"I wonder if all ravens respond rudely to questions," says Victor.

"I think it's just yours."

And oh look who's here! Making her way to the Slytherin table.

He feeds Muninn some more bacon and smiles tentatively at Dayo.

Dayo smiles back, and takes a seat at a table where literally everyone is ignoring her.

That sure is a thing that's happening. Well, she'll probably be fine.

Probably!

There is once again an enormous banquet before them.

It is good that they get so much food here. That is a good thing about Hogwarts.

Soon enough they're done eating and the Gryffindors have History of Magic with the Hufflepuffs as their first class.

"I heard the teacher is a ghost," Neville whispers.

"I wonder how that happened."

"They say he just one day walked out of his office and never noticed he'd left his body behind."

"Oh."

They need to ask the paintings for directions twice but eventually arrive at the auditorium-like classroom whose walls are covered by books.

He inspects the titles of the books.

History books, all of them, with the most fantastical titles, like "A History of the Modern Usage of Cleaning Utensils" or "An Ancient History of Broomsticks: From Inappropriate Metaphor to Indispensable Tool."

That's actually sort of fascinating. He wonders if he is allowed to read them.

Perhaps, but before he has time to do more than wonder the whole class gasps as a short, hunchbacked, old ghost walks through the wall and takes a seat.

Victor pays attention. That is what you are supposed to do in class is pay attention to the teacher.

...that might be harder than he's anticipating. Professor Binns seems to be an experiment designed to make even the coolest magical revolutions sound mind-numbingly dull.

He has had dull teachers before. He takes notes.

No, Victor doesn't understand, he has not had any teacher a tenth as dull as this teacher. He is really really extremely dull.

Well that's hardly Professor Binns's fault. He didn't ask to be dead.

The consequences are the same regardless of his intentions.

Thus proceeds their first class, and most other kids are drooping or asleep by the time it ends. Homework is five inches on whatever boring topic they covered today, which elicits a collective groan.

That's an interesting way to measure homework, but he supposes it makes sense if everyone's using scrolls of parchment. He looks around and observes that he seems to be the only person in the room who succeeded in taking notes.

Yep.

Fortunately, after this class they have a break until after lunch.