After an embarrassing entrance, in the end, the professor took pity on us and, with a huff, allowed us to take our seats.
When we took our seats, the professor coughed softly and began:
"As I was saying... Although, well, given that some seem to have been absent, I will explain it again."
Ron, Harry, and I quickly lowered our heads.
"Transfiguration is one of the most complex and dangerous magics you will learn at Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall, her severe gaze sweeping across the class, and then she continued: "Anyone who wastes time in my class will have to leave and will not be able to return. You have been warned."
Then, before our astonished gaze, she transformed a desk into a pig and then returned it to its original form.
Everyone was very impressed and couldn't contain their eagerness to begin performing magic.
This time, not only the Muggle-born students but also those from wizarding families.
Everyone was equal, although, of course, those from wizarding families might be more familiar with magic in their daily lives.
Apart from knowledge, they were not superior to the others, as it was also their first time doing magic.
After all, it is forbidden until eleven for a young wizard to carry a wand.
But, they soon realized that they had rejoiced too soon.
Because it would be a long time before they could transform furniture into animals, just as Professor McGonagall had done.
Magic was not simply waving a wand and saying 'words'. This fact surprised Leo a lot, especially when he had to make a large number of complicated notes.
He looked at the ceiling with an empty gaze.
'How is this different from a Muggle class?'
He looked sideways and saw Harry and Ron with a similar look of boredom and frustration.
And soon he felt his heart stabilize, that is, of course, until he turned his gaze towards Hermione, who was engrossed in her work, her parchment full of absolutely incomprehensible letters and drawings.
'Haaaah'
He looked back at the ceiling, but this time doubting life...
When everyone finally finished writing and listening attentively to her words, the professor nodded softly, satisfied. But, suddenly, she saw Leo looking at the ceiling and felt her blood boil.
"Mr. Jackson!!"
Leo only felt a blow to his forehead and the stifled laughter of the class. He saw the professor staring at him and scratched his head, embarrassed.
Soon, on his desk, he saw a match. Apparently, that was what had hit him.
Ending with this small interruption, the professor, with a gentle movement of her hand, gave each one a match to try to turn it into a needle.
But, at the end of the class, only Hermione Granger managed to make any change to the match.
Professor McGonagall showed everyone how it had become silvery and pointed, and gave the girl an exceptional smile, full of pride and approval, even adding five points to Gryffindor.
Before ending the first class, the professor gave us one last reminder.
"Remember that magic is not a game. You can practice as you wish, but never try to use Transfiguration on your own body or that of others... Well, that's all for today."
And so ended my first foray into magic. The only good thing was that, being the first class, the professor didn't assign homework.
...
When the professor left, I gathered everything from my desk and put it in my backpack.
Then, Harry and Ron approached my desk, their faces showing a mixture of relief and tiredness.
"Finally, the class is over, I couldn't stand it for another second. Look, my hands hurt from so much writing," said Ron, showing his red and slightly trembling hands.
"That's right. At first, I was nervous because I didn't know if I would be able to catch up," added Harry. "I felt very relieved to discover that I wasn't much further behind than the others."
"I don't know about the others, but you'll certainly not fall behind with Ron here."
"That's right Harry, that's what friends are for..."
"Hey Leo!?"
Harry and I laughed in unison; Ron definitely wasn't the smartest.
But soon, an embarrassing sound interrupted us.
"Grrrrrgh." x3
We looked at each other and quickly understood what they meant.
"First of all, how about we eat something?" Leo suggested with a smile.
"I agree," said Ron, touching his stomach with a gloomy expression.
Harry remained silent, but he obviously agreed.
...
Everyone else had left the classroom, and only we remained. We soon left and, with the help of directions, managed to find the Great Hall.
We still got lost on the way, but luckily, we found it without many problems.
It was already midday, and many students were having lunch. I must say that Harry was really very famous.
As we walked, almost all the attention was directed at him. In fact, with him beside me, almost nobody noticed me, which was pleasant.
But when we were about to sit down, we found a problem.
Well, I was from Slytherin and they were from Gryffindor, so we couldn't sit together.
When I was about to say goodbye and sit at the other table, Harry pulled me by the arm naturally, and we sat down in a somewhat empty corner.
"I really don't understand who designed the passageways of this school..." Harry said helplessly.
"I understand what you mean, walls that pretend to be doors..." said Ron, and Leo continued: "It's also difficult to remember where everything is; it seems like things change places continually. The people in the portraits keep visiting each other, so you can't guide yourself by them."
"Speaking of that, I'm sure the suits of armor can walk; this morning, one turned to look at me, I was so scared that I ran away." said Harry.
We chatted for a while until we realized that the food hadn't appeared.
"Speaking of that, I heard about this from my brothers; apparently, you have to stand up and shout out loud what you want for it to appear." Ron said with complete confidence.
