Chapter 41: I Am Going... to the Kitchen

"Secondly, weight. A change in weight indicates that the very essence of the object has been affected." Professor McGonagall placed their finished pieces on the two pans of the scale, and to everyone's astonishment, Rogier's silver needle actually sank to the bottom.

The young wizards gasped at the sight. His Transfiguration had reached such an incredible level.

"Transfiguration is not mere stage magic; at its higher levels, it can alter the very essence of an object. Sadly, it reverts to its original form when the magic fades, but that is also the charm of magic! Anyone who hasn't finished before the end of class will write an essay, no less than two feet long." Professor McGonagall looked around, signaling them to resume practicing.

"Besides turning matches into needles, you can also try turning beetles into buttons, or mice into snuffboxes." Professor McGonagall assigned two additional tasks, clearly meant for Rogier and Hermione.

"Ugh, this is so hard!" Daphne sighed, her hair ruffled until it looked like a stack of stray straw. "Rogier, can I borrow your notes?"

"Of course." Rogier nodded and handed his notes over to her.

"Hermione?" Seeing the unhappy little witch sitting in front of him, he waved a small handwritten notebook.

"What is it?"

"Actually, the reason I've mastered this so well is thanks to Professor McGonagall's help." Rogier genuinely admired Hermione, who by her own sheer effort was able to outshine a huge crowd of peers from wizarding families.

"This is?"

"A gift from Professor McGonagall. I'll lend it to you to take a look."

Professor McGonagall glanced over from the podium, but said nothing.

"Are you really being this kind?"

"Pfft, what are you thinking?" Rogier shook his head. "Give it back to me by dinner time."

"A notebook from a Transfiguration Master—this is a valuable collector's item, you know."

"Thank you, Mr. Sleeping Beauty." Hermione smiled at the tsundere Rogier and took the notebook.

"Pfft..." Daphne chuckled from the side. "Mr. Sleeping Beauty? What kind of nickname is that?"

"I'll whisper it to you." Hermione blocked her mouth with her hand, and the two girls began whispering secrets.

"Rogier, I won't lose to you in Potions!" Driven by her intense competitive spirit, Hermione challenged him. Rogier just gave an indifferent nod.

"As long as you're happy, though Snape wouldn't give you extra points if his life depended on it," Rogier thought to himself, casting a glance past Hermione toward Ron and Harry.

"With those two walking point-deduction holes around, no amount of hard work is going to save you."

"Hmph, Gryffindor won't lose to you guys." Hermione refused to admit defeat verbally, but her expression involuntarily turned gloomy.

Because of those two boys, they had five points deducted on the very first day. Scaled across the entire academic year, Hermione shuddered to think how many points they would lose.

"Don't push yourself too hard, just do your best." Rogier maintained a very calm mindset. Although Slytherin had won six consecutive House Cups, the old coot would undoubtedly decide to hand the House Cup to the Savior before the term even started.

He would fight for points for his house, but the outcome would depend entirely on how shameless the old coot was willing to be.

"Daphne, what time is it?"

"Look for yourself." Daphne pulled out a pocket watch and simply handed it to him.

"Hmm?" Rogier looked at the exquisite pocket watch. It really was advantageous to be good-looking; young ladies would just hand out gifts.

"I'm just lending it to you." Mimicking Rogier's earlier tone, Daphne lowered her voice. "My mother gave it to me. It has a lot of sentimental value, you know."

The two girls exchanged a knowing smile and quickly kicked Rogier out of the conversation.

"Hermione, you're amazing!" Daphne exclaimed, completely caught off guard by how much Hermione knew. "You've already read all the first-year textbooks? There are eight books, and they're this thick!"

"You must be the smartest little witch among us!"

"It's nothing much, really. I just read them from the books. The school library is so big, I'm planning to go study there after class." Hermione felt Daphne's praise was a bit exaggerated and showed a rare flash of modesty.

