Over the next few days, Vaughn’s life at Hogwarts gradually settled into a routine.
Every day consisted of attending classes, answering professors’ questions, and receiving feedback from them, all while satisfying his hunger for knowledge.
On the first day of Charms, his masterful Levitation Charm earned high praise from Professor Flitwick.
The Charms expert, who was rumored to have goblin ancestry, also reviewed Vaughn’s notes.
However, he did not invite Vaughn to join his Charms Club.
“Your magical power is still developing, Mr.
Vaughn Weasley.
Wizards your age need to focus on mastering foundational spells.
Advanced research isn’t particularly suitable just yet.” Professor Flitwick had said this in his high-pitched voice.
“But I promise that when you reach your third year, I will invite you to join.
Assuming you have the time, of course.
The Transfiguration Club will likely consume a considerable amount of your energy.” To show his appreciation for Vaughn’s proficiency in Charms, Professor Flitwick awarded Slytherin twenty points in a single lesson.
That made Vaughn very happy.
He had no intention of passing up any opportunity to earn points.
The reason was a new quest unlocked after Main Quest I.
[Main Quest II: Help Slytherin win the House Cup by the end of this school year.] [Reward: 1 Talent Point, 50 Units of Magic Power] At first glance, it didn’t seem difficult.
But anyone familiar with the future knew this was practically nightmare difficulty.
The greatest White Wizard of the age was preparing to cultivate his Chosen One.
For that purpose, he was perfectly willing to shamelessly hand out points.
Although it only happened this once throughout the coming years, it just so happened to conflict directly with Vaughn’s quest.
For now, Vaughn hadn’t thought of any good solutions.
But he wasn’t planning to give up so easily.
He would simply keep working toward it.
Two days passed.
He endured the painfully dull History of Magic class.
Professor Binns’s ability to induce sleep left Vaughn genuinely impressed.
He only managed to stay awake for half the lesson before passing out.
Even so, he somehow earned five points of praise from Professor Binns.
Though the professor got his name wrong.
He also attended a fairly ordinary Astronomy class.
According to rumor, Astronomy was a required subject because it served as the foundation for Divination.
Out of respect for his Divination Talent rating of “2,” Vaughn shamelessly copied astronomical knowledge he had learned in his previous life.
The result left Professor Sinistra astonished.
Her only confusion was why Vaughn seemed so obsessed with whether the Solar System contained eight planets or nine.
There was also Herbology with Professor Sprout.
That class was genuinely interesting.
Of course, first-years weren’t allowed any practical work during the opening lesson.
Instead, she simply guided them through Hogwarts’ greenhouses and introduced various magical plants.
Compared to the plants, however, the students were even more fascinated by the greenhouses themselves.
They had been expanded with Extension Charms.
Different environments had been created for different species of plants—forests, wetlands, highlands, deserts, and more.
It felt like stepping into a dream world.
During that lesson, Vaughn and Hermione each earned twenty points through sheer memorization of textbook knowledge.
Unexpectedly, Gryffindor’s Neville turned out to have a genuine passion for Herbology.
He managed to earn ten points himself.
Fortunately, that same evening, Gryffindor lost twenty points because Fred and George had been pulling pranks in the corridors.
Thank goodness.
Even more worthy of gratitude was the Defense Against the Dark Arts class that followed.
Professor Quirrell, who wore an enormous turban and constantly smelled of garlic, was disliked by nearly everyone.
His teaching ability was equally questionable.
Most of the time, he simply read directly from the textbook.
When Gryffindor’s Seamus Finnigan pressed him for details about defeating Revenants, Quirrell became so flustered that he started babbling nonsense.
Vaughn stepped in and rescued him from the awkward situation.
Professor Quirrell was extremely grateful and awarded Slytherin ten points.
Then, a little while later, he seemed to forget he’d already done it and awarded Slytherin another ten points.
Ron later joked, “His brain must’ve been sucked dry by vampires!” But Vaughn knew exactly why.
Those second ten points had probably been suggested by Professor Quirrell’s mysterious passenger.
When you thought about it, Voldemort’s love for Hogwarts and Slytherin truly ran deep.
Back when he stood at the peak of his power, his greatest dream had been becoming a Hogwarts professor.
When he failed to get the position, he simply cursed the Defense Against the Dark Arts post instead.
If I can’t have it, no one can.
That was true love right there.
Time continued to pass.
Soon it was Friday, the final class of the first week of school.
Potions.
From early morning onward, Harry and Ron were sighing nonstop.
“I think Professor Snape doesn’t like me.
I mean, the way he looked at me during the welcoming feast…
it was scary.” “Don’t be ridiculous, Harry.
I think he looks at everyone like they owe him five hundred Galleons.
Besides, I’ve heard he’s ridiculously biased toward Slytherin.
Hmph.
Vaughn must be loving it.” Ron couldn’t help glancing toward the Ravenclaw table, his expression sour.
That’s right.
Today, Vaughn was sitting with Ravenclaw.
Before even a full week had passed, the first-years had already identified the strangest student among them.
Vaughn Weasley.
When he sat at the Gryffindor table on the first day, everyone assumed it was because he was a Weasley.
By the second day, they realized how naive they had been.
He had actually gone to Hufflepuff.
Even more shockingly, he got along quite well with those earnest little badgers.
Rumor had it that he had even visited the Hufflepuff common room that evening.
The source of that rumor was Ron.
Vaughn had told him that the Hogwarts kitchens were located right beside the Hufflepuff common room.
Thus, before the first week had even ended, Vaughn Weasley—the terrifying boy—had already graced every House with his presence.
Every morning, students entering the Great Hall would first glance at their own House table to see where the red-haired menace had decided to sit that day.
The bizarre habit quickly spread across every year and became something of a spectacle.
The most unbelievable part was this: No matter which House Vaughn visited, there was always at least one person enthusiastically chatting with him.
In Slytherin, there was Malfoy—though Mr.
Malfoy himself would strongly disagree with that characterization.
In Hufflepuff, there was Cedric.
As for Gryffindor, there were even more.
Listening to the silver-bell laughter of the Ravenclaw prefect Penelope from across the hall, Ron curled his lip.
“Hmph.
He’s always preferred hanging around girls.
Some things never change.” The moment he said that, Hermione suddenly slammed her book shut.
“Then why don’t you, as his brother, talk some sense into him?
All you do is sit here and complain!” Ron blinked in confusion.
“Have you gone mad?
What does that have to do with me?” Hermione seemed to have swallowed a barrel of gunpowder.
Without missing a beat, she launched into another topic.
“Besides gossiping behind people’s backs and complaining, what do the two of you actually do?
If you’re so worried about Professor Snape being biased, why don’t you spend more time preparing?
Classes have already been going on for a week…” A torrent of criticism poured out of her.
Then the girl picked up her books and stormed away.
Completely bewildered by the verbal assault, Ron said irritably, “She’s lost her mind.
Vaughn’s the one flirting with other girls, not me.
Why is she yelling at me?
Just wait.
During class she’ll be laughing and chatting with Vaughn again.
Stupid girl.” As it turned out, he was absolutely right.
Once Potions class began, Vaughn and Hermione sat together again.
A few words later, he had already coaxed her back into smiling and laughing.
But neither Ron nor Harry felt any satisfaction from having predicted that outcome.
Because another of their predictions had also come true.
“Ah, Harry…
Potter.” In the gloomy dungeon classroom, Professor Snape stood with half his body concealed by shadows.
His pitch-black eyes locked onto Harry.
Dark.
Cold.
And utterly intimidating.