Autumn at Hogwarts has a very unique mixed temperament: there is both the fullness and warmth of harvest, and the faint desolation of all things gradually withering.
Even at this Hogwarts ruled by Phineas, it's hard to hide the students' sense of novelty and energy for the new term.
The ancient castle looked even more profound in the autumn sun, and now and then a breeze would blow past, lifting up a swirl of golden fallen leaves.
Annie Saru sat by the fountain, golden sunlight spilling across her face, making her temperament seem even gentler and more serene.
She was staring blankly at the students not far away, lost in thought.
"Annie!"
A lively voice rang out; Annie turned her head and showed a faint smile.
"Good afternoon, Imelda."
The girl called Imelda came to stand beside Annie and said, a bit vexedly, "I finally get why you asked me to give that Gryffindor boy extra coaching—his name's Potter, right? I really don't know what you siblings are thinking, with your heads full of Gryffindors all day long."
In the few years since they enrolled, Flying Class had always been at a standstill—because there was no professor, or rather, because Phineas Black didn't much like offering that course.
But this term was different; they had invited a professor from Japan with the surname Kuchawa.
This professor was fine in every other respect, except that he would constantly mutter with others about some emperor called "Meiji," and he had a very bad relationship with the dormitory caretaker, Gladwin Moon.
Rumor had it that Gladwin Moon was from Cao County, a vassal state of Professor Hao Ying's homeland, the Ming Country, who taught Magical Creatures Protection Class.
"How is he doing?" Annie asked.
Imelda paused for a moment.
"He's excellent." She broke into a spirited grin. "I have to admit, he's the first Gryffindor I've found even remotely pleasing to the eye—"
She planted one foot on the edge of the bench, bent down to lean closer to Annie, and asked in a low voice, "But… why are you so interested in Potter? Don't you know that that arrogant young lady from the Malfoy family has always treated Potter as her little lackey…"
"Potter is Sebastian's friend, and he's my friend as well." Annie said in an even tone. "I don't think Miss Malfoy has any say over who Harry can be friends with, does she?"
"Uh, that's true." Imelda nodded. She wrinkled her nose, clearly not very fond of the name Malfoy.
Of course, she also knew that Miss Malfoy didn't care—she never cared what people in this House, or even the entire school, thought of her. That was the backing given to her by the Malfoy family, and at the same time, by her outstanding magical talent.
Even people who disliked Cassandra would admit that, even stripped of the dazzling cloak of the Malfoy family, Cassandra Malfoy was still an extraordinarily gifted little Witch.
"It's just a pity." Imelda added with a sigh, "A pity that Principal Black doesn't allow Quidditch Matches to be held in the school. Otherwise, having someone like Potter as an opponent would absolutely be something to be happy about—he's practically born to be a Seeker!"
"Mm." Annie nodded and didn't continue the topic.
"This new term is really boring…" Imelda muttered to herself. "No challenging activities, Principal Black still won't allow Quidditch Matches in the school. If this goes on much longer, I'm going to grow mold… Oh, here comes Potter."
Annie looked up and saw Harry walking over with Gareth, chatting and laughing, with a dark-skinned boy following beside them.
It looked like they had just finished Magic Spell class.
Third-year Magic Spell class had been adjusted. Gryffindor, who originally took Magic Spell with Hufflepuff, had suddenly been reassigned to take it with Ravenclaw; and Hufflepuff, who had originally been in class with Gryffindor, was now lumped together with the Slytherins.
In the past, there had indeed been a situation in the school where Slytherin looked down on Hufflepuff, but ever since Phineas had served as Headmaster for a few years, that situation had greatly improved; some Slytherins had even started becoming friends with Hufflepuff.
Phineas always considered this one of his political achievements and took pride in it—of course, in a sense, it really was thanks to him.
As they passed the fountain, Harry spotted Annie.
"Annie!" Harry waved to her and came over to her side.
Annie smiled gently and stood up.
"Class is finally over." Harry let out a long breath. "I really don't want to listen to Professor Ronan droning word-for-word from the textbook anymore—that seems to be the sum total of his abilities. I honestly doubt how someone like that ever became a professor at Hogwarts…"
"Don't be like that, Harry." Gareth chimed in at his side. "At least he can read from the book, can't he?"
"In Miss Malfoy's words—" Harry brought up Cassandra; apparently thinking of her utterly disdainful expression made him involuntarily smile, and he went on, "We've sunk so low that a man who reeks of curry from head to toe from India is teaching us Magic Spells."
"Looks like he's still just as ignorant as ever." Imelda added from the side.
Everyone laughed.
"Potter." Imelda said, "After dinner, I'll be waiting for you at the Quidditch Pitch—good grief, I really don't know why I still call the Flying Class grounds that, but I still like calling it the Quidditch Pitch, even if it's not performing its proper function."