"What do you mean?" Mike asked the senior student curiously.
"The first and second years have set shared schedules that get posted on the board in the common rooms since these two years are for getting you all to a decent skill and comfortability with classes. The third year and beyond though things change as you start your elective classes like Care of magical beasts or divination. Your schedules are individualized as a result since obviously not everyone will be interested in the same subjects. Well except divination but that's basically a free class credit." the senior explained helpfully.
"True divination takes talent to learn doesn't it?" I asked dropping a not so subtle hint to Terry and Mike not to get any funny ideas.
Look I get it everyone thinks that if they take the class they might learn to predict the future but even in the books it was made abundantly clear that the subject was not something you could actually learn without innate talent. Talent that neither of them were mentioned having or anyone else for that matter beyond Trelawney herself. Grindelwald was said to have the gift as well but he was locked away in Nurmengard until Voldemort killed him towards the end of the series.-
Speaking of the "Dark lord" before Voldemort I wasn't sure what to make of him honestly. From his ideals and methods he sounded like a charismatic but extreme visionary revolutionary. The books didn't really cover him much and the History of magic textbook only briefly mentions his feats and ideals. The funny thing is that he wasn't actually wrong in his beliefs. See he believed that if Muggles were allowed to continue growing scientifically they'd not only discover the magical side of things but eventually go to war with it, a war the magical side would definitely lose.-
I'm not a pessimist but anyone with any tactical capability could see it. Wizards are outnumbered thousands to one and need YEARS of training to be a decent threat. Muggles though? A single pull of a trigger or push of a button could kill a wizard or level a city. The fact of the matter is that only a handful of wizards in history had an equivalent level of power and even then it was far from effortless. As proud as wizards were of having magic we were hilariously and hopelessly out numbered and outgunned.-
As for if we would end up at war with the Muggles that was a harder to say matter. Personally I thought the chances of it were low given the sheer amount of love the books received back during my previous life. That said I wasn't stupid enough to dismiss the possibility outright as humans do have a rather long history of being unnecessarily violent or suppressive to other races and cultures. Much less said about the idea of magic being the biggest difference the better.-
The senior student nodded "Yeah, Professor Trelawney says so right at the start of her first class. Still the class is popular since so long as you show actual effort earning an E or O isn't hard at all." he said casually.
The desert vanishes leaving clean tables and Dumbledore stands up and walks to the podium again.
"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 students. A few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." he said before briefly pausing to pointedly stare at the two red headed twins on the Gryffindor table.
"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 term. Anyone interesting 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." he said that last part particularly sternly.
There were whispers immediately across the hall about that piece of news but I had to inwardly hold back a scoff at the open faced trap. Anyone familiar with the first year in the books could tell you that this was a not so subtle manipulation by the old man towards Voldemort on the back of Quirrell's head. Besides the first and second to last traps in said area the rest were all more or less harmless if you weren't a total idiot as a student and even then not truly lethal either.-
The two I mentioned though were lethal even for most adult wizards without a shadow of a doubt. The first was the Cerberus guarding the trapdoor entrance to the second trap. Having read through Fantastic beasts and where to find them I knew for a fact that Cerberus as a whole were not just giant three headed dogs but powerful magical beasts almost on par with dragons in terms of danger. The only reason their rating was lower was because they like most dogs could be trained not to attack indiscriminately and even taught to guard things.-
The second to last trap was according to the books a single mountain troll. Once again a very strong and dangerous magical creature but this time savage and too stupid to train for the most part and not afraid to kill anyone and everyone if they felt like it. The most dangerous trap of all however was the final one, though not deadly exactly, The mirror of Erised. This ancient magical artifact had the most dangerous of properties in that it showed you your hearts desire. This sounds simple and easy to ignore but the fact was the mirror could drive anyone without a firm will to madness as they saw the very things they craved above all else just there in front of them, yet outside their grasp.