Soon all the dishes and desserts that appeared later on after the dinner, disappeared. Dumbledore got to his feet and everyone in the hall went silent as they looked at him.
"Ahem — just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.
First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." Dumbledore's gaze slowly drifted towards Weasely twins who just laughed at this notice.
"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.
Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch.
And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third- floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."
Many First-years laughed at this notice, thinking of it as a joke. Hermione looked at Adam who also remained calm so she thought of it as a joke too but then Percy explained how Dumbledore didn't joke about these things and how even Prefects didn't know why this part of the castle was out of bounds this time around.
Adam was happy about the words that Dumbledore had said just now. Now he didn't have to worry about the things that will be happening in his First-year. But he was still a little bit worried about the conversation that he heard in the train. He didn't know what Voldemort wanted to do with those ingredients. He didn't even know what ingredients were in it. He could tell these things to Dumbledore but it would only bring him to the spotlight and Dumbledore will probably have a trip all around in his head.
Hearing Dumbledore's instructions, everyone stood up to sing the school song. Everyone except for First-years were singing loudly and happily. Some students finished it earlier than the most of them while Weasely twins finished it after everyone. After a big round of applause, Dumbledore instructed prefects to take first-years to the dormitory of their respective houses.
Just when everyone was about to get up from the long tables and leave, Professor McGonagall quickly walked up to Dumbledore and whispered something to him. Dumbledore, as if he remembered something, quickly stopped everyone and let them sit for one last and important announcement.
"Before everyone goes back to their dormitory for a comfortable sleep after this delicious feast, I would like to make an announcement. It is very important so I must warn everyone to listen to it with you complete attention." Dumbledore waved his hand and a long letter appeared in front of him. Students could not see what it was so they eagerly waited for Dumbledore to explain. Adam was also eager to hear this thing which was definitely not the part of the original story.
Dumbledore looked at eager faces of all students and continued, "This is the letter that I received from the Ministry of Magic, a week ago. Everyone must be wondering why do I want to tell you about this letter. So I won't keep everyone guessing." He passed over the letter to Professor McGonagall to read.
"To adapt to the changes of the magic and also the wizarding world that appeared after the big event that occurred 70 years ago, Ministry of Magic approves the proposal presented by the current Headmaster of the Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, to establish an additional course lasting for 3 years after the original magical course of 7 years to let the students of the Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry to study and research about the new types of magic that appeared due to the changes of the Wizarding world and its magic.
This additional course will be also considered as an experiment to bring the new changes to the education of the Wizarding World. Since there are still many details and preparation to be made to bring this new evolutionary change, it will only begin after the graduation of the new batch of students of the current year, 1991." Professor McGonagall was interrupted by Dumbledore as she was about to continue reading the letter.
"This should be enough, Minerva." Dumbledore said as his eyes scanned through the hall. First-years were puzzled by this announcement while senior students were unhappy and were making commotion after knowing about these course. Dumbledore said after looking at these faces, "First-years don't need to think too much about this. You can ask your head of the house about this additional course when you are finally acquainted with our school and the real magical world. And also senior students don't need to be unhappy with this news. I know how much everyone loves Hogwarts so I will make sure that you will be able to apply for this additional course, even if you are already graduated from the Hogwarts this year or the years to come."
Everyone cheered loudly for a while but they soon calmed down to listen to Dumbledore's next words,
"This additional course will be teaching you mostly about the combat magic, including body-strengthening magic and advanced elemental magic, which is a new and thorough branch of magic. You will also be taught the new magic that will be researched during the time before the course officially starts. So I hope everyone thinks about it. Currently senior students can not apply so first-years should take this opportunity to apply as soon as you are done thinking, lest there will be a limit to the number of students that can apply for this course." Dumbledore's face turned serious as he continued with his words, "Our world is changing. Not just the wizarding world, even muggle world is having incredible changes. These changes brought us many benefits but you must remember, Nothing is free in this world. When you receive something, you have to pay something in return. Ministry of Magic and many wizarding families doesn't want me to tell you about these things but I will still let you know that The danger brought by that event is slowly encroaching on our world. Sooner or later we must face it. If you want to be safe and protect your family and friends, you must strive to become stronger. So I hope everyone will learn all the things taught by our excellent professors with all their hearts. Now go and have a great sleep. Your first-year timetable will be distributed to you tomorrow morning on your breakfast time."
Everyone was stunned by this news but before they could say something to each other, Dumbledore had already dismissed them.
