Aemon Carter absolutely hated Dawn Richter — there was no doubt about it.

Whether it was the way Dawn ignored him on the train and openly belittled him, or the arrogant attitude he displayed outside the Ravenclaw common room, Aemon had no trouble believing that Dawn was a thoroughbred troublemaker.

But…

Damn it!

Why did he have to share a dorm room with that guy?!

With his face ashen, Aemon glared at the bed where Dawn had already closed the curtains and fallen asleep. Furious, he stormed out of the room and returned to the common area.

“Sorry, kid,” Penelope explained when she saw him, “the dorm assignments were made ahead of time, and there aren’t any extra spots.”

“There are seven new students in Ravenclaw this year,” she continued. “We have one four-person room and one three-person room. Unless you can find someone willing to swap with you, there’s nothing I can do.”

Damn it all!

This must be some kind of Merlin’s curse!

Aemon’s already bad mood took another sharp nosedive.

This wasn’t at all like the wonderful Hogwarts life his father had promised him!

After a long period of hesitation, Aemon ultimately didn’t have the nerve to go around asking unfamiliar classmates to switch with him. Explaining why he wanted to move would have been both awkward and troublesome.

Forget it.

Looking on the bright side, at least two other normal people shared the dormitory. Besides, being so close to Dawn would only make it easier for him to surpass him later.

Trying to console himself, Aemon trudged back to the dormitory, threw himself onto his bed, and pulled the covers over his head to sleep.

…..

Time passed quietly.

At the break of dawn, as the sky was just starting to lighten, Dawn opened his eyes and climbed out of bed.

He rarely slept in unless he had stayed up excessively late. Normally, he woke up around six out of habit.

The dormitory was still quite dark.

After getting dressed and using °Scourgify° to freshen himself up, he grabbed the cage by his bed, picked up his toad, and stepped out of the room.

It was Sunday, meaning there were no classes scheduled.

Surprisingly, the common room already had quite a few people milling about.

Judging by their age, they were likely fifth-years preparing for their O.W.L.s and seventh-years for their N.E.W.T.s.

Even though the school year had only just started, Ravenclaw was filled with students obsessed with academic achievement — it was no surprise that hard-core studiers were everywhere.

Dawn looked around at the scene, giving a slight, emotionless smile.

Personally, he disliked the idea of cramming knowledge purely for the sake of exams and certificates.

But it didn’t concern him. Let them do as they pleased.

Leaving through the common room door, Dawn first took careful note of the magic circuits around the bronze eagle knocker.

After grabbing a quick breakfast in the Great Hall on the first floor, he decided to spend the day exploring the castle. Even though he knew the story, he was still curious to see this magical place for himself.

And along the way, he planned to find a spot to test the strange potions he had brought, to see exactly what they did.

…

Climbing the endlessly shifting staircases, Dawn matched important locations to his memories.

For example—

On the first floor, besides the Great Hall, there was Madam Pomfrey’s infirmary.

The second floor held Professor McGonagall’s office and the entrance to Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom — a bathroom that concealed the passage to the Chamber of Secrets, where a thousand-year-old basilisk still lurked.

The third floor was home to the Trophy Room, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, and the professor’s office.

On the fourth-floor corridor, there was a one-eyed witch statue. Behind it lay a secret passageway leading to Honeydukes in Hogsmeade.

Apart from that, Dawn also spotted a dark corridor on the right side of the fourth floor, ending with a mysterious door.

That was where Dumbledore had hidden the Philosopher’s Stone — the very spot he had warned students to avoid during the opening feast.

Dawn didn’t pry further, only wondering if the three-headed dog had already been stationed inside, before moving on. At his current level of Occlumency, he didn’t want too much direct interaction with Dumbledore yet.

Even though he knew the headmaster wouldn’t casually use Legilimency on students, it was still better to keep a safe distance.

The stairs twisted and rotated, carrying Dawn up to the fifth floor.

Here, he found what he was most excited for — the massive Hogwarts Library.

Thousands upon thousands of bookshelves, holding nearly every book ever written in the wizarding world, stretched out before him. Beyond that was the even more dangerous and enticing Restricted Section.

Dawn stood at the entrance, gazing in.

This was probably where he would spend most of his next seven years.

At that moment, not far from the library, he spotted Hermione Granger with her hair as messy as ever.

“Hey! I knew you’d come here too!” Hermione said excitedly, speaking so fast her words almost tumbled over each other.

“Since we’ve finished the first-year textbooks, what should we read next? Do you have any recommendations? Want to see who can memorize faster? You’re ahead for now, but I’m not planning to stay behind forever!”

Finding out that Dawn was also Muggle-born had only made her even more determined not to lose to him.

“Sorry,” Dawn interrupted. “Today I’m mainly trying to familiarize myself with the castle and find the different classrooms. I’m not planning to go into the library yet.”

“Eh?”

Hermione blinked, looking conflicted.

On one hand, she knew Dawn was right — as students, it made sense to get to know the castle first. She herself was very curious about the castle too.

But on the other hand, with all these magical books so close, she found it nearly impossible to resist.

Thinking back to how Dawn had casually mentioned yesterday that he had read more books than all of them combined, Hermione made her decision.

She would stay here.

There was no time to waste if she wanted to catch up!

“By the way, Miss Granger,” Dawn called back as he was about to leave, “do you know a first-year in your house named Neville Longbottom? Could you introduce me?”

“Neville?”

Hermione was a little surprised that Dawn would take the initiative to meet someone.

But remembering Neville’s clumsiness, she quickly became wary. “Did he offend you somehow?”

“Tsk, you think too much,” Dawn sighed. “I’m just a little curious about him and thought it’d be quicker since you know him. If you’re not willing, it’s fine — I’ll find him myself.”

He turned away, waving a casual goodbye.

…

Hogwarts was fascinating. Even the endlessly moving staircases, though annoying, felt amusing when encountered for the first time.

Along the way, many portraits greeted him.

There was a richly adorned woman who kept showing off her voluptuous figure, and a boy in a straw hat endlessly sowing herbs into the soil.

One encounter stood out.

When passing a portrait of an old, white-haired wizard surrounded by scattered notes — a wizard who had apparently gone to the Muggle world to study mathematics — Dawn paused to ask him a few questions about math.

As expected, the wizard didn’t understand anything.

Soon after, Dawn reached the eighth floor.

After circling around a bit, he easily found the famous tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet.

•The Room of Requirement•

You only needed to walk past it three times while focusing on what you needed, and it would transform into whatever room you desired.

This was Dawn’s main destination today.

_______________

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