The next few days were both exciting and boring, everywhere I looked I would find magic being used in a different way. Everything had magic, from the walls to the floor and everything in between, for instance the walls were imbued with a spell that softened them against impacts. So if you leaned against them they were firm but if you tried to punch the wall it would feel like a thick carpet. Not enough to sink into it, but enough so you wouldn't break your wrist, while the floors had simple heating charms. I assumed that we would appreciate them in the winter when the stone could give frostbite. Those were just the aspects that were not very obvious, others such as the moving paintings and armor were cool as well but not really that subtle.
On the other hand, the first couple days of classes reminded me of regular school as we went over safety rules and syllabi, not really getting into any magic yet. But that was supposed to change today as our charms professor had told us at the end of our last class that we would be casting our first spells today. Now this would not be my first time using magic as I had experimented since I first discovered my abilities, but it would be the first time someone would be teaching me. And I was eager to see just how different their theories and practices were. I walked into the Charms room and saw that Marie had saved me a seat. I had stopped by the library after breakfast, and I had discovered over the past couple of days that she was very much not a morning person. In fact the first day she came the stairs I burst in laughter after seeing the bed head she accrued while sleeping.
I soon paid for that as she did not appreciate my humor and let me know by turning my robes pink. I didn't really mind but I took the lesson to heart and didn't poke fun at her in the morning again. Instead I would head to the library or explore the castle until breakfast where I would eat a quick meal and head right back out. There was just so much to explore and so little time to do it, I was only here for seven years and the movies really did not get across how big the castle was. I mean Hogwarts has been around for about a millennium and has accumulated magic all that time, and magic is hardly static. I had already found a few interesting rooms and although I had looked for the room of requirement I had not found it yet. You would think someone teaching trolls to dance would be rare, but it really wasn't and some were rather good.
But I was more than satisfied with the rooms I had discovered; a room I called the upside down room, when you looked in through the door you would see everything on the ceiling but when you walked in you would find yourself there as well with no idea how you got there. I wasn't sure if it was an illusion, a spatial distortion, or even just an inverted gravity spell but I was going to find out someday. There were other rooms that looked like they led outside, but to places that I could only visit in stories before. One of my favorites was a small room that only had a grassland with a single willow tree in the middle. There was a nice breeze that flowed through the room and caused small chimes to sound from the leaves. I made sure to keep track of where it was and read a few books from the library while sitting under the tree.
Speaking of the library, the first time I stepped through the doors I just stood there and stared. I don't think it really hit me until that moment, Hogwarts had been around for over a millennium. All that time just collecting knowledge and thanks to the repairo spell very little knowledge was ever lost. The only problem I came across was that it wasn't organized in any way, or at least in not any way I could understand. When I walked around and tried to find anything to help me find a pattern I couldn't find anything but it did help me come up with an idea I would try in a couple years. Using divination, a spell or some sort of ritual that would literally guide me to where I wanted to go. After all, Divination would not still be an elective if there wasn't at least some truth to it.
In the meantime I would just spend my time wandering and searching for interesting books. I had already scored some good ones like A Compendium of Magical Reactions, something I was sure would come in handy during potions. "Find something good today?" Maria always asked this after I told her about a few of my first discoveries. I didn't hide anything from her and would tell her about anything interesting I had seen during the morning. After hearing about what I had found my first day she was curious to see if she could find something and we would compare discoveries while we ate lunch and dinner. "I found a room filled with flying quills and another that had some… interesting moving scenes painted on the walls." I blushed a little at what exactly I had found this morning, Though in a castle filled with teenagers I was surprised this was the first time I had found something like that.
She gave me a curious look at my expression but didn't have a chance to ask as the teacher walked in and started class. "Today we are going to work on the Lumos and Nox charms. The Lumos charm is the first charm taught because it lets a student get used to manipulating their magic." While saying this he held his wand up and lit it before shifting the color and brightness, then he moved his wand and the ball of light stayed floating in the air. He poked it with his wand and then stretched the light into an arc then a circle and square, shifting it through a few other shapes before the light winked out. The class applauded and he bowed before continuing his lecture, "This charm was one of the oldest spells recorded and no one is quite sure when it came to be but scholars have theorized that it dates back before the start of civilization. People's intense desire to fight against the darkness brought it into existence."
