Early the next morning, Kael was forced to get up from bed.
Because he didn't close the curtains last night, the sunlight streamed through the round dormitory window, spotlighting directly on his face.
Who can sleep like that?
Grudgingly, Kael got dressed, stretched lazily, and walked to the window.
Due to Hogwarts Castle's uneven location, although this is the underground portion of the castle building, it receives plenty of sunshine. Through the round dormitory window, one could see the grass and dandelions swaying outside.
Kael glanced at his two roommates who were still sleeping soundly, and expressionlessly opened the window to its fullest.
There's only five years left until the O.W.L.s exams, how can they sleep at their age?
Moreover, it's already seven thirty, and with rounding, that's eight fifty, only a few minutes away from the nine o'clock class.
This is, after all, their first class at Hogwarts. They should make a good impression on the professors—it's no good if they're late.
And the gentle breeze with mist in the morning is undoubtedly the best alarm clock.
"I am really too considerate," Kael nodded with satisfaction.
He was truly doing it for his roommates, not wanting them to wake up early to keep him company; a Hufflepuff like him wouldn't do such a thing.
After a simple wash, Kael left the dormitory through the common room passage.
As everyone knows, Hogwarts' staircases have their own personalities; it's as if they have consciousness, always changing directions or extending to upper floors during crucial times for young wizards, silently enjoying their despairing wails.
Kael had prepared to circle around a few times, but whether it was because he had enough time or it wasn't the staircases' working hours.
He walked from the common room to the auditorium without the stairs changing even once—they were quiet the whole time.
This made Kael somewhat disappointed; honestly, he was quite eager to experience it.
Although it wasn't even eight yet, the auditorium already had many people, especially the Ravenclaw table, which was almost full, with students from other Houses scattered among them.
Only Hufflepuff… was just Kael.
After he sat down, a steaming hot breakfast instantly appeared on the plate before him.
A glass of milk, two sausages, and a piece of bread.
Not abundant, but nice, and he could add more if it wasn't enough.
Kael leisurely ate breakfast, and soon, two familiar figures walked into the auditorium, one after the other.
"Hey, Kael, why are you up so early?" Mikel and Ryan briskly approached.
"I didn't want to. I planned to go back to sleep, but the dorm window was open, and the wind blew in too cold, so I couldn't sleep anymore," Kael replied calmly, cutting a piece of sausage and putting it in his mouth. "How about you two, why are you up so early?"
"Same here," Mikel said with a bitter face. "I thought it was you who opened the window."
"The window was open when I left."
Kael emphasized the words "when I left" heavily.
"Oh, it must have been blown open by the wind then," Mikel took a big bite of bread. "But this is good too; I couldn't fall asleep until morning. If the window hadn't been open, I wouldn't have been able to wake up before nine.
If I were late for the first class... I can't imagine the consequences. I'd surely be expelled."
Beside him, Ryan nodded in deep agreement.
Although he used to wake up at eight when at home, it was only because his mother forcibly pulled him out of bed.
If he really slept until naturally awakened, he probably wouldn't make it to the first class.
Kael smiled and said, "Then you two should really thank that kind person who helped to open the window."
"Indeed."
The two, still sleepy, focused on eating breakfast, unaware of anything unusual in what Kael had just said.
Mikel even nodded in agreement, "Certainly helped a lot."
By this time, Kael had finished his last sip of milk, stood up, and said: "You guys keep eating, I'm going to stroll around elsewhere."
"Okay," the two replied in unison,
...
After saying goodbye to his roommates who were absorbed in their meals, Kael headed straight to the castle's entrance.
It's just past eight now, and there's still plenty of time before class starts, so Kael decided to solve the pet issue first.
There's already a cat and a toad in the dormitory; he can't be the odd one out.
Exiting the castle's entrance, Kael skillfully raised his arm.
Instantly, seven or eight owls flocked from all directions, neatly landing on the stone steps in front of him.
"Not sending letters this time," Kael said to them. "I'll be at Hogwarts for a long while. I'd like to hire one of you as my exclusive messenger during this period.
In return… all meals covered, at least one package of Owl Nut daily, at least three packs of Murtlap jerky weekly, and one bottle of Owl Potion monthly… for now, other needs can be added if necessary.
Moreover, even after I graduate, these terms remain valid until it can no longer lift its wings.
So, if any of you are willing, come land on my shoulder."
It has nothing to do with Kael's inherited talent.
As professional messengers in the Magic Realm, owls naturally resonate with magic, and with a bit of training, they can understand what wizards say.
And those at Hogwarts are the frontrunners in this field.
Although Kael's words were somewhat complex to them, combined with gestures, they could understand eight-tenths of it.
Within less than a second, these owls vied to fly toward Kael's shoulder.
Some slower ones even attacked the owl in front of them.
The scene quickly turned chaotic, feathers scattered everywhere.
Kael scratched his head in amusement and wanted to intervene, but it was too late because the situation had progressed beyond stopping it with a few words.
Fortunately, the chaos didn't last long.
A brown owl used its large size advantage to easily defeat the other competitors and stood triumphantly on Kael's shoulder.
Kael recognized this owl.
About three years ago, when Chris found it, it was covered in wounds, barely clinging to life at the entrance of the Ministry of Magic's mail desk, clutching an undelivered letter tightly in its claws.
Thanks to timely discovery, Chris immediately treated it and carefully nurtured it at home for over half a month, eventually bringing it back to life.
Despite that, it bore a narrow and long scar on its face.
Caused by Dark Magic, it's hard to remove, and neither Chris nor Newt could help—it's even visible through the feathers.
Compared to other owls, it appeared particularly... unsightly.
But Kael didn't care about that. He scratched the feathers on the brown owl's neck and laughed, "Hello, Ladon."
The owl tilted its head and gently nudged Kael's fingers with its beak.
Ladon was the nickname Kael gave it initially.
Since he didn't know its name at first, he called it that just for convenience during feeding.
Unexpectedly, it eventually recognized the name.
When Hagrid was summoned to retrieve it, he shouted "Saban, Saban" for over half an hour in the nearby woods, yet it didn't respond at all.
Not until Kael quietly uttered "Ladon" did it leisurely fly out.
Hagrid was dumbfounded at the time, taking a while to recover—a feeling akin to his cherished girl being whisked away by Kael.
It was quite a loss.
...