Chapter 13
Hogwarts for some reason had a great amount of staircases, and even more weirdly some of which would suddenly lead to different places every Friday, while others would vanish midway up the steps. Even many of the doors in this great castle were not ordinary ones that could be opened normally; some were simply solid walls.
Fortunately, although Aisen had not yet figured out all their tricks, he had at least familiarised himself with the castle during his previous visit to Hogwarts, so he didn't find himself struggling to find the locations of the various classrooms.
Much like classes in Muggle schools, the first lesson of the morning at Hogwarts began at 9 o'clock. Early the next day, after the young wizards had finished breakfast in the Great Hall.
However, Aisen who had decided to simply check the classes and see which pattern the professors used to teach the young wizards, he couldn't help but feel that the professors' lessons were far too basic.
Although Aisen himself had only studied magic for a year, perhaps due to the existence of his system, he had achieved perfect control over his own magical power. As a result, his progress in learning charms had been extraordinarily rapid.
Previously, Aisen had not paid much attention to this, nor did he know exactly what level his strength had reached. But after visiting several Charms and Transfiguration classes, Aisen felt that he was no worse than Professors McGonagall and Flitwick.
Of course, this was only in comparison to the abilities they showed in front of the classes; Aisen had no idea how much strength they were actually hiding behind their old faces.
Realizing that lingering in the lower-year classrooms to check lessons was not as helpful as he had imagined, Aisen adjusted his plan accordingly. Instead of passively listening to classroom knowledge, he began directly consulting various professors.
In this way, after a few days, although his strength for obvious reason did not increase but he gained basic understanding on charms and how to utilise them in any situation.
Clearly, exchanging ideas and seeking few words from these experienced professors was better than studying and practicing alone. At the very least, these theoretical knowledge could deepen his accumulated facts.
During the young wizards' first Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall demonstrated Animagus transformation in front of them. Although the students did not realize how impressive this skill was except being amazed by it, Aisen knew its difficulty all too well.
It was said that only seven Animagi, including Professor McGonagall, were registered in the entire wizarding world. The number of unregistered, illegal Animagi was unknown, but the small figure alone illustrated just how challenging it was and people even feared to try it knowing how harsh the results would be, if they even took one misstep.
Although Aisen had no interest in learning Animagus transformation, he could not deny its life-saving potential. To give one example, there was Rita Skeeter, the reporter for the Daily Prophet who loved prying into people's privacy and fabricating stories. Her Animagus form was a beetle.
Rita Skeeter had eavesdropped on countless secrets without ever being caught, all thanks to her Animagus form. And then there was Peter Pettigrew—Scabbers the rat—who had lived undetected in the Weasley family for over a decade.
From this, one could see just how powerful Animagus transformation was for self-preservation.
Unfortunately, the animal form produced by Animagus transformation was unpredictable, so Aisen had no intention of pursuing it. Of course, the most important reason was that with his system, he had many more options for increasing his strength.
On Wednesday evening, after dinner in the Great Hall, the young wizards did not return to their respective common rooms. Instead, at nine o'clock, they all gathered at the Astronomy Tower.
As the tallest tower in Hogwarts, the Astronomy Tower was normally off-limits to students, permitted only during Astronomy lessons.
"Everyone's here. Now since you already know me as professor Dumbledore had introduced me, we'll not be talking about it." Inside the tower, Aisen stood by a window and silently cast a Sonorus charm on himself. Thus, though he spoke calmly, his voice ensured that everyone could hear him clearly.
"And more importantly, although this class is a required course from first to fifth year, for some reason we'll only have one lesson per week. That means every Wednesday evening, we'll be meeting here." Seeing the excitement in the eyes of all the young wizards before him, Aisen felt a bit curious.
suddenly he had countless thoughts running in his head, wondering what these younglings were thinking about, so he decided to ask, "So, does anyone knows the curriculum of astronomy class?"
He swept his gaze around, and as he had expected the younglings began to look at each other; however, suddenly a frails hand stood in the crowd, it was hermione.
"Yes, miss Granger." Aisen gestured her to go ahead, which she did in parrot like manner "the original Astronomy curriculum involves observing the orbits of the planets and learning their names."
"Then, Professor Turner, what will we be doing?" As soon as Hermione finished speaking, a bold young wizard piped up.
"Of course, we'll talk about it, and i'll answer your question if you have any!" Aisen shrugged and smiled adding "As you can all see, I am the youngest professor at Hogwarts, so i don't think there's any need for me to put on a stern face like those old fellows!" With that, Aisen winked at the crowd.
"Wow..." The young wizards paused for a moment before cheering enthusiastically, they really had not expected of encountering a professor like this.
"Alright, before we begin the lesson properly, once again i'll ask, any of you know about astronomy? Whether it's the solar system or the entire starry sky." Clapping his hands, Aisen interrupted the cheers and posed a question.
As soon as the words left his mouth, once again a familiar had was raised.
"Miss Granger, share what you know." Though Aisen didn't want to ask her, but since none other had raised their hand, he had no other option left.
"Yes, Professor Turner. I know that the solar system is a star system consisting of one star and nine major planets: the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto..." Speaking confidently in front of everyone was one of Hermione's strengths, so she showed no nervousness in answering Aisen's question.
"That's right. Two points to Gryffindor!" Aisen said with a smile, while gesturing her to sit down.
"However, I'm sure many of you know why wizards study Astronomy?" Aisen continued with another question.
"To study Divination!"
"To predict the future..."
Several young wizards chimed in.
"Exactly. We study Astronomy in hope to learn Divination and to predict the future." At this point, the smile on Aisen's face grew more pronounced. "Perhaps you don't know this, but I lived in the Muggle world for quite a long time, so the way i see the world has undergone some changes."
"Professor Aisen, what do you mean?" One student interrupted, but Aisen was not annoyed. Glancing around, he noticed nearly all the young wizards staring at him intently.
seeing the youngling's interested look Aisen had a satisfied look on his face, at least these bunch had a will to explore the new thing.
"what i mean, refers to a person's fundamental views and perspectives on the world. Simply put, everyone looks at things different—it's the ingrained mindset formed from one's understanding of things and the world." Aisen could not delve too deeply into this topic, fearing he might bore them.
"Let me give a simple example. Many of you grew up in wizarding families, so cleaning a room with a single Scouring Charm is second nature. For you, using magic to clean is perfectly normal. But for Muggle-born wizards, before encountering magic, the idea of reciting a spell to clean a room would seem impossible. Clearly, this difference arises from different life experiences leading to different world-views!" Seeing the looks of realisation on the students' faces, Aisen promptly wrapped up the explanation.
"So, after visiting the muggle world my thoughts had shifted a bit, for some reason i felt that predicting the future through divination is not only unscientific—it's also unmagical!" Aisen then dropped a conclusion that shocked the young wizards.
"Professor Aisen, if it's neither scientific nor magical, then why does Hogwarts even have such a course?" Without raising her hand, Hermione boldly challenged Aisen's statement.
Clearly, having witnessed the wonders of magic, Hermione struggled to understand Aisen's open rejection of established authority. After all, Hogwarts was home to the greatest white wizard in the wizarding world, so its curriculum naturally represented authority.
"Yes, although I consider it neither scientific nor magical, it does exist. For example, Professor Sybill Trelawney, your Divination teacher—she possesses a genuine gift and can, to a certain extent, predict the future through divination." Aisen nodded, making no attempt to refute her.
[Thank you James Fleming for pledge]
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