Although Andrew's earlier experience could only be described as ghostly, his essay writing went unusually smoothly—if he hadn't also managed to finish some of his manuscript, he'd have suspected he was producing garbage instead.
But tonight was destined to be anything but peaceful. Just as Andrew was preparing to stretch lazily and look for an interesting book, Madam Pince let out an extremely dissatisfied huff at the library door.
"Who messed with Moaning Myrtle again?"
After hearing that muttered line, Andrew saw Madam Pince storm off angrily. Since he didn't have anything better to do, he abandoned his book hunt and followed the crowd of students who were clearly there to spectate.
"Oh… my god…"
Amid a student's shocked gasp, Andrew saw that the hallway was already flooded—and the water was spreading dangerously close to the library. Madam Pince was furiously waving her wand, vanishing large swathes of the filthy water with each flick.
Strange… I did turn the faucet off properly… Okay, maybe that ghost wasn't too happy after all…
Following Madam Pince's path, the water was eventually dealt with. Though Andrew technically had nothing to do with the incident, he still felt a little guilty. He grabbed his bag and obediently returned to the Ravenclaw common room.
"Hoo hoo…"
"Shut it, Rose…"
Andrew rolled over, trying to silence his owl—but to no avail.
Now slightly more awake, he shouted again. Still no effect. That's when he realized: the hooting wasn't from his owl.
"Whose owl is it? Deal with it—didn't we agree yesterday to visit the owlery ahead of time and tell them not to come before 8 a.m.? This is our first weekend!"
Grumbling half-asleep, Andrew dragged himself up—only to find four owls perched at the window, hooting persistently.
"Great…"
He sighed, pulled out some owl treats, opened the window, and let them in.
Soon enough, everyone but Hughes had an owl at their bedside.
"Well, I guess no one can complain now."
Andrew cheerfully unwrapped his letter. It was from Ham, the head of a smaller subgroup within the club he had joined. Ham wrote that the upperclassmen would be going to Hogsmeade for the weekend (which, he made sure to emphasize, was only open to upper years) and would bring back some food for him in the afternoon. He also wished Andrew a pleasant first weekend at Hogwarts.
"I heard you've taken an interest in Quidditch. I've spoken with the team captain—feel free to watch their practice. Just mention my name…"
…
He's CPU-ing me!!!
Andrew immediately sensed something was off—if it were just these announcements, they could've told him last night…
He glanced at the clock—6:30 a.m.
Confirmed: it was deliberate.
Who sends owls before 6:30 on a weekend!?
No first-year's getting up that early unless they've been warned ahead of time!
He checked his roommates' letters—similar contents. The club seniors were heading to Hogsmeade and offered to bring back food, asking if anyone had special requests.
Even though he knew he was being CPU'd (read: "remotely used"), Andrew still politely replied like everyone else, saying he didn't need anything right now, and that if he did, he'd gratefully rely on their "honorable senior"…
"Wait, Andrew—why is yours different?"
"Why were you invited to watch Quidditch team practice?!"
All of Andrew's roommates reacted in unison once he shared his letter. That left him stunned. Sure, Quidditch seemed like a big deal based on the club's structure, but this big?
He didn't get it—but he wasn't about to argue. Instead, he decided to learn more about the sport. Even if he wasn't interested, if everyone else was into it, he'd have to pretend to care.
This is what it means to be an adult worker in the real world…
"Alright, since you all want to go too, I'll ask if we can watch together—as long as we don't interfere with their training."
He added a request to his reply, then sent it off with the most gluttonous-looking owl. It didn't take long to receive a response.
Just as he'd expected, permission was granted—but they were only allowed to watch, not ask questions or do anything disruptive.
"That's the one…"
"Yeah, yeah…"
"And the Golden Snitch—catch it to end the match and score 150 points!"
After observing two hours of Quidditch practice, Andrew had a rough idea of the rules, team size, balls, gameplay, and even a surprising number of illegal moves.
Once his roommates confirmed he genuinely didn't know the rules (and wasn't just pretending), they practically dragged him into an intensive crash course.
Andrew played the role of the ideal listener and quickly memorized the rules.
Flying, huh…
Like the others, he gazed longingly at the broomsticks—not the players. They were graceful and elegant.
Sure, some brooms were labeled "old models, poorly maintained" by his roommates, but Andrew still found them fascinating.
They could fly, and he could control them. Even if it required a broom, it still screamed magic.
His mind was already racing with possible uses:
"Casting spells while flying…""Fleeing on a broom…""Creating a temporary broom…""Use the Undetectable Extension Charm to carry it around…"
These thoughts made Andrew look just as fired-up as his roommates. Everyone agreed—the vibes were amazing.
So much so that they even forgot breakfast.
But their fun didn't last long. Around 9:30, a group of gloomy but mutually resentful first-years showed up uninvited.
"The pitch needs maintenance… You'll get a make-up day for practice next week."
After speaking to the Ravenclaw captain, a gray-haired witch began assigning chores to the soggy-looking group.
"Whoa. That's like… half the first-years from the whole house."
"Let's move." Andrew lowered his voice. "I don't want to be caught in their crossfire—let them handle it themselves."
The five of them quietly slipped away. If you want to watch drama, you need to stay at a safe distance.
Back in the common room with food in hand, they quickly learned what had happened:
Last night, two inexperienced houses got reported—by a portrait. They were caught planning retaliation in the hallway, and Mr. Filch, along with his cat, got all the glory.
T/N: For twenty chapters ahead on all my fics become a P@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle