Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 14 About Eyes

The next morning, when Loren got up, it was only a short time before dawn.

Seeing that the others were still asleep, Loren quietly put on his clothes and went out.

The pudding I put in my pocket last night was replaced by a new one by my house-elf, because the one I hid last night was lemon flavored, while this one is strawberry flavored.

After leaving the lounge and having breakfast, he briefly explored the first and second floors of the castle.

Looking at the girls' restroom, Loren was eager to try, but he couldn't speak Parseltongue, and there was probably a Myrtle inside. On the first day of school, he didn't want to be seen as a pervert by his new classmates, so he gave up.

The entire castle exudes a rustic, historical feel, both clean and imposing. Various portraits hang along the corridors, many of the figures depicted are alive, and some even greet Loren.

After wandering around for a while, a significant amount of time was spent on the stairs. Loren didn't understand the staircase's layout and could only helplessly wait for it to change direction. Several times, he was either carried directly from the first floor to the second floor or carried down, and it took him a long time to finally get out.

As more students filled the corridor, Loren went back to the dormitory to wake up Harry and the others who were still sleeping. Without waiting long, he grabbed his textbooks and rushed off to his first Transfiguration class.

When I arrived at the classroom, Professor McGonagall the cat was already sitting on the lectern, her two front paws upright and her tail wrapped around them.

Loren's eyes suddenly deepened, and his innate vision activated, causing the cat to glow with a soft red light.

Professor McGonagall, in her cat form, looked up and met Loren's gaze. She noticed his blue eyes, tinged with an unsettling shadow. But she made no move. Demonstrating the Animagus to the new students in the first lesson was an effective way to pique their interest in Transfiguration.

His vision quickly returned to normal, and Loren pretended not to know anything as he found a seat.

Hermione had also arrived and was sitting in the middle flipping through her Transfiguration textbook.

"Did you see that cat on the podium?" Loren leaned closer.

Hermione didn't even look up. "They were there before I arrived. If I were you, I would have done some research beforehand, instead of just chatting."

"It's still early before class, and you've almost memorized the textbook, why don't you go pet some cats?" Loren smiled like a devil trying to trick people into signing a soul contract.

Hermione glanced up at the cat on the stage, a hint of attraction in her eyes. She had almost memorized the textbook, and constantly flipping through it was a way of easing her excitement and nervousness.

"Look at this tabby cat. Its fur is shiny, it's clean and well-behaved. Since there aren't many people around now, you'll feel very satisfied if you pet it a couple of times." Loren's face was extremely malicious.

At someone's urging, Hermione went up and groomed the tabby cat's fur, patting its head. In this completely unfamiliar environment, it was a challenge for her, and she quickly came down.

Loren sat up straight. "How was it? Not bad, right?"

Hermione smiled, looking much more relaxed. "What do you think Professor McGonagall will teach us today? I think it will be the principles of magic, or perhaps a simple Transfiguration spell."

The little devil inside Loren was already impatient, but he still held back and said in a serious tone, "I don't know, but I haven't memorized the textbook yet, so I have to... *cough cough* He couldn't hold it in any longer and pretended to cough twice.

Loren opened his book, looking righteous and determined to learn. "Alright, that's enough."

Harry and Ron were late again; they spent too much time chatting during their meal and got stuck on the stairs for a while.

Hermione looked at the last two people who came in with a hint of disdain, pursed her lips and looked at the podium, then watched as the tabby cat in front of her turned into Professor McGonagall with a stern face.

The girl's face turned pale instantly, and she froze, unable to speak.

Loren chuckled beside him, his shoulders shrugging, but he didn't dare laugh out loud.

After reprimanding Harry and Ron for being late, Professor McGonagall began her lecture.

"What you just saw was the Animagus, a highly advanced form of transfiguration. It allows people to transform into suitable animals and do many things that humans cannot."

The students became excited, and the classroom erupted in chatter.

"I want to become a lion! The great Animagus of Gryffindor must be a lion!"

"If you ask me, you should become an eagle, then you can fly."

"Could the Animagus of Slytherin be a snake?"

The conversation veered off course from what we wanted to what we wanted to know, gradually heading in a strange direction.

"Quiet!"

Professor McGonagall looked at the somewhat noisy classroom, pointed her wand at the lectern, and the lectern began to twist and expand, one end growing a tail and the other a pig's head. When the corners of the table turned into limbs and hooves, the entire table became a big fat pig, squeaking and squealing.

The students stared wide-eyed, captivated by the magical transformation spell, and fell silent.

Professor McGonagall pointed her wand at the fat pig that had transformed into the lectern, her stern gaze sweeping over the students below. It seemed she was saying, "Whoever disobeys will be turned into a fat pig too."

Under Professor McGonagall's explanation, the students gradually understood that the Transfiguration Charm involved profound theories and required a long time to practice.

Professor McGonagall gave each student a match and asked them to try to turn the match into a needle.

Hermione didn't say a word to Loren the whole time. She repeated the motion of waving her wand, which caused some noticeable changes in the match.

Loren moved closer to Hermione and began to remedy the situation, "Before you wave your wand, carefully imagine what a needle looks like in your mind, how long it is, how thin it is, and which end is the needle tip."

Hermione didn't reply, but swung her wand forcefully.

Hearing the slight whistling sound of the short wand being swung, Loren thought Hermione wanted to smash her own head in.

Hermione quickly managed to turn the match into a needle, still about the thickness of a match but somewhat needle-shaped.

"Hermione Granger is making rapid progress; she deserves five extra points." Professor McGonagall smiled, a rare sight for her, pleased to see such a talented student.

The professor didn't seem to mind her offensive behavior, and Hermione finally felt relieved.

Professor McGonagall then demonstrated the transformation process several more times, explaining some key points.

"Loren Morgan, come to my office tonight," Professor McGonagall said after class.

Loren's heart skipped a beat. Oh no, the real troublemaker had been discovered. There was no blind Dora here.

The afternoon was herbalism class. Professor Pomona Sprout was not a serious person, and her class was very interesting, so it passed quickly.

Although Hermione was in the same group as Loren, she still didn't say a word to him.

……

That evening, Loren went to the small study next to the second-floor corridor, Professor McGonagall's office.

Not long after the knocking, Professor McGonagall's voice came through the wooden door, "Come in."

When Loren entered, he saw Professor McGonagall grading something, perhaps homework from upperclassmen, or something else.

He found a stool and sat down properly. Professor McGonagall didn't say anything, so he waited quietly.

After a while, McGonagall looked up, stood up, walked out of her desk and came to the door: "Come on, let's go see Headmaster Dumbledore."

"Professor McGonagall, it was just a prank. It doesn't warrant going to the headmaster, does it?" Loren panicked.

Professor McGonagall said nothing and walked straight out of the office.

Loren quickly followed, explaining as he walked, "I really didn't mean to tease you and Hermione..."

Professor McGonagall remained silent the entire way, her face stern, determined to teach the boy a lesson. She led Loren to the third floor, where they stopped in front of a massive stone monster statue.

"Licorice Wand!" After the command was given, the monster statue jumped to the side, and the wall behind it split in two.

Behind the wall is a spiral staircase, slowly moving upwards, just like an escalator.

As soon as Loren and Professor McGonagall stepped onto the wall, they heard a loud rumble behind them, and the wall slammed shut again. They spun higher and higher, until finally, they stopped in front of a gleaming oak door with a brass door knocker in the shape of a griffin.

Loren followed Professor McGonagall inside. Dumbledore with the white beard was already waiting there. Seeing the two of them enter, he said to Loren in a serious tone, "Well, Mr. Morgan, it's a pleasure to meet you."

No matter the situation, Loren never faltered. He sat down familiarly and said, "Oh! Headmaster Dumbledore, I've heard so much about you."

"Hahahaha..." ×2

Their eyes met, and they both laughed heartily. Dumbledore pulled a box of cockroaches from under the table and handed it to Loren. "Being with young people makes this old man feel a little younger," he said.

Loren understood that this shouldn't be the prelude to being fired, and deftly took out a pill and popped it into his mouth: "Then you can come to the lounge more often and tell us your stories."

Dumbledore's smile widened at Loren's decisive action. "Professor McGonagall told me about you. Hogwarts always seems to have exceptionally talented students."

Loren was a little confused. Was playing pranks a sign of talent?

Professor McGonagall, who had been watching the two of them interact with utter exasperation, finally spoke up: "Loren's eyes are somewhat unusual; he can see things that others cannot."

"Yes, you told me before the start of the semester that there was a student who could see where Apparitions landed," Dumbledore said.

Professor McGonagall added, "And this morning, Loren seemed to be able to see through my Animagus, so I brought him here for you to see."

Loren realized that it was all for that mysterious talent.

"Could you share your unique perspective, Loren?" Dumbledore asked, smiling at Loren.

"certainly!"

Loren also wanted to know what this talent was. He began to carefully recall the scene he had seen at the time. "Regarding Apparition, before Professor McGonagall appeared, I seemed to see a blurry distortion in space."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "This morning, I saw a red light on the cat on the podium, which gave me a familiar feeling, and I can roughly guess what it was."

Professor McGonagall seized the opportunity to add, "And then she used this to play a trick on poor Miss Granger, making her terrified for the entire class."

"Hahaha, what an enviable age," Dumbledore laughed.

Later, Dumbledore talked to Professor McGonagall, and they told Loren that there are many people in the world who possess amazing talents.

Some are inherited through bloodlines, like half-blood wizards who possess the allure of Veela, while others awaken their own abilities, such as the Disguise Magus who can change their appearance, or those with prophetic talents.

Neither of them knew the specifics of Loren's eye condition. Dumbledore said he would look through some documents and ask some old friends, and would tell Loren the results when he had them.

The conversation lasted quite a while, during which Loren and Dumbledore finished a whole box of cockroaches.

When Professor McGonagall suggested it was time to leave, Loren also made a decision and said, "By the way, Headmaster Dumbledore, I also saw some strange things, and I think I should tell you."

(End of this chapter)