Practising Animagus wasn't an easy task.
Holding something in your mouth for a continuous month sounded simple, but when Sterling actually did it, he understood why Professor McGonagall had him start before the full moon.
This definitely wasn't something you'd succeed at on the first try.
Accidentally biting through it while eating, it becoming mush after your head moved a few times while sleeping, getting it stirred up by your tongue while talking...
Sterling now thought of the ultimate method.
During meals, use a modified Langlock to stick the Mandrake leaf to his palate, eating only porridge and soup that could slide down his throat immediately.
Sleep in Avalon whenever he slept. This way his body in the present world wouldn't move while still providing restorative sleep.
Speaking... just stop talking altogether. Carry a large notebook and pen everywhere, writing on paper when he needed to communicate. As for classroom questions, Professor McGonagall had already spoken with all the teachers.
Professor Flitwick naturally supported this one million percent. This concerned the youngest Animagus holder in this century, no, in all magical history.
Just thinking of this wonderful future made Flitwick unable to suppress his laughter.
Only Snape initially objected, but after private talks with McGonagall and Flitwick, he also promised full support for Sterling's magical practice.
However, he made demands: Sterling was forbidden from "desecrating Potions" in class and had to serve "detention" in his office every Thursday evening.
Thinking of the future made Sterling's life feel bleak, especially while eating tasteless pumpkin porridge while watching Terry devour beef.
"I say, eating beef first thing in the morning. Aren't you afraid of getting sick of it?"
Since the leaf was secured with Langlock during meals, he could speak freely then.
"I think you're so obsessed with Animagus you've forgotten the date. Come on, our Miss Know-It-All, tell this silent mime what day it is."
Hermione had been dubbed Miss Know-It-All after taking full charge of Ravenclaw first-year point-earning duties following Sterling's "vow of silence".
"Silent mime" was just Terry's casual comment, earning him a friendly elbow from Sterling.
Terry instantly doubled over with an indescribable expression.
Damn, this kid was Ravenclaw's Quidditch hope. With that build, others hurt themselves elbowing him, while he could knock people off brooms with one hit!
Hermione mercilessly ignored Terry, gesturing for Sterling to look at the restless Harry at the Gryffindor table.
"Today's the official start of the Quidditch season. The first match is Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Padma's already with Neville and Ron comforting Harry."
"The school really knows how to schedule... starting so intensely? It's Harry's first time too."
Sterling raised an eyebrow. He had only learnt later that the relationship between Malfoy and the Weasleys and Potters was basically a smaller-scale version of the inter-house rivalries at Hogwarts. The two houses were completely at odds with each other.
"Slytherin will definitely target Harry."
"Who says otherwise? That's why Harry's lost confidence. After all, his poor health as a child... Even though he's much healthier now, if Slytherin players hit him..."
Hermione turned toward the group of broad-shouldered boys at the Slytherin table, her meaning clear.
Any one of them could knock down two Harrys.
"I'm more concerned about our match against Hufflepuff... Prefect Robert is so anxious he skipped breakfast, dragging the Quidditch team to practice the moment he woke up."
Terry had recovered. He'd use this year's Ravenclaw team performance to decide which position player to replace next term.
"I'm not hopeful," Hermione declared. Padma had dragged her to watch Ravenclaw practice once. "Our Chasers fly worse than Harry, who's only recently started flying. And he's a sixth-year!"
"True enough." Sterling nodded, very certain of Harry's flying talent. "Let's go check on Harry as well, hopefully ease his pressure, at least get him to eat more."
"Oi, you actually know to eat more before Quidditch matches?" Terry looked at him in surprise, remembering Sterling hadn't read any Quidditch-related books.
Sterling hesitated, finally sighing and patting Terry's shoulder before heading to the Gryffindor table with Hermione.
Even without understanding Quidditch, wasn't eating more to store energy before strenuous physical activity common sense?
With wizards' constitution, there was no worry about vigorous exercise after eating.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Terry quickly followed.
Reaching the Gryffindor table, they could feel the heavy atmosphere, reminding Sterling of the Black Knight army preparing for battle.
Ron had both hands on Harry's shoulders, meeting Harry's gaze with determined eyes.
"Harry!"
"Sir!"
"Do you have confidence to crush Slytherin?"
"No..."
"You do!" Ron slapped Harry's shoulders firmly. "Believe in yourself. You're Gryffindor's secret weapon!"
"Then... I do?"
"That's right! Have a drumstick!" Ron brought the drumstick to Harry's mouth, and Harry instinctively bit into it.
"What are they doing?" Sterling quietly approached Padma, who'd been watching for a while.
"Is this Gryffindor's special pre-game encouragement?" Terry also moved closer.
Padma shook her head with a complex expression. After Hermione gathered too, she explained in a voice only the four could hear.
"At first Harry was too nervous to eat. Wood and I tried persuading him, but it didn't work. Harry still couldn't eat, so Ron told us to step back and handled it himself..."
Looking at Harry's now mechanical eating, Padma nodded.
"He definitely succeeded."
"So... should we still go comfort him?" Sterling hesitated.
All four fell silent. Suddenly, two passionate voices rang out.
"Restore Gryffindor's glory!"
"Starting with me!"
Harry and Ron's voices competed in volume, drawing strange looks even from other Gryffindors, except Wood.
He rushed over emotionally to embrace Harry and Ron, seeming about to say something even more inspiring.
The four Ravenclaws quickly fled back to their table, wishing they had eight legs to run faster.
Most Ravenclaws disliked socialising. You could say they were socially anxious. Of course, some enjoyed basking in public attention, like Daily Prophet star reporter Rita Skeeter, but clearly the four weren't among them.
"I think Harry's current state is pretty good. We'll just cheer for him later, right?"
Everyone agreed with Sterling's suggestion.
"When did Ron become so... so..." Hermione felt Ron hadn't been such a socially terrifying person before.
Unexpectedly, Padma looked straight at her and sighed.
"It's all because of you..."
Before Hermione could object, Padma continued.
"Remember those books you put in Utopia? Mixed in was Success Studies: From Zero to Millionaire... I don't know why you had that book... anyway, Ron read it."
"Hiss... That was a freebie from a bookstore promotion. I was planning to use it as a table leg prop. My table's a bit uneven on the right side... I wondered where it went..."
"So you're saying," Sterling summarised, "Ron's now a success studies master?"
"Seems that way." Terry nodded.