As the first-years gradually became familiar with the castle's ever-shifting staircases, Wade's life at Hogwarts settled into a routine.
The first-year schedule was incredibly relaxed, with as few as one class a day, and never more than three. The rest of the time was at the students' disposal. Upon seeing such a light timetable, Wade had once greatly doubted: Why couldn't those students who constantly complained about professors giving too much homework manage to finish mere inches of essays on time?
In his previous life, Wade had to write essays of at least three hundred characters when he was under ten years old, and that was in Chinese, a language often called a "language compression pack." If translated into English, he could easily expand it to a thousand words. After systematic training through high school, university, and postgraduate studies, it wasn't impossible for him to churn out ten thousand words in two days.
It was only after studying with Michael, Hermione, and the others for a period that Wade understood the reason.
Among the first-year students, besides Wade, Hermione found essay writing the easiest. At the very least, she didn't make basic grammatical errors, rarely encountered misspelled words, could quickly grasp the key points from the text, and then convey them clearly and logically.
The other three struggled with these points, even Michael from Ravenclaw.
This was because they were all from wizarding families.
Wizards and ordinary people lived almost entirely separate lives—even if one spouse was Muggle-born. Most wizarding families lived in seclusion, not only never initiating contact with Muggles but also placing "Muggle-Repelling Charms" around their homes to prevent Muggles from accidentally intruding on their lives. Consequently, wizards didn't understand Muggle clothing or technological advancements, nor would they send their underage children to Muggle schools. In their eyes, it was no different from humans sending their children to be taught by monkeys living in trees.
There was only one magical school in Britain, Hogwarts; there were no "Magical Primary Schools" or "Magical Universities." In the wizarding world, children under eleven generally received homeschooling. If parents had time, they would teach their children reading, writing, and simple arithmetic. However, with irresponsible parents, a child might not even be able to spell "quill."
Michael and the others had generally started receiving education from their parents around five or six years old, so at least their reading and writing weren't major issues. But knowing how to read and write was one thing, and learning ability was another. Wizarding homeschooling lacked many things compared to the systematic education of Muggle schools. For instance, wizarding parents didn't specifically cultivate logical reasoning or inductive summarization skills when teaching their children to read. Wade suspected many wizards might not even have had a concept of these, given their historical disdain for Muggle theories.
Furthermore, most young wizards, including Hermione, lacked the ability to quickly extract key points from an article and understand them. For example, a young wizard's comprehension might be limited to understanding: "If object A and B have the same temperature, and B and C have the same temperature, then A and C also have the same temperature." But their reference books might state: "If two thermodynamic systems are each in thermal equilibrium with a third thermodynamic system, then they are in thermal equilibrium with each other. That is: if it can be affirmed that the physical properties of two systems will not change when they can exchange heat, then even if the two systems are not allowed to exchange heat, it can be affirmed that they are in equilibrium with each other."
Young wizards: ...?
A string of letters would smoothly glide through their minds, leaving no trace.
Hermione could rely on her powerful memory to rote-memorize all content, then slowly understand it by comparing different materials. But most young wizards could only dazedly jot down notes they didn't understand, scratch their heads, and hand in a messy assignment, hoping the professor would be lenient enough to give them an A (Acceptable).
Moreover, eleven-year-old children were sent away from their parents to boarding school, and the house professors' supervision wasn't strict. Even Professor McGonagall or Professor Snape, known for their strictness, wouldn't bother young wizards who had no classes, whether they were sleeping late in their dorms or playing games in the common room. This relaxed environment was naturally a huge test of self-control for minors. Laziness and play were human nature, but studying was not; studying was only enjoyable for a very select few.
Like Hermione. Like Wade.
In just half a month, both of them stood out among the first-year students. The difference was that Hermione was strict with herself and others, and firmly refused any copying of homework or violation of school rules. Wade, on the other hand, never minded others copying his homework, and he never forced others to work as hard as he did when he was buried in books and practicing spells in the practice room.
Wade actually understood the inertia young teenagers had towards studying; he himself had been that way in his past life. In this life, he worked harder than anyone else, not because he loved studying, but because he loved magic. For him, magic wasn't an inherent, natural ability, so he cherished this opportunity more than anyone else at school.
Once again, Wade practiced until close to curfew, then hurried back to the Ravenclaw Tower. At this hour, the corridors outside were completely silent, as if everyone had fallen asleep. But upon entering the common room, it felt like it was still quite early.
Hogwarts had a curfew, but no lights-out time. If students wished, they could stay in the brightly lit common room all night. At this time, the Ravenclaw common room had many students from various years—there were couples in love whispering sweet nothings on sofas in the corner, bored young wizards playing Wizard's Chess at a round tea table, and older students diligently rushing through their homework.
Though crowded, it wasn't noisy; Ravenclaws consciously kept their voices low when conversing.
Seven or eight people gathered on the sofas in front of the fireplace, with occasional light giggles from the girls. Wade glanced over, then indifferently found a secluded corner to sit down, reading and taking notes.
Michael, noticing him from the crowd, exchanged a few smiles with the girl next to him, then walked over and sat beside Wade.
"Still studying so late?" Michael said, leaning against the table. "Wade, we've been here for less than a month, and you've almost finished all the first-year material. What are you going to do with the rest of your time? No offense, but you're working a bit too hard. Sometimes you should relax a little. Wade, brother, do you know how many girls want to meet you?"
He raised his eyebrow towards the fireplace, eliciting another round of soft laughter from the girls.
Wade stopped his quill, his gray eyes quietly observing Michael, and asked, "I don't know. But Michael—do you know how long we can stay at Hogwarts?"