Morning.
Bright sunlight hit the lake and came through the water softened and deep, filtering through the Slytherin dormitory window in shifting patterns like little snakes.
Hylan got up early and stood at the window, watching the giant squid drift through the Black Lake.
He’d heard the lake was enchanted.
Any student who fell in got pushed back up by the squid.
That was a nice touch.
Though he did wonder what Dumbledore was paying the lifeguard squid.
He pulled today’s books from his trunk and headed up the spiral staircase toward the Great Hall.
He didn’t go straight to breakfast.
He found a spot with a good view and watched the students heading to class.
Hogwarts had a hundred and forty-two staircases.
Almost all of them moved on their own.
Some vanished entirely.
And some doors weren’t doors at all.
Just a frame with solid wall behind it.
The design dated back to the witch hunts, meant to confuse Muggle attackers.
Now the students were the ones suffering.
Hylan watched Malfoy step onto empty air and plummet off a staircase.
If the castle didn’t have enchantments to land young witches and wizards safely, Hogwarts would’ve shut down years ago without Voldemort lifting a finger.
“Damn it!”
“Now I have to start from the ground floor again!”
“My father’s going to hear about this.
Dumbledore should tear these stairs out!” Malfoy was already trudging back up from the bottom, cursing.
Hylan actually liked that staircase.
Fall off it and you landed right by the Great Hall.
Maximum efficiency.
By the time the ninth student dropped through the vanishing step, Hylan had the staircase’s pattern figured out.
Plenty of people had demonstrated it for him.
Right now, though, breakfast came first.
The food was generous.
Hogwarts house-elves laid out a huge spread.
Of course, British cuisine wasn’t anything to get excited about.
It ranked somewhere below German comedy and American history.
Hylan ate a roast chicken leg, sliced some sausage, added a few other things, and built himself a stuffed sandwich.
He knew how to combine flavors.
It tasted a lot better than standard British fare.
Reminded him a little of the shredded pork buns back home.
As he ate, he noticed the other students looking at him differently.
A lot of them hurried past, stealing glances.
Others stood at a distance, whispering.
Hylan found it odd.
What, did they want his sandwich?
Make your own.
Why stare at me?
Under all those eyes, he ate faster.
After breakfast, he grabbed his books and headed out.
The moment he stepped through the doors, he saw Ron Weasley fall off the staircase.
That made ten.
A nice round number.
Hylan flicked his wand and cast a Levitation Charm, catching Ron and easing him back onto the steps.
“Thanks.” Ron’s small head poked over the edge.
Hylan took the staircase the way he’d learned from watching everyone else.
He reached the vanishing step quickly.
Harry and Ron were still there.
“We wanted to thank you.”
“Oh, come on.
We don’t know how to get to the classroom.
We’ve been wandering around here forever.”
Only when Hylan reached them did Harry and Ron register the green trim on his robes.
A Slytherin.
That made them uncomfortable.
Slytherin had a reputation.
And Malfoy was out there reinforcing it every day.
In their eyes, Slytherin students were almost never decent people.
Even if this one’s last name was Prewett.
“I’ll take you,” Hylan said.
Harry and Ron nodded silently and fell in behind him.
“Hey, Harry.
I heard Slytherin almost had a fight in their common room last night.
Theodore Nott lost all his hair.”
“Who did it?”
Ron jerked his chin toward Hylan’s back.
“Slytherins can’t even get along with each other.”
“Is he really your cousin?” Harry whispered, glancing at Hylan’s back.
“Still not sure.” Ron tossed a Chocolate Frog into his mouth and pulled out the card.
“Dumbledore again.”
The first class was Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall.
Slytherin and Gryffindor together.
Hermione was already there, front row, flipping through the textbook and reviewing.
Or you could call it previewing, since she’d basically memorized the whole thing already.
Professor McGonagall hadn’t arrived yet.
A tabby cat sat on the desk, licking its paw now and then.
The students weren’t rushing inside.
They stood in clusters along the corridor.
Hylan walked through the door and spotted the cat immediately.
The cat turned its head and looked at him.
Hylan could see the markings around its eyes.
They looked exactly like Professor McGonagall’s square spectacles.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out who that was.
He really wanted to walk up and pet her, then play dumb afterward.
A first-year not recognizing Professor McGonagall’s Animagus form was perfectly believable, right?
Maybe he stared too long.
The cat jumped off the desk and transformed into Professor McGonagall in an instant.
“Good morning, Professor McGonagall.
I didn’t know it was you.” Hylan put on a surprised face and greeted her.
Missed his chance.
The cat-greeting-new-students thing only happened once.
No more opportunities to pet Professor Cat.
Hesitation really was defeat.
“Hello.”
Professor McGonagall was privately surprised.
She adjusted her glasses.
She wasn’t entirely sure Hylan had recognized her or not.
At the sound of Hylan’s voice, Hermione looked up from her book like she’d sensed something.
She waved him over.
“Hylan, over here.
Sit with me.”
“Thanks, Hermione.”
Harry and Ron exchanged a look and headed for the back row.
“Morning, Hylan.” Neville leaned out from the back and waved.
“Good morning, Mr.
Longbottom.”
“How was last night?” Hermione asked.
Hylan set his Transfiguration textbook on the desk.
“Not bad.
My housemates were pretty welcoming.
I got along with all of them.”
Slytherin.
Welcoming?
Even coming from Hylan, Hermione found that strange.
Sitting in the front row, the two of them were the first thing every student saw walking in.
Everyone’s expression turned odd.
A Slytherin and a Gryffindor sitting together.
That looked wrong no matter how you sliced it.
It wasn’t forbidden to mix, but even in shared classes, the two houses kept their seating strictly separate.
Once everyone was there, Professor McGonagall began.
She was a stern woman by nature.
In class she was even sharper, and she didn’t soften her words.
“Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts.” She swept the room with her eyes, making every student feel singled out.
“Anyone messing about in my class will leave and not come back.
You have been warned.”
Then she waved her wand and turned her desk into a pig.
Hermione’s eyes went wide, searching for a flaw or imperfection.
She gave up fast.
The pig was just too perfectly a pig.
McGonagall looked satisfied at their stunned faces.
“Before any of you so much as wave your wands, we will begin with the theory of Transfiguration.”
First lessons all followed the same pattern.
The broad framework, the practical applications, the theoretical foundations, the historical origins.
None of it directly affected your ability to cast a Transfiguration spell.
But the difference between proper training and fumbling around in the dark was structure and system.
That was why people said you could tell someone’s training the moment they cast.
After a long, dry lecture on theory, Professor McGonagall finally let them pick up their wands.
The task: turn a matchstick into a needle.
With his spellcasting instincts, Hylan mastered the Transfiguration charm quickly.
“Good.” McGonagall picked up the fine needle Hylan had produced and nodded.
“Five points to Slytherin.”
Hermione succeeded moments later, earning Gryffindor five points as well.
A kind of dynamic balance.
Neville worked hard for most of the lesson and only managed to sharpen the tip of his matchstick.
He seemed satisfied anyway.
A few more tries and he’d get it.
During the break, Theodore Nott dragged himself out of his seat and shuffled over to Neville.