Prising up wooden boards.
Digging dirt.
Prying coffins open.
Filling in and covering with more boards.
Practice makes perfect, as they say, and this seamless routine hadn't cost Ian much time at all—for once, he managed to crawl onto his rock-hard wooden bed before eleven at night.
"At least it's kind of good for the cervical and lumbar spine."
Young as he was, Ian had started pondering wellness. Normally, his sleep was pretty decent, but tonight his active mind had stirred up a bit of insomnia.
"Free library, Hogwarts kitchen, West Tower's Owl Shed… I hope nobody uses that place as a buffet pickup spot."
His thoughts whirled.
Outmatched the sleepiness produced by physical exhaustion.
Ian couldn't help but start mapping out his goals for first year.
"I definitely have to hunt for the Room of Requirement—maybe it'll give me a wand I can't carry out, so I can practice magic inside with no worries."
"Quidditch, whoever wants to learn can learn, but Flying Brooms I still have to study a bit—modifying the style might be cool… Too bad I never got to ride the Hogwarts Express."
Ian had no idea when he drifted off to sleep.
Outside the window.
Stars twinkled like diamonds scattered on black velvet, glowing gentle and distant. A meteor streaked by, as though someone doodled ink across the scroll of night.
Crickets and the rustle of leaves kept people company until dawn.
"Brush your teeth! Wash your face!"
No alarm clock needed—when sunlight spilled into the room, he jerked awake, sprang up, and quickly pulled on the black robe Snape had bought for him in Diagon Alley.
Most wizards change into their uniforms on the Hogwarts Express; clearly, Ian didn't have that chance, so all he could do was dress up first thing when he woke up.
Can't exactly do a strip and quick change in front of the whole school, right?
Not like anyone's going to throw him a sinful Golden Galleon, anyway.
"Even if there's Golden Galleons, you can't make a fool of yourself like that!" Ian was someone with a proper love for money—earning that kind of sell-your-body cash, he'd rather go to Knockturn Alley and rob Wizard Nick.
He checked how sturdy the floorboards were and whether he packed all his belongings back into the suitcase. Then Ian started waiting eagerly for Snape's arrival.
And so.
The sun rose east, hung high, strolled west… Ian's expression turned from eager anticipation to an empty, borderline existential despair.
"He didn't forget me, did he?"
Ian recalled Snape promising to pick him up for the start of term, but after waiting nearly the whole day, Snape still hadn't come; now he was starting to critically reevaluate Snape's reliability.
In the original story.
The Old Bat's reputation wasn't that great, was it? The more he thought about it, the more convinced he was he'd been stood up, so Ian grabbed his suitcase and decided to make his own way to Hogwarts.
The Hogwarts Express's final stop was near the village, and the castle wasn't all that far from here—just a path through some thick woodland and that was it.
"Bang~"
Just as he dragged his suitcase to the front door, the wooden cabin's door was violently kicked open, and Snape—face eternally unchanged—stepped inside and glanced around.
He actually seemed relieved.
At last, those deep-set eyes locked onto Ian.
"If you're packed, follow me."
With that.
Snape turned stone-faced and strode out the door.
"I thought you'd forgotten me."
Ian hurried after him.
"Ha, don't you have legs? Don't know how to walk yourself to school?"
Snape sneered.
"I was literally about to rely on myself."
Ian pursed his lips.
Following Snape outside, he saw that, besides himself, another person was waiting with a suitcase.
The glow of the setting sun lit the girl's face, casting a golden sheen over her platinum hair.
"Miss Grindelwald."
Ian greeted her, somewhat surprised.
"Good afternoon, my friend. You can just call me by my name."
Aurora nodded lightly.
Seeing these two actually knew each other, Snape immediately furrowed his brows. His gaze bounced between them, finally landing sharply on Aurora.
"You taught him that magic?"
Clearly.
Snape was connecting Ian's grasp of the Imperio spell with Aurora.
Even if Ian's learning skills threw him for a loop, Snape still didn't believe you could just find some random note about Dark Arts lying around Hogwarts Village's main street.
"He hasn't learned any magic from me."
Aurora met Snape's gaze, her voice calm and her mismatched eyes betraying no emotion at all. She wasn't intimidated by his stare.
"Miss Grindelwald, I don't care why Dumbledore agreed to let you into Hogwarts, I only hope you will strictly abide by Hogwarts rules."
"Don't let anything that shouldn't exist show up and let me catch it spreading at school." Snape's voice was harsh, an obvious and thinly-veiled warning.
"A reasonable request." Aurora nodded, not arguing. Ian, standing nearby, kept a close eye to see if the girl was about to reach for her magic wand.
"And you!"
Snape suddenly turned to Ian.
"What nonsense did you spout in front of Dumbledore?"
His eyes looked ready to eat someone alive.
"Huh?"
Ian was totally lost.
"I just treated Headmaster Dumbledore to a cup of tea." Ian recalled his previous interaction with Dumbledore, wearing a confused and vaguely aggrieved expression.
"I think I was very proper, but Headmaster Dumbledore's bird nearly had me prematurely enter old age." Ian absently touched his own scalp.
Living in England.
A man needs to worry about two things from birth.
First, the attraction of the same sex.
Second… whether his scalp will turn into the Mediterranean.
"If you didn't talk nonsense, how would Dumbledore…"
Snape started to scold him angrily.
However.
"Professor, when are we leaving?"
Aurora interrupted him nearby.
Maybe realizing that family rumors mustn't leak to outsiders, Snape angrily swallowed the words, shot them a dirty look, and headed straight out of Hogwarts Village.
"Follow me!"
He barked.
"Hey, friend, need help with your luggage?"
Ian enthusiastically sidled up to Aurora.
"It's easy for me."
Aurora declined Ian's offer with casual poise.
"I knew you were awesome. So—could you help me with mine? I'm not finding it very easy myself."
Under the girl's dumbfounded gaze, Ian dragged his suitcase over beside hers, thoughtfully pried open her hand, and plopped the handle onto it.
"???????"
Wide-eyed disbelief.
Aurora just watched as Ian sprinted off ahead.