Carrying over the cozy, spacious style of the Hufflepuff common room, the dormitory followed the same design philosophy.
The room was nearly a hundred square meters with four beds separated by desks and wardrobes in the middle, ensuring each student had plenty of personal space.
Due to an uneven number of students, Wayne's dorm ended up with only three boys.
The house-elves had already delivered their luggage to their respective beds. After quickly unpacking and washing up, the boys lay down and started chatting from bed.
The first order of business: introductions.
"My name's Norman Sherlock," said the blond boy in the bed closest to the door, clearly excited.
"My family's all Muggles. My dad's a schoolteacher, and my mum's a real estate agent. When I first got the acceptance letter, we thought it was a prank."
"The next day, Professor Flitwick showed up. At first, my mum thought he was a disabled beggar and gave him five pounds!"
"But then Flitwick used a spell to summon a wild bison out of thin air and made it float and fly around the house. That's when they finally believed."
Norman's eyes sparkled with excitement as he spoke.
Once he learned that spell, he figured they'd never run out of beef at home again.
"We're not too different," said the dark-haired boy lying between Wayne and Norman. His name was Toby Brown.
"My family's half-and-half. My mum's a witch."
Norman asked curiously, "Then aren't you a half-blood? How are we similar?"
"To hide her identity, my mum never used magic around us," Toby explained.
"When the owl delivered my letter, my dad thought it was a scam. But my mum insisted it was real."
"When he asked her to prove it, she realized she hadn't used her wand in so long she couldn't remember where she'd put it."
"In the end, it was Professor McGonagall who came and convinced my dad."
"Ahem!"
Norman burst into laughter. Wayne, who had been sipping water, nearly choked.
What a bunch of oddballs.
"What about you, Wayne? Are you Muggle-born or half-blood?" Toby asked.
Wayne didn't need much introduction. His performance in the side hall and that unusually long Sorting Hat ceremony had already made sure every first-year knew his name.
"I'm from a Muggle family too. My reaction to the letter was probably the same as yours—nothing special."
Wayne kept it brief and didn't go into his family background.
It was getting late. The three of them agreed to meet in the common room early the next morning, where Cedric would guide them around. The dorm soon fell quiet.
Both roommates seemed like the easy-going type. The only issue? Toby snored.
But that was no problem for Wayne.
"Silencio."
He didn't even bother with a wand—just waved his hand casually and muted Toby. The effect would last a good three to five hours.
[Stealth-cast on roommate: +5 points]
Alright, alright. If you say it's a sneak attack, sure—just keep giving me points.
September 2nd, the official first day of classes.
Wayne woke naturally around 7 a.m., slapped each of his roommates awake, and after washing up, the trio headed to the common room. They didn't have to wait long—Cedric showed up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
At this hour, the common room was empty aside from the four of them. Hufflepuffs really did take relaxation seriously.
No one left the dorm until the last possible minute, and even then, they headed straight to the Great Hall to eat.
"Let's go," Cedric yawned. "We'll grab breakfast, get your schedules, and I'll give you a quick tour."
They exited the passage and soon arrived at the Great Hall.
That was the perk of living in the basement—quick access to the dining hall, and most of the classrooms were on the lower floors too. It saved tons of time compared to Gryffindor or Ravenclaw.
It wasn't even 8 a.m. yet, so the hall was still mostly empty. At the Gryffindor table, the only first-year present was Hermione.
When she saw Wayne, she gave him a little wave.
Wayne walked over to her.
"In a while, I'm going to walk around with Cedric to learn the layout. Do you want to come along?"
"Sure!" Hermione agreed cheerfully.
She had read Hogwarts: A History, so she naturally knew how troublesome the moving staircases could be.
The reason she was up this early was precisely to have some time to get familiar with things.
After a few words, Wayne returned to the Hufflepuff table to eat breakfast.
Compared to yesterday's feast, today's breakfast was much simpler.
There were roasted potatoes, bread, sausages, bacon, eggs, and beans. As for drinks, there was milk, several types of fruit juice, and hot cocoa.
Wayne pulled two slices of bread for himself, spread some egg yolk sauce, added a few slices of bacon and egg, and made a simple sandwich.
Not long after he sat down, a class schedule written on parchment appeared in front of him.
First-year students this year had eight subjects: Potions, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Herbology, Astronomy, and Flying.
Among them, Astronomy and Flying were held only once a week—and Astronomy was at night.
The remaining six classes each had two to three sessions a week, with each session lasting fifty minutes.
Wayne's Wednesday and Thursday afternoons this term were completely free. Counting weekends, his schedule was basically half classes and half free time—pretty relaxed.
After a while, the twins arrived at the Great Hall.
They glanced around, spotted Wayne in the back, and immediately stormed over with aggressive momentum, looking as if they were ready to interrogate him.
"Wayne, you still dare to show your face!"
Glancing toward the passage behind the staff table, Wayne's expression subtly shifted, and he asked in confusion:
"Why wouldn't I dare? Clearly, it was you two and Cedric who tricked me."
Fred sneered, "We only told you. Who told you to go and spread it to the other first-years?"
"I didn't know you were lying."
"Don't play innocent, Wayne." George made a face. "I could tell at a glance you're not the honest type."
"We've always been the ones playing pranks on others—this is the first time we've ever been tricked ourselves."
Wayne put on a scared expression. "What are you two planning? Aren't you afraid I'll tell Professor McGonagall?"
Fred snorted, "Even if you tell Dumbledore himself, what can you do? Do you have any evidence?"
"Mr. Lawrence might not—but I do."
A cold female voice came from behind the twins, instantly freezing the grins on Fred and George's faces.
Then those smiles slowly shifted… to Wayne's.