Hogwarts: Transmigrated as the Top Student

The Hogwarts library was said to be one of the largest in all of Europe.

With tens of thousands of books, hundreds of shelves, and countless narrow aisles, the sheer scale of it was enough to overwhelm anyone.

On Saturday morning, Jon Hart arrived at the library... For the past few days, he had spent his free time in the mornings and afternoons here, searching for the books he needed.

Unlike the perpetually crowded libraries of his past life's university, this vast space held no more than twenty students, all of them familiar faces.

The truth was, the academic atmosphere at Hogwarts wasn't particularly strong.

As soon as Jon stepped inside, he spotted Justin Finch-Fletchley, a second-year Hufflepuff, speaking animatedly to a brown-haired girl. Trailing behind her was a red-haired boy who looked very much like a tagalong.

The brown-haired girl listened for a bit, then walked over to Jon.

"Ahem... hello..." She cleared her throat lightly. "Are you Jon, Jon Hart?"

"Uh... yes..." Jon nodded, putting on a surprised expression. "And you are?"

"I'm Hermione, Hermione Granger. My father is Wendell Granger," she said, carefully choosing her words. "I think you may have heard of me—"

"Oh, you're Dr. Granger's daughter?" Jon cut in, acting like it had just clicked for him.

"That's right..." Hermione nodded.

"A real pleasure!" Jon warmly shook her hand. "It's such a shame we didn't get to meet in Diagon Alley..."

"I thought so too." Hermione gave a polite, slightly forced smile, then asked, "How's your first week at school been? I didn't know where the Hufflepuff common room was, so I couldn't come find you after the Sorting... Yesterday, Justin mentioned you visit the library every morning, so I waited here today hoping to catch you..."

"No problem!" Jon smiled and shook his head, then added enthusiastically, "Hogwarts is incredible. I swear, in all my years, I've never seen magic like this before..."

He went on for several minutes, marveling at everything around him, while Hermione nodded along and offered a few reminders about things to watch out for at Hogwarts.

Then, the red-haired boy coughed behind her and whispered, "Hermione, come on. Harry's Quidditch practice is about to start."

"Sorry, I've got to go!" Hermione smiled apologetically at Jon. "If you ever need anything, just come find me..."

"Mm-hmm!"

Hermione and the red-haired boy quickly walked off.

As they left, the boy gave Jon a strange look.

"Who's that?"

"Uh... the son of one of my dad's friends. He asked me to look after him when I got to school."

"Oh, really? Doesn't look like he needs any looking after!"

Once they were gone, Jon let out a quiet sigh of relief. Thanks to his father, getting to know Hermione Granger had been unavoidable. Fortunately, she didn't seem interested in introducing him to her two famous friends.

...

"Jon, you actually know Gryffindor's know-it-all!" Justin Finch-Fletchley hurried over, sounding surprised.

"Hey, Justin..." Jon greeted casually. "I guess you could say that."

"Hermione Granger is amazing..." Justin didn't press the point and instead said with admiration, "How is it that we're both Muggle-born, but I feel like I'll never be able to catch up to her in anything?"

"Uh..."

The two wandered the library together, chatting quietly.

"The first Quidditch match is coming up—we're up against Ravenclaw. They won the Cup last year, but their Seeker, Lena Hetty, graduated. They've brought in a third-year to replace her... I doubt she's any match for Cedric."

Jon led the way, and before long, they'd unknowingly wandered into the restricted section of the library.

Hearing the familiar sound of soft slippers approaching behind him, Jon suddenly raised his voice.

"By the way, why do so many students dislike our caretaker, Argus Filch?"

The slippered footsteps behind them abruptly stopped.

"Filch?" Justin shrugged. "It's mostly the Weasley twins and their lot spreading stories about how awful he is. Honestly, I've barely interacted with him..."

"I think Mr. Filch is actually pretty decent!" Jon smiled. "He's responsible—doesn't let us wander the halls after dark when we could get into trouble with no one around to help. He keeps us out of dangerous places like the Forbidden Forest. Didn't Professor Flitwick say during the feast that the forest's full of dangerous creatures?"

"That's true!" Justin nodded thoughtfully.

"And I heard from the Fat Friar that the last caretaker, Apollyon Pringle, used to whip students. Mr. Filch got rid of that and switched to detention... Honestly, I think he cares about us deep down."

