I could see that she felt bad for saying something rude to me, because knowing my circumstances, these words may hurt my feelings. She is a nice girl with a kind heart.
"Nothing to ask forgiveness for." I smiled at her.
"I..."
"I know you said it without bad intentions, so no need to worry about it! Anyway, how do you feel about school so far."
She visibly relaxed after my words and we started talking about school and she told me interesting things she read. I, being an old wise man, was smart enough to be a good listener, so I got a huge ton of information for free.
Of course, we talked not only about Hogwarts and magic, I asked her where she is from and about her family. Apparently, her family was normal people without magic, or how they call it here - muggles. Her parents were dentists and were living in London. I knew the muggles part but did not know her parents were dentists. They were very accepting of her identity as a witch.
Mostly, she was talking. I was never an active part of the dialog. At some point, I caught myself on the thought that she is really open with a stranger, but then I understood that it is probably a speech buff that makes me look like a very good friend, who she can speak with. It is a great opportunity to actually become her friend!
We spoke for approximately 15 minutes when other people started coming in. When people, started converging, I remembered the problem of the schedule, so I asked Hermione about it.
"Do you know when will we receive the schedule for lessons? Or did I somehow miss it?"
"No, Percy said that Professor McGonagall will distribute it at the breakfast. Which lesson do you want to attend the most?"
"Honestly, all of them. New knowledge is always great, especially this type of knowledge."
'And new skills are even better!'
"I am the same." She answered.
"Since I never knew of this world before coming here, I am very fascinated by every little thing in this school! This is why I enjoy talking with you so much because you told me so many interesting things!"
She reddened a little bit and smiled.
"You are always welcome to talk."
"The first day and already got a friend. I am so happy! When do you think, will we go to the great hall?"
She seemed especially happy when I said about a friend.
I can't stop being fascinated with the power of the very high speech. What will it be like when speech will reach 90 or even 100? Just by saying something casual I will be able to control people around me, huh?
Let's stop dreaming! After all, Hermione is still a kid, so maybe speech works better on her. Can't be sure.
'System, how much more time will buff be in effect?'
[Buff was provided for 24 hours.]
So, it will expend tonight, huh? Well, shouldn't be too greedy here.
"I think after all will be here. Then prefect will lead us there."
"Prefect?"
"Yeah, Percy is a prefect."
"Really? Didn't know about that."
'Who the heck are prefects? Anyway, doesn't matter.'
"First-years! Please come here. Are all first-years here?"
At that moment I heard Percy's shout. Apparently, we will be going out.
We stood up and together went after Percy in line. Once more road till the great hall was confusing, always changing and fascinating.
After some walking, going up and down the stairs, our group has reached the hall and taken a seat at the Gryffindor table. Because I and Granger walked close to each other, we sat together.
Like last time, food magically appeared at the table in a few minutes, but this time I was able to witness it with my own eyes and honestly, I was fascinated, but the matter still remained a mystery to me. Food just appeared on the table. No mystic lights or special sounds. No special effects at all.
Students of older years started converging as well. We had a good breakfast and I have finished my food very fast.
Soon, Professor McGonagall came to give us the schedule of lessons and a map of Hogwarts. The first lesson will be history. After asking the time from nearby people and checking with the schedule I had 3 hours until the first lesson.
I really wanted to go to the library to read some books and check them with the inventory. Maybe just reading them will give some skills or maybe there are some interesting books. Like books of spells or something of a similar sort. Plus, I can read my own books in peace and quiet.
I decided to ask Granger if she wants to go with me and she agreed. To save us time I did something, some kids would consider embarrassing, but to me with adult mentality it was nothing.
I came to senior students and said:
"Hello, my name is Magnus. I am in the first year and want to go to the library, right now. Is anyone of you going to go there, so that we can tag along."
'Show me da way!'
"Well, I am not going there, but one of my lessons will be not far from there, so I can lead you there."
"Thank you very much."
"Name's Oliver Wood, by the way."
