...
Rodrick wound up waking earlier than anticipated, his gaze for the moment taking in the roof of his bed before slowly spanning over towards his dorm-mates; idly noting the fact the rest seemed set on continuing their sleep.
Opening up one of his notebooks, he promptly scribbled down anything he felt he needed to work on more. After which he used some of the remaining free time to practice and attempt his grandfather's latest lesson, in the real world.
It wasn't long before the rest of the students in the dorm rose up out of bed. Putting his notebook away, he promptly made his way to one of the bathrooms, electing to get ready for his first lesson.
...
On the way out of the bathroom, his facial transfiguration double and triple checked to make sure it was in place, his eyes landed on one Blaise Zabini; the student currently trying to fight off a yawn.
"Good sleep?" Rodrick snorted as he took in the other boy's barely open eyes.
"Not really, you tend to talk in your sleep. Ever notice?" Blaise remarked, holding back on another yawn. The words, for a moment, freezing him as he wondered exactly what the other boy was referring to. Another part of him already planning to set up silencing charms around his bed for the foreseeable future.
"No, not really," Rodrick answered easily, idly looking away.
Blaise shrugged after a moment's thought before electing to follow him down the stairs to the Slytherin's main common room, at which point his own gaze promptly locked onto Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass. The two girls had taken up a small section in one of the corners of the large room.
Tracey, much like Blaise didn't seem to have gotten enough sleep.
"Let me guess, Daphne talks in her sleep?" Blaise questioned as they reached the two girls.
Daphne raised an eyebrow as she turned towards him.
"Don't ask, I am not even sure myself," He shrugged, the lie coming to him rather easily.
"Let's go eat something before I fall into a coma," Tracey yawned, idly stretching her arms.
"Don't let Professor Snape hear you say that," A voice remarked from behind.
The group turned to see the Slytherin prefect from yesterday, currently leading a small group of the first years, presumably to the hall; one Rodrick and his friends decided to follow.
...
As it would turn out, the foursome found themselves grateful for a guide; the castle's staircases truly were a maze, what with the sheer number of directions leading to who knows how many areas in the castle. A few even tended to change directions midstep. while all through the long narrow walls, magical portraits could be seen moving around and conversing with one another, students, and even some of the school ghosts.
Rodrick idly watched the other guide-less first-year students as they fumbled around trying to find their way through the staircase; an admittedly comedic sight.
At which point Daphne, promptly catching everyone's attention, let out a squeal. Turning, he found himself blinking at the sight of a... He wanted to say ghost... though it certainly looked more filled out than any of the others he'd seen so far. Not to mention far less transparent- Either way, he almost couldn't help the snort that came out given it was currently grabbing hold of Daphne's nose.
"W-what is this!?" She screeched.
Her screech, frankly caused him to chuckle. Which promptly earned himself a glare.
It didn't take long before the prefect from earlier promptly appeared by their side.
"Peeves, leave the girl alone, "The older student drawled, a bored look to his face as his eyes swept around towards the other Slytherins in sight.
'Peeves? What on earth was- Never-mind.' Truly, he felt confident he didn't need to know anything about the creature before him. He doubted any odds of him willfully interacting with the clear troublemaker in the future existed.
When Peeves eventually let go of the squirming girl. Rodrick suddenly found a set of fingers pulling at his left ear.
"What- What are you doing?" He, started off taken back, somehow managed to calmly question the still embarrassed girl who refused to meet anyone's eye, the urge to laugh somehow increasing.
"That's for laughing."
"Impeccable reasoning." He deadpanned in response, idly trying and failing to maneuver his head away.
"...Shut up..." Daphne replied, albeit at the very least loosening her hold on his ear.
The rest, barring the prefect that promptly left, evidently found that amusing enough to delay their trip to the great hall.
...
Breakfast was a quiet affair, allowing him to muse over his latest dream given Blaise was currently talking to Malfoy about one thing or the other. the contents of the conversation not remotely interesting him enough to eavesdrop on.
He wasn't entirely sure what the girls were talking about either-
"Rodrick." Said girls called out irritatedly.
