After a brief welcoming ceremony, Harry, with a hint of nervousness and anticipation, said, "Uh—actually, this is my first time joining a club, I'm not quite sure... Could you tell me what the rules of the SSC club are? Do I need to do anything?"
Everyone looked at each other in confusion.
"—Club?" Theo asked, perplexed, "Are we considered a club already?"
Neville was surprised, "Isn't SSC a club? I thought it already was!"
"If students form a club, do they need to report it to the professors?" Leian asked with some uncertainty.
Michael: "I thought we were a society?"
"A society requires paying dues, right? We haven't paid anything." Leian said, piecing together bits of information from his Muggle relatives.
Neville was a bit confused, "I mean—what's the difference between a society and a club?"
Everyone fell silent at once—yeah... what's the difference besides the name?
They couldn't come up with an answer for the moment.
Harry never expected such a scenario to arise. He thoughtfully recalled how things turned out this way, then silently glanced at Hermione beside him.
Vid looked at Hermione, who was holding back laughter, and helplessly asked, "Hermione, what did you tell Harry?"
Hermione immediately burst out laughing with a "pff—" and waved her hand at Harry, saying, "I didn't say anything, it was all you and Ron guessing by yourselves, right?"
Harry: "..."
Yeah... she didn't say anything, she just kept emphasizing how important this was, urging him to be prudent, to be well-prepared, and reminded him to bring his wand... then watched them anxiously guess what trials joining the club might entail.
Ron even came up with a particularly absurd guess—
"Maybe they'll have you sneak into Snape's office to steal a personal item of his—like his underwear or socks. Or throw a Dungbomb in the hallway in front of Professor McGonagall to prove your courage!"
At that time, Ron looked at Harry with a tragic expression, as if he were about to be torn apart by an angry professor.
Thinking back, was Hermione's expression pained—he thought it was a pained expression—but was actually holding back laughter?
Or... was it because of their wild demonizing guesses that Hermione opted to say nothing at all?
"It's like this—" Vid couldn't help but laugh, "We're really just an after-school study group, gathering to practice spells, discuss homework problems, or share notes with each other. Generally, after dinner, we all come here to study, but attendance is voluntary, and there's no need to notify anyone if you don't want to come, so there's no fixed protocol. As for the rules—they're posted on the wall behind you."
Harry turned his head to look; a piece of paper was tacked to the wall, listing a few short phrases such as members should help each other, be united and friendly, and not touch others' belongings without permission—basic principles elementary students should follow. The only unique one was that without the consent of all members, they couldn't bring others to the Umbrella House.
Harry felt relaxed at first—these "rules" were hardly rules at all, with no harsh penalties or binding conditions, clearly indicating that their previous guesses were all wrong; but seeing the last one, Harry felt a bit heavy-hearted again.
—He himself was new, could he introduce Ron to join?
"Harry, your seat is here." Neville enthusiastically led Harry to the side.
Beside Neville's seat, an empty table was ready, along with an independent bookshelf and cabinet. The surrounding wooden boards formed a semi-enclosed structure, blocking the view of others, but the boards could be lowered to facilitate communication.
Next to it were a few small tea tables, a food cabinet, and a soft, old sofa adorned with several fluffy cushions. These items were prepared by Vid asking Zoe and the others to help—the old furniture from the Room of Requirement almost formed a small town, and they selected relatively well-preserved ones, patched them up to look almost as good as new.
The food cabinet was always stocked with cakes, cookies, puddings, and candies, with a few dark silver tin pots filled with beverages and water, all prepared by the House-Elves. Additionally, when they had free time, the Elves would find ways to spruce up the Umbrella House.
Vid and the others often noticed small changes upon entering, maybe some peculiar decorations and photos had been added to the walls, a few pots of wildflowers blooming in the corners, or perhaps one or two useful pieces of furniture had been added.
Unconsciously, this originally empty abandoned classroom had become progressively more substantial, showing traces of the life and study they spent here, creating a warm and vibrant atmosphere in the room.
Harry liked this place almost at first sight.
He also received a piece of parchment for the SSC members to communicate with each other—a Friendship Book. This thing was almost known to everyone by now, but Harry, who stayed at school for Christmas, didn't have a place to buy one, even though he had the money.
Among the people he knew, Hermione had one, and she gave Harry a sheet for communication, though it was rarely used since they were together all day; Ron had two, one from Hermione and another sent by Mrs. Weasley after the holidays ended. Every Weasley child had one. Ron often used the Friendship Book to chat or bicker with his brothers before bed, then was strictly ordered to sleep immediately by Mrs. Weasley.
Ron sometimes complained about his mother's severity, but Harry envied him greatly.
Now, he had a second Friendship Book, too.
He tucked both pieces of parchment into his book, then looked around—everyone had naturally started working on their homework or reading, even Neville was earnestly copying notes for Transfiguration Class.
—This was quite different from studying in the Gryffindor Common Room. There were always students making noise there, or looking for someone to copy assignments—there wasn't this kind of quiet and concentrated study atmosphere. When they wanted to really focus on work, they had to go to the library, but Madam Pince was very strict, not allowing eating or talking, which was inconvenient in another way.
Harry settled down, took out his Spell Class homework, and began to write, but after jotting down the title, he didn't know how to proceed further.
—He should have borrowed two reference books from the library... but with everyone studying, would abruptly leaving feel awkward? Maybe Hermione had some books...
As Harry was feeling restless and began glancing around, Theo nearby noticed his struggle and kindly asked, "Don't know how to start?"
Harry instinctively covered the messy notes and scribbles in his notebook and awkwardly replied, "Yeah, right."
"It's okay, we didn't know how to start either when we began," Theo comforted him, "You can approach Vid, he'll teach you how to write papers and which reference books you need at the moment. Before coming tomorrow, go to the library and borrow the books. Follow Vid's method and soon you'll find that completing your assignments is actually quite simple."
Actually, Hermione was the one who read the most, but Hermione was accustomed to writing down everything she read—in her eyes, everything learned was essential. However, Vid could pinpoint their current problems precisely, identify which knowledge areas needed reinforcement, and then pick out the most valuable book for them to read. By the time they finished the book he recommended, those previously vague concepts became much simpler, suddenly making everything clear.
When approaching, Theo also noticed Harry's chaotic notes on the book and hesitated for a moment. He gestured toward the book and asked, "If you don't mind, can I take a look?"