Chapter 25: Hogwarts, Please Graduate Soon, Ch 25
Following the style of the common lounge, the Hufflepuff dormitory is equally spacious and warm.
In the nearly 100-square-meter room, there are four beds, separated by a desk and wardrobe in the middle, providing sufficient personal space for everyone.
At the final allocation of dormitories, because there was one less person, Wayne's dorm only has three boys.
Their luggage had been delivered to their beds by the house-elves, and the boys started unpacking, washed up briefly, and lay down on their beds for a chat.
First up was self-introduction.
"My name's Norman Sherlock." The blonde boy closest to the door enthusiastically introduced himself: "My family are all ordinary people; my dad's a schoolteacher, and my mom's a real estate agent. When I received the acceptance letter, I thought it was a prank."
"The next day, Professor Flitwick came to our house. At first, my mom thought he was a disabled beggar and gave him five pounds."
"But later, Professor Flitwick used a spell to conjure a wild bull out of nowhere and made it float around my house. Then they finally believed."
At this point, Norman's eyes sparkled.
Once he learned that trick, wouldn't his family never run out of beef?
"We're not that different," said the black-haired boy sleeping between Wayne and Norman, who introduced himself as Toby Brown.
"My family is mixed; my mom is a witch."
Norman curiously asked, "But that means you're half-blood, right? How can you say we're similar?"
"To hide her identity, my mom never used magic in front of us," Toby explained: "When we got the letter from the owl, my dad thought it was a scam, while my mom insisted it was all real."
"But when Dad asked her to prove it, she couldn't find her wand because she hadn't used magic in so long."
"In the end, it was Professor McGonagall who came, and that's when my dad finally believed."
"Ahem!"
Norman burst into laughter, causing Wayne, who was taking a sip of water, to choke.
What a peculiar situation.
"What about you, Wayne? Are you half-blood or Muggle-born?" Toby asked.
Wayne didn't need to introduce himself; the peculiar happenings in the common room and the lengthy allocation process had made every little wizard remember his name.
"I was born into a Muggle family; my reaction when I received the acceptance letter was pretty similar to yours—nothing special."
Wayne briefly mentioned his background but didn't elaborate on his family.
It was getting late, so the three agreed to wait in the lounge for Cedric to show them around in the morning, and the dormitory fell back into silence.
It was clear that both of his roommates were easy to get along with, the only downside being that Toby snored when he slept.
However, Wayne was not bothered by that.
"Silent as a whisper."
Without even taking out his wand, Wayne simply waved his hand casually, silencing Toby for about three to five hours.
[Sneak Attack on Roommate, Points +5]
???
Alright, alright, so this is how we're playing, huh?
You want to sneak attack? Fine, as long as I get points.
....
On September 2nd, the first official day of school.
Wayne woke up naturally at seven o'clock, gave each of his two roommates a light shove, and once they were washed up, they headed to the common lounge.
Not long after, Cedric appeared, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
At that moment, only the four of them were in the common lounge, and when it came to slacking off, Hufflepuffs took it seriously.
Very few people left the dormitory until the last moment, and those who did headed straight to the Great Hall for food.
"Let's go get breakfast first, then grab our schedules. I'll give you a tour," Cedric said.
The three of them slipped out of the passage and soon arrived at the Great Hall.
One of the perks of staying in the basement was the short distance to the cafeteria; most of the classrooms were also on the lower floors, saving a lot of time compared to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.
It was not yet eight o'clock, and there were very few little wizards in the Hall. The Gryffindor table had only one new student, Hermione.
Seeing Wayne, she waved to greet him.
Wayne walked over.
"I'm going to follow Cedric to find my way around. Would you like to come along?"
"Sure!" Hermione replied cheerfully.
Having read "Hogwarts: A History," she knew how tricky the school's staircases could be.
The reason she woke up so early was to have time to familiarize herself with the castle.
They chatted for a bit before Wayne returned to the Hufflepuff table for breakfast.
Compared to the lavish spread of the previous day, today's breakfast was much simpler.
There were baked potatoes, bread, sausages, bacon, eggs, beans, and drinks like milk and various juices, along with hot cocoa.
Wayne grabbed a couple of slices of bread, spread some mayonnaise on them, added a few pieces of bacon and egg, and made a simple sandwich.
Not long after sitting down, a parchment schedule appeared in front of him.
The first-year little wizards had eight courses this year: Potions, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Herbology, Astronomy, and Flying Lessons.
Among these, Astronomy and Flying Lessons only met once a week, with Astronomy being scheduled for the evening.
The remaining six courses had two to three classes each week, with each class lasting fifty minutes.
Wayne's schedule for this semester had no classes on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, and counting the weekends, he mostly had an even split between classes and breaks, making it quite manageable.
After a while, the twins arrived in the Great Hall.
They scanned the room and, upon spotting Wayne, marched over with an air of confrontation, looking like they were ready to demand answers.
"Wayne, how dare you come out!"
Glancing at the passage behind the main guest table, Wayne's demeanor shifted as he curiously questioned:
"Why wouldn't I dare? You were the ones who tricked me with Cedric."
Fred smirked: "We only told you what to say; who told you to inform the other little wizards?"
"I didn't know you were lying," Wayne replied defensively.
"Stop pretending, Wayne," George grimaced: "I could tell right away you weren't being honest."
"The pranks have always been my and Fred's thing; I've never been the one to get played."
Wayne feigned a frightened expression: "What are you guys going to do? Aren't you afraid I'll tell Professor McGonagall?"
Fred scoffed, "What good would it do if you told even Professor Dumbledore? Can you find any evidence?"
"Mr. Lawrence can't, but I can!"
A frigid female voice came from behind the twins, freezing the smiles on Fred and George's faces.
It shifted to Wayne's face.
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