"Gryffindor." The hat was announced after some time.


    ''Wow! Hermione is different compared to her book counterpart. Now I think about it, every character looks like a mix of their movie and book counterparts.'' Leon noted. ''And I guess it makes sense a teen Hermoine would straighten her bushy hair.''


    He didn''t encounter any more surprises in the sorting. Dumbledore, the maybe secret dark lord, confused his subjects with his ramblings and teleported a variety of dishes to shut them up.


    Leon felt full after tasting every dish present on the table, though Tonks stole some dishes he wanted to try, making him walk to the other end of the Hufflepuff table to get some.


    Cedric, the popular guy he was, just levitated the food towards Leon after seeing him standing up for the second time.


    Leon nodded at Cedric and sent a challenging glare toward Tonks who just huffed.


    The headmaster ended the feast after helpfully pointing out that something exciting was happening on the third floor and to stay away from the excitement.


    Shaking his head at the antics of the headmaster who had decades of experience with children, Leon followed his housemates to their common room.


    The Hufflepuff''s common room entrance was concealed by some potted plants. You had to tap the plants in a certain order to reveal the entrance.


    Wines sprouted from the pots, forming a large hole in the wall through which they entered the common room after some nudging by the prefects.


    Hufflepuff''s common room was massive with a huge part of it being occupied by plants.


    Moonlight entered the common room through skylights and ventilators that were placed near the roof of the common room.


    Some first-years eyed the different assortments of snacks lying on the tables even though they just finished their dinner.


    "This will be your home for the coming seven years and we the older Hufflepuffs are going to be your family. So, don''t be shy about for asking any kind of help." The male prefect kindly smiled at the gaggle of first years.


    "Helga Hufflepuff, our house''s founder, believes everyone needs a cozy home. A warm hearth, delicious dishes, and a dash of individuality make the best home. So, you can choose the type of dormitory you need- a separate room for yourself or get a roommate or three."


    "Hogwarts was built to house a greater population of students. So, there are plenty of spare rooms even when we don''t add magic into the mix." The female prefect informed the first years.


    Leon looked at his housemates, only four boys and three girls made up the Hufflepuff''s first year.


    "You will be woken up at 6:45 am. Breakfast starts at 7:30 am, so at 730 we will guide you to the great hall, make sure you are in the common room at 730 without fail." The male prefect spoke and gestured for boys to follow him.


    Leon waved Hannah and Susan goodbye and entered the boy''s dormitories following the prefect.


    "Browse the rooms, you can finalize your choice by tapping your wand on the bed. Your luggage will appear after you tap the bed." The prefect carefully observed every first year and bid them goodbye after making sure they understood everything.


    A kid with an ''I am superior, worship me peasants'' smirk clapped his hands.


    "I am going to choose a single room for myself, see you fellows in the morning."


    "Me too, I am Leon, you can call me Leo." Leon introduced himself to his yearmates after the smirky boy disappeared.


    "I am Ernie and this is Justin, we are going to choose a room for four, don''t be shy to drop by."


    Leon nodded and entered a room on his right.


    Magical lamps sprung to life with fire dancing in the glass lamps illuminating the room for the young wizard.


    Vines crawled across the walls with a window showing a garden.


    Leon opened the window, only for the garden to be replaced by a wall.


    ''Maybe seventh years got rooms with windows to real garden.''


    The remaining rooms were also similar, with enchanted windows that showed different types of gardens.


    Leon browsed the rooms hoping to find a room with a view that was to his liking and boy did he find one.


    A colossal tree swallowed the sky, moonlight slipped through its branches, illuminating its trunk, and touching the delicate flowers that took protection under the giant tree''s canopy, flourishing under its shade.


    Untamed jungle spun around the tree, leaving a huge gap around it like they were paying respect and not intruding on the tree''s territory.


    He tapped the bed in the room making his luggage magically appear along with a fluffy bed and soft blankets.


    Just when he was about to thank the house elf in his heart, his luggage magically unpacked itself.


    Clothes zoomed into the cupboards whereas his books got piled on a study table.