Percy Weasely, who was the prefect of Gryffindor house led first-years to the dormitory. Along the way Adam wanted to think about this new change but he was constantly interrupted by Hermione and his stomach which felt like it was going to burst. After getting interrupted many times by Hermione, Adam finally decided to postpone this thinking work to tomorrow.
"I heard from Percy that we will have classes from 9 in the morning till 4:30 PM. Lunch is at 1PM. After that we will have assignments to complete. So we won't have that much of a free time." Hermione said worriedly as she walked besides Adam. Adam didn't notice her worried look as he thought about this routine. He didn't know if the timing was changed, in fact he wouldn't even care about it even if it was really changed.
Adam nodded in agreement, "Yeah, but we should still have free weekends so it's not that bad."
"Yes but that's not the point. When will be able to practise magic on weekdays with this kind of schedule? I won't even have enough time to read new books in the library." Hermione complained and continued to ask, "How are you going to manage your usual routine?"
Adam hadn't thought about his school life yet. All he wanted to do right now was to go and sleep before starting his castle exploration early in the morning. He had noticed this new exploration task appearing when he was having fun at the feast. Even without this task, he was still going to look around in the castle anyway. Adam answered Hermione's question vaguely, "I will continue with my exercise when the curfew ends in the morning. Then explore the castle. You can join me too if you want to look around in the castle. As for the practise, we can now use magic in the class so don't worry about the practise. Just go with the flow."
After spending an entire month with Hermione, Adam was not that excited or desperate to be alone with Hermione anymore. His initial excitement had quietened down. Now he wanted to explore castle and make friends if possible, instead of staying all day long in an empty room or library with Hermione. It was not that he did not enjoy her company, he just wanted to look for something more adventurous and if possible take her outside to witness the real world as well.
"But..." Hermione wanted to ask something but she was interrupted by Percy's reminder. He reminded everyone to pay attention to the changing stairs so that they would not lose their way to the dormitory. Everyone paid extra attention to stairs after hearing about the changes in these stairs. Adam was marvelled by the sight of these always changing stairs. Adam could not help but think how these stairs were designed by Rowena Ravenclaw.
Percy brought everyone in front of a portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress.
"Password?" Fat Lady asked as she looked over the new Gryffindor students.
"Caput Draconis." Said Percy, as he turned around to inform first years, "You have to remember this password if you don't want to get locked outside. Password will also change once in a while, Prefects will inform you about the change. You must not let other houses know about our password."
Portrait swung forward, revealing a round hole in the wall. Everyone scrambled through it to reach the Gryffindor common room. This room looked much bigger than the one that Adam had seen in the movies. It was really cozy with many squishy armchairs and even a big sofa near the fireplace.
Adam looked around to find this room quite likeable. It was far better than the room in leaky cauldron so he could manage it even if it was not like his home.
Hermione wanted to ask Adam about something but she failed to do it as Percy directed girls through one door while taking boys through another that led to their respective dormitories. Adam found his bed in a room which was surprisingly shared with Harry Potter and Ron Weasely. Harry wanted to come and talk with Adam but was eventually stopped by Ron. Adam didn't know what was going on between those two but he didn't have the mind to think about them right now.
Adam changed into his pajama and slumped down on his bed. Somehow he felt really tired. Maybe it was because he was in the train all day long or maybe he had just eaten too much in the feast. Adam closed his eyes while thinking about the things that happened today.
Meeting senior Grangers at the station.
Travelling to Hogwarts with Junior Granger.
Meeting and befriending Neville.
Meeting and Helping Harry Potter and Ron Weasely, main characters of the original story.
All of these were normal but then Adam thought about the conversation between Draco and that mysterious person. He knew it was DADA professor Quirinus Quirrell, but he still kept thinking what if it was someone else as he didn't really see that person. He was also wondering what ingredients were there in the package that Draco delivered. He wanted to know what that person wanted to do with the ingredients.
Ofcourse, those ingredients were for a potion but he wanted to know what kind of potion was that and what was the use of the potion that Quirrell wanted to make. Adam even wondered if Snape was the one that was going to make this potion for his old master. Adam didn't really want Snape to be with Voldemort on this task as it would become a real disaster for everyone if Snape was the part of First-year plot.
Adam's thoughts then drifted to the part of Dumbledore's announcement where he told everyone about the establishment of the additional course that will teach them the combat magic and other types of magic. Current Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, would definitely not allow Dumbledore to teach combat magic and other advanced magic in the school if there is no real danger around the wizarding world. How could a coward like him would allow these things to happen when he had clearly thought that Dumbledore used Voldemort as an excuse to gain his position of Minister of Magic in the original story. He was really afraid of Dumbledore forming an army to overthrow him.