I was entranced as I listened to the story our charms teacher weaved and when I looked around I saw I was not the only one. The professor finished his story and clapped his hand, "Now then, raise your hand if you have already performed this charm on your own." The class was silent as no one wanted to admit to breaking the rules, but the professor just shook his head. "Honestly, sometimes the restrictions on underage magic do more harm than good. Now students this rule is not to hide magic from muggles, that is the job of the veil. The restriction is to stop a student from hurting themselves or others with magic they are not ready for. The veil will cause muggles to explain away anything magical as a trick of the light or a lack of sleep. I am asking because I need to know your level so I can better teach you." Slowly students started to raise their hands, I was among them and a minute later most students had them raised.
"Good, now the students that have not tried or have tried and have not been successful, I want you to practice the charm. Focus on your desire for light, and make sure to watch your pronunciation. For the rest of you I want you to try and change the color of your light, and when you can flow from one color to another without effort try new ways to manipulate the spell. Anyone who impresses me will earn points for their house. Now begin." There was a sudden influx of noise as the students were eager to try the spell, whether for the first time or trying to do some of the things the professor had shown us. I had already mastered changing the color back at the orphanage so I spent a few minutes changing the shape when a thought struck me. If the color can be changed and the shape can be manipulated… I closed my eyes to focus for a moment, picturing an image in my mind before I opened them and pushed the image into reality with a firm "Lumos".
There was a bright flash before an image of something only I knew of appeared before me. An Eevee sat on my desk, it didn't move and when I waved my hand through it the image wavered but I had done it. "Very good Mr. Riddle. 15 points to Ravenclaw, you have taken the first step in the field of illusion magic. The lumos charm at its peak can bring forth your imagination into reality, but as you have just seen the lumos charm can only fool one sense. I look forward to seeing what you will be able to do in the future, but in the meantime I recommend you try to create more complex illusions to practice." I looked up when I heard the professor and let the illusion dissipate, it was only after he finished talking that I noticed how quiet it had gotten. The rest of the class was staring at me, I fought down a blush at the attention and turned to Marie.
"What's the big deal? I just took the next logical step." She snorted and shook her head, "The next step he says, there's a big difference between changing the color and shape of a spell and… whatever that was." I looked confused, "I had already done the color change part and the shape change wasn't that difficult, so I thought it would be cool to try to combine them." There were some more snorts at that but the class got back to work, some students tried to copy what I did but only made blobs of brown light. Marie continued to explain when she saw I was still confused, "See what I mean, it is impressive that you can visualize that clearly in your head." I understood after she said that, it seems like my foray into the mind arts had improved my ability to visualize and that in turn allowed me more control over my magic. I wonder what other effects will appear as I continue to improve my mind. I turned back to my desk and thought back to what the professor had said about the lumos spell.
Another idea popped into my head and I had to take a minute to picture all the details I wanted to include. When I was ready I stood and some of the students looked up as they were eager to see if I was going to go even further. They were in for a treat, I pointed my wand at the wall and willed the image in my mind to appear before me. I kept my wand pointing at the blank walls as I turned in place and slowly the floating islands of Pandora appeared all around us. There were gasps as people took in the scenery I projected. I held the spell for as long as I could but it was much harder than before as I had added slight movements to the islands, as if they were swaying in a non-existent breeze. After a minute I couldn't hold it anymore and it dissipated, I sat heavily on my chair and panted as a feeling of exertion overcame me. It passed in a moment and I looked up to see the professor standing in front of me, "Are you ok my boy? Do you feel an ache in your chest or a fog over your mind?" I regained my breath before I answered, "A fog professor, but it is going away."