    Everything from his potion supplies to stationery was organized in a jiffy.


    Surprised at the efficient service, Leon barely stopped himself from calling out to the house elf to thank them and ask their name.


    He didn''t want to get into the habit of speaking about things he shouldn''t have any idea about, especially when there are no advantages to doing that.


    It may be a long shot that someone will notice the orphan half-blood was too knowledgeable. But he did impulsively jump into the lake, blurting out that he knew about the squid. He didn''t want to form a habit of doing things he couldn''t explain without relying on his future(?) knowledge.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    So, Leon just noted to do something for the elves of Hogwarts and sat at his study table to read.


    Light gently shone from multiple lamps on the walls of Leon''s room, matching his mood.


    Leon yawned as he finished reading the safety rules in the first year''s charms textbook.


    More yawns interrupted him before he could even read a paragraph of introduction making him sprawl on the bed and continue reading the book.


    Leon struggled to read, fighting against the encroaching tiredness. After reading the same line multiple times to understand it he knew he was fighting a losing battle.


    Unnoticed by him, the lights too dimmed as he fought against the sleep.


    ''Damn my previous self, he is way past his bedtime,'' Leon bleakly thought before he gave in to the sweet embrace of Morpheus.


    The lights magically got snuffed out casting the room in darkness.


    ...….


    Leon opened his eyes and was greeted with the view of his room in dim light.


    He sat up on his bed, making the lamps jump to life.


    ''Cool! Wonder how they do that?'' Leon looked at the lamps that seemed to respond to movement or something magical before shaking his head.


    ''What time is it?''


    Not finding any clocks in his room, he turned towards his enchanted window.


    It still showed a garden covered in darkness.


    ''But I feel well rested.'' Leon left his bed and stretched wondering how many hours he had slept. Though, nature''s call interrupted his musings making him run to the common bathroom.


    After freshening up he went to the common room to see it occupied by some students who looked like 6 or 7 th years.


    "What time is it?" he asked, after greeting them.


    "5:30 am. You still have two more hours until breakfast firstie," the guy replied with a quick Tempus charm before going back to leafing his book.


    ''At least having the habit of sleeping early has some positive sides, now I can do some magic with a clear mind,'' He thought with an excited grin before running back to his room.


    He quickly opened the index page of his charm''s textbook.


    After the mandatory first-year charms spells many additional spells were listed at the end of the book, classified into types like grooming, crafting, movement, etc.


    Leon stopped himself from passing out with happiness after he saw the additional number of spells the first-year charms book had.


    ''Ok! Ok! Maybe I should try the iconic charms like Leviosa or Lumos. Or maybe I should start with tempus spell,'' He thought as his gaze wandered across his room, his mind jumping around with frantic excitement.


    The scene outside the window caught his gaze. The sun was slowly rising, casting a warm glow on the illusionary forest around the giant tree.


    A rabbit came into his view and started nibbling on a purplish green plant only for the said plant to rise from the earth, a face made of wood came out of the soil and started to scream, making the rabbit that was already 10ft away wobble in its flight.


    The scene jostled the kid in Leon who just wanted to learn cool spells.


    ''Right! I am in a magical school where guardians of hell''s Gate are locked in abandoned rooms and Trolls roam the halls, maybe I should learn some spells that will get me out of a pinch,'' Leon grimaced and started to seriously go through the subheadings the spells were divided into.


    ''Let''s take away spells I will learn in class like Lumos and I can manually groom myself for some more time.''


    ''I don''t think bullies are a problem for now. So no attack or defensive spells.. at least for today,'' Leon reluctantly tore his eyes away from the spells. After all, Cerberus, Troll, and Voldy weren''t something a first-year spells can harm.


    ''Utility spells…. Yes, let''s go with them. I think the Spongify spell is a good place to start with, its effect being the same as my first not-so-accidental magic makes it a great choice. After all, Harry Potter world''s magic supports symbolism.. I think. And my first flying lesson is near, with this spell I can rest easy.''


    It was still his first day, he did have time to learn other cool spells.


    Leon took his wand from its sheath.


