Early in the morning, a notice had been posted in the Hufflepuff common room, and unlike usual, most of their classes for the new semester were shared with Slytherin and Gryffindor. The news of the reshuffle didn't cause much discussion in Hufflepuff, and most of them were used to being a quiet backdrop board when they were closed to other houses, so it was the same with whomever they attended.
However, it is said that there are very few times with Slytherins, so when this announcement was posted, even the prefect was a little surprised.
On the second day of arriving at Hogwarts, the dark clouds that had been brewing in the sky for many days finally poured down the heavy rain, and the entire Hogwarts was covered in smoke and rain, looking more like a haunted phantom castle. The prefect handed out Hufflepuff College's yellow raincoat and rain boots with Black Badger printed on them to each new cadet, and wished them a smooth adjustment for the new semester.
Hufflepuff's dormitory is close to the kitchen, which is probably what makes Aurora happiest, not to mention that the people here are very friendly and friendly.
After breakfast, Aurora and Caroline went to the class place together, stepping on countless splashes along the way. The warm and humid air of the westerly wind belt stuck over Britain, the rain washed everything over and over again, and the Hufflepuff cadets walked through the heavy rain in golden lines, like the fleeting bright British sun intertwined with the rain.
They were greeted the most along the way by the enthusiastic Gryffindor, and the Ravenclaws stopped at the edge of the steps, looking up at the sky as if they were counting the acceleration of the rain. As for Slytherin, although not all, it has to be said that most Slytherins are reluctant to talk to Hufflepuff.
Correspondingly, few people in the house were willing to talk to Slytherin. Caroline said that because of the mysterious man's relationship with the current headmaster, many wizarding families believed that Slytherin was a house directly linked to dark wizards.
Aurora nodded, she had grown up in the Muggle world and didn't feel much about these things, and she decided to reserve her opinion.
So when Beverly and another Slytherin came across the hallway with their textbooks in their arms and stopped to greet Aurora actively, everyone around them was surprised.
"Good morning, Aurora." Beverly greeted Aurora politely as she had just walked into the hallway and before she could shake off the rain. Aurora was stunned for a moment, then smiled and responded gently, "Hello, Beverly." Do you have classes in the morning? "
"Well, Charms." Beverly nodded slightly, sporadic raindrops flickering on her thick brown curls.
After saying goodbye to Beverly, Caroline still looked back at her from time to time, and then said curiously: "I thought you only met on the train, so you met in the morning?" "
"Doesn't it count?" Aurora remembered the first time she met Beverly, "I didn't know her name back then." Then again, which college do we have morning classes with? "
"It seems to be Gryffindor."
The first class is History of Magic, taught by Ghost Professor Binns, one of the required courses at Hogwarts, but also one of the most boring.
When she got the book before, Aurora flipped through it casually and found that it was a little duplicated with the medieval witch heresy persecution in human books. Joining the freshmen were two or three Hufflepuff fourth-year repeat students, who slipped into the last row as soon as they entered the classroom, then put their books up and put them in a respectful pose.
Aurora heard them talking about something called "Quidditch," as if Hufflepuff hadn't gotten a Quidditch trophy in a long time.
It was a completely unfamiliar word, and Aurora guessed that it might be the name of some kind of tournament unique to Hogwarts.
On the verge of being late, Vaux and Bill Weasley finally slipped into the classroom with the smell of wet rain and fresh actinomycetes and sat next to Aurora. Aurora began to wonder if they had rolled in the forest in the heavy rain before coming to class, and Bill's redhead, which was disheveled like a burning flame, was quite credible.
"Hell, Gryffindor's dormitory is so tall, the roads inside are so many and complicated, and the stairs are still halfway there, or you go somewhere else." Vaux grumbled softly, took the handkerchief handed by Aurora and wiped the rain on his head, his hair that had been slightly neat because of the wetness immediately flew up again, "You can't believe that we have walked the same staircase five times." "
"And the fat lady who has refused to stop because her famous song has not been applauded." Bill added in due course. He then introduced himself to Aurora: "Bill Weasley, wizarding family, father works at the Ministry of Magic. "
"Looks like you guys had an unusual morning." Aurora withdrew her handkerchief, smiled at Bill, and replied politely, "Aurora Field, half and half." "
"Don't you Hufflepuffs have stairs that change around?" Don't have to give you a portrait of singing? Vox asked in surprise, looking like he thought everyone's dorms should be the same.
