By the next morning, Adam had unknowingly become famous throughout Hogwarts.
Or perhaps “infamous” was the better word.
After all, in a school filled entirely with witches and wizards, nobody had ever seen a student practicing swordsmanship in the middle of the castle courtyard at sunrise.
The story spread through Hogwarts with astonishing speed.
By breakfast time, students from all four houses were already discussing the mysterious Ravenclaw first-year who trained with a longsword like a medieval knight.
Some students thought it looked cool.
Some thought it was ridiculous.
Others believed Adam had completely lost his mind.
Regardless of their opinions, everyone was talking about him.
As Adam entered the Great Hall with Anthony and Terry, he immediately noticed something unusual.
Students kept glancing toward him.
Some whispered quietly to their friends.
Others openly stared without even trying to hide it.
A group of Hufflepuff second-years near the entrance pointed toward him while whispering excitedly.
Even several older Ravenclaw students looked strangely interested.
Anthony noticed it too.
After taking a bite of toast, he leaned closer to Adam.
“I don’t know if it’s just my imagination,” he muttered, “but it feels like half the school is staring at you.” Terry nodded immediately.
“I noticed it too.
Even the older students are watching.” Then he narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“Adam… what exactly did you do this time?” Adam looked genuinely confused.
“I didn’t do anything.” And from his perspective, that was completely true.
Practicing swordsmanship every morning had already become part of his daily routine after years at the Garden Spire.
To him, there was nothing unusual about it at all.
Anthony looked unconvinced.
“Then why is everyone acting weird?” Terry subtly gestured toward a nearby Ravenclaw table.
“Look.
Even those upper-year girls keep looking this way.” Adam glanced over briefly.
Sure enough, several Ravenclaw girls immediately looked away the moment he noticed them.
One even blushed slightly.
After thinking for a moment, Adam nodded seriously.
“Maybe,” he said thoughtfully, “possibly… perhaps… it’s because I’m simply too handsome.” Anthony nearly spat milk across the table.
Terry choked violently on his pumpkin juice.
The two stared at Adam in disbelief.
They had genuinely never met anyone with such outrageous confidence before.
Anthony wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
“You are unbelievably shameless.” Adam calmly buttered another piece of toast.
“I’m merely stating objective facts.” Before Anthony could argue further, another student suddenly approached their table.
The newcomer carried several books under one arm and wore a highly amused expression.
“Hey, Adam,” the boy said while sitting beside Terry.
“Did you know you’ve already become a Hogwarts celebrity?” Anthony immediately leaned forward.
“Wait, you know what’s happening?” The newcomer nodded.
“Of course.” Terry quickly introduced him.
“This is Michael Corner.
We went to primary school together.” Michael waved casually.
“I’m Michael.” “Anthony Goldstein.” “Adam Ambrosius.” After introductions ended, Anthony immediately returned to the important matter.
“What did you mean by ‘Hogwarts celebrity’?” Michael stabbed a piece of bacon with his fork and pointed it toward Adam dramatically.
“Were you practicing swordsmanship in the Central Courtyard this morning?” As he spoke, he even mimicked a downward slash with the fork.
The moment he said those words, realization finally dawned on Adam.
“…Ah.” Everything suddenly made sense.
Of course.
In a wizarding school where every student used magic, seeing someone train with an actual sword would naturally attract attention.
Especially in modern times, where very few wizards even thought about physical combat anymore.
If this had happened several centuries ago during the height of the witch hunts, some paranoid wizard might have immediately cast Avada Kedavra at him while shouting: “Why is there a knight haunting Hogwarts?!” Adam rubbed his forehead helplessly.
‘Looks like I’ll need to find another place to train from now on.’ Unfortunately, he still intended to continue practicing.
Swordsmanship had become part of his life.
Stopping entirely wasn’t an option.
Nearby, Anthony and Michael had already become deeply interested in the topic.
“So…” Anthony asked excitedly, “is sword fighting actually difficult?” Michael grabbed his fork like a weapon.
“It definitely looks cool.” Terry joined immediately.
“I think I’d be amazing at it.” The three of them began waving forks around like miniature longswords.
Anthony even attempted a dramatic thrust.
Michael pretended to parry.
Terry nearly knocked over his juice.
Adam watched the scene with growing concern.
“I think,” he said calmly, “if you three continue this nonsense, we’re going to be late for class.” The three boys froze instantly.
Then chaos erupted.
Anthony immediately began shoving food into his mouth at terrifying speed.
Michael grabbed several pieces of toast at once.
Terry inhaled an entire sandwich so quickly that he started choking violently.
His face turned bright red.
Anthony panicked.