These things left Adam wondering about how this world had really changed. He felt really frustrated when he thought about the book that Sophie Greengrass had left for him. It had some things about the event of magical surge but he could only read first 20 pages as Sophie had left same magic on this book which made pages look empty if he had insufficient mental power.
Only thing that let him have some relief was that atleast Voldemort's plot didn't seem to deviate from the original story. Only noticeable difference from the original plot was the conversation that happened in the train between Draco and that unknown person who was most likely Professor Quirrell.
Right side of the third floor was still not available so there was definitely a trial created by professors for Harry Potter to complete. Adam really wanted to try out these trials. He already knew about the Philosopher's Stone so he really wanted to see if he could get it from this trial, even if he could not use it. Adam was sure that Dumbledore won't let him get away with the Philosopher's Stone, so it was not worth the try to steal it but he could atleast see it.
Not knowing when but Adam slowly drifted into a deep sleep. As always he had a strange dream in his sleep which would only appear when he was not under the effect of dreaming potion, he was not able to wake up from this dream no matter how hard he tried. He could only wait for this dream to reach its end which always happened to be in the morning. When he woke up, he couldn't remember anything from the dream. Adam knew dreams like these had a special meaning in the wizarding world. Just like how Harry could see Voldemort and his plans in his dreams. Adam was sure that something similar was going on with him and the only difference he had with Harry was that he was not someone's horcrux and he could not remember these dreams when he wakes up in the morning.
With the similar feeling of not recalling something important, Adam woke up early in the morning. He had created the habit of waking up early in the morning and exercising since the day he had received the Hogwarts admission letter. He even started to meditate with Hermione during their occlumency practise. So now he could not help but try to stay physically and mentally fit which was really helpful for him to practise magic.
Adam changed into his exercising clothes and walked out of his dormitory room. He did not make a single sound as not to wake Harry and Ron up. As soon as he walked down the stairs to the common room, he saw Hermione walking back and forth. He was surprised to see her so early in the morning.
"Good Morning. Did you wake up early? Or were you unable to sleep in this new place? " Adam greeted her and asked. Hermione was startled by his voice but then she relaxed after seeing that it was just Adam.
"Good Morning." Hermione greeted him back with a smile but her eyes did not match with her smiling face at all. Hermione's eyes were bloodshot and swollen. Her hairs were messier than usual, probably because she just woke up from her sleep. Adam subconsciously took a step back looking at her appearance but then he heard Hermione speak, "I can sleep just fine but I am not used to waking up so early in the morning."
"Hermione, I think you should just sleep for a while. Your current appearance might even scare the ghosts to death. Even I died couple of times when you just looked at me with those red swollen eyes." Adam chuckled as he looked at Hermione who started glaring at him, then he asked, "Why did you wake up so early anyways?"
"Didn't you ask me to join you for the exercise when the curfew ends? Curfew is lifted at 6 AM so I've been waiting for you here for 20 minutes. I was even going to leave but then thought of waiting for another 5 minutes." Hermione was angry when she heard Adam's question. She had received this invitation from Adam and now he was asking her why was she waking up so early in the morning. She was waiting for him for so long and now he asks something like this. She was angry. Hermione even wanted to tell him about her habit of not waking up early in the morning yesterday but she didn't get the chance to say it so she reluctantly got up from her bed and came here earlier to wait for Adam as not to make him wait for her. She was really angry at Adam or she was probably just feeling irritated with her lack of sleep.
Adam thought of the words he had exchanged with her after the feast. Thinking about it, he could not help but scratch his head in embarrassment. He clearly meant to ask her to join him only for the castle exploration but she somehow thought that he was asking her to join for the morning exercise. Looking at her angry face, Adam was not sure if he should tell her about this so he listened to her bickering before changing the topic, "Sorry to keep you waiting but are you really going to exercise wearing jeans???"
Hermione was still irritated by her lack of sleep, she replied in angry tone, "I don't have anything to wear for exercise. Only clothing that I have except for jeans and school robes, is my pajamas. You want me to wear them in front of everyone to exercise?!"
Adam felt helpless when he saw irritated-angry look on her face. He was even thinking if he should cancel his plans but she might get even angrier if she hears him cancel the plan. Adam quietly looked at her, thinking what he should do right now. Just then he finally remembered his system.