Harry and I looked at him confused.
"Ron, I don't think..." Harry wanted to warn Ron to be careful, remembering how his brothers had lied to him about the entrance exam, he didn't think he was very reliable.
But it was too late...
"I WANT A STEAK WITH LOTS OF POTATOES AND RICE!!!"
Harry and I felt embarrassed seeing how everyone in the dining hall stared at us.
But in the end, it worked, and what Ron asked for was served to him.
Ron smiled triumphantly and looked at us with pride. Even Harry hesitated, and when he was about to stand up too, I grabbed him by the sleeve and slowly shook my head.
Harry apparently understood, and I slowly said: "I want chicken and rice with soup to go with it."
"It won't work if you don't shout it..." Ron said smugly until he saw what I asked for appear on the table.
Harry "..."
Ron "..."
Leo "..."
...
After a small incident, we all ordered our lunches and soon we were eating as if nothing had happened.
But I felt like a pincushion; I could feel the hostile stares of many Gryffindors and the disdainful look of Slytherins.
Apparently, Ron and Harry weren't aware of this.
I suppose it was rare for a Slytherin to hang out with Gryffindors, and even more so to sit at their common table.
After all, although we are all Hogwarts students, we are definitely from different houses and natural enemies.
Just when I felt that the stares were becoming more intense, two twins appeared and grabbed Ron by the shoulders while holding a smile.
"Well George, look who we found." said Fred.
"Our dear younger brother Ronald." said George while poking him with a finger.
"You bastards! Fred! George! You tricked me!" said Ron fiercely while trying to push them away but obviously was too weak against the power of his older brothers.
"What do you mean? You know something Fred."
"I don't know what he means George."
"Maybe it's when we told him that troll bogies were ingredients in chocolate frogs..."
"Or when we made him believe he could fly..."
Ron quickly covered their mouths with a swift movement of his hands.
If he didn't stop them, who knows what else they could reveal.
"Or maybe he's referring to this, George," said the latter as he pulled out a camera.
"I think so, Fred," said George before putting on a conspiratorial smile.
"You guys!!!..."
The twins started laughing while constantly teasing Ron.
When they got bored of teasing him, they turned to Harry and me.
"By the way, Harry, you really impress us, managing to get a Slytherin to eat at the Gryffindor table," said George.
"This must be a rare event in a century," said Fred amusedly.
"Huh?" Harry was a little confused until he saw my emerald robe.
"Ah!" x2
At that moment, both Ron and Harry remembered that I was from Slytherin.
"Right, you were chosen for Slytherin," Ron said distractedly.
Harry soon apologized to me upon noticing how the Gryffindors were looking at us strangely.
"I'm sorry, Leo, for some reason I forgot you were from Slytherin."
"It's okay," I said calmly; after all, it all happened so smoothly that they apparently ignored this matter.
"By the way, Leo, Harry and I were very surprised that you joined Slytherin, that place full of villains and evil and cunning people... Of course, I don't mean you," Ron said quickly so that I wouldn't misunderstand him.
"Anyway, I think the hat definitely made a mistake this time..." Ron muttered.
"Never, the hat never makes mistakes, dear brother," replied George, as he and his twin curiously looked at Leo.
Soon they approached and introduced themselves.
"Nice to meet you, Leo. I'm George, and he's Fred."
"Nice to meet you, Leo. I'm Fred, and he's George." Both brothers said in unison.
In the end, Leo still couldn't tell who was who, but that wasn't the most important thing.
"The pleasure is mine. I've heard a lot about you," Leo commented with a meaningful tone.
"Did you hear that, Fred? We're already so well-known, even among first-years!" George exclaimed with a satisfied smile.
"That seems to be the case, George." Fred nodded beside him, pleased.
'How could I not know them? The first time I entered Diagon Alley, they wouldn't stop talking about their pranks.' Leo thought.
"We like you, kid! If you ever want to play some pranks, look for us! We're undoubtedly the best at it." said Fred.
"Especially if it's about playing pranks on Filch and his cat, Mrs. Norris!" continued George.
"I will, don't worry," replied Leo.
Suddenly, there was an explosion, and two third-year Slytherin students were sprayed with a foul-smelling gas.
"Although we'd like to keep talking to you..." George casually commented.
"I'm afraid we have to run. Goodbye!" said Fred before grabbing his brother and running away.
"WEASLEY!!!"
...
When all this was over, Harry and I were laughing; the only one still annoyed by his brothers was Ron.
"Your brothers are great, Ron," I said sincerely.
"Seriously? Do you want them? I'll give them to you, they're very annoying," he muttered, still angry, as he stuffed a large piece of steak into his mouth.
And so we finished our lunch peacefully.
...
Time passes quickly when you're having fun.
Classes this week have been very entertaining.
