Before this chapter, I would again like to reiterate that this is detailing my personal method, and you do not have to follow it exactly, or even at all! This is how I picked what courses I took and when.

Upon starting your first year at Hogwarts, you might be overwhelmed by the amount of options you have. Nothing is stopping you from enrolling in every class at once, or going through each one at a time before moving onto the next one. As I have mentioned in the first chapter, I personally study four subjects at a time, to balance out the overwhelm of choice with the prospect of getting bored of one subject. This also means I have classes to do whilst I wait on assignments to be graded. But what should you take first? In my opinion, there are three things you should consider:

• Importance


• Compatibility


• Enjoyability

The first thing to think about is importance of each class. Almost all Year One courses are core classes, meaning you’ll have to do all of them eventually, except for Flying. For this reason, I would save Flying for last, as it is not necessary to progress through the years. Of course, if you’re particularly interested in Flying, you should take it whenever you like! As for “important” subjects, I would say that Charms ranks the highest, in my opinion, for the sole reason that spell-casting comes up in many other disciplines. After that, I would say Potions is a good foundational subject that also crops up in other areas.

The next thing to consider is compatibility of subjects. Some subjects complement each other quite nicely. Personally, I think that Charms pairs well with Defense Against the Dark Arts, as well as Transfiguration. Similarly, Potions pairs well with Herbology. History of Magic, in my personal opinion, is a bit of an outlier, in that it shows up in many other classes (usually in the form of a historical anecdote about charms, potions, etc.), and thus can be taken before or after any course; I personally recommend taking it towards the end of your academic year. However, you do not have to do them at the same time if you don't want. I only started Herbology after finishing Potions, and I started Transfiguration after finishing Charms, and didn't come across any problems doing it this way. Just keep connections and overlap in mind as you get through each course, and you should be fine.

The next thing to keep in mind is the enjoyability of the subject. You will not fully know how enjoyable a subject is until you start it. For example, I thought I would be horrible at Astronomy, until I took it and became quite fascinated, despite its difficulty. This is why I consider it the least important factor in choosing the order you take each subject, but important nonetheless. I like to take a mixture of subjects I love paired with ones I like a little less. For example, I took Potions and Astronomy (classes I really liked) at the same time as Charms and DADA (classes I liked, but not as much).

To advance in years, or just for the sake of being a completionist, there will be some classes you find less enjoyable than others. The best way I find to cope with that is to do these classes in smaller increments, and slip them in between classes you do enjoy. What I personally do is study the class I am enjoying for as long as I like, usually the whole lesson or more at once, then do one paragraph or section from the less enjoyable subject. You’ll get through these classes slower, but any progress is still progress. I am doing this right now with Flying, as I want to pass the elective, but am not a keen flier. Since I really enjoy Herbology and History of Magic, I can switch between the subjects and maintain studying momentum.

You may be aware that you can take Year Two electives in your first year of study if you so wish. I chose not to take any in my first year, with one notable exception: I started Ancient Runes when I was about halfway through my first year studies. This is because I have a very strong interest in languages myself, and had a real temptation to just start the course early. I even made a separate flashcard deck for it, so I could get through the content quicker. Electives are taken out of pure interest, as they aren’t required to move up years, so if one piques your interest, there is no harm in trying it out!

-- Note: I am not technically finished with my first year of studies, but I have completed four subjects (Astronomy, Charms, DADA, and potions), am over halfway through another two (Herbology and History of Magic), and have started the final two (Transfiguration and Flying). Like the rest of this book, this chapter may be subject to edits once I have more experience in my magical studies.