Even though Kael never worries about sending messages, having his own owl at Hogwarts is still pretty nice.
In a way, owls are like phone numbers in the Muggle World; they often represent the owner's identity.
This is quite important.
For example, Kael's mother Diana works in the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries, where management is very strict. Except for special circumstances, letters sent there usually undergo rigorous screening.
From the owl's identity, affiliation, status... to the sender's name, identity, and affiliation, and finally checking the letters for special substances and jinxes.
After confirming everything is okay, these letters are sent to the Department of Mysteries in the form of paper airplanes.
This is the rule, and even letters sent by Kael are no exception, at best the process is just a bit quicker.
With the efficiency of the Ministry of Magic, this entire process takes at least a day.
But with Ladon, things are different.
Diana can apply it as a special owl, prioritizing letters while simplifying the screening process to only check the owl's status, the sender's name, and whether the letter has jinxes, completing it on the spot.
At Platform 9¾, Diana specifically advised him about this, telling him to choose the same owl when sending letters later on, or if necessary, buy one at Diagon Alley.
Of course, buying is definitely not an option, Kael wouldn't spend such unnecessary money, he has Ladon now.
Perfect solution.
Kael took some owl nuts, a few bags of Murtlap jerky, and the chestnuts in his hand from his Transfiguration Lizard Skin Bag and offered them to the owls.
Then he found some clean water, poured in two bottles of Owl Potion, stirred it well, and poured it into a stone trough nearby.
These are considered a reward, can't let them drop all these feathers in vain.
While the owls were eating, Kael took Ladon back to the castle and headed straight to the Hufflepuff Common Room.
Passing through the wooden barrels in the kitchen corridor, back to the dormitory...
Mikel and Ryan weren't there, they probably went to the classroom.
Kael didn't think much of it, placed Ladon on the shelf by his bed, grabbed his textbooks, and left.
In the Common Room, Kael happened to run into Cedric, who was also about to leave.
"Kael, I was just coming to find you." Cedric quickly walked over and said, "What's your first class?"
"Charms." Kael shook the "Standard Spells, Level One" in his hand and asked, "What do you want to talk to me about?"
"Oh right, this is for you." Cedric handed Kael a parchment:
"When I first enrolled, a Prefect gave me this Hogwarts Map, which clearly marks the locations of classrooms and some rules on stair changes.
But now I don't need it anymore, it's perfect for you."
Hogwarts is great in every way, except it's too big, and the inside is so complex that it's like a huge maze. Freshmen almost always get lost, and being late is a common occurrence.
Fortunately, the professors understand, and except for the head of a certain house, other professors turn a blind eye to this, either reprimand verbally or deduct a point as a formality, but don't make a big deal out of it.
Kael carefully examined the parchment he took.
It's just an ordinary map, but the contents are very detailed, not only clearly marking all routes from the Hufflepuff Common Room to every classroom, but also specifically noting when to wait for the staircases to align.
It's like a low-budget version of the Marauder's Map, but it's enough for Kael.
"Thanks, I really need this." Kael put away the map and asked, "What's your first class?"
"I'm in Potions... wait, Potions!"
Cedric suddenly panicked and then sprinted away, saying, "I have to go, Kael, remember, the one class you can't be late for at Hogwarts is Potion Class, always remember it..."
Cedric's voice got smaller and quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor.
Judging from his reaction, Snape probably left a deep psychological impression on him... or rather, Snape left a psychological impression on many young wizards.
Kael reckoned he wouldn't be able to escape it either.
"What a pity Harry Potter couldn't have started school a year earlier."
Kael shook his head, and also left the Common Room.
...
The Charm Class is on the third floor, easily found by following the map.
Pushing the door open, the first thing he saw was a stack of books piled into stairs, and on the wall ahead hung four unidentified portraits.
They are probably some renowned wizards, but Kael didn't recognize any of them.
On the side walls were hangings of the four school houses' crests, further down were several long tables,
Kael arrived with five minutes to spare before class started.
Honestly, this wasn't early, but there were few people in the classroom, even Professor Flitwick wasn't present.
Kael found a seat and sat down.
Across from him sat several Ravenclaw young wizards, with members from both houses sitting distinctly apart on either side.
As nine o'clock approached, young wizards began entering the room, out of breath.
Kael noticed Conna, but she didn't pay him any attention and breezed past him in a huff.
At eight fifty-nine, Mikel and Ryan arrived just in time.
"Thank goodness, still not late."
Once seated, Mikel caught his breath and complained to Kael.
"We got lost."
"My goodness, Hogwarts is literally a maze. We were supposed to be headed to the third floor, but the staircase on the second floor suddenly changed positions, and we ended up on the fifth floor."
"Then we started walking down, but after a long while, we realized we were still on the fifth floor."
"We finally managed to come down but found ourselves back on the second floor... can you believe it, Kael, we climbed stairs for thirty minutes, and my legs are about to break!"
The more Mikel spoke, the more aggrieved he became, almost on the verge of tears.
"Hold on, it's a bit confusing, let me think." Kael rubbed his forehead, pondered for a while, but couldn't figure out why they ended up staying in the same place while walking down.
Even a person with no sense of direction can tell up from down.
Going around in circles like this touches on the realm of mysteries, which isn't the same as magic.
Moreover, Cedric's map didn't have information about this.
"Forget it, let's not talk about this now." Unable to make sense of it, Kael decided to give up and asked, "So how did you eventually find your way here?"
"Someone led us here." Mikel's face reddened as he pointed across and said, "We ran into a Ravenclaw first-year on the fifth floor, she helped us down from the rotating staircase and asked if we were headed to Charm Class; if we were, we could come along with her."
Kael instinctively looked over, only to realize Mikel was pointing at Cho Chang from Ravenclaw.