Every Wednesday we had to study the night sky with our telescopes and learn the names of the different stars and the movements of the planets.
It was one of my favorite classes because there wasn't much reading to do, and I always felt calm while contemplating the vast night sky.
Three times a week we had classes in the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a small, plump witch called Professor Sprout.
In those classes, we learned to care for all kinds of strange plants and fungi, as well as to discover what they should be used for.
However, the most boring, tedious, and hateful subject was History of Magic, the only class taught by a ghost.
Unlike other teachers who explained with their own words and experiences for the students to take notes, Professor Binns spoke monotonously while filling a large blackboard with names and dates, saturating it to the point of no return with numbers and letters.
Leo was sure that rather than talking, he was performing some kind of sleep enchantment. Even the diligent Ms. Granger couldn't resist until the end.
Professor Flitwick, from the Charms class, was a tiny wizard who had to climb on a few books to see over his desk.
At the beginning of the first class, he took out the list, and when he got to Harry's name, he squeaked with excitement and disappeared from view.
However, according to some older students I overheard, he was incredibly strong in magical duels, even becoming a dueling champion, and apparently, a large number of trophies in his office confirm this.
The class everyone was most looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Professor Quirrell's lessons turned out to be almost a joke.
His classroom had a strong, unpleasant smell of garlic, and he always stammered when explaining something.
Leo wondered how someone so shy managed to become a professor, especially of this subject.
The last class of that week was Potions, taught by Professor Severus Snape.
Potions classes were taught in a dungeon, creating a damp and gloomy atmosphere.
Although these lessons were complicated, Professor Snape seemed to have a strong aversion to the textbook and always explained everything in his own words.
This was, without a doubt, a great relief for Leo.
Although some complained about Snape's personality, and well, Leo couldn't deny it; he had experienced his cynicism firsthand when he went to collect his school supplies in Diagon Alley.
To his good luck and Harry's bad luck, Snape seemed to have a certain resentment towards him... well, maybe more than that.
But thanks to that, with the great magnet of hatred 'Harry,' as long as he didn't do anything stupid, Leo wouldn't have to deal with the consequences.
As for relieving some of the pressure on Harry, he could only apologize; he had already seen the examples of Ron and Hermione.
Ron, simply for sitting next to Harry, was in the line of fire, and the little know-it-all was hurt because she jumped into the middle of the shooting.
Leo was an intelligent soldier and would never give his life to the enemy so easily.
Although I must admit it was fun to see them deduct points from Hermione and her cute reaction... I think I digressed.
During that week, Leo not only studied as much as he could; he even asked Harry to read some books aloud that he found difficult to understand.
He also tried to follow Harry's advice to ask Hermione for help, but in the end, he ended up being rejected.
Apparently, she had some kind of aversion to him... so it was a waste of time.
Of course, Leo never neglected his physical training or his fencing practice.
Although he currently felt he hadn't progressed at all, he knew that small things can create big changes.
With that mentality, every afternoon he went to the Black Lake to practice with his sword and, when he could no longer, he tried to use his water control as best as possible.
Every night he also secretly left the dormitories to explore the hiding places and paths of the castle.
So much so that on Friday he managed to get to breakfast on time for the first time.
Once familiar with the castle, he stopped exploring.
Although it had many secrets, it was too big to know everything.
It was true that he was relaxing lately; sometimes he even forgot the imminent danger that loomed over his head.
There were times when he just wanted to close his eyes and let himself go, enjoying himself like any other student at Hogwarts, but he always forced himself to remember the helplessness he felt the first time he faced a monster.
Another thing that surprised him was that Malfoy and his gang of misfits didn't look for trouble this week.
Leo simply went in and did his thing, just like Malfoy; they ignored each other.
Leo was sure that Malfoy was still not satisfied with what happened on the first day, but he seemed to be overthinking; his persuasion had really worked.
He and Slytherin had formed a relationship where they both ignored each other and pretended not to exist.
Even the Gryffindors already saw it as normal for Leo to be sitting in the dining hall with them.
...
Hey readers! I know I've been AWOL longer than socks in a washing machine, but I have great news! Only 39 days left of military service! 🥳
In the meantime, I'm here, battling guard duty and sleep deprivation to bring you more chapters. What do you think so far? Do you want me to finish it? Let me know!
I promise that once I escape the army's clutches, chapters will arrive more frequently than spam emails in your inbox. 😉
Sorry for the wait to those of you who are eagerly anticipating more. I know the wait has been long!
I wrote this chapter in a bit of a rush, so please forgive any stumbles! Your feedback is invaluable! Tell me what you think, if there's anything to improve… anything goes!
Reviews, comments, applause, celebratory dances… everything is welcome! Thank you for your support, brave readers! Love from your humble (and almost free) author! 🙌