Chapter 11

Morning came, indicating the beginning of a new day. William woke up way early in the morning at 5 o'clock. He was now used to it due to his training. He quickly got up, wore his tracksuit, and went outside for some morning exercises. The hall was completely empty. Since it was very early in the morning, no student could be seen around. William stepped outside of Hogwarts. The beautiful scene and the cool breeze were really mind-refreshing. William looked for a good place for his exercise and found one near the Black Lake. After some stretching, he went for the main course. Push-ups, sit-ups, sprinting—he did it all. He even did some shadow boxing and trained his muscles with some martial arts techniques.

An hour passed by, and William was completely covered in sweat. He also wanted to practice his magic but thought of doing it in the Room of Requirement later. To pass some time threw rocks at the lake, which was caught by the giant squid. The squid threw it back, and William caught it as well. After playing with the squid for a few minutes, he felt invigorated and went back inside the school, not before waving at the squid, which waved back with one of its tentacles. William quickly went to his room, took a shower, wore his Ravenclaw robe, and did some poses in the mirror. William was actually quite handsome, even at this age. He wondered what he would look like when he grew older. After he was done, he went to the dining hall for breakfast. After those exercises, he was famished.

William entered the hall to find a few students. Among them was Chris, who waved at him. William waved back and went to greet him.

"Good morning, Chris," said William.

"Morning, Will. Where were you all this time?" asked Chris.

"I was outside, doing exercises," said William. As William sat, a plate of bacon and omelette with some toast appeared before him. Chris looked at him strangely.

"What, never done exercises before?" asked William.

"No, no, it's not that. It's just that I've never heard of any wizard doing physical exercises," said Chris.

"Well, first time for everything, buddy," said William.

Both were gossiping until the time for classes arrived.

"Ready for the first day at Hogwarts?" asked William.

"Yep," said Chris, grinning like a typical Ravenclaw.

"Well, that's a Ravenclaw for you," thought William, a bit weirded out by Chris's smile. Soon they went to attend their first class. When they looked at the schedule, they saw that their first class was Potions with the Hufflepuffs.

"Now, where the heck do we find this Potions class?" asked a girl from Ravenclaw.

Hogwarts was very big, so finding the specific class could turn out to be very frustrating.

"It's in the dungeons near the Slytherin common room," said Chris.

"And how do you know that?" asked the girl.

"Duh, my parents graduated from Hogwarts. Of course I know," he replied.

"Hmm, quite the reliable man we have," said the girl.

"Well, thank you, miss," said Chris.

"Minny. The name is Minny Gospel," said the girl named Minny.

"Minny, a cute name for a cute girl," said Chris. Minny blushed slightly at the comment while William just sighed. The trio then went to the dungeons where they found the Potions class. The class reminded William of some type of chemistry lab, which in a way it was.

After every student from both houses took their seats, a man entered the class. This man was Professor Horace Slughorn, the head of Slytherin House, a Potions Master, and a very cunning man. He looked exactly like he did in the movies, only slightly younger. William knew he needed to be careful with handling this man. Slughorn was very good at networking. Plus, he was also an excellent Potions Master and a very good wizard. William could definitely learn a lot from him, but to do that, he needed to gain his attention. Slughorn had keen eyes when it came to finding talented people. Although it was met with a few backlashes, he didn't care.

"Greetings, students," said Slughorn. His eyes swept through the whole class. "I am Professor Horace Slughorn, your Potions Master. Today, we will be brewing a simple potion to start with, the Cure for Boils. You will need the following ingredients: dried nettles, crushed snake fangs, stewed horned slugs, and porcupine quills."

He then gave a detailed description of each ingredient and their specific quantities. "The dried nettles need to be ground into a fine powder before adding to the cauldron. The snake fangs must be crushed just enough to release their essence, and the horned slugs need to be stewed until they turn a deep, rich green. The porcupine quills should be added last, just before the potion reaches a boil."

After the lecture ended, Slughorn ordered all the students to brew their own potions. The students were divided into groups. It was the first time for all of them, so mistakes happened. Slughorn went to every group to check their progress. Most failed to brew it right. A few managed to get some parts right, but the ones who managed to brew it perfectly were William and his group. William's group had Chris and Minny. William, thanks to his mature mind, easily grasped everything.

After checking the potion, Slughorn announced that the potion was perfect.

"Well done, lad. What's your name?" asked Slughorn.

"William Dawkins, professor," replied William.

"Well, Mr. Dawkins, it seems you're a natural. Ten points to Ravenclaw," he announced, much to the house's delight. "Keep up the good work," he said as he went to others.

The class ended, and everyone was heading to their next class, which was Transfiguration.

"That was fun," said Minny, to which William nodded. "Man, that was awesome. How did you do that?" asked Chris. To be able to brew a potion perfectly was quite difficult. But to do it on the very first day at Hogwarts was never heard of. Minny was also curious.

"Well, if you listen to the instructions closely, it becomes easy," answered William. Chris was about to refute but stopped since they had to find the Transfiguration class or else they would be late. Plus, he could ask him later.