A loud crash upstairs brought Rezekiel to a rude and cruel awakening. Growling softly and grimacing slightly to himself, he mentally cursed whatever fool was causing such a racket at the crack of dawn.<br/><br/>He got over that rather quickly, however. As much as he could blame his noisy neighbors, he had himself equally to blame, both foor renting a room at a public place and especially for doing so at the Leaky Cauldron. There was no shortage of noise in the place, which was rather the reason he had picked it in the first place. He enjoyed the buzz of public places, though this morning, with his head pounding from drinking far too much the previous night, he would have preferred to be sleeping in his own place, or even at his parents' home.<br/><br/>He had visited his parents for a couple of weeks during the holidays, mostly out of courtesy rather than out of sentimentality. He loved his parents well enough, as any son or daughter would, but in his mind he knew it was only the forced love that one had to have towards family. He had plenty of other relatives whom he got along with much better, but his parents were too dry and unadventurous for him to ever truly develop a loving relationship with them. The rest of his holidays he had equally spent visiting friends and flying in hawk form over gullies and hills, searching himself for the samples of plants and herbs that he would need for the upcoming school year. It was much more interesting to gather the ingredients himself than purchase them in Diagon Alley. They were fresher this way, and he could begin their cultivation using his own methods rather than the standards by which most herbologists used, which he perceived to be far too intrusive to the plants. If one was to extract or use plants to their utmost potency and potential, they needed more of a natural environment to grow on. Few people understood this the way he did.<br/><br/>Of course, that didn't mean he wouldn't have to shop for other necessities in Diagon Alley, either. He would have to stock up on several necessary items for the handling and caring of plants here, mostly for his students, as he had plenty for himself already. He could easily list plenty of the earmuffs and gloves that the pupils would need in their letters of required materials, but he preferred to get his own. Sometimes the poorer students would come with hand me downs, which could have holes or be about to break, and that caused unnecessary discomfort and embarrassment for them. If he cared about anyone, it was his students, so he made sure to provide them with everything they would need, except for their textbooks. He still liked to be able to tell apart the students that were more well off from those that weren't, as he liked to take tallies inside his own mind on how the two carried themselves around the classroom and treated each other, and how much either or excelled in his class. The results were always interesting, and something about the old leather and parchment of the more decrepit books was invigorating to see. It was a testament to the importance of books and the preservation of knowledge, among any and everyone.<br/><br/>Rezekiel yawned, deciding to finally get up and tackle his day. He washed his face, combed his hair, looked at himself in the mirror for a good five minutes, dressed himself, and finally walked off to Diagon Alley to gather everything he'd need. He smiled at everyone he recognized, and even when he didn't, he kept a just noticeable half smile tugging at the edges of his lips at all times, as if inside his mind he was constantly telling himself jokes that no one else could understand. After purchasing all the necessities, he charmed them into the small blue and red sack that his grandmother had made him and which he always carried, and exited the vibrant Diagon Alley to catch a taxi to King's Cross. All the while, his excitement levels mounted slowly but steadily. He was looking forward to the upcoming school year.<br/><br/>Checking the pocketwatch inside his coat, he grumbled softly to himself. He was going to arrive barely on time for the train to not leave him behind, as usual. Punctuality had never been his strongest suit, and when he was on time, it was always only just.