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Just as dawn was breaking, Augustus stepped out of the dark and lavish Slytherin dorms. Along the way, a few early-rising Slytherin first-years greeted him, and Augustus nodded politely in response to each of them.
He passed through the damp, chilly Slytherin common room and headed straight for the massive floating staircases scattered all over Hogwarts.
There were exactly 142 staircases in total—some wide and grand, others narrow and shaky. Some would change destinations every Friday.
Some had steps that vanished halfway up, forcing you to remember when to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked nicely or poked the right spot—and even some that weren't doors at all, just solid walls pretending to be doors.
Keeping track of where everything was? Pretty much impossible, because everything seemed to constantly shift. Even the people in the paintings visited each other, and the suits of armor liked to wander around.
In Augustus's eyes, the entire Hogwarts castle was brilliantly built. All the secret passages, strange magical creatures, and the way the castle's magical systems worked—it was far more imaginative and full of whimsical charm than any magical academy from his previous world.
After a few days of exploring, Augustus had gotten a solid grasp of the castle's layout and hidden routes. While it took regular students a good half hour to get to class, Augustus used secret passages and those dizzying staircases to make it in just a few minutes.
So, he was always one of the first to arrive, usually waiting in his seat before anyone else showed up.
Hogwarts offered a ton of different subjects—even for first-years. But Augustus never minded the workload. As someone who once almost reached godhood as a mage in another world, he knew how crucial a strong foundation was.
No matter how basic a class seemed, he took every opportunity to study. Every great achievement begins with small steps.
Every Wednesday night, they are taken to a classroom to use telescopes and study the stars—learning star names and tracking their movements. Augustus was always fascinated by astronomy.
What surprised him was how, even though this was a different world, its star systems and orbits are almost exactly like his old world's. The mysteries of the universe really are beyond understanding.
Of course, classes like Herbology and History of Magic had their own unique appeal too.
Professor Sprout seemed to really like Augustus—he was always polite and curious, and she gladly answered all his questions.
In return, his perfect responses often earned Slytherin some bonus House Points.
On the other hand, Professor Binns, the ghost who taught History of Magic, treated every student exactly the same.
After who knows how many generations of students, he probably couldn't even remember their names.
But what really grabbed Augustus's interest were Charms, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Potions. These four subjects were basically the pillars of this magical system.
If he could fully understand them and their related fields, he could mentally map out a magical tree of this world's system—making it easier to analyze and categorize everything.
The Charms teacher was Professor Flitwick, a tiny man bursting with energy. During class, Flitwick became genuinely curious when Augustus casually offered unique theories about spellcasting. Though he had no idea where Augustus came up with those unusual ideas, he still praised him highly.
Not only did he award Slytherin House Points, he also promised to teach Augustus some advanced spell theory outside of class.
In Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class, the Slytherin first-years were surprisingly well-behaved. It wasn't just fear of her strict reputation—it was the excitement over this incredibly cool subject.
In front of everyone, McGonagall transformed her desk into a pig and back again. The class was dying to learn that kind of magic, but she warned them it would take a long time to get there.
After handing out a mountain of complex notes, she gave each student a matchstick and told them to try turning it into a needle.
Almost immediately, Augustus transformed his matchstick into a perfect needle. Before McGonagall even noticed, Malfoy had already blurted it out in shock.
McGonagall stared at Augustus, impressed, and without hesitation awarded Slytherin twenty points. Even though it was only their first lesson, she'd never seen anyone master a spell so quickly in her entire career.
Defense Against the Dark Arts was the class everyone had been waiting for—but it ended up being a bit of a joke. The classroom reeked of garlic, and the teacher, Professor Quirrell, was clearly a nervous wreck.
Malfoy couldn't help teasing him with sarcastic questions, like why he wore such a big scarf in warm weather—did he have a rash or something? He even got Goyle and Crabbe to laugh loudly at Quirrell's stuttering.
If Augustus hadn't stepped in to shut Malfoy up out of sympathy for the poor professor, the whole class would've just turned into a Slytherin comedy show.
Still, something about Quirrell bugged Augustus. Even after using his magical Sight to investigate, he didn't find anything strange, so he pushed the feeling aside.
As a mage, he knew better than to rely solely on vague hunches. Dismissing what he assumed was just a weird gut feeling, he turned his attention to the textbook's content on this world's so-called "Dark Arts."
Honestly, compared to the terrifying necromancy and demon-summoning dark spells of his old world, this stuff was child's play.
The week flew by, and by Friday, classes were nearly over. Augustus, who was already getting used to this simpler wizard life, sat at the breakfast table enjoying the delicious food. In the background was Malfoy's usual smug bragging, and across the room, Harry and Ron were glaring in frustration.
Augustus let out a helpless little smile—he was getting used to this too.
"Draco, what classes do we have today?" Augustus asked, turning to cut off Malfoy's dramatic rant after finishing breakfast.
Malfoy paused, thinking for a second, and then a grin lit up his face. "We've got Potions—with the Gryffindors! This is gonna be fun to watch!"
Watching Malfoy get excited for no apparent reason, Augustus just rubbed his forehead and quietly walked away from the table.
"....."