Chapter 21: Roommates

"Alright, before everyone goes to bed, let's sing the school song together!" Dumbledore raised his wand and gently tapped it, causing golden letters to float in front of everyone.

Members of the Hogwarts choir also appeared, including the prefect next to Albert. The front row of the choir even had a few students holding large toads.

As Dumbledore waved his wand, all the teachers and students began singing the school song, each at their own pace.

Albert also joined in, moving his mouth and pretending to sing along.

There was no choice but to participate, even though the song was cheesy, and even the professors on the teacher's platform seemed a bit reluctant, their expressions slightly stiff.

It was one thing for children to sing it, but a group of adults singing this kind of school song felt incredibly embarrassing!

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts..." Next to Albert, the mischievous Weasley brothers were singing the melody of "The Funeral March." Their rhythm completely mismatched with everyone else, and several new students sitting nearby looked at them with confusion.

"...we'll learn until we turn into manure." After the song finished, the Weasley brothers continued to sing in a slow and solemn manner. Albert suddenly felt the urge to facepalm, pretending he didn't know them.

After the last echoes of the song faded away, Dumbledore instructed everyone to go rest.

The Opening Feast finally came to an end, and everyone rushed forward, creating a traffic jam.

Now Albert understood why the new students were placed at the front.

If he had followed students from other years, he might have ended up in the wrong place. Just imagine a Gryffindor student accidentally joining the wrong queue and ending up in the Hufflepuff common room. The scene would have been quite comical.

"New students, follow me." The prefect who had performed on stage earlier was leading the way for the Gryffindor newcomers.

He led everyone through the bustling crowd, exiting the Great Hall, and after climbing the marble staircase, they separated from the new students of other houses.

The line of new students passed through the corridors, bypassing the rumored moving staircases.

The corridors were adorned with numerous portraits, and as the new students walked by, the figures in the portraits whispered and greeted them.

The prefect led the newcomers through the castle, and you could never guess where the entrance was.

There was a closed wooden door ahead, but they passed through a stone door on the opposite side. Some doors required you to touch the precise spot for them to open, while others were hidden behind curtains or portraits. However, the worst part was yet to come. There was now an unlucky fellow trapped in a staircase trap. It looked just like a normal staircase, but at a certain step, you needed to step over it. If you didn't, your foot would sink into it.

For newcomers like Albert, it was a disaster.

"Are you alright?" Albert reached out and pulled Lee Jordan out.

"Not really," Lee Jordan replied with annoyance. "I was startled just now. I don't understand why the school has so many strange things."

"I find it quite amusing, don't you, George?"

"I feel the same way."

"These are defense mechanisms left over from the past. They have become one of Hogwarts' distinctive features," Albert explained. "Come on, keep up. I don't want to get lost."

After walking for what felt like a long time, when Albert's legs started to feel sore, they finally reached the eighth floor. They crossed a long corridor and arrived at the end, where a portrait hung. It depicted a very plump woman, undoubtedly the legendary Fat Lady, the guardian of the Gryffindor Tower.

"The password?" she asked.

"Gibberish," the prefect replied. As he finished speaking, the portrait swung open like a door, revealing a circular opening behind it.

Instead of rushing in, he turned to the new students and said, "You must remember the password. Only by saying the password to the Fat Lady can you enter the common room. The current password is 'Gibberish'."

With that, the prefect led everyone into the hole in the wall, revealing Gryffindor's common room.

This was an old circular room with many sofas. In one corner of the room, a roaring fire burned in the fireplace, and next to it were piles of firewood. A few people sat on the sofas, chatting. When the newcomers entered, they turned their attention towards them and waved.

"You're lucky. Tomorrow is Saturday, which means no classes. It's a rare opportunity. I suggest you take these two days to familiarize yourselves with the castle. The castle is more complex than you can imagine. If you don't want to get lost, it's best to quickly figure out the locations of the classrooms," the prefect said, pointing to two doors. "Ladies, go that way, and boys, follow me."

After exchanging greetings with another female prefect, he led Albert and the others through another door. They descended a narrow spiral staircase, encountering several doors along the way. The prefect introduced them to the newcomers' rooms, washrooms, and bathrooms.

Of course, the washrooms and bathrooms were shared, but fortunately, there were partitions in the bathrooms. Thank goodness for that.

As for their individual rooms, they had to find them on their own, with names marked on the doors.

Albert, the twins, and Lee Jordan all stayed in the same room. There were only four people in there.

The room wasn't large, with four curtained beds and their luggage placed beside each bed.

Albert easily found his trunk and yawned as he pulled out his pajamas to change.

"Nice to meet you all. Let's get along well," Albert greeted the other three with a smile.

"Nice to meet you too," the four of them looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.

"Tomorrow, I plan to explore the castle. Are you guys coming?" Albert took out his camera from his trunk and took a photo of his dorm room from the doorway.

"Of course. Remember to wake me up in the morning," the twins glanced at each other and said in unison.

"What about you?" All three of them turned their attention to Lee Jordan.

"Of course, I'll come too," the black guy replied. He didn't want to be left alone.

"Goodnight."

Lying in bed, even though he was already tired, Albert couldn't fall asleep. Every time he arrived in a new place, he always had trouble sleeping.

The others didn't seem to have the same problem. They ate their fill, drank enough, and soon fell into a deep sleep as soon as they lay down.

Albert turned to his side, opened his task panel, and saw that his exploration progress had reached 3%.

He wondered how much he would discover when he explored the castle tomorrow. He also flipped through his list of skills, which spanned several pages.

Most of the magic skills were only at level 1, and a few were still unlearned.

Looking at the skills that were still at level 0, Albert suddenly felt an urge to spend experience points to level them up to level 1.

It was a bad habit left over from playing games before. He always had the tendency to max out his skills.

Albert took a deep breath, closed the panel, so as not to accidentally spend all the hard-earned experience points. These points were crucial for his future.

In a drowsy state, Albert fell asleep. He had a dream where he saw himself from a previous life, holding a book and flipping through it. He remembered it was his first time encountering the Harry Potter book.

"Is all of this a dream?"

No, this wasn't a dream. He had confirmed it time and time again since the moment he opened his eyes after his death.

This wasn't a dream.

He couldn't help but feel like an author of fan fiction, creating another Harry Potter fanfiction story of his own. However, this time, he couldn't freely depict the content he desired like the original author.

Ah, being a literary enthusiast is a disease.

(End of this chapter)