It was Sunday. After their morning exercises, the young wizards were free. As long as they packed their bags for Monday, they could spend the day exploring the castle's secrets in small groups.
Owen, however, was currently in Professor Snape's office. In his hands were two schedules.
One was the schedule of classes he had to attend as a student.
The other was the schedule of classes he had to teach as an instructor.
Monday: Morning - Herbology. Afternoon - Charms.
Tuesday: Morning - Transfiguration. Afternoon - Free.
Wednesday: Morning - Free. Afternoon - Free.
Thursday: Morning - Charms. Afternoon - History of Magic.
Friday: Morning - Free. Afternoon - Potions. Evening - Astronomy.
And when the schedule said "Free," it only meant he wasn't teaching first-years. It didn't mean he was actually free. During those blocks, he had to attend his own advanced classes. Wednesday, in particular, was booked solid from dawn to dusk.
"Professor, surely this isn't appropriate?" Owen frowned, looking at Snape. "I haven't even fully mastered these subjects myself yet. How am I supposed to teach others? Especially your Potions class—I don't want to miss a single one of your lectures."
He finally had a wand and didn't have to just prep ingredients anymore, yet now his class time was being taken away?
Owen wasn't having it.
Snape smiled, though his tone remained as cold and clipped as ever. "Naturally. However, your brewing skills are more than adequate to instruct first-years. Regardless, you will still report to my office every Saturday afternoon for remedial lessons."
Owen's face finally lit up. "Understood, Professor. Oh, this is a small gift I made for you."
It was an alchemical item he had thrown together while studying with Nicolas Flamel—a pair of rimless glasses. Their function wasn't earth-shattering; they simply gave the wearer a 360-degree field of vision.
Snape put them on and tested them out, nodding in satisfaction. He often had multiple cauldrons bubbling at once. Sometimes, accidents happened simply because he couldn't see everything at the same time. These glasses solved that problem perfectly.
He was pleased. In fact, the more he used them, the more pleased he became.
However, when he wore them to lunch in the Great Hall, he noticed something. Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Sprout were all wearing identical glasses.
The three Heads of House noticed Snape's eyewear and laughed simultaneously. The young wizard really knew how to curry favor with everyone.
Just as Snape's expression was about to darken, Professor Flitwick chirped happily, "Owen is so thoughtful! The glasses he gave me provide a top-down aerial view. Now I don't have to stand on a stack of books to see all the students during class!"
Professor Sprout smiled warmly. "Mine display real-time temperature and humidity readings. I tested them out, and they are marvelous. My plants in the greenhouses will thrive like never before!"
Professor McGonagall joined in. "Mine are designed to process paperwork. They automatically tally data and statistics so I don't have to calculate them manually."
After sharing, the three Heads of House looked at Snape. He replied coolly, "Mine offer a 360-degree field of vision. Useful."
Everyone was satisfied with their gifts. But as Snape scanned the hall (with perfect peripheral vision), he frowned when he realized a certain student was missing. "Why isn't Owen eating? Did he lose track of time reading again?"
Flitwick chuckled. "Don't worry. In Hogwarts, Dumbledore might go hungry, but Owen never will. Right now, he's probably in the Headmaster's office demanding to know why he doesn't have Flying or Divination on his schedule."
---
"If you take Flying, you'll miss a Charms lesson. If you take Divination, you'll miss Transfiguration. My dear boy, you tell me—how should we schedule this?"
Facing Dumbledore's question, the corner of Owen's mouth twitched. He badly wanted to say, 'If I didn't have to teach the first-years, I wouldn't miss anything...'
But the professors had insisted. They claimed that teaching the material would give him a new perspective and deepen his understanding.
What could he say to that?
"So, is there any way for me to not miss a single class?"
"There is. A Time-Turner. Unfortunately, Owen, you are a first-year student. You are not eligible to apply for one."
Fine! Just fine!
For once, the young wizard was genuinely annoyed.
When you made me teach the first-years, you didn't seem to care that I was a first-year!
Owen marched out of the Headmaster's office, turned left, walked ten paces, and entered his bedroom. After changing his clothes, he went into his study next door, pulled out a fresh notebook, and aggressively wrote a single sentence on the first page:
Rules are defined by power and serve those who wield it!
---
A new day began.
Monday morning, Herbology. When the Gryffindors and Slytherins arrived at Greenhouse One, they were dumbfounded to find Owen standing at the front of the class.
"Alright, students. I know this is surprising, but let's just be surprised for one minute. Any longer is a waste of time. Now, who can tell me the name of this plant?"
"Dittany!"
"Excellent. Five points to Gryffindor for Miss Granger! Now, what is its primary use?"
"Healing!"
"Outstanding. Five points to Slytherin for Mr. Malfoy! And who knows its most critical growing habit?"
In this class, correct answers earned points, and wrong answers didn't lose any. Both Gryffindor and Slytherin showed immense enthusiasm. Owen taught with high energy. But near the end of the lesson, he realized a problem.
He had given out way too many points.
It was the first class, and Gryffindor had gained a hundred points—ninety of which were earned by Hermione alone. Slytherin had gained ninety-five, with the points distributed fairly evenly among the students.
"Slytherin students are dismissed. Gryffindors, please stay behind."
However... no one left. Even the Slytherins stayed put, curious.
Owen ignored the snakes and addressed the lions. "You were all Sorted into Gryffindor because you possess brave hearts. But let me ask you: What is bravery?"
Hermione instinctively started to raise her hand, but halfway up, she lowered it. There was no standard textbook answer to this.
"Pranking? Breaking school rules?" Owen narrowed his eyes. "Fundamentally, school rules exist to protect our basic safety while we study here. Challenging the rules is challenging your own life and the lives of your classmates! You might not care about your own life, but let me ask you—who gave you the right to gamble with someone else's? That is not bravery!"
The little lions had just started school, but truthfully, quite a few of them had already tried to sneak out for a night wander on day one.
Hearing Owen's words, many looked guilty.
"True bravery is raising your voice when you see injustice. It is stepping forward to help those in need when danger strikes. It is gritting your teeth and holding onto hope in the most desperate of times. That is bravery!"
The Gryffindors felt their blood boil. Owen was right! That sounded heroic!
"However! If you lack the strength to back it up, so-called bravery will only drag others down—often the people who love you the most!"
Owen's speech sped up, his tone intense. "You speak out against injustice, but you can only speak, because you lack the power to stop it. You bravely step forward in the face of danger, but because you are weak, you fail to stop the threat and instead become a burden that gets more people hurt."
That... also sounded right...
"So, where does strength come from? Does it fall from the sky?" Owen tapped the point ledger. "In an entire House, only two people earned points today. The rest of you—do you not have books? Imagine this: before this class, a loved one was injured and bleeding. Dittany was right next to your hand. But because you didn't read the book, didn't recognize it, and didn't know what it did, you missed the chance to save them. How much would you hate yourself then?"
The words hit heavy.
It wasn't just the lions shivering. The snakes were trembling too. The logic applied to everyone.
"Class dismissed!"
The lions formed one line, the snakes formed another. Neatly, heads bowed in contemplation, they marched out of the greenhouse.
Professor Sprout, who had been hiding in the shadows to supervise, jumped in fright seeing their somber faces.
"Oh dear... did something terrible happen in there?!"