The afternoon class was History of Magic, taken by Ravenclaw and Slytherin together. Sitting diagonally in front of Wade was a boy with light blond hair, accompanied by two chubby lackeys. Wade recognized the boy as Draco Malfoy, the minor antagonist from the original story who antagonized the protagonist for seven years. However, Slytherin and Ravenclaw generally got along, and Malfoy didn't spray venom at everyone he met. On the contrary, aside from his somewhat arrogant manner of speaking and his tendency to subtly boast about his family background and wealth, he was quite polite in the classroom.
However, he would undoubtedly adopt a different attitude towards his nemesis, Harry Potter.
When Professor Binns appeared in the classroom by phasing through the wall, Malfoy was still badmouthing Harry Potter to his cronies: "Always showing off that scar on his head, as if it's something grand—and hanging around with those smelly Weasleys, completely covered in their family's pauper smell—"
The surrounding Ravenclaws glanced over, quietly putting more distance between themselves and the Slytherins.
—Regardless of the future, for now, Harry Potter was still a hero in the hearts of many wizards, and most of the children in the school had grown up listening to his story. Draco Malfoy's remarks naturally caused some aversion, while also reminding others of certain facts that had been obscured.
"I heard Malfoy—I mean, Draco Malfoy's father was a Death Eater who followed the Dark Lord—" Michael whispered to Wade. "They say after the Dark Lord was defeated by Harry Potter, his father claimed he was under the Imperius Curse and donated a large sum of money to the Ministry of Magic, which is how he escaped prison. Look at him, it's obvious his father still resents Harry Potter for defeating his master, so it's a learned behavior..."
Wade silently shook his head. He knew Draco Malfoy probably hadn't thought that deeply; he initially seemed to want to befriend Harry Potter, but his arrogant attitude led to Harry Potter publicly snubbing him—and how could an arrogant young master tolerate such humiliation? That's why he persistently antagonized the Boy Who Lived.
"Don't take it lightly, and don't get too close to Malfoy," Michael warned. "Their family is among the twenty-eight Sacred Families who care the most about blood purity."
"Twenty-eight Sacred Families?" This was a blind spot in Wade's knowledge.
"It means twenty-eight pure-blood families, with no Muggle ancestors and no one in the family intermarrying with Muggles," Michael said indifferently. "But my dad says it's all nonsense, because many of the families on the list actually have Muggle ancestors, or they claim to have Muggle ancestors themselves."
It had to be said, History of Magic was an utterly boring class. Professor Binns, the ghostly professor teaching them, lectured monotonously, as if hypnotizing them, reading directly from the textbook. He neither asked questions nor cared what the students were doing, speaking with a wheezing sound and an indistinct tone. In less than five minutes, half the students in the classroom were slumped over, and the other half were either dozing off or secretly drawing grids on their parchment for board games.
Wade, however, blocked out Professor Binns's hypnotic voice and drew a timeline on his parchment, listing important dates, historical figures, and major events in magical history—which were precisely what the wizarding world's History of Magic exams tested. Wade also had a copy of Hogwarts: A History borrowed from the library on his desk. Comparing the two, one couldn't help but wonder what magnificent adventures and struggles the four founders of Hogwarts had experienced throughout history, and what role Hogwarts had played in the thousand-plus years that followed.
History itself was actually fascinating; it was just Professor Binns who made the class utterly charmless.
As soon as class was over, Professor Binns's voice abruptly stopped, and he slowly floated through the wall and disappeared. Wade woke Michael, and together they went to the library to complete their History of Magic assignment—an essay on the reign of terror of the demon Emeric, one foot long.
"No one in all of Hogwarts is more diligent than you," Michael muttered as he worked on his assignment. "I bet all the other students are waiting until the last day to do their homework!"
No sooner had he spoken than a swaying figure passed near them—Hermione, clutching a thick stack of books. Seeing Wade, she stopped, placed the books on the table, and Michael felt the entire desk shake.
"Hi, Wade," Hermione greeted, then sat down directly and asked, "How's Ravenclaw?"
"Aside from too many stairs to climb, there's nothing wrong with it," Wade said. "Hermione, this is Michael Corner. Michael, this is Hermione Granger; we met on the train."
"Hello." Hermione had the brave enthusiasm of a young lioness. She extended her hand directly: "You're also a Ravenclaw?"
Michael looked at the height of the book stack, swallowed, shook her hand, and hesitantly said, "P-possibly?"
In front of these two, he felt deeply that he might not deserve to call himself a Ravenclaw.
"—Possibly?" Hermione frowned.
Feeling some kind of food chain pressure, Michael inexplicably shrank a bit. He quietly asked, "May I ask... why do you have so many books? You're not planning to read them all, are you?"
"Of course! These are the books I plan to finish this week," Hermione said as if it were the most obvious thing.
Michael's face went ashen. He looked at Wade with his eyes, silently asking—what's going on? A week? More studious than you?
Wade slightly raised an eyebrow at him.
Michael stopped complaining about Wade dragging him to do homework and focused on completing the rest of his essay. Wade, who had already finished his essay, continued to work on his timeline.
"Oh, your method is quite useful," Hermione leaned over to take a look, then suggested, "But I think it would be even more insightful to combine it with Muggle history."
"Hmm, I plan to add that later," Wade pushed his finished part towards her to show. "You've read more books than I have; could you take a look at this first part and see if anything needs modifying?"
"Let me see." Hermione didn't refuse. After carefully reading it through, she said, "Here, the exact time of wand creation is unknown. Melaina Simms's main contribution was researching the magical properties of eighteen types of wand wood and proposing the wand compatibility theory and Simms's Formula..."
She pulled out a book from her own stack and flipped it open with a rustle: "In 382 BC, the Ollivander family began making wands. To this day, the best wandmakers are still the Ollivanders. I think that's also a likely exam question..."
Quills rapidly scribbled on parchment. Madam Pince occasionally cast a vigilant gaze their way, seemingly ready to kick them out at any moment if they made too much noise.
Meanwhile, Michael, rushing through his essay, felt himself growing smaller and smaller. After listening for a while, he quietly pulled out a piece of paper, ready to copy Wade's revised History of Magic timeline. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he nudged Wade with his elbow, whispering, "Look!"
Theo was peeking around the library door. He had probably just returned from Herbology class, still covered in greenhouse mud, so Madam Pince wouldn't let them in. Catching Wade and Michael's eyes, Theo happily waved, signaling them to come outside.
Wade said goodbye to Hermione, packed up his things with Michael, and went out. Seeing Ryan and Theo at the door, both looking quite dirty, he asked, "Is there something urgent?"
The two Hufflepuffs exchanged glances. Ryan motioned with his chin: "You tell him, it was your idea to ask Professor Sprout."
Theo smiled, "Wade, weren't you saying this morning that you wanted to find a quiet place to practice spells? Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher, is our Hufflepuff Head of House. After class, I stayed to help her, and then I bravely asked—"