The first-year curriculum at Hogwarts includes Astronomy, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions, and Transfiguration. Seven subjects to fill an entire academic year, yet the textbooks are so thin. Therefore, there are no classes on the first afternoon of the Hogwarts school year, ostensibly for "familiarizing themselves with the campus," but in reality, the professors who teach these seven subjects also oversee all the courses for the second through seventh years, and they can't spare the time. They can't very well teach at Hogwarts and also use a Time-Turner. Using that thing too much ages a person.
Harry invited Dana to tour the castle, but he refused—other years were in class, and first-years "familiarizing themselves with the campus" couldn't make loud noises, so it really was just about familiarizing themselves with the campus. So, what's the point of this activity? It's better to return to the dormitory and complete the Charms assignment—a one-foot-long reflection on the use of the Lumos charm. Dana couldn't understand what reflections there could be on this.
On the Application of the Lumos Charm in Combat—Feasibility of Adding a Blasting Effect to Simulate a Muggle Concussion Grenade Effect.
Several Insights on Adding Color to the Lumos Charm to Mislead Enemies.
Dana spent half an hour fabricating two reflections, filling the parchment to fulfill the assignment. He packed up his things and walked down the tower—the common room was empty; for first-year little wizards, most preferred activity to quiet.
Dana's destination was the library; he had no time to waste. Neither the Avery family nor the still-unidentified high-ranking official in the Ministry of Magic were opponents he could easily deal with by waving his wand. He needed to make himself stronger, and at this stage, what he could do, besides knowledge, was still knowledge. Best of all, he now had Merlin's notebook; if he could decipher this thing, he believed he could definitely become stronger.
The library was on the second floor. Compared to the vast space inside, the door to enter the library seemed so small. Pushing open the door, Dana had to face Madam Pince, the librarian, directly. This lady was very strict; she always felt that the little wizards would damage the precious books. Madam Pince glanced at Dana, said nothing more, only instructing, "Someone is already reading; please be quiet, and most importantly, do not damage the books!"
Dana nodded and asked Madam Pince, "I'll be careful, Madam. But I'd like to ask, where are the books on Ancient Runes?"
Madam Pince was very surprised. "Ancient Runes? That's a third-year elective. You're a first-year student… well, knowledge is the greatest wealth, and being willing to learn is a good thing—"
Madam Pince's hand, wearing a white glove, pointed in a direction. "See, go between those two bookshelves, turn right when you reach the third bookshelf, and you'll see an armillary sphere. The books on Ancient Runes are on the bookshelf next to that armillary sphere."
"Thank you, Madam Pince."
Following Madam Pince's instructions, Dana successfully found the bookshelf with Ancient Runes. The Link Between Ancient Writing and Magic, Introduction to Runes, The Lost Language of Magic... Dana patiently looked through each book, one by one, and finally found the first book he wanted to read—A Comprehensive Guide to Ancient British Runes. This was a book that was neither new nor old, with a bronze cover. Clearly, the book was only old because it had been stored for a long time; in fact, the book showed no signs of ever being opened, and the parchment on the book was as smooth as if it had been ironed.
Dana took the book and quickly walked towards the reading area. Near the window, he saw a familiar figure. Hermione Granger. Indeed, only the first years had no classes this afternoon, and who else would come to the library at this time besides the academic superstar? Dana walked over and sat down opposite Hermione—he had no other thoughts; it was purely because reading with someone might be less lonely. To be honest, although he seemed not to care much about his relationship with his classmates, deep down, he was still very afraid of loneliness—if it hadn't been for Sirius Black and other criminals accompanying him, he might not have survived the four years of imprisonment in Azkaban.
"Hermione?"
Hermione noticed someone coming, looked up, and saw Dana smiling at her, sitting across from her. Dana put his index finger in front of his lips, made a shushing gesture, and then "shhh"ed. Hermione indicated that she understood, nodded, and focused on her assignment for today—this girl was really serious; even for a simple assignment, she had found at least six reference books on charms. Dana wanted to take out a piece of paper from his uniform pocket, which contained a sentence he had copied from Merlin's notebook, and then opened A Comprehensive Guide to Ancient British Runes, searching for the corresponding words one by one.
Time passed, minute by minute. The only sounds were Hermione turning pages and the scratching of the quill on the parchment, which made Dana feel as if he had returned to his student days in his previous life—that damned familiarity! But precisely because of this, Dana's heart calmed down, and he didn't get annoyed because he couldn't find the words in Merlin's notebook.
After a while, a piece of paper was passed over from Hermione's side. Hermione, who had just started school, didn't know that it was okay to speak quietly in the library; as a good child, she always thought that talking was completely forbidden in the library. Dana took the paper, and it read:
"Have you finished your Charms assignment?"
Dana brushed his palm over the paper, and when he returned it to Hermione, the words had changed to:
"Yes, I have finished it."
Hermione's big eyes gradually moved closer to the shape of owl's eyes because she almost couldn't believe her own. Dana had just used Transfiguration magic with his bare hands? This… this is the strength of the Azkaban preschool program?
Hermione added a line of small print after Dana's words and pushed it to Dana:
"Can you tell me what book you are reading?"
Dana didn't reply but showed Hermione the cover of the book. Hermione Roll Granger suddenly felt immense pressure. Originally, she thought that as a little witch from the Muggle world, she was inferior to the little wizards born in the wizarding world, so she needed to study harder. But now, seeing that Dana not only completed the assignment at an extremely fast speed but was even self-studying Ancient Runes!
—Oh my goodness! Won't I be left far behind!
Hermione quickly lowered her head, and in Dana's view, the little girl was turning pages more than twice as fast as before. Dana no longer paid attention to Hermione but focused on his own affairs.
But by dinnertime, Madam Pince had come to chase them out, and Dana still didn't know what script was used in Merlin's notebook, and he had actually flipped through the entire book twice by this point. The two people left the library dejectedly, one because he hadn't found the answer he wanted, and the other because she hadn't finished her assignment.
"Dana, you're really amazing."
The sudden praise made Dana a little confused.
"What?"
Hermione looked at him seriously. "I said, you're really amazing. Not only did you add four points to our house in Charms class, but you also finished the assignment so quickly—and you can even self-study extracurricular knowledge…"
Dana shook his head. "No, no, no, you overestimate me. I wrote Professor Flitwick's assignment casually; I didn't consult any other books at all. Everything I wrote was just my personal feelings."
"Eh? That works too?"
Dana shrugged. "Why not? After you have a good dinner and go back to the common room, you'll find that you are much better than everyone else."
However, two weeks later, Professor Flitwick announced that Dana's assignment, On the Application of the Lumos Charm in Combat—Feasibility of Adding a Blasting Effect to Simulate a Muggle Concussion Grenade Effect, had been sent by him to the Contemporary Charms magazine and had been approved by the editor and would be published in half a month. Gryffindor was awarded ten points for this.
Hermione was not well again. That damn liar, still lying that his assignment was written casually.
End of the Chapter.
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