Michael slapped Terry’s back repeatedly until the trapped toast finally flew out of his throat.
Terry collapsed against the table coughing dramatically while gasping for air.
“I almost died before my first class,” he croaked.
Adam silently pushed a cup of pumpkin juice toward him.
After finishing breakfast, the four hurried out of the Great Hall and ran toward the Charms classroom on the fourth floor.
By the time they arrived, many students had already taken their seats.
Unlike ordinary schools, Hogwarts professors were responsible for teaching multiple houses at once.
Since there were relatively few teachers, classes were usually shared between two houses.
Some subjects occasionally combined all four houses together.
Today’s Charms lesson was shared between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor.
Adam and the others moved toward the Ravenclaw side of the classroom and sat down together.
Only after sitting did Adam finally have time to observe the room properly.
On the opposite side, Harry Potter sat beside Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.
The moment Harry noticed Adam, he smiled and waved.
Hermione also greeted him politely.
Adam returned the greeting with a small nod.
Meanwhile, over on the Slytherin side, Draco Malfoy sat together with Crabbe and Goyle.
Malfoy looked extremely pleased with himself for reasons known only to him.
Crabbe and Goyle looked exactly as intimidating and unintelligent as usual.
At precisely nine o’clock, Professor Flitwick entered the classroom.
The room instantly quieted.
Professor Filius Flitwick was extremely short due to his goblin ancestry, standing only slightly taller than a first-year student.
However, despite his size, nobody underestimated him.
He was one of the greatest Charms Masters in Britain and had even been a famous dueling champion during his younger years.
Because he was too short to reach the top of his desk comfortably, Flitwick climbed onto a carefully arranged stack of books before addressing the class.
“Good morning, young witches and wizards!” His voice was high-pitched but energetic.
“We shall begin with attendance.” Flitwick unrolled a parchment list.
“Hannah Abbott!” “Here!” “Susan Bones!” “Present!” One by one, the students answered.
Eventually— “Adam Ambrosius!” “Here.” Adam raised his hand calmly.
Professor Flitwick paused briefly to glance at him before continuing.
A few minutes later— “Harry Potter!” The instant Flitwick called Harry’s name, his expression suddenly changed.
His eyes widened with excitement.
Apparently, even he hadn’t fully processed the fact that Harry Potter would be attending his class this year.
In his excitement, Flitwick accidentally lost balance and tumbled backward off his stack of books.
Several students gasped.
Thankfully, the professor recovered quickly and climbed back up while pretending nothing happened.
“Ahem,” he coughed awkwardly.
“Perfectly fine.” Some students struggled not to laugh.
After confirming attendance, Flitwick raised his wand.
“With a simple spell,” he announced dramatically, “I shall demonstrate today’s lesson.” He flicked his wand gracefully.
“Wingardium Leviosa.” Dozens of feathers suddenly rose into the air before floating gently across the classroom.
Each feather drifted down neatly onto a student’s desk.
The sight instantly amazed many first-year students.
Several stared with sparkling eyes.
Others whispered excitedly.
Even some pure-blood students looked impressed.
Well… Except Draco Malfoy.
Having grown up surrounded by magic, he merely looked bored.
“The Levitation Charm,” Flitwick explained proudly, “is one of the most important foundational spells in magical education.” “It is simple.” “It is elegant.” “And it is extraordinarily useful.” He demonstrated the wand movement carefully.
“Remember: swish… and flick.” Then he pronounced the incantation clearly.
“Wingardium Leviosa.” Every student immediately stared eagerly at the feather resting on their desk.
They all wanted to try.
Harry went first.
“Wingardium Leviosa!” Nothing happened.
Not even a twitch.
Ron tried next.
His feather remained completely motionless as well.
Hermione achieved slightly better results.
Her feather twitched weakly before falling over sideways.
Although it wasn’t successful, it was still more progress than most students achieved.
Anthony and Terry quickly attempted the spell too.
Unfortunately, their feathers also refused to cooperate.
All around the classroom, students struggled with pronunciation and wand movement.
Some feathers rolled off desks.
Others caught fire briefly before being extinguished.
One unfortunate student accidentally sent their own wand flying backward.
Meanwhile, Adam calmly picked up his wand.
Unlike the others, he didn’t appear impatient or overly excited.
He simply observed Professor Flitwick’s technique carefully for a few moments.
Then— He made a gentle swish and flick.
“Wingardium Leviosa.” The white feather before him immediately rose smoothly into the air.
The classroom suddenly became silent.
Dozens of students stared at the floating feather in shock.
Even Professor Flitwick’s eyes widened slightly.
Because unlike Hermione’s earlier twitch— Adam had succeeded perfectly on his very first attempt.
Give me more motivation!