He nodded with a relieved smile and patted me on the shoulder, "Well then, that was very impressive but you should be careful in the future if you push yourself too far the fog will turn into pain. When that happens it means you tried to visualize too much for your mind to handle, on the other hand if you ever feel the ache in your chest it means you have drained too much of your magic and should stop immediately before going to the hospital wing to see the medi-witch." He turned around and walked to the front of the classroom before turning around, "What you have just seen was a rather impressive use of a simple spell. However, while it was no doubt a stunning scene would any of you believe it was real for more than a moment?" There were a few people who shook their heads but most were still in shock, "That is because young Mr. Riddle has not yet learned spells to fool your other senses. Would you be so confident if you could feel the breeze on your skin, smell the jungle around you, and hear the creaking of the islands, straining against the roots that tethered them to the ground?"
There were no answers this time so the professor nodded and continued, "Now I have already awarded Mr. Riddle a large amount of points, and I would predict if I continue to do so the other houses will not have a chance at the house cup, so I will give him a choice. Mr. Riddle do you wish for more points or would you like me to teach you a spell that will produce noise instead?" I didn't even have to hesitate with my response, "The spell professor." He smiled and a glint of approval flashed across his face, "Alright, I want the rest of you to work on your Lumos spells, and make sure you do not try to attempt what he has just done. Work your way up to that level instead of trying to reach the sky in one step." Some of the students looked belligerent at that but followed his instructions, they were the same students that had conjured the brown blobs before. After the professor saw his instructions were being followed he walked over to me and started to go over the sound production spell.
"Now the spell is Sonitus and it can produce a very loud noise if you are not careful with the amount of power you put into it. When you feel you have reached a point of controlling what sound is produced I recommend you visit the room in the corridor left of the transfiguration classroom, the door is made of wood and is a nice light blue." Without another word he turned away and started to give advice to other students. I shrugged and filled the information away for later, I spent the rest of class causing different noises to be produced from my wand. It did not take me long to control the sound and even replicated certain sounds I knew like footsteps or knocking. I caused my classmates to flinch once when I tried to play the violin. It sounded more like nails on a chalkboard and I got a few glares from that but the professor gave me a smile that suggested I follow his advice as soon as I could.
The rest of class went by and all of the students were at least able to change the color of the light. Most were able to change the shape and a few were able to combine the two. After I gave Marie a few pointers she was the only one to make something that could be identified. An owl that looked like a toddler had gotten ahold of some play dough but it was still leagues ahead of the blobs made by others. I had managed to hold multiple sources of sound playing simultaneously but it was much harder to have them produce different sounds at the same time. They kept combining into one pattern from multiple sources if I focused too much on one of them. And after the chalkboard incident I didn't try to make music again, I wanted to check out that room before I made any more ears bleed. I definitely wasn't ready to combine both spells either. After the professor dismissed the students I said goodbye to Marie before rushing to the room I was told about. I only had an hour before my next class and I was curious to see what was there.
It took longer than I thought to find it as I hadn't realized the rooms moved around so much. In the short time I had been here I knew the rooms moved but so far I had only noticed doors switch with the ones beside them. The room I was looking for was actually in the corridor to the right of the transfiguration classroom instead of the left. I only found it because I remembered a blue door when I walked by, but it still took longer than I would have liked to find it. When I opened the door I stopped, inside the room there were instruments floating around the room, bouncing off each other whenever they touched. I couldn't even recognize most of them, and some I was sure couldn't actually produce a sound. Once I was able to drag my eyes away from the flying piano I noticed the walls were covered with dynamic murals of people playing each instrument. It turned out that the ones that I thought couldn't make a sound needed magic as the murals showed wizards using their wands to manipulate them.
I touched one of the murals and was mildly surprised when it glowed, the instrument depicted floated towards me from across the room. I had a thought and pressed my wand against it and pushed magic through the painting, a slow warbling came from the strange horn instrument until I stopped. I smiled and tried a few more, they all played simple sounds that showed what the instrument could do. I got a little distracted and only realized a few minutes before class that I was going to be late if I didn't run. I rushed out of the room but couldn't keep the smile off my face, the castle seemed to have endless mysteries and I was eager to explore them all. I was sure that not all of my discoveries would be as nice and I was definitely going to come across some things I'd rather I didn't (as that had already happened) but hopefully the wonderful would outnumber the disturbing.