[Please Vote Stones]
In the afternoon, it was the History of Magic class. This time, the young wizards had done their research and found out a bit about the History of Magic professor's quirks. When they learned that he was a "boring ghost," they breathed a sigh of relief. Boring was better than strict, and could any ghost be more annoying than Snape? As for the older students' complaints that the class was sleep-inducing, that was not a problem for them. First, the younger students believed they were different, and second, they thought they could simply copy the notes of the top students. Moreover, they found Professor Binns' style of teaching, which resembled herding sheep, to be very much to their liking. Herding sheep meant less supervision, a relaxed classroom atmosphere, something the young wizards needed after a morning of Snape-style teaching.
However, they quickly changed their minds.
Professor Binns was a long-standing Hogwarts faculty member, one of the oldest in terms of tenure. He had been teaching at Hogwarts since the time of the Founders, until one day he fell asleep by the fireplace in the staff room and woke up the next morning as a ghost.
For centuries, he had diligently taught the History of Magic at Hogwarts. Such an old professor had many good qualities, but there was one thing he couldn't do: teach. He could only dryly recite historical facts in his monotonous and lifeless voice, delivering nothing but raw information that had the power to choke his students.
Tom endured for about fifteen minutes before he couldn't take it anymore. He started reading his textbook on his own - the words in the textbook were much more vivid than Professor Binns' lectures. Only a few students in the entire class could keep up with the professor's pace and take down his words.
After class, Professor Binns didn't stay behind to answer questions, but simply turned and walked into the blackboard behind him and disappeared. The whole classroom, which had been stifled earlier, suddenly erupted into chatter, as everyone vented their frustrations from enduring an entire class of this.
"Damn, this teacher is such a bore!" Tom's roommate, Kevin Entwhistle, forcefully shoved his "History of Magic" textbook into his bag, then banged the bag on the table, producing a muffled sound.
Theo Nott, a Slytherin student sitting nearby, chimed in, "Yeah, it's ridiculous. His class is so exhausting. Did you take down all his notes?" He looked at the scribbles on his own notes and felt that it would be more reliable to borrow someone else's notes, and the Ravenclaw students sitting around him were usable resources.
"Not really," Kevin said, a little worried that he might have broken his inkwell bottle during that earlier episode. "And I don't think it's urgent. Let's wait a few days..."
"What classes did you have in the morning?"
"We didn't have classes in the morning."
"Lucky you..."
The two of them chatted as they left the History of Magic classroom. Among the four Hogwarts houses, Ravenclaw and Slytherin had a relatively close relationship, while Hufflepuff and Gryffindor got along better. The conversation that just happened would have been impossible between Gryffindor and Slytherin students. In Gryffindor, going to the library on the first day of school was almost incomprehensible, but in Ravenclaw, it was considered a normal phenomenon. In each grade, there were always a few students who liked to spend time in the library reading books. After all, where else was it easier to acquire knowledge than in a library?
Tom received a notification from the system after class: [Useless Knowledge Gained].
This was the system's way of telling him that this class hadn't been very productive, and he had only learned a bit of magical history. He glanced at his own notes and felt that he needed to find some top student's notes to supplement his own. His gaze turned to Hermione, who was sitting next to him. He saw that her notebook was filled with densely packed small characters, arranged like fields, and there was a neat beauty to it. Some sections even had illustrations.
"Hermione, can I borrow your notes?"
"Sure, I'll organize them when I get back."
"Then, how about going to the library?"
"Great! I've heard that Hogwarts' library is the largest, with the most extensive collection and the oldest history in the magical world. Today is the perfect opportunity to check it out!" Hermione became excited at the mention of the library and enthusiastically shared what she had read about Hogwarts' library in books.
"Tom, want to come with us? I brought a deck of cards, and Michael has a board game set. We can try them out together." At this moment, Tom's roommates, Anthony and Michael, approached. Dinner time was still a while away, and they thought it would be a good idea to invite a few roommates to play games and strengthen their camaraderie.
"Uh, I'm going to the library later to organize my notes for Potion-making and the History of Magic. Let's play cards after dinner in the common room," Tom said, wearing a somewhat hesitant expression. He knew that playing games together was the best way to build camaraderie with roommates, but he already had plans.
"Awesome!"
"Tom, you're the best! Can we copy your notes later in the evening?"
The two of them looked at Tom with admiration and awe, but since they were in Ravenclaw, they didn't make a big fuss about it. Going to the library on the first day of school was almost incomprehensible to students in Gryffindor, but it was considered normal in Ravenclaw. In each grade, there were always a few students who liked to spend time in the library reading books. After all, where else was it easier to acquire knowledge than in a library?
The library, like the History of Magic classroom, was on the second floor of Hogwarts Castle. Inside, there were over a thousand bookshelves, housing a collection of books spanning over a thousand years. Of course, just like with Muggle libraries, certain rare books required special permission to access. However, unlike Muggle libraries, the restriction on these books was not necessarily due to their rarity but rather because their content was not suitable for young witches and wizards. Just a few decades ago, you could find books about Horcruxes here! Perhaps even a few centuries ago, you could have found books on how to create them. But in recent decades, more and more books had been removed from the library and placed in the Restricted Section, which required a professor's signed note to borrow.
When Tom and Hermione entered the library, they were immediately awed by its solemn and majestic atmosphere. With a single glance, they couldn't even see the edges of the library. Rows of bookshelves stood there neatly, like an army in formation. The entire library was probably as big as a plaza, yet it was remarkably quiet, with not a sound of a pin dropping. The library's overall decor was on the dark side, but the lighting was excellent. Light filtered in through massive glass windows, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a cathedral.
[Quest: Exploring the Magical World
Fourth Stage Progress: 1/8
Objective: Unlocking the Hogwarts Library
The magical
world is filled with countless places waiting for your exploration. Keep your curiosity alive, traveler!]
As expected, Tom had unlocked a new destination in the magical world the moment he entered the library.
(End of Chapter)