The Shopkeeper of All Worlds in the British Wizarding World

Chapter 10 First Contact at Hogwarts

The first difficulty you need to face when studying in Hogwarts Castle is that most of the things in the castle are alive, such as moving escalators, stairs, armor, paintings on the walls, and doors that need special means to open or disguise.

Yes, when the descriptions in the novels and the scenes in the movies actually appeared before Ryan's eyes, he felt extremely excited when he saw them for the first time.

But when the excitement wore off, the difficulties caused by the constantly moving furnishings in the castle really showed up. The complex interior structure caused Ryan to spend a lot of time looking for his destination. It must be said that the pace of life in Hogwarts is relatively slow, which is probably related to these disruptive facilities.

The worst thing happened was that on Tuesday afternoon, he even met Peeves on the way to the classroom, which caused him and several classmates to almost be late for the first class of the Dean Professor McGonagall.

When they ran into the Transfiguration classroom panting, they found that it was not yet time for class, but some classmates had already sat down in the classroom, busy with their own things.

This classroom is not much different from an ordinary middle school classroom, except that there is a cat squatting on the desk.

Hermione, who came in with Ryan, was obviously a cat lover. She tried to scratch the chin of the cat on the desk, but the cat dodged it nimbly. Ryan looked at Hermione in amazement. After entering the classroom, he focused on finding a seat. He didn't expect that Hermione, who was very steady in his impression, would have such a naughty side.

Ryan pulled Hermione back, who was still trying to pet the cat, and then saluted the cat. Hermione looked at Ryan with a questioning look, and after returning to her seat, Hermione asked Ryan across the aisle: "Why did you salute the cat?"

It seems that Hermione is not a slow-witted person. "The cat above was transformed by Professor McGonagall. She is one of only seven registered Animagus in this century. Look, the pattern around the cat's eyes is exactly the same as Professor McGonagall's glasses?" Ryan said softly.

Hermione looked up at the cat, and her face suddenly turned red. She buried her face in her arms and said in a very soft voice: "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

Ryan didn't know how to answer. He thought to himself: A cat standing on the podium is not a normal thing in itself. How could I guess that you would touch it directly? This is completely different from the Hermione I know. Has the mature and steady Hermione been replaced?

A few minutes later, it was time for class to start and the door to the classroom was flung open again, with Harry and Ron rushing in.

"Great, Professor McGonagall hasn't arrived yet." Ron said happily to Harry.

Before he finished speaking, the cat on the podium jumped down and turned into a human form.

"Professor McGonagall!" Ron suddenly turned pale.

"I think I should turn you into alarm clocks so that you won't be late." Mag said a little angrily.

"We're just lost, Professor."

"Then we should turn you into a map. Don't be late next time. Go back to your seats." The two men ran to their seats dejectedly and sat down.

"Ryan Liang, you are the first freshman who can recognize me this year. It seems that you have excellent observation skills and have prepared seriously before class, so Gryffindor gives you ten extra points." Professor McGonagall looked at Ryan and then walked up to the podium.

"Transfiguration is the most complex and dangerous spell you have in your Hogwarts curriculum," she said. "Anyone who tries to cause trouble in my class will be asked to leave and will never be allowed in again. I But I warned you."

She then transformed her desk into a pig and back again. The students were all attracted and wanted to start learning right away, but they soon understood that it would take a long time before the furniture could be turned into animals. After they took down a bunch of complicated notes, she gave each of them a match and began asking them to try to turn into a needle.

As Ryan thought, magic is not just about reciting a spell and waving a wand. It is a very rigorous subject that contains many profound theories. It seems that to learn magic well, simple training is not enough, but also learning to understand the principles.

Transfiguration is a subject that is both easy and difficult. For example, a freshman can transform a match into a needle. But if a master is asked to do this, the needle can be made of various materials and styles, and the transformation effect can last for hundreds of years.

In addition to the difference in magic power, the difference lies in the understanding of magic itself and the mastery of the properties of various substances. Especially the latter point, which requires a lot of time and energy accumulation, and cannot be achieved by taking shortcuts.

Ryan spent some time combining his pre-class preparation with the knowledge he copied from his notes in this class to figure out the principle, and then he began to actually operate. Translating theory into practice was not as easy as he imagined, and it was not until the end of the get out of class that he turned the match into a needle, but he was still three minutes slower than Hermione, and the needle he turned into did not have a pinhole.

Ryan thought he had made a fool of himself, but after looking around, he found that other people were making even slower progress, and some people's matches didn't even change at all.

When the class was over, Professor McGonagall nodded to Ryan. After all, for a beginner, being able to change objects was already a good performance. Of course, Hermione, the top student, was an exception.

In addition to Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class, Ryan also gained a lot in several other classes, whether it was Charms or Herbology.

Professor Flitwick was a short wizard in the Charms class. He fell down from the pile of books in excitement when he read Harry Potter's name, which made people feel a little exaggerated. However, he had a deep understanding of Charms and was happy to answer students' questions. After asking many questions, Ryan felt that his Charms level improved rapidly.

In the herbal medicine class, Ryan felt that he was adept at handling those plants and even received extra points from Professor Sprout. This was most likely the special bonus of the Celestial Empire's bloodline in farming.

However, astronomy and history of magic are not that interesting. First-year astronomy is just some observation records and some simple calculations of the cycle of the stars, which is very boring.

The History of Magic was taught by a ghost, Professor Binns. During class, Professor Binns kept talking in a monotonous voice, and the students took notes sloppily. From what the professor said, Ryan could get a lot of knowledge outside of history books, and even many major historical events that Professor Binns had personally experienced. However, the professor's monotonous and non-stop teaching style made people feel drowsy. So after each class, he had to borrow the notes of Hermione, the only student who didn't fall asleep in the class, to copy.

(End of this chapter)