Chapter 19
"Sainz, you're back. I haven't seen you all morning."
"When I woke up, you were all sleeping soundly, so I didn't want to disturb you. Have you been in the dormitory the whole time?"
"After I got up, I didn't see you, so I ate the pasties and strawberry pie you left on the table. Then, after waiting a while with no sign of you, Adam and I went to watch the Quidditch team's training."
Whenever Quidditch came up, Ben got excited. Though not as passionate as Angelina, he was still a big fan. Apparently, it was rare to find wizards from wizarding families who weren't into Quidditch.
Adam was excited too and said he'd definitely try out for the Quidditch team in his second year.
"Where's Speed? Why isn't he here?" Adam asked, still hoping to touch the bird's feathers.
"Speed's a medium-sized bird of prey. He needs a wide space to stretch his wings and can't be kept cooped up in the dormitory. I let him fly by the Black Lake."
"Oh..." Adam looked a bit disappointed.
"How long have you been back? It's almost half past eleven. I'm a bit hungry. Want to grab lunch together?" Sainz asked.
"Sure! I didn't realize it while watching the game, but now I'm starving. I feel like I could eat a whole cow!" Ben's hunger quickly took over his excitement.
"Are you really planning to go to lunch covered in mud like that?"
"Ah, wait a minute..." the two of them protested.
The three of them headed to the Great Hall together, an advantage of being in Hufflepuff—close to both the kitchens and the Great Hall.
"Hello," they ran into four students from Cedric's dormitory.
"Hello," Cedric stood and greeted them politely.
"Hello, Sainz," the girl said as well.
Being the only Oriental face around, most people remembered his name easily. Fortunately, his memory was sharp now, so he could avoid the awkwardness of being called by name without knowing theirs.
"Hello Lucia, Brenda, Gurilla, Marian, Celica."
"Wow, you really remember all our names! We were just betting on whether you'd know them."
Sainz wanted to say, Remembering names is a must-have skill for any outstanding student, but thinking it might come off as rude, he settled for, "I'm naturally good at this. Everyone has their strengths."
The others, a little embarrassed at forgetting names themselves, nodded in agreement, saying things like, "Yeah, it's not that we don't care, everyone just has their own strengths."
Soon another girl from the dormitory came over.
"Hello, Sainz."
"Hello Irene, Irina, Sylvia, and Kocari."
All the Hufflepuffs who enrolled this year were here—seven boys and nine girls, sixteen in total.
Sainz understood why, in the original story, Gryffindor usually had classes with Slytherin—they balanced out the numbers.
This year, Hufflepuff had the most students with sixteen, Ravenclaw the fewest with nine, making the combined total of those two houses just twenty-five—smaller than most classes in his previous life.
The Gryffindors and Slytherins were about equal in number, which helped keep classes balanced.
Sometimes the combinations changed in special years, but since each house had different recruitment standards, Sainz guessed it was usually like this.
In unfamiliar environments, people tend to stick with those from their own house. Kids have little defensive barriers and quickly get familiar with one another.
As dinner time came, more students streamed into the Great Hall.
Angelina arrived with another girl, and when she saw Sainz, she walked over.
"Hello, Angelina, hello Miss Spinnet," he greeted.
The other girl was surprised he knew her and started giggling.
"Hello, Sainz. Stop laughing, Alia," Angelina said, pulling the girl's sleeve.
"This is Sainz. I met him on the train here. I told you, I thought he must be a Ravenclaw."
She turned to Sainz. "You know, the first time I saw you, you were reading a book."
Sainz smiled. "Let's sit and eat together."
"I'm sorry, Sainz, we have to go. Other students are calling us."
Indeed, other girls waved from across the hall—they must be their roommates.
Sainz nodded and said goodbye.
After dinner, everyone dispersed. Sainz's two roommates wanted to go back and take a nap, and he agreed it was a good idea.
After a forty-minute nap, he left his roommates undisturbed and resumed his map-exploring mission from the morning.
He first checked out the basement classrooms but oddly didn't run into Snape.
Thinking about it, Harry Potter seemed to bump into Snape constantly—was Snape secretly stalking him?
The remaining places to explore were all outside the castle. Where to start?
"Let's go to the greenhouse first, then turn left, cross the flying lawn to the Quidditch pitch to check in, then head to Hagrid's hut, and finally pass the Whomping Willow before returning."
Done.
Approaching the greenhouse, he saw it was very large. The Hufflepuff headmaster's office wasn't inside the main building but at one end of the greenhouse near the castle.
"Hello, Professor Sprout. I'm Sainz. Sorry to visit unannounced. I hope I'm not disturbing you."
"Not at all! Mr. Autumn, I'm glad to see you. I know you're in Hufflepuff. Come in, have a seat."
Professor Sprout wore her patched hat, her smile warm and friendly. Her plump figure exuded kindness.
"I brought you some jam from the kitchen. Hope you like it."
"Oh, you found the kitchen? That's impressive. Many young wizards don't discover it until after graduation."
Sainz came just to say hello to his head and, after a few polite words, took his leave.
The flying lawn and Quidditch field didn't interest Sainz much. He wasn't a fan of any ball sports in either life, really.
But as someone with mild OCD tendencies, he felt uneasy unless the whole map was fully lit.
He reached the door of the hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest and knocked.
"Who's out there?"
"Hello Hagrid, I'm Sainz. You invited me to visit when I had time—remember? By the lake last night."
The wooden door swung open, revealing a tall giant—Hagrid, Hogwarts' gamekeeper and key keeper.
"Of course I remember! Come in quick! I was wondering when you'd show up. Come on in and have a cup of Kuding tea..."
"Uh..."
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