When he got up in the morning, Harry finally felt much better from that haze.
Fortunately, he was not alone at school. Although the castle was big, Gareth was there to show him around.
There are a total of one hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts, some of them are wide and grand; some are narrow and small, and quite wobbly; some lead to different places depending on the day of the week; and some have steps that suddenly disappear halfway up, so you have to remember where to jump.
Moreover, there are many doors here that do not open unless you ask them nicely, or prod them in the right place; and some are not doors at all, just solid walls that pretend to be doors. Trying to remember where things are is difficult because everything seems to be constantly on the move.
There was no formal class on the first day, and Harry didn't know why, but that was the situation.
But what exactly the situation was, is something to look at as the situation unfolds.
After running once from the Gryffindor Tower to the hall, Gareth seemed a little unwilling to run anymore.
"Here you go." Gareth handed a package to Harry after lunch.
"What is this?" Harry asked curiously, opening the package to find something like ash, sparkling and a bit dingy, not knowing what it was for.
"Floo Powder," Gareth said with a wink, "This is good stuff, didn't you feel Hogwarts Castle is big? This is a great way for you to take a shortcut—remember the Flame of the Flying Path Principal Black mentioned yesterday? It's activated by this stuff. Just throw a pinch of this into the Flame of the Flying Path and say where you want to go, and you can arrive there instantly!"
Harry's eyes lit up.
He had just followed Gareth around the Hogwarts Castle today and found it really confusing—he didn't know the right way to go, and the stairs meandered chaotically, honestly, it was a bit hard on him, Harry.
"Let's go," Gareth said enthusiastically, "I'll first show you how to get back to the Gryffindor Tower!"
With that, they called a few Gryffindor classmates together to experiment with the Flame of the Flying Path.
They came to the hall's Flame of the Flying Path, and Gareth, eyeing the flickering torch, said, "Wow, I thought the Flame of the Flying Path would be like a fireplace at home, but it turned out to be a torch... Of course, I still don't know if this thing can be used properly, um... who has used Floo Powder to go somewhere else? Please raise your hand?"
Randall and Quisida raised their hands.
"Alright, Randall, you try first," Gareth said, "Harry doesn't know how to use this, and I think as a pure-blood wizard, you should set a good example."
"No problem, watch me!" Randall said eagerly, pinching a bit of sparkling powder, taking it to the torch, and tossing it into the flames.
With a whoosh, the fire turned green and almost reached Randall's face.
Harry was amazed to find that the fire wasn't hot at all.
He placed his hand on the torch and shouted, "Gryffindor Tower!"
In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
"You gotta be clear with your words, mate," Gareth said to Harry, and at this time, Quisida also pinched some of the sparkling powder, "Remember, it's crucial to enunciate clearly, otherwise you might end up in some unknown place, and you wouldn't want to end up in a dark wizard gathering, right?"
"What if I say something wrong?" Harry asked nervously. Although these flames weren't hot, he was still a bit reluctant to put his hand in.
Come on, that green flame, putting your hand in... don't get burned!
"You know, there are many kinds of demon fire, you have to choose the right one, but as long as you speak clearly—" Gareth said, "Keep your elbows tight, close your eyes, don't move—remember, do not move; now, give it a try?"
Harry took a deep breath, pinched up some Floo Powder, and then tucked the rest into his pocket.
He threw the Floo Powder into the flames, which roared back to life.
"Put your hand in," Gareth said.
Harry wasn't quite willing.
"Put it in!" Gareth said again, "Don't worry, it won't burn you; don't doubt magic!"
Upon hearing this, Harry could only hesitantly put his hand in.
Ah...
The fire wasn't hot at all, instead, it was warm and comfortable, just like dipping your hand into warm water.
"Speak!" Gareth prompted.
"Gryffindor Tower!" Harry said clearly, not knowing why he managed to say it so clearly since he thought he might say something wrong!
Immediately, he felt like he was being sucked into a giant plughole.
His body seemed to be spinning rapidly... the whirling sound was deafening—he tried desperately to open his eyes, but the swirling green flames made him dizzy... something hard bumped against his elbow, he clamped his arms tightly, still spinning endlessly—now it felt like cold hands were patting his cheeks, squinting through his glasses, he saw nothing.
Soon after, he felt his feet touch solid ground.
Dizzy and dizzy, he leaned against the wall, taking a while to recover.
"Feeling dizzy the first time is normal," Randall said, patting Harry's shoulder, "Relax, take a deep breath—you'll feel much better—by the way, I've got some butterscotch toffee here for you to ease up, you'll feel much better."