'Both of us have the same height. Then it should probably work. I can calm her down with this as a gift.' Adam thought to himself before opening his system. He immediately went inside his special points shop and thought of getting new exercise pants for himself, it had 'durable stretchable yoga pants' name in his system. He wasn't sure why names of certain things were so weird in his system, but it was not the time for him to think about this right now. He quickly customised them to fit more properly in the thighs so they would not be too loose for Hermione to wear.
Adam could not change the height of his pants but he could still customize other things to make them more comfortable. He was not sure why his system did not allow him to buy women's clothing but atleast he could still customize them to appear a bit more feminine. He quickly bought these customized yoga pants. He bought two of those so he would not need to make them again in the future if she somehow manages to rip them apart.
"Here! Hermione take these. You can use them for the exercise from now on." Adam handed those newly bought yoga pants to Hermione. After customization, they finally looked like something suitable for girls. He even chose pink and red colour for them. He looked at Hermione to see if her anger calmed down but all he saw was weird look in her eyes. He thought she was still angry so he explained, "I really forgot about our meeting but I am really sorry. You take them as an apology gift. You can be rest assured that they are newly bought, never used."
Hermione's look turned even weirder. She looked silently at Adam for few seconds before asking, "These are yours?"
"Yes, but I never used them since I bought them so you don't worry about it." Adam replied immediately without thinking much about it. Looking at her face, He thought she was probably not that angry anymore but he failed to see what she was thinking in her mind as even in his wildest dream he would not do something that she was thinking about in her mind.
"I think...you should keep them." Hermione said hesitatingly. She looked like she wanted say something but she swallowed those words and stayed silent.
"Come on, Hermione. I never used these so you don't have to worry about it. We don't have time so go back quickly and change." Adam quickly pushed Hermione towards the stairs that led to girls dormitory.
"It's not that, I just..." Hermione hesitated one more time but said it anyways before running towards her dormitory, "...didn't know you had this kind of hobby. I'll be back."
Adam didn't understand it immediately but when he understood what her words meant, he shouted behind her, "I DON'T HAVE THAT KIND OF HOBBY! HERMIONE! TRUST ME, I CAN EXPLAIN. LOOK AT ME, HERMIONE! IT'S A MISUNDERSTANDING!" His shouts got louder as he saw Hermione was about to enter girl's dormitory.
Hermione chuckled as she heard Adam shouting anxiously behind her. She was no longer sleepy and irritated. She turned around and looked at Adam, "Shhhhhhh! You'll wake everyone up." She laughed at Adam as he looked around to see if someone had really heard him before walking through her dormitory door.
For the next few minutes, Adam was blaming his previous life for being inexperienced in conversing and dealing with the girls, when Hermione returned wearing pink yoga pants. Adam quickly walked to her to explain about those pants but he didn't have valid reason as to why he had girly pants with him. Hermione laughed at how anxious Adam looked before finally accepting his words. She still asked him why he had those girly yoga pants but she did not push him when he didn't answer it.
It was already late for Adam's morning exercise which usually started at 5:45AM so he finally decided to take Hermione to look for their classrooms so that they would not be late for classes. They could ask seniors for the directions but Adam wanted to explore the castle so he decided to search those classrooms by themselves. Adam felt really helpless when he thought how these yoga pants were of no use except for creating ridiculous doubt in Hermione's mind. He was even wondering if this girl had read about cross-dressing or something like that in the books. If so then he really wanted to make sure that she never read such ridiculous stories in the future.
They walked around in the castle for a while before finding classrooms for Charms, Transfiguration, History of magic, Defence against the dark arts classes. There were also other classrooms but they were of no use to first-years like them.
It was really confusing for them to walk around in the castle, as there were one hundred and forty two staircases in the castle. Most of them kept changing their positions, while some of them even vanished half way through. Adam even thought of stealing marauder's map from Weasely twins when he and Hermione lost their way couple of times. Atleast it was still a great workout for them to walk in this large castle and climb so many stairs.
As it was already past 7:15AM, Adam stopped their exploration and pulled Hermione to the great hall in hope that no one would be there so early in the morning for the breakfast. Adam was still very energetic as he was exercising everyday for a month now but Hermione who never exercised was not like him and she had already started panting heavily with her body completely covered in sweat. She really wanted to go back to the dormitory for shower so she left Adam alone and ran away.
Adam kept walking towards the Great Hall. Somehow he still felt hungry after eating so much food at the start of the term feast last night.