"Nope." Aurora replied, "We're right next to the kitchen, on the basement level, and it's quiet." "
"Kitchen?" Bill was clearly interested in the topic, and his tone revealed a humor that was just right and not offensive in the slightest, "I think I know where Hufflepuff's reputation for food-related magic comes from." "
At this time, Professor Binns' slow voice came over, sounding like something was wrong in his throat, and he spoke as if he was in a mess at a faster pace: "Maybe someone can answer us the exact time of the goblin rebellion, Mr. Weasley?" "
"1612 A.D., sir." Bill replied calmly, controlling his tone and tone in a range that would never anger the other person.
"Good." Professor Binns glanced at Bill with his translucent eyes rolling up and down. Aurora and Vox looked down at the book carefully, and the quill brushed on the parchment to record the key points on the book. This is a teacher who talks about the key points, the secret of learning mainly depends on talent and understanding of the fantasy discipline, notes and memory determine everything.
After class, Vaux opened his schedule and looked at it, then said a little regretfully, "Let's have our next Herbage class with Ravenclaw." What about you? "
"Potions." Aurora said, her smooth and detailed tone floating slightly, like some note standing in the wrong zone. She suddenly remembered Remus' admonition at the train station, "Don't provoke him."
"Get on with Slytherin." Aurora finished speaking, folding the class schedule and putting it back.
Bill raised his eyebrows: "Wow, sunflower combination." Hopefully, this combination will make Potions classes cheerful and relaxed. Then we'll go first, and by the way, your hair color matches your name perfectly. "
"Thank you, goodbye."
Potions classrooms are not hard to find, just walk quietly behind the Slytherin students. The students of the two colleges seem to be separated by an invisible Chu River Han boundary, and neither of them will take the initiative to mix into the other's team, even in the classroom.
It was also at this time that Aurora understood what Bill meant by "sunflower combination". The Slytherin students contracted the first half of the classroom, and Hufflepuff happily filled the back half, and from the podium, green and yellow were distinctly incompatible, like sunflowers.
Aurora suddenly remembered the history of magic lesson just now, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff did not have such a clear line, who sat with whom purely depended on preferences. So according to Bill, didn't they just sit on a plate of tomato scrambled eggs?
After being amused by this thought of herself, Aurora couldn't help but laugh.
Caroline looked at her incredulously, lowered her voice and said, "I can't see that you like Potions so much, and you're happy like this before class." Don't you think this classroom is terrible? You look at the specimens in those jars on both sides of the wall ... Merlin, are those the claws and internal organs of magical creatures? "
No, I'm thinking about something else. Aurora shook her head.
But Caroline was right, the classroom was too oppressive. Because it is an underground classroom, it is more gloomy and cold than anywhere else, of course, most of the credit is the animal stumps or internal organ specimens that can be found everywhere in the classroom. Also on the basement floor, Hufflepuff only makes people feel warm and bright. And here, the soil layer overhead seems to isolate everything that is related to warmth and comfort.
Even the pale shimmer flowing in through the window was so weak.
The door was suddenly opened, and Professor Severus Snape walked in quickly from outside, his dark cloak flying at his feet, until he suddenly stopped under the only light source in the classroom, wrapping his body by inertia. From the moment he appears to standing still, the whole process flows smoothly like a bat contracting and closing its wing membranes, and then critically examining the students throughout the classroom.
He looked as majestic and intimidating as Professor McGonagall, and he didn't need to say anything to silence the audience. But Professor Snape looked even more unapproachable than the latter, as if from the look in his eyes to the line of his face, everything revealed a sharp sharpness. Although as the dean of the academy, he looked too young, not much older than those graduating students.
Aurora guessed that he was in his early twenties at most, but unfortunately he brought a gloomy staid temperament from the way he dressed up, making it easy to ignore his age.
