Altair sat there and continued eating. Glancing at Hermione beside him, who seemed to be lost in thought, he asked,
"Do we have class together in a little while?"
"Ah? Oh, yes. We have a Transfiguration class with Professor McGonagall this morning. Our two Houses have that one together."
"But this afternoon's History of Magic isn't with Slytherin. It's Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Still, tomorrow's Charms class, Thursday's Potions, Friday's Defence Against the Dark Arts, and the three Herbology lessons every week are all shared between our two Houses."
Hermione recited it all as if she knew it by heart. There were quite a few classes the two Houses attended together, and first-year students did not have that many lessons to begin with, so aside from class, there would still be plenty of chances for them to see each other.
"No flying lesson? I'm actually rather interested in those brooms."
Altair asked out of curiosity. He remembered that flying lessons were also shared between the two Houses, and that Harry had ended up being noticed by Professor McGonagall because of his talent for flying after his clash with Malfoy.
"Flying lessons don't start until the second week. There aren't any this week."
Hermione flipped through her timetable, tucked it back into her book, looked around, and let out a soft sigh.
"I'm sorry. I caused trouble for you."
"That had nothing to do with you. I already wanted to teach her a lesson anyway."
That little bitch Pansy had already been taking snide digs at him earlier that morning. Altair had wanted to deal with her then and there.
"You don't have to comfort me. If I hadn't come over here to eat, you wouldn't have... Anyway, it's a good thing the Headmaster didn't punish you, or I'd really regret it."
Hermione sounded downcast, still feeling guilty about what had happened.
She had not expected to cause trouble for Altair. Then again, the Slytherin students really were not very friendly.
"It would have been so much better if you were in Gryffindor too. The atmosphere in Slytherin really isn't very good. Look at Gryffindor, everyone's so friendly."
Hermione glanced at the Weasley twins and lowered her voice.
"And I heard them say that Slytherin is basically a training camp for Dark wizards, that it specializes in producing them."
Altair smiled as he ate a piece of potato.
"Don't listen to that nonsense. Every House has produced Dark wizards. Slytherin has just had more of them. You should know that Merlin was a Slytherin too. A House doesn't decide everything. What matters most is the wizard's own choices."
"I chose Slytherin. Slytherin did not choose me. That matters."
Hermione did not fully understand, but she still looked a little startled. For a moment, it felt to her as if Altair was glowing when he spoke.
He seemed even more handsome than usual.
Hermione's cheeks turned pink. She smiled shyly and tilted her head as she looked at Altair, saying nothing.
"Do you always eat this little in the morning?"
Altair glanced at her plate. There was hardly any trace of food on it, as if she had only eaten a slice of toast and had a glass of milk.
"I'm just not used to eating very much in the morning."
"You ought to learn from him."
Altair pointed behind him at Ron, who was enthusiastically tearing into a steak.
This Weasley boy, who normally did not get many chances to eat proper delicacies, was clearly making up for lost time. After a few days of good food, he would probably settle down a bit.
"He certainly has a healthy appetite."
"His name is Ron Weasley. Those twins over there are his brothers, and that one there, our prefect, is his brother too. Their whole family is in Gryffindor."
Hermione introduced them to Altair, then pointed at Harry Potter sitting beside Ron.
"That's Harry Potter. He's famous. Actually, I've seen his name in several books. Apparently, he's done some remarkable things."
"Looks like you've already made a lot of new friends."
Altair knew all of the people Hermione was introducing, of course. When she heard him say that, she puffed out her cheeks.
"They're not really friends exactly. We just got to know each other a bit over dinner last night. Neville even told me yesterday that he wished you had come to Gryffindor too."
"What a pity, then."
Altair took out his pocket watch and checked the time. There were still more than forty minutes before class. He looked at Hermione, who had nothing to do, and leaned close to whisper in her ear,
"If you're bored, the first Transfiguration lesson is on how to turn a match into a needle. You could try studying it in advance."
Altair sat back up straight and continued eating his fried eggs. Hermione's face went bright red, and she did not dare look at him.
"H-how do you know that?"
"I dreamed it last night. I think I'm a genius at Divination."
Altair said it with deliberate mystery.
Hermione did not quite believe him, but she still took out her book and started reading it.
After finishing breakfast, Altair left the Great Hall with Hermione and headed for the Transfiguration classroom.
Meanwhile, Neville, who had been waiting in Gryffindor for quite a while, hurried after them. Along the way, he grumbled a little, saying that after seeing the clash between them and Pansy earlier, some Gryffindors had started badmouthing Altair and Hermione.
Some had even said that the two of them had already been dating back in the Muggle world.
Altair did not care in the slightest.
Hermione, on the other hand, immediately turned shy.
By the time they reached the classroom, several students were already there waiting for the lesson to begin.
The tabby cat that was Professor McGonagall sat on the teacher's desk.
Altair walked over and gave her a polite bow.
Hermione and Neville followed behind him, not understanding why he had done that, but at Altair's glance, they also bowed respectfully to the tabby cat.