Raising his head, mild bemusement at the tone they'd used, he responded. "Yes?"
"Turn around," Daphne prompted with a whisper.
Shruggingly, he listened- only to find himself staring at a tall man completely dressed in black; with a hooked nose and greasy hair to fill his face.
It was a moment later before he realized he was gaping, quite rudely, at the head of his house.
Rodrick promptly turned his body around completely. "A-h professor.. what?-" Though before he could finish, he found a schedule pushed into his chest without fanfare.
"I expect you to be more alert than this. You represent this house, don't embarrass it," Snape drawled, mild derision in his tone before moving on towards the rest of the table.
"What's his problem?" Rodrick asked the two girls once the professor was out of earshot, quite annoyed; his head seemed to have something against him already.
"He called out your name several times, you're the one who didn't respond," Tracey answered with a frown.
"Maybe I pulled his ear a little too hard..." Contemplated Daphne.
"Hilarious," Rodrick deadpanned before he turned his attention over to his schedule and studied it. The girls on noticing this turned back to whatever they'd been doing before the interruption.
...
Their first-class, Charms; went rather well, all things considered. Most of the professor's attention was on Harry Potter, which suited him just fine as it left him to his own devices.
He used the lesson as a means to get an idea of what kind of level they were going to be studying, and well, what level he was expected to be at.
While the first lesson was more or less an introduction towards the subject, it looked to be a rather boring year, perhaps even couple of years, for him. The professor had merely asked a multitude of questions out loud, with the students who answered correctly receiving points towards their house. Rodrick knew some of the answers, and odds were he could probably get plenty of points by himself, perhaps enough to give Slytherin a good lead, but the attention it brought him wouldn't be worth it.
Particularly because he'd recognized some of those questions to be, without a doubt, too advanced for their current level. Which meant either the wizard was really testing their knowledge, or it was a trap.
Most of the points, as a result, went to Gryffindor thanks to one Hermione Granger, with none at the moment for Slytherin, which seemed to put Daphne in a sour mood altogether.
Evidently, the Greengrass heir had gotten into some sort of competition with the bushy-haired witch.
"I'll get the next class," The determined look on her face was almost frightening.
Turning towards him with a frown, with Rodrick blinking at the expression-
"Why don't you try helping? You never put your hand up once during Charms," She accused him bemusedly, a single finger pointed towards him.
"Most of the class didn't," He shrugged back, indifferent to the matter.
"Well, I expected a little more from you," She replied back albeit quieter.
He almost couldn't hold himself from rolling his eyes at the words. Honestly, you use a little wandless magic and suddenly you're expected to know everything?
And frankly, with how bad that sounded in his own head in terms of reasoning, he felt it prudent it stayed there.
"You know I was raised in muggle surroundings, right?" It was much easier just to play that particular card instea-
"So was Granger, clearly didn't stop her... Besides, at the train station..." The girl trailed off before she shook her head and turned away.
Rodrick sighed before he walked on ahead past her towards the door. The move enough to irritate the girl further, though her face quickly turned even more determined than before.
"I'll do it by myself then!" She declared. Tracey at her side with an encouraging look.
'Girls will be girls,' Not that he'd really know much about them. Particularly witches at that for that matter.
...
Transfiguration was another subject taught in the castle. The professor, one Minerva McGonagall, according to the general consensus was strict but fair which had only encouraged the girls even more. Only the teacher didn't ask any questions, instead electing to explain to the class the very basics regarding Transfiguration and how important it was that it was attempted properly with care.
Needless to say, his grandfather had practically always skipped that last part.
Still, unlike the first charm's lesson, this professor had elected to show them a practical example of said Transfiguration. One particular spell he'd never had the chance to learn himself; changing a desk to a pig.
The prospect of learning such a spell momentarily excited the class as a whole before the professor quickly corrected them on what they will be actually be learning during the year instead, and that it was only to be taken as an example for now.
Rodrick however wasn't paying much attention, unfortunately.
Copying the movement shown and spell name, the desk before him promptly turned to a pig as shown before; only it wasn't a complete transformation.