"Really? Take me with you!" Daphne pleaded. "My Latin is terrible."

"Alright then."

Rogier pulled out his Blue Moonlight potion, its dazzling silver-blue glow instantly catching the attention of both girls.

"What potion is this?" Hermione asked with curiosity.

"Blue Moonlight." After finishing his daily dose of the potion, that gentle wave of drowsiness once again crept over him.

"Is this the potion you mentioned this morning? Hermione, have you ever heard of it?" Daphne looked at Hermione, who shook her head to indicate she had never heard of it either.

"Hey..."

"Stop shouting, he's already asleep." Hermione gestured for Daphne to leave him be.

"No wonder you call him Sleeping Beauty." Daphne gave Rogier a gentle nudge and propped her textbook up to shield his head.

Professor McGonagall glanced at the book in front of Rogier, knowing the boy in the back was doing something else. However, since he had already completed the classroom assignment, she chose to let it go.

"What should we do? He's still sleeping!" When class ended, Daphne tugged at Rogier, but he was dead to the world.

"I specially learned a spell for this, watch this." Hermione flashed a mischievous smile. She had already witnessed Rogier's ability to sleep straight through until evening.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Hermione waved her wand, and under the spell's effect, Rogier slowly began to float upward. Feeling her magic draining away, Hermione tightly gripped her wand with both hands.

"Ah, wait, no! He's too heavy!" As the sleeping Rogier slowly drifted upward, Hermione felt her remaining magic dwindle rapidly. She let out a cry of alarm and covered her eyes, too scared to watch him fall.

"Thud!"

Although the lifting height was very minimal, hitting his head against the desk hurt quite a bit. Rogier rubbed his forehead and blinked his eyes open groggily.

"What happened? Why do you have a bump on your head?"

"You fell over yourself, so we helped prop you up." Hermione feigned calmness and stated the "truth" to Rogier.

"Is class over?" Rogier looked around; the classroom was now empty except for the three of them.

"If we wait any longer, there might not be any food left in the Great Hall."

"That simply won't do, let's hurry!" At the mention of food, Rogier instantly snapped to full alertness, scooped up his textbooks, and bolted out the door.

"Wait for us!" Hermione and Daphne called out from behind.

By the time they reached the Great Hall, the main courses were mostly gone. The Slytherin long table in particular was bare; Malfoy and his gang, terrified that Rogier would sweep the table clean like he did yesterday, had finished eating very early. After all, yesterday had been the Welcome Feast, and ordinary lunches were never quite that lavish.

"Rogier, why don't you come sit at our Gryffindor table?" Realizing that the remaining food wouldn't satisfy Rogier's appetite, Hermione invited him over.

"That wouldn't be very appropriate." Noticing the unfriendly glares from the little lions, he declined her kind offer to ensure Hermione wouldn't be ostracized.

"You guys go ahead and eat, I'm going to go look for the house-elves." Rogier mentally thanked Jessica for her foresight in telling him the location of the house-elf kitchens before the term started. However, since he hadn't fully mapped out the castle yet, he needed to ask someone for directions.

"Susan?"

He called out to Susan, who was just about to leave. The adorable little Hufflepuff girl turned around and looked at him with curiosity.

"I know you, Rogier—the boy who sleeps standing up." Susan giggled as she looked at him. "With an appetite like yours, you really should have been sorted into Hufflepuff."

"Temporarily, temporarily," Rogier quickly explained. His performance yesterday had been a bit too prominent; now practically everyone in the school recognized him. Still, that had its perks—at least striking up conversations was easier.

"Susan, where is the Hufflepuff dormitory?" Rogier quickly added, "Don't misunderstand, don't misunderstand! I'm just looking for the house-elf kitchens."

"Oh! Did you miss mealtime?" Susan glanced over at the Slytherin long table, which was completely empty except for some unappealing greens.

"Follow me." Susan smiled kindly and led Rogier toward the area directly beneath the Great Hall.