Chapter 61      

The ride to Hogwarts was smooth but loud as Aman seemed to never stop talking about his summer holidays and his sister Jane was sharing the quibbler with Luna.

The four of them scooped more and more ice-cream while them munched on the cookies like there was no tomorrow. An hour later, Alex's book and the Quibbler sat on the side of the table, completely forgotten.

It was only when they were almost nearing Hogwarts that they stopped. The bowls vanished from their spot before a set of robes flew out of Alex's trunk.

"Girls, could you please turn the other side?"

Jane did as she was told and turned towards the compartment door and shut her eyelids tight. Luna on the other hand stared at him and just before Alex felt annoyed, she followed Jane's actions.

Alex looked at Aman, "Change fast. Or would you like to change with the girls?"

"No no… let me get my robes out first."

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Unlike the first time he was escorted into Hogwarts where he had to use boats, this time he was told to use the chariots that looked like they were pulled by invisible beings to most people.

Alex stared at the thestrals for a few seconds before getting into the carriage that was being pulled by them.

Aman climbed in behind him while two other second years joined them right after. Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis were the two Slytherin girls who weren't in Pansy Parkinson's gang.

He hadn't paid too much attention to most of his classmates so he didn't know too much about the two girls that sat in front of him except for the fact that Daphne's sister would marry Draco and that she had a bloodline curse.

Tracey was someone he knew very little about even with all the knowledge that was dumped in his brain. He observed the two for a few seconds as he ignored the angry expression on Daphne's face.

'Hmm… they probably won't cause too many problems as they don't seem to be important people. Should I invest in one of these or not…. Hmm, maybe I'll pick one of the boys and one of these two.'

"Could you stop staring at me?", asked Daphne as she glared at him.

Alex simply turned his face sideways as he didn't want to waste his energy on a useless argument or an apology. The pressure on his body had started to increase bit by bit and luckily for him, he didn't have to stand outside the great hall this time.

He didn't speak a single word while Aman went on and on beside him as they waited for the sorting ceremony to begin.

The pressure on Alex grew faster than what he had experienced in his first year and it didn't take too long for him to faint. He had sensed it coming and put his head down on the table before telling Aman to not disturb him.

Just speaking a few words look a lot from him and the pain in his head crossed his limits.

He found himself in a familiar environment and turned to look at the beautiful angel. A large table stood in between them which had seven balls floating on top of it.

"Why seven again? Didn't I already pick one?"

The angel nodded, "One of them is a blank. If you select a blank, you are free to act however you like."

"Oh, isn't that the best one then?"

"Not necessarily. No sin means no points at the end. Your results have been decided and I have to say, you have impressed us all. Maybe a bit too much."

Alex felt nice when he heard that he had impressed them but when he heard the "bit too much" part, he had a really bad feeling in his heart.

"What do you mean by too much…." He asked warily while the angel simply smiled.

"You did a bit too well in your first year and that set you apart from the other competitors. The almighty has given us orders to set up limits and obstacles for you just so the others can be a bit more motivated."

Alex was angry but there was also nothing he could do. He had already tried walking towards her but some kind of mysterious energy kept him in place.

"Isn't that unfair? Everyone gets to play the easy mode while I have to do it the hard way."

The angel simply smiled before replying to him, "You are too good. We expected you to be second or third but never first. One of the four subjects died while another simply gave up.

Among the two remaining ones, you have crossed the limits and surpassed our expectations while the other kid's performance is below expectations. There is one angel assigned to one person and as the angel who has been assigned to you, I'm very happy.

The others aren't though. They want to level the playing field by making things difficult for you. I have no authority over this as they all held a meeting and the almighty has already given his orders."

Alex didn't know if he could trust her but he also knew that there was nothing called trust between two parties. He was merely a person who was taking a test to become a "Divine" employee.

The huge gap in status was something he didn't like but there was nothing he could do other than to dance on their palms according to their whims and desires.

"Whatever… I'll pick the fifth from the left." He said as he pointed at one of the orbs floating on the table.

The angel hummed as she picked it up and said," The sin of sloth… a very troublesome one for your current situation."

"What's … my current situation?" Alex asked as he knew that it was related to increase in difficulty.

"Remember the guy who was in second place the last time you came here?"

"Yeah… the guy who has his previous life's memories but never touched the Harry Potter series. The marketing expert."