

An empty desk was already prepared beside Neville's seat, with an independent bookshelf and cabinet on the side. The surrounding wooden panels formed a semi-enclosed structure that could block others' views or be lowered for easy communication.

Nearby were a few small tea tables, a food cabinet, and soft old sofas with several plush cushions. These items were prepared by Wade with the help of Zoe and the others—the old furniture from the Room of Requirement almost formed a small town. Picking out the relatively intact ones and patching them up made them look almost new.

The food cabinet was always filled with cakes, biscuits, puddings, and sweets, while several dark silver pewter pots held drinks and fresh water. These were all prepared for them by the house-elves. Not only that, when the elves had free time, they would find ways to decorate the Umbrella Room.

Wade and the others often found a small change in the Umbrella Room as soon as they entered, perhaps some strange decorations and photos added to the walls, a few pots of blooming wildflowers in a corner, or one or two useful pieces of furniture.

Unbeknownst to them, this originally empty, abandoned classroom had become increasingly full, with traces of their lives and studies everywhere. The room had a warm and vibrant atmosphere.

Harry liked the place almost at first sight.

He also received a parchment for inter-member contact within the SSC—the Book of Friends was now almost universally known, but Harry, who stayed at school during Christmas, had money but nowhere to buy one.

Among the people he knew, Hermione had one, which she gave Harry a sheet from to communicate, but they were together all day, so it was rarely used. Ron had two, one also from Hermione, and the other sent by Mrs. Weasley after the holidays, as every Weasley child had one. Ron often used the Book of Friends to chat or argue with his brothers before bed, only to be sternly told by Mrs. Weasley to go to sleep immediately.

Ron sometimes complained about his mother's strictness, but Harry envied him greatly.

Now, he also had a second Book of Friends.

He tucked the two parchments into his textbook in his bag, then looked around—everyone else had already diligently started doing their homework or reading. Even Neville was meticulously copying his Transfiguration notes.

—This was also significantly different from studying in the common room. In the Gryffindor common room, students were always noisy, and some were constantly looking for others to copy homework from. There wasn't this quiet and strong study atmosphere. If they wanted to do homework seriously, they had to go to the library, but Madam Pince was very strict, not allowing eating or talking, which was another inconvenience.

Harry settled down and likewise took out his Charms homework to start writing, but after writing only the title, he didn't know how to proceed.

—He should have borrowed a couple of reference books from the library first... but everyone else was studying. Would it be too abrupt if he suddenly left? Maybe Hermione would have some books...

When Harry started glancing around uncomfortably, Theo nearby noticed his dilemma and asked knowingly, "Don't know how to write it?"

Harry instinctively covered the messy notes and doodles in his textbook with his hand, saying awkwardly, "Uh, yeah."

"It's okay, we didn't either at first," Theo comforted him. "You can ask Wade; he'll teach you how to write essays and which reference books you need to read right now. Before coming tomorrow, borrow the books from the library. Follow Wade's method, and you'll quickly find that completing homework is actually quite simple."

Actually, the person who read the most was Hermione, but Hermione tended to write down everything she read—in her eyes, all learned knowledge was important. Wade, however, could pinpoint their current problems, identify which knowledge needed strengthening, and then pick out the most valuable book for them to read. Basically, after reading the book he designated, those previously half-understood concepts became simple, as if everything suddenly made sense.

As he got closer, Theo also saw the messy notes in Harry's book. After a moment's hesitation, he pointed to the book and asked, "If you don't mind, can I take a look?"