Of course, abolishing corporal punishment was Dumbledore's doing. Filch, in truth, still supported it. But what did that matter to Jon Hart? He was just a clueless first-year who'd heard a few rumors.

"Maybe..."

The slippered footsteps resumed, and a moment later, Madam Irma Pince appeared, holding a feather duster.

"Oh, children... This is the restricted section. I don't think you're supposed to be here!" Madam Pince set down the duster and tried to speak as pleasantly as she could.

"Sorry, ma'am..." Justin clearly knew how fearsome she could be and bolted.

Jon, however, trailed behind, watching the unusual softness in Madam Pince's expression. He knew then that his plan was more than halfway to success.

Irma Pince, the librarian, and Argus Filch, the caretaker, were secretly in love—a well-kept secret at Hogwarts, but not to him.

"Anything else, Mr. Hart?" Madam Pince asked with a gentle smile.

"Yes, ma'am..." Jon summoned his courage. "Actually, Professor Lockhart sent me to find a few books from the restricted section."

"Professor Lockhart?" Madam Pince blinked, then her face lit up with admiration.

It was only the first week—Gilderoy Lockhart hadn't yet revealed his true colors. His charm with middle-aged women still held strong, and Madam Pince was no exception.

"Do you have his written permission, Mr. Hart?" she asked.

"Not yet... He hasn't picked out the exact books. He just gave me a general idea of what to look for..." Jon explained calmly. "So Madam Pince, may I at least search the shelves? I swear I'll only read the titles and won't open anything. Once I've found them, I'll get his signature."

If it had been anyone else, she would've kicked them out the moment they mentioned not having a signed note.

But Jon Hart happened to be one of the few students she genuinely liked.

"Oh, I heard from Miss Lovegood that you're Professor Lockhart's favorite in Defense Against the Dark Arts. I suppose you're not lying!" Madam Pince smiled. "You may search, but don't open any of the books. Many of them are dangerous for first-years."

"Thank you, ma'am!"

...

Near noon, around eleven o'clock, Jon hurried up to the fourth floor to Professor Gilderoy Lockhart's office, holding a slip of paper.

Fortunately, Lockhart was in.

The walls were covered with framed portraits of Lockhart himself, all brightly lit by candles. Some even bore his signature. A pile of photographs sat on his desk...

"Hello, Mr. Hart. What can I do for you?" Lockhart smiled at him.

Clearly, he remembered this attentive and "high-achieving" student from his class.

"Yes, Professor. I finished several of your books this week and had some questions. For example, I couldn't quite grasp the chronic ghoul venom in Gadding with Ghouls, or how you resisted hag mind control in Holidays with Hags, and the spell you used to defeat that werewolf in Wanderings with Werewolves..." Jon asked smoothly.

Lockhart stiffened, momentarily lost for words. Jon's questions clearly caught him off guard.

"Of course, I'm not here to ask for help!" Jon quickly added as Lockhart fumbled. "I'm sure these are simple things for you, Professor. You just didn't include them in the books because you wanted us to discover the answers ourselves..."

"Ah! Yes, exactly!" Lockhart blinked. "That's right, Mr. Hart. I absolutely wanted you to think for yourselves. You really are my most promising student!"

"So I'd like to borrow a few books from the library—to learn some background knowledge." Jon held up the note. "The only problem is, they're in the restricted section, and I need a teacher's signature."

"Of course!" Lockhart said. "I'd never stand in the way of someone seeking knowledge."

Without a second thought, he took the note and scribbled his flamboyant signature across it—without so much as glancing at the contents.

"Thank you, Professor!" Jon quickly retrieved the signed note.

"No trouble at all, Jon..." Lockhart waved generously. "Keep working hard—you may just achieve something close to what I have!"

"I'm honored, Professor!"

...

With the signature in hand, Jon didn't even stop for lunch. He ran straight to the library.

Madam Pince was just about to leave.

"What is it?" she asked, surprised to see him back.

"Yes, ma'am... I've found the books Professor Lockhart needs—and I've got his signed permission!"

As he spoke, Jon handed her the note.

"Yes... that's definitely Gilderoy's signature. I've seen it in Witch Weekly..." Madam Pince blushed slightly, then carefully slipped the note into her pocket.

"Come with me, Mr. Hart... I'll help you find those books right now!"