Hogwarts: Transmigrated as the Top Student

The first week at Hogwarts passed uneventfully.

Strictly speaking, Hogwarts was indeed an exceptional wizarding school. The professors teaching the core subjects were all highly skilled and powerful adult wizards (with the exception of Defense Against the Dark Arts). Students were well taken care of in terms of food and accommodation, making life here quite comfortable. The Hogwarts library was also one of the largest in Europe, housing nearly ten thousand books of various kinds...

Perhaps the only real complaint was the complicated and troublesome staircases.

There were a total of 142 staircases at Hogwarts. Some were wide and grand, others narrow and shaky. Some changed their destinations every Friday, and some had vanishing steps halfway up—you had to remember exactly where to jump...

Still, the staircases were understandable.

After all, when Hogwarts was first established, it wasn't just meant to be a school—it was also designed as a fortress.

Before the 10th century, Muggles (ordinary people) greatly feared magic and freely persecuted wizards in witch hunts. Young witches and wizards, without proper education, had little power to defend themselves. And it wasn't just Muggles—magical creatures like goblins, giants, and werewolves were also watching the wizarding world, waiting for a chance to strike.

That's why Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin built this castle—not just as a school to educate young wizards, but also as a fortress to protect them from persecution.

The countless secret passages and complex staircases were built to defend the school and safeguard its students from future invasions.

Unfortunately, Jon didn't have the Marauder's Map (the Weasley twins had it now), and with the Basilisk about to start roaming Hogwarts at night... he couldn't explore the school's secrets, even though he really wanted to.

Exploring Hogwarts wasn't easy. Argus Filch, the caretaker, may have been a Squib, but he knew more about the school's secret passages than most students. And with his sharp, clever cat, Mrs. Norris, keeping watch, trying to break school rules in their presence was incredibly risky.

...

In addition to the four main classes—Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, and Potions (each held three times a week)—every Wednesday night, Jon and his classmates followed Professor Aurora Sinistra to observe the stars through telescopes and study the names of constellations and the movements of planets.

...

History of Magic took place on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, taught by a ghost, Professor Binns. His lectures were so monotonous and dull that they made people drowsy...

Still, Professor Binns' knowledge of magical history was astonishing. Jon had once asked him a few questions in class about the International Statute of Secrecy (1689), and Binns answered without even pausing to think.

From his old-fashioned clothes, Jon even suspected that he might have lived in the same era as the four founders.

...

Thursday morning's flying class was Jon's least favorite. It was shared between Hufflepuff and Slytherin.

After that first lesson, Jon realized just how bad he was at anything Quidditch-related.

It took him nearly ten minutes just to get his broom to rise into his hand... and during flight, if it hadn't been for Madam Hooch's quick reflexes, he might've ended up crashing straight into the castle.

Zacharias Smith was the top student in flying class. From Thursday afternoon on, he spent half an hour at every meal boasting about how amazing flying felt and how he was certain he'd replace Cedric Diggory as Hufflepuff's Seeker by second year.

Jon, on the other hand, ranked near the bottom of the class in flying—probably his worst subject overall.

The only consolation was that Astoria's performance was about the same as his. Once she was on a broom, she was just as grounded as he was—more of a "land bird" than anything airborne.

Still, that didn't stop Jon from criticizing the rules of Quidditch.

Other players worked themselves to the bone to score 10 points at a time, while a Seeker caught the Snitch for 150 points and instantly ended the game... How was that fair? One side could fight hard all match, only for the other team's Seeker to grab the Snitch and flip the result in seconds. Sure, imbalance between positions was normal in sports, but this was just ridiculous.

And what's with the scoring system? Both 10 and 150 are multiples of 10. In a hundred years of Quidditch, you'd never see a single-digit score. So why not just call them 1 point and 15 points? Why tack on the zero? It's pure agony for someone with OCD.

But then again, it made sense. The Seeker role was practically made for The Chosen One:

No need for close combat, so strength didn't matter—skinny players could handle it fine. One Seeker was the heart of the team, the center of attention. If your broom or Bludger had a problem, the two Beaters would drop everything and act as your personal bodyguards. And on top of all that, the Seeker got to be the lone hero—one guy carrying six others to victory. Even if the whole team was hopeless, the Seeker could still win the match with a single move...

...

As for the most ridiculous class at Hogwarts, that title easily went to Professor Gilderoy Lockhart's Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons.

Technically, Defense Against the Dark Arts was supposed to be one of the core subjects with three classes a week... but Professor Lockhart had turned all three into a complete joke.

During his first class with the second years, Lockhart had been humiliated by a pack of Cornish Pixies... By the time the first-years had their class on Wednesday morning, there wasn't even any practical content left.

Instead, Lockhart simply pulled out a stack of test papers and handed them to the stunned first-years:

What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?

What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?

What do you think is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement?

What type of woman does Gilderoy Lockhart like best?

And so on—for three whole pages.

The final question was:

When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday? What is his ideal birthday gift?

As he filled out the quiz, Jon couldn't help but feel sorry for the older students who'd have to take OWLs and NEWTs. Their Defense Against the Dark Arts scores were probably going to be a disaster.

Half an hour later, Lockhart collected the test papers and started grading them on the spot.

"Well done, Mr. Hart! You actually remembered that my favorite color is lilac," Lockhart said excitedly. "This paper gets a perfect score... Five points to Hufflepuff!"

"This counts?" Zacharias, sitting next to Jon, shot him a doubtful look.

"Are you a fan of Professor Lockhart too?" a dreamy-eyed Hufflepuff girl, whose name Jon didn't know, asked him with a lovestruck expression.

"Uh... I guess you could say that..." Jon shrugged.

Skimming through Lockhart's "works" and memorizing his narcissistic personal trivia hadn't taken much time.

And to be fair, Lockhart wasn't entirely useless—Jon already had a plan forming in his mind.

As he sat there thinking, he did his best to look like an eager student, listening to Lockhart's boring bragging.