"It looks like this year's final grades can be largely predicted on the first day of school." Snape said, as if he had already made up his mind about the entire classroom in just a few seconds, speaking so fast that he couldn't even think of questioning.
He rested his left hand on the podium, relaxed slightly, and then lifted his chin slightly, maintaining the jaw-dropping speed of speech but clearly announcing all the rules of his class.
His voice is very low, with a very textured tone, as beautiful as the sound of a cello echoing in an empty concert hall.
But contrary to this ear-scratching voice, the owner of the voice is very accustomed to polishing it cold and hard, the words are harsh and piercing, the insinuation and ridicule are simply used with ease, and it seems quite unkind when deliberately biting the word to drag out the coda, not to mention the contempt and ulterior motives that he sometimes unconsciously exudes when accentuating a word in a sentence.
Aurora felt that perhaps Snape had only two options for speaking at a pace—fast and sharp, slow and depressed—and he didn't seem to care or think about making his audience feel comfortable.
If he could, Snape preferred to see his students deferentially silent in front of him, the kind of rebellious artist student with the pioneering spirit of the times that he certainly did not favor.
It's really ruining this voice.
Aurora thought so, and suddenly felt that something was wrong. Why do I somehow think of so many things about his personality based on the way the other party speaks, and I don't know him.
However, I have to say that Snape's opening statement was very effective, and in the following class, not a single student engaged in small movements and did not obey the command. They were divided into small groups to identify simple potions materials and potion configurations, and everyone quickly found their own partner, all students of the same house.
Only Aurora was left behind, because Hufflepuff had the misfortune to accept an odd number of students this year.
Aurora was a little overwhelmed by this, but when she looked at Snape diagonally across the classroom for two seconds, she immediately dismissed the idea of asking Snape what to do. After all, it was clear from his first words that Hufflepuff students were unwelcome with him, so it was best not to bother him. Although Aurora doubted that besides Slytherin, there were no other students who were popular with him.
"Together?" Beverly suddenly turned around, and the Slytherin cadets across the two rows invited Aurora and said, "I'm alone." "
"That couldn't be better." Aurora quickly walked over to Beverly and sat down, "Thank you." "
I don't know if the Sorting Hat deliberately considered the issue of Potions talent when assigning students. Aurora didn't even know the potion materials, and Beverly had already ground them in the standard order and threw them into the crucible. She glanced up slightly at the classroom, most of which were methodical Slytherins, and most of the clueless ones were Hufflepuffs.
Fortunately, the only advantage of Hufflepuffs is that they can still not rush even if they have no clue, giving the teacher the illusion that they all will, but they are slower.
But apparently for Snape, the confusing effect of this illusion is negligible, because he has caught five or six students fishing in troubled waters in a row. As expected, Snape's assessment would definitely not be pleasant, but useful enough. They quickly learned how to do the rest of the steps correctly.
To be honest, Aurora's talent in Potions is lackluster, but she is very imitative. She listened a few more times to Snape's mixed words to the other classmates, as Beverly did, and took it seriously step by step. Although the quality of the final potion was not bad, it was a success, and it did not blow up the crucible like Caroline.
Snape was standing next to Caroline at the time, so the rescue was timely. However, looking at Snape's cloudy face, Aurora instantly felt that the sky outside was very bright compared to him at the moment.
"Miss Cooper, it's amazing to bring such an impressive performance on the first day of the new semester!" Snape threw his robe away in anger, the corners and hem burned by the scalding potion into tiny inconspicuous holes, his voice sounding like a precursor to a storm, "Hufflepuff will be proud of you because it has to be deducted two points for your actions."
A light and dense laughter was heard from the front half of the classroom, and Caroline's ocean-like blue eyes instantly flooded with waves, and water droplets were about to overflow at any moment. However, seeing Snape's tight frown and lingering anger, Caroline forced her tears back.
What a teacher who is not gentle and cute at all.
Aurora fully understood how justified the sympathy of the students at the train station for the new students was, and understood that Remus' words were unquestionable.
"Are all your other tasks completed?" Snape looked up, his gloomy gaze sweeping across the classroom, which Aurora sensitively avoided a second before she touched his eyes.
She continued to look down at the potions book in her hand.