Ben got up early the next morning. Aquila was missing from her perch, and Ben figured she had gone to the Owlery. He quickly took a bath and went down to the common room.
It was still pretty early, and breakfast didn't start until 7:30 AM, so he decided to check out the Ravenclaw common room in the meantime.
Ben shared the dormitory with five other Ravenclaw boys. He had Terry Boot to his left and Michael Corner to his right. Then there were Stephen Cornfoot, Kevin Entwistle, and Anthony Goldstein. They were all fast asleep when Ben left the room.
Ben still had about an hour before breakfast. There were only a few students in the common room, so he decided to browse through the bookshelves.
He found books from first to seventh year covering the Hogwarts curriculum, along with extra reading material for each year. There were leisure books as well as advanced magical theory books. Some had been added by students, others by the Head of House.
Professor Flitwick added new books each week.
Ben picked up One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi and started reading. He knew Snape was going to be a pain in the arse and prepared accordingly.
After about fifteen minutes, Ben noticed something strange. His brain was soaking up the information like a sponge. At first, he thought he had entered a flow state, but now he thought otherwise.
He had read the book once before at home and had only managed to retain some of it. Now, after reading it once, he seemed to remember nearly ninety percent.
Benedict could think of only one reason for this change.
After the dark mist came out of his chest and he became a Dragonborn, he had noticed a clear shift. Earlier, he had been a mix of an eleven-year-old and a twenty-two-year-old. The two personalities were so tangled that there was no clarity about which one was real.
After that incident, there was a clear separation. He was now a twenty-two-year-old in the body of an eleven-year-old.
His mind felt far more organised, and the change still seemed ongoing. Today his head felt clearer than yesterday.
Perhaps that was the reason for his exhaustion last night.
Ben had first become aware of this change when the Sorting Hat couldn't read his memories. They were now organised and shielded, though his thoughts were still vulnerable, sitting at the front of his mind.
Benedict also noticed a change in his attitude. Earlier, he had still been behaving like a kid.
His feelings towards Thea and Nigel had shifted as well. He still thought of them as his parents, but those memories felt more distant now, much like memories from his previous childhood.
Ben was also puzzled by the abilities of the mist living inside him. He needed to find out the extent of its powers.
After all, it was something capable of ignoring magical laws.
'This is going to make school a lot more bearable this time,' he thought.
Magic wasn't just about waving a stick and muttering gibberish. There was a lot of studying involved.
There was no single solution that worked for every situation in the magical world. Magical energy manifested in infinite ways. Countless unique phenomena were caused by countless forms of magical flora and fauna.
There were all sorts of ways wizards used magic and magical ingredients, and now Ben had to learn them.
Well, he didn't have to. There were plenty of clueless wizards out there.
But Ben wanted to learn it all.
What sort of person goes to a magical world and doesn't want to learn all the magic there is to learn?
No need to answer. Ben wasn't that sort of person.
He wanted to be the very best, like no one ever was.
After about an hour, Ben had gone through a good chunk of the book. Even with a light read, he remembered most of what he had read.
GrumbleGrumble
"I'd better get something to eat."
It was just about time for breakfast when he made his way to the Great Hall. Ben could hear people talking about the boy with the lightning scar on his forehead.
He saw a small crowd gathered outside the hall, waiting for Harry Potter to show up so they could get a close look. Inside, the tables closer to Gryffindor were noticeably more crowded.
'I had almost forgotten how famous Potter was here.'
Ben took his seat and waited for breakfast to be served. Other first-years soon joined him.
When a group of Ravenclaw girls entered the hall, Ben recognised Marietta Edgecombe and waved. She had welcomed him after the Sorting and congratulated him on being in the best house at Hogwarts.
There was a loud commotion when a boy with glasses and a lightning scar entered the hall alongside a tall red-haired boy.
Ben chose to focus on the food that appeared in front of him. Hogwarts food was incredible. It made him wish they had a house-elf at home.
Ben received his first-year timetable during breakfast. He was glad to see he had a free first period.
His first Defence Against the Dark Arts class started at 9:55, giving him plenty of time to find the classroom.
After breakfast, he spent his free time in the first-floor library with his roommates. Later, he accompanied them to the DADA classroom.
A group of Hufflepuffs joined them, having also used their free period to explore the castle. Gryffindors and Slytherins arrived soon after.
Quirrell stammered through the entire lesson, all while giving off a strong smell of garlic.
Next came Charms. Professor Flitwick reminded Ben of a circus dwarf, and the fact that he stood on a stack of books didn't help his image at all.
After lunch, there was a Magical Theory class. Once it ended, Ben went off to explore the castle alone.
Throughout the day, students lingered in the corridors outside classrooms, hoping to catch a glimpse of Harry Potter.
Ben didn't envy the boy's fame in the slightest.
At the end of the day, when Ben returned to his dormitory, Aquila swooped in with a letter from Thea. She complained that he hadn't written to tell them about the Sorting.
Fighting his tiredness, Ben scribbled a brief reply about the day's events. He handed the letter to Aquila and quickly fell asleep.
-End of Chapter-
Edited this chapter and lost most of the comments. Sad. Just leave a comment. It's lonely down there.