The pig had, somehow, wound up with a pair of wooden legs.
Looking up, Rodrick found every set of eyes on him; ones he responded to with confusion. The class reactions were mixed in astonishment and some envy. His friends, particularly Tracey had a look of awe.
The professor's reaction was unreadable, though her eyes seemed to light up for a second.
"That's quite impressive, I hadn't expected you to be able to do such a thing... Rodrick?" She said his name with a little uncertainty. "Still, I never said you could use your wand."
A wince filled his expression at the words; he was in trouble.
Not gaining points was one thing, losing them would cause problems.
"However I can't very well punish you after such a successful first try," The professor flicked her wand and turned his desk back to normal, her gaze staring at him for a few seconds longer before uttering, "10 points to Slytherin,"
The words brought a cheer out from the Slytherin side, though Daphne was strangely silent, while Tracey was outright beaming.
The Gryffindors quietly booed Rodrick, but even they couldn't help the surprised looks. Hermione Granger had her mouth open in clear shock.
Following that the class continued at a much faster pace. Once finished, everyone promptly started to make their way out, though just as he himself was about to leave, he suddenly found the professor's hand on his shoulder; directing him to stay.
It was only the two of them now, both of them set around the professor's desk.
"I must say I've never known a first year to be able to do that. In fact, I've never known a 4th year to manage it either, where did you learn such a thing? And no, I can't accept luck as an answer, that was a near-perfect Transfiguration. You've done this before."
He blinked at the sudden stream of information, he'd hoped to avoid this exact situation, but he'd messed up on his first week anyway. It was why he'd wanted to avoid grabbing any attention during Charms.
"...I had some time to practice, I received the letter almost a year ago-"
"Rodrick you're not the only student to receive his letter early, and even then, it is still far too soon. Hermione Granger received her letter on the 19th of this month, and yet I am sure she would barely manage to change a matchstick let alone a desk. Have you been taught before?"
"...I don't know what to say, professor. I just copied what you did," He settled for saying, electing to avoid lying in favor of half-truth's.
Judging by the look on her face, she definitely didn't buy it. Though for whatever reason her expression seemed to soften up after a moment.
"Very well, I'll let this attempt go, and we'll consider it a matter of luck. However, I will need you to do me a favor."
'Favor?' Rodrick wasn't quite sure what she had in mind, though he doubted it was going to be a bad one... She was an esteemed professor.
"What kind?"
"You will attempt the course to the best of your ability, if you are ahead, so be it, I want to know what I should teach you, I don't need you wasting time on things you already know," The professor remarked, her voice absolutely serious. Not that the tone changed much.
'Well. That's definitely not going to happen.'
Still, he feigned a mild gulp before accepting; an action that met him with a smile before he was dismissed. Minerva McGonagall had a twinkle, and for whatever reason, a resigned sigh as she watched him leave.
...
Making his way out of the classroom, surprise quickly flitted over his face at the sight of Daphne standing next to the wall waiting for him.
"You didn't need to wait," He pointed out quickly walking in step with the girl.
She ignored him and asked what the professor had wanted.
With a shrug, he truthfully explained what had gone down.
"That was something else alright; I can't believe you managed to do that, even if it was luck!" There was a definite hint of awe in her voice. "Are you sure no one taught you anything?"
The question, this time, brought him to a stop.
Should he lie again or not? Thinking it over for a brief moment, he shrugged seeing no harm on the matter. After all, who was going to believe a first year?
"Someone did, but I'd rather not talk about it right now. Where is everyone else?"
"But you told-" Daphne stopped herself and instead gave him a grateful smile. "Can you do anything else?" She asked excitedly.
"I suppose we'll find out," He replied with amusement in his voice. Which seemed to meet a frown, one that quickly turned into laughter.
He truly was never going to understand the witch next to him.
So many different expressions! He was starting to lose track.
The two made their way towards the great hall with Daphne teasing Rodrick about the wooden-legged pig. Unbeknownst to them both was the cat staring and taking in everything that was said.
...
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