"Happy to meet you. I will wait till you finish breakfast and then we can go."
"No need, I will go to the bathroom on our way to quickly go wash my hands."
"That's great cause I also needed to wash my hands."
'And brush my teeth. I mean how can those people eat so much and then just go do some stuff. I always brush my teeth after food. Am I strange here or am I strange overall? Well, whatever.'
** 30 minutes later **
"Thank you very much for leading us here!"
"No problems. See you and have a nice first day."
"Have a nice day as well. See you"
Now I know the approximate road from the hall to the bathroom and then to the library. Why approximate? Because this school changes itself like mad! Stairs move, paintings change, armor walks away, some roads may even disappear! Nothing is certain when it comes to the path in this school.
Anyway, the library was magnificent and had thousands of various books. I picked the first book on the first shelf. It was about wand making. Then I found a place to sit and started reading. Hermione was still looking for something interesting to read and after finding a book she liked she sat near and delved into reading as well.
I read and read. I did not really try hard to understand everything that was written, but I wasn't rushing to finish it either. I was just reading it for the sake of reading and of course as an experiment if reading gives anything.
I did not want to experiment with putting a book into the inventory and checking if I can 'Use' it for now. Who knows what charms put onto the books... Hopefully, later.
I have no idea how much time I spent reading, but soon I heard notification and saw the next message.
『 Studying 15 ➔ 16 』
That is the skill? I will check it in the evening, now it can be a bit risky to stand dazed, looking at skills. I mean, I don't know how I will look at that moment, in the eyes of others. Therefore, I just continued reading.
After reading approximately 70 pages in the book, I decided to check what time it is. I asked my companion if she has a way to check the time.
"I heard 2 bell chimes, so it should be around one hour or a bit more since we have entered the library. Plus, half-an-hour we spent getting here, hour and a half left till the lesson."
Bells! Crap, I did not even pay attention to those sounds going off in distance. My mind does not even consider them useful. After all, as a person who came from an age when time is literally written on everything around you, you become unaccustomed to these old ways of tracking time. Now I need to pay more attention to that.
Anyway, we can read until one more bell chime, then we need to get to the lesson, using the map. Knowing how hard it is to navigate here, we better get earlier, than rush and get lost.
"Then after next bell chime, we can start going to the next lesson. After all, I am unsure of navigating through this school. What do you think?"
"Yeah, I agree. One hour should be enough to get there. Actually, can we borrow books?"
"It is a library, so I think we can. But I will ask, don't worry"
I went and asked the librarian and after many promises, a note and usage of the high speech she permitted borrowing, but we have to return it till vacation. I agreed with that, told Hermione about this and continued reading.
This time I heard, when the bell ringed and told about it to Hermione. Then, we stood up and took books to borrow. She took one book, while I took 3 books out of here. I pick books in order anyway and don't really care about what information they contain.
** 50 minutes later **
Finally, we reached this place and that is only thanks to my companion. Without her, I would have been lost till night probably. Does she have a compass or something?
In any case, history was boring. Plus, ghost teacher for history? And he is still so boring, having all that time behind his shoulders? However, I attentively listened to everything, but mostly we were just memorizing dates, names, and places.
After the lesson, I returned to the library to continue reading with my new friend. She was enchanted by all the lessons it seems, no matter how boring they are. As long as it brings knowledge. She is amazing, indeed.
** In the evening **
『 Wand Making 15 ➔ 16 』
『 Level Up 』
After finishing the first book, I received those 2 notifications. Honestly, this level up was earlier than I expected, but I think I got a new level up so soon because I raised speech so often. So, it seems the higher the skill raises, the more experience it gives out, which makes sense. Harder to get, better the prize.
In any case, I put the book back at its place. And picked my 2 other chosen books with me, before going to the dormitory. Granger decided to finish her studies for today as well, so we both went to rest.
As soon as I got to my room, I locked the door, lied on the bed and said 2 words, I was waiting to say for so long.
'Skills progress'