Chapter 27

Despite never having to worry about sending messages, at Hogwarts, it's still better to have one's own owl.

In a sense, owls are like telephone numbers in the Muggle world; they often represent the owner's identity.

This is quite important.

For example, Kain Jobber's mother, Diana, works in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic, which is very strictly managed. Except under special circumstances, all incoming mail must undergo thorough screening.

From the owl's identity, ownership, and condition... to the sender's name, identity, and affiliation, and finally, checking the letter for any special substances or curses.

Only after confirming that everything is clear, the letters are delivered to the Department of Mysteries in the form of paper airplanes.

This is the rule, and even the letters Kain sends are no exception, though the process might be expedited a bit.

Given the efficiency of the Ministry, this entire process takes at least a day.

But it's different with Luton.

Diana could apply for Luton to be designated as a special owl, which would allow the mail to be processed as a priority and the screening process could be simplified significantly, requiring only checks on the owl's condition, the sender's name, and any curses on the letter, which could be completed on the spot.

At Platform 9¾, Diana specifically instructed him to always use the same owl for sending letters, or if necessary, to buy one at Diagon Alley.

Of course, buying was definitely out of the question; why would Kain spend such unnecessary money when he already had Luton?

Problem solved.

Kain took some owl nuts and a few bags of Murtlap meat jerky from his shapeshifting lizard skin pouch, pushing them, along with the chestnuts in his hand, towards the owls.

Then he fetched some clean water, into which he poured two bottles of owl tonic, stirred it, and poured it into a stone trough nearby.

This was a reward for their hard work; he couldn't let them lose all those feathers for nothing.

While the owls were eating, Kain took Luton back to the castle and headed straight to the Hufflepuff common room.

Passing through the kitchen corridor barrels, back to the dormitory...

Mikel and Ryan were not there, probably in class.

Kain didn't think much of it, placed Laton on the shelf next to his bed, picked up his textbooks, and left.

In the common room, he ran into Cedric who was also about to leave.

"Kain, I was just about to look for you," Cedric hurried over and said, "What's your first class?"

"Charms." Kain shook his Standard Spells, Grade 1 book in his hand and asked, "What did you want to see me for?"

"Oh, here." Cedric handed Kain a piece of parchment:

"This is a map of Hogwarts I got when I first started, given to me by a prefect. It clearly marks the locations of classrooms and some of the stairs' shifting patterns.

Though I don't need it anymore, it's perfect for you now."

Hogwarts is great, but it's huge and as complex as a labyrinth. New little wizards almost invariably get lost, and tardiness is commonplace.

Fortunately, the professors understand this; aside from one head of house, they either turn a blind eye or give a verbal warning, or symbolically deduct a point, but they don't fuss over it too much.

Kain examined the parchment closely.

It was just an ordinary map, but very detailed, marking not only all the routes from the Hufflepuff common room to every classroom but also noting where to wait for the stairs to shift.

It was a low-tech version of the Marauder's Map, but it was enough for Kain.

"Thanks, I really needed this," Kain pocketed the map and said, "By the way, what's your first class?"

"Potions... wait, Potions!"

Cedric suddenly gasped and then ran off: "I've got to go, Kain, remember, the one class you can't be late to at Hogwarts is Potions, remember that..."

Cedric's voice faded away, disappearing down the corridor.

From his reaction, it was not hard to tell that Snape had left a deep psychological imprint on him... or rather, he had left one on many young wizards.

Kain guessed he was no exception.

"It's a pity, if Harry Potter had started a year earlier."

Kain shook his head and also left the common room.

...

The Charms classroom was on the third floor, easily found with the map.

Upon opening the door, the first thing he saw was a stack of books arranged like stairs, and on the wall in front of him hung four portraits of unknown figures.

Probably some famous wizards, but Kain didn't recognize any of them.

On the walls to the sides, the crests of the four houses hung, and below were several long tables.

When Kain arrived, there were still five minutes until class started.

Honestly, it wasn't that early, but there weren't many people in the classroom, not even Professor Flitwick.

Kain took a seat.

Sitting opposite him were a few Ravenclaw young wizards, with the two houses distinctly separated.

As nine o'clock approached, more and more wizards came rushing in, breathless.

Kain also saw Conner, but unfortunately, the young witch completely ignored him and huffed past him.

At 8:59, Mikel and Ryan arrived just in time.

"Thank heavens, glad we're not late."

Mikel sat down and started panting, venting to Kain.

"We got lost."

"Goodness, Hogwarts is like a maze. We were supposed to be on the third floor, but when we got to the second floor, that staircase suddenly changed positions, and we ended up on the fifth floor."

"Then we started going down again, and after a while, we realized we were still on the fifth floor."

"Finally, we made it down, but ended up back on the second floor... You know, Kain, we climbed stairs for a solid thirty minutes, my legs are about to break!"

Mikel grew more aggrieved as he spoke, nearly crying.

"Wait, hold on, this is confusing, give me a moment." Kain rubbed his forehead, puzzled as to why they couldn't move even though they were going downstairs.

Even someone with no sense of direction should be able to tell up from down.

This touched on the metaphysical, not the same path as magic.

And Cedric's map didn't record anything about this either.

"Never mind, let's not talk about this for now," Kain decided to give up and turned to ask, "So how did you finally find this place?"

"Someone led us here." Mikel blushed, pointing across the room: "We ran into a Ravenclaw freshman on the fifth floor. She pulled us off the rotating staircase and asked if we were going to Charms class. If so, we could come with her."

Kain glanced unconsciously and realized that Mikel was pointing at Cho Chang.

(End of Chapter)