I recently discovered another tedious new feature of the system: journaling.
For someone with a photographic memory like mine, this is undoubtedly a superfluous trait, but it's interesting to be able to record things I can't tell others.
September 1st. Everything is fine. Penelope started school. Will she still go to Ravenclaw? According to her destiny, she and Percy only got together in their fourth year, and their relationship wasn't made public until she became a student representative in her fifth year.
For breakfast, there were beef noodles. Finally, I got to eat noodles. Jack is really great; I was tired of spaghetti.
Exercising, thinking about Penelope, writing letters. At lunchtime, lunch was beef stew with potatoes and tomatoes. Hmm, more appetizing than boiled beef, and the meat was very tender. Reading, thinking about Penelope, napping, waiting for letters.
For dinner, we had grated potatoes, winter melon, and meatball soup. Hmm, dinner should be light. I'm reading a book and waiting for letters.
September 2nd. Rain. Why hasn't Penelope answered yet? She must be very excited because she's new to the school.
Breakfast was zhajiangmian. As expected, mornings should be reserved for noodles. Exercise, thinking of Penelope, waiting for letters.
Our lunch today was snails cooked in cream, served with steak. Isn't this actually a larger type of river snail? It was delicious.
Penelope finally answered! She went to Ravenclaw and was very excited, asking me if I could predict the future. She said Ravenclaw had its own library with many notes from previous generations.
Their first day was a class on Charms, taught by their Dean, Professor Flitwick. However, he didn't teach any spells initially; he only spoke about the spells they would learn that year and important precautions—for example, that first-year students should not use magic privately.
In the evenings, they also had to observe the night sky with a telescope to learn the names of different stars and the orbits of planets. Apparently, this happened every Wednesday.
Tonight for dinner we had grilled steak, with Yorkshire pudding and my favorite black tea. Writing and reading letters.
September 3rd. Cloudy. I'm waiting for the letters. My excitement for Hogwarts has increased even more now; not the kind of excitement I felt from movies and novels in my previous life, but more like knowing that tomorrow I will marry the person I love most or that I will win the lottery jackpot.
For breakfast, I had spaghetti with bolognese sauce, also known as tomato zhajiangmian. It was delicious. I exercised and waited for the letters.
For lunch we had eggplant casserole; it was delicious and tender, and went perfectly with rice. It was very tasty.
Penelope responded to her excitement by briefly mentioning the strange questions asked during the Sorting Ceremony and Percy, the Prefect—a tall, strong, somewhat rough-looking wizard who handed out the class schedules to the first-year students. "I guessed right; there's Astronomy class every Wednesday evening."
Three times a week, Sprout, a short, chubby witch who is also the Dean of Hufflepuff, teaches Herbology in the greenhouses behind the castle, where they learn how to grow and use these strange plants and fungi. There's also Transfiguration class; as usual, the first lesson should be learning how to turn a match into a needle.
September 4th. Open. I'm waiting for your letters. Lately, I've noticed that the insights I've gained from practicing magic through the system are somewhat different from those in books. Is this more suitable for me, or are the books fundamentally wrong, or is this a relative truth?
My breakfast this morning was shrimp dumplings. I was really excited. In my previous life, because I lived inland, my family always valued shrimp highly. Even after the economy improved and shrimp became more common, they only boiled them, never bothering to clean the veins. I think shrimp dumplings are undoubtedly a rare delicacy.
Unfortunately, I moved on to another world before I went to university and became independent, otherwise I could have eaten more shrimp. I talked a bit too much today; unusually, I miss my previous life, but I wasn't an only child and I have an older brother to look after my parents, so I guess that's okay. Exercise, reading.
I had no appetite at lunchtime, so I just ate a steak.
The letter arrived. Penelope said that Ravenclaw had its disadvantages too. Besides her roommate Kate, she had almost no friends. The others only admired her recent performance and didn't socialize much.
She spends every day reading. While reading is interesting, Penelope says she has some regrets. The Sorting Hat initially wanted to place her in Hufflepuff, but due to some prejudice or concerns, it ultimately chose Ravenclaw. She says she will never be in Hufflepuff again.
Penelope talked a lot today too. I wonder if there's a telepathic connection between us, or if we're both going through a difficult emotional time. Unfortunately, there are some things I can only write about in my diary.
So I told Penelope about Hogwarts' secret passages and the magical Room of Requirement, hoping it would distract her and make her daily life more interesting.
I only ate a few bites of bread at dinner. Now, only Chinese food, dishes from my memory, can keep me company.
Almost two months passed without me realizing it. I wrote to Penelope almost every day and decided to focus my energy on a few practical spells, such as Alchemy and the Shield Charm. My exploratory abilities are already sufficient, and my Thinking and Body Modification abilities are steadily improving through reading and practice.
November 1, 1987, was Halloween. A month had passed since Hogwarts opened.
Race: Wizard
Power: 15 (The normal human limit is 10)
Constitution: 29 (The normal human limit is 10)
Magic Power: 21 (The normal human limit is 10)
Skills: Thinking Level 3 (15%), Body Modification Level 3 (57%), Alchemy Level 2 (47%), Talismans Level 2 (22%), Potions Level 2 (11%), Shapeshifting Level 2 (63%), Martial Arts Level 2 (23%), Spells Level 2 (14%), Exploration Level 1 (78%)
Hogsmeade Village, or simply Hogsmeade, is the only fully wizarding village in Britain and is located in Scotland. It was founded by Hengist of Woodcroft. Hogwarts students can visit on weekends, but only students from the third year onwards are allowed entry with the permission of their parents or guardians. It is home to many shops, including Britain's most famous Honeydukes (full name Honeydukes Sweetshop).
I previously introduced Penelope to the secret passage from Hogwarts to Honeydukes in a letter. It's located behind the one-eyed witch statue on the fourth floor of Hogwarts. When you touch the statue with a wand using the spell Dissendium, its hump immediately opens a passage wide enough for a slightly frail person to enter. According to the description in the original Harry Potter, the journey takes about an hour.
Penelope and I have decided to meet today, Halloween, at 2 PM, both dressed as monsters, at Madame Puddifoot's Tea Shop in Hogsmeade Village.
Finally, I'll see Penelope and Hogwarts! Going to Hogsmeade, this wizarding village, brings me closer to a real wizarding settlement than I've read about in books, and I can even see the silhouette of Hogwarts in the distance.
But then I won't be dressing up as a monster. I'll arrive at Honeydukes early to surprise Penelope. It will be very interesting to suddenly appear behind her.