    Black mist lazily swirled in the wand, the crystallized essence of Vaelix, being transparent, coupled with the otherworldly black mist gave the wand an ethereal feeling.


    Leon shook his wand for a second making the black mist cover every inch of his wand, making it look like a refined piece of black wood.


    ''Maybe I should look into camouflage spells for my wand. Bah! I can just say I charmed the wand if its special appearance draws eyes.''


    He shook his head and read more about the Spongify spell.


    After double-checking the wand movement and pronunciation, he softly moved his wand in a s-shape and incantated the spell, pointing his wand at a beaker cork, willing the cork to turn rubbery.


    After staring at the cork to do something, he took it in his hands.


    ''Well, the spell took effect,'' Leon thought, poking the cork with his finger.


    He smashed the cork on the floor expecting it to bounce back, but it just lay stuck to the floor.


    ''Hmm!''


    Leon cast the spell again on the wooden table and started touching it.


    ''Nope, the whole table didn''t change,'' he noted and poked the place where his wand was pointed.


    ''Yes! Here it is.''


    A fist-sized area where his wand pointed became soft, different from the rest of the table''s surface.


    He punched the affected area.


    It felt like the table surface was soft like a pillow, it gently absorbed his fist''s energy.


    ''Hmm!''


    Leon cast the spell again, this time on the rocky floor of his room.


    This time the spell only affected an area less than a baby''s fist.


    ''So, different materials different resistances and… I should note this down.. an experiment journal for future use.''


    After noting the area decrease between the wood and rocky surface, he cast the spell on his bed.


    His bed became even more soft and even propelled the cork he threw at it back unlike the table which just became fluffy.


    ''Spongify is a trampoline spell, right? Or am I confusing it with something?'' Leon wondered and searched the book for more details. But the book just repeated the sentence ''Softens a target area or object, making it rubbery and soft''.


    As he pressed on the spell-affected area on the table Leon got an idea.


    ''Can I adjust the ratio of cushiony and rubbery..ness?'' he wondered.


    After half an hour of writing S in the air, it seems that yes, he could.


    The cork can become as soft as foam and as rubbery as a bouncing ball.


    ''Still, isn''t it supposed to be a trampoline spell? A block of rubber won''t let you bounce off of it,'' Leon wondered playing with the cork.


    ''I know I can make a trampoline if I use this spell- maximizing the rubbery..ness- on a carpet or drapes and tie it above ground, but I want to turn the ground itself into a trampoline.''


    Suddenly, an idea struck Leon making him grin.


    ''That''s it.''


    ''The person who created this spell knew what they were doing.'' He cast the spell again, but this time he imagined the surface layer of the table turning rubbery, and the wood below the surface as soft and mouldable like foam.


    After two tries he nailed it. A normal cork bounced off the table like it was a trampoline.


    "Awesome," Leon muttered eyeing the three-finger width trampoline, the customizing of two concepts- soft and rubbery somehow reduced the affected area.


    ''Damn! When can I invent spells like this? By giving control over the ratio between softness and bounciness, the spell essentially gives different outputs- to stop a fall, to jump higher, and by combining the foam and rubber-like nature, the drop height from which you will be unharmed will also increase exponentially.''


    ''After all, no matter how soft a foam is it still has limits, no wonder it is called softening charm.''


    Leon mentally gushed over the spell, though it would take more time and practice for the spell to be useful, he wasn''t disappointed.


    After all, he did bend reality to his whims, he was a wizard!


    Seeing that no one came to call him, he quickly started reading about the Tempus spell.


    And boy was the spell easy, it was as easy as flipping a switch. He just did the wand movement and incanted the spell, wanting to know the time.


    Roman Numerals made of white fog appeared above his wand.


    Leon changed their colors with just a thought. As the numerals swirled in colors, he even tried to turn the Roman numerals into Arabic numerals though it didn''t work.


    Leon frowned and willed the numbers to change size and change size they did.


    Suppressing his giddiness at the magic he was doing he willed to turn the Roman numerals to Arabic, trying again.


    The numerals flickered but didn''t change. He tried again and again.


    Nothing happened.