Julian wanted to tear his hair out when he got a proper look at how the library was organized, which was to say, not at all. At some point, there had clearly been a system, but it looked like multiple generations of librarians had quietly surrendered to chaos. He spotted fifth year textbooks shoved into shelves labeled for second years, and even a potions reference wedged into the Charms section.
That was not even the worst of it. The further he wandered into the deep, forgotten parts of the library, the stranger it got. He found volumes that looked as though they had not seen daylight in centuries, a guess that might actually be accurate.
Tom es on rituals, human and otherwise. Manuals on sacrifices, treatises on magical crests, detailed works on veritology, wand crafting, and countless other advanced or downright dangerous fields sat openly on the shelves, as if they were nothing more controversial than a cookbook.
The restricted section, Julian decided, might just be a smokescreen.
On the bright side, I am probably going to end up far more educated than most of the last few generations of wizards, he thought, plucking a book titled A Beginner's Guide to Rituals by R. S. Black off the shelf.
"Rituals can loosely be divided into four branches: Sacrificial, Obligatory, Finite, and Fusion. Before I explain these categories in depth, I must issue a warning to whomever this text may reach."
He read on, eyes scanning the page.
"Ritual work is a discipline of exact precision, utterly intolerant of errors. Even a minor deviation in structure or execution can lead to catastrophic results. You have now been properly warned."
Julian's expression turned serious as he finished the passage, even though he had no idea what language the original script actually was. The letters flowed in an unfamiliar style, the script old and dense, but he understood it cleanly.
Being able to read, write, and speak any language was already paying off. A huge portion of Hogwarts' collection turned out to be in dead tongues or obscure foreign languages. One of the books in this ancient corner had even been written in what looked like cuneiform, as far as he could tell.
The warning in the ritual book made him both intrigued and wary. He had no real framework yet for what he was looking at. Magically speaking, he was still missing fundamental information about how the wizarding world worked, and he refused to dive headfirst into complicated side topics until he fixed that.
Fortunately, in this "ancient section," as he decided to name it, he also discovered foundational texts. There were books on basic magical principles and core theory, written in those same dead or foreign languages, which he could use to build up his understanding of both old and somewhat modern magical fundamentals.
It was almost funny, in a bitter way, how impossible a task becomes when the most critical information is trapped behind a language barrier. With enough talent and scattered hints, you could eventually reconstruct what you needed from scratch, but it would be painfully inefficient.
A thousand years ago, wizards on par with Dumbledore had been far more common. Over time, those kinds of witches and wizards had dwindled. As the centuries passed, laziness crept in, standards slipped, and incompetence spread until knowledge that had once been widely known ended up labeled as "esoteric" or "forbidden."
Julian had a working theory that many of the so called forbidden books in his newly named ancient section were there simply because Dumbledore did not actually know what they contained. If the headmaster could not read the languages, he might have overlooked them entirely.
More for me, I suppose, Julian thought with a satisfied grin, before leaving the forgotten shelves and heading back toward the "normal" areas of the library in search of straightforward fundamental texts.
By the time six o clock rolled around and dinner arrived, he had managed to locate exactly two books focused on basic magical knowledge.
This will have to do for now, I guess, he thought gloomily as he checked them out under Madam Pince's baleful stare.
Dinner itself was much the same as the previous night. The selection of food was heavily British, familiar roasts and sides dominating the tables. The one standout exception was the tacos, which had mysteriously appeared again, causing general confusion at first and then enthusiastic delight among the majority of students once they tried them.
...
After the meal, when everyone drifted back to their common rooms, the first years found that their schedules for the year had been posted on the notice board. Julian joined the crowd of Gryffindors peering at the parchment and read through the layout.
Mondays:7 - 8:45 Breakfast9 - 10 Potions10:15 - 11:15 Herbology11:15 - 12:45 Lunch1 - 2 Herbology2:15 - 6 Free period6 - 8 Dinner
Tuesdays:7 - 8:45 Breakfast9 - 10 History of Magic10:15 - 11:15 Charms11:15 - 12:45 Lunch1 - 2 Charms2 - 6 Free period6 - 8 Dinner
Wednesdays:7 - 8:45 Breakfast9 - 10 Flying10:15 - 11:15 Astronomy11:15 - 12:45 Lunch1 - 2 Defense Against the Dark Arts2 - 6 Free period6 - 8 Dinner
Thursdays:7 - 8:45 Breakfast9 - 10 Defense Against the Dark Arts10:15 - 11:15 History of Magic11:15 - 12:45 Lunch1 - 2 Transfiguration2:15 - 3:15 Transfiguration3:30 - 6 Free period6 - 8 Dinner
Fridays:7 - 8:45 Breakfast9 - 10 Astronomy10:15 - 11:15 Charms11:15 - 12:45 Lunch1 - 2 Potions2:15 - 3:30 Potions3:30 - 6 Free period6 - 8 Dinner
Saturdays and Sundays:Free time, all day.
Looking it over, Julian felt a small flicker of anticipation. Between the classes, the ancient books, and the secret corners of the castle still left to uncover, the year ahead promised to be anything but dull.
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