Hogwarts

Even after scouring his memory for a while, Pro wasn't able to find a single clue as to why Hermione Granger knew him. However, Pro attributed their meeting to some random encounter somewhere.

Pro knew himself fairly well. Besides the small number of vacation spots he visited, he basically stayed at home or at school. When outside of his home, Pro would tune out the rest of the world most of the time and focus on his XP grinding or reading up books to refresh his past life memories. Perhaps he may have encounter Hermione somewhere and tuned her out as a side character.

Still, Pro wasn't too sure as he didn't bother remembering everyone he meets, let alone children he didn't talk to. He was a bit befuddled regarding Hermione's challenging tone, but he tossed that to the back of his mind as he returned to grinding.

Meanwhile, the other three trio continued their chatter and Pro listened in from time to time. He heard a lot of interesting, but expected topics such as Gringotts getting robbed, Quidditch, and surprisingly their books. It seems that this group may be the Ravenclaw group after all.

The sky gradually turned dark and Pro began to hear the rowdy noises of children bumbling around in the corridor outside. Feeling the train slowing down, Pro stashed his book and the unfinished sweets into his trunk, preparing to leave the compartment.

"I'd say we have arrived," Anthony muttered with a hint of excitement.

An announcement then echoed throughout the train.

"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Hearing the announcement, Pro was also a bit excited. Although he felt a bit queasy when he thinks about the dangers that the school will have to face, he still can't help but be attracted by the thought about all the mysteries of the magical Hogwarts.

As the train slowed to a stop, the group filed out of the compartment and began to push their way towards the door to a tiny, dark platform outside. The cold night air breezed through the students while a lamp bobbed over the heads of the students as its owner hollered, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"

Glancing over, Pro saw the big hairy face of the half giant towering over the student. Although Pro knew Hagrid was a 'friendly' character, he still felt a bit intimidated by Hagrid's size. Thinking about the reckless, rule-breaking character of Hagrid when it came to magical creatures, Pro decided it was best to stay away from him, lest he get dragged into the water.

"C'mon, follow me! Any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Carefully examining the dark path so that he won't slip, Pro followed the crowd as Hagrid let the group towards the boats.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec. Jus' round this bend here."

Hearing Hagrid's gruff voice and the sudden voices of exclamation, Pro also looked up to be presented with a grand, magnificent scene. A great black lake stretched into the distance where a vast castle with many turrets and towers sat like a king on top of its high mountain throne.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called out as he helped some children onto the boats.

Strolling over to a nearby boat, Pro got into it with the trio that sat with him on the train. After Hagrid got onto his own boat, he then hollered, "Everyone in? Right then ... forward!"

The fleet of boats glided across the lake and towards their destination while the children on board observed their surroundings with a hint of excitement and nervousness. With a smile, Pro dipped his fingers in the cold lake water and drew a small trail in it.

If he recalled correctly, there was a friendly giant squid down there along with Merpeople. Pro was very interested in meeting these magical creatures, but he will have to wait until he was stronger. It seems that they won't be disturbed by an innocent finger dipping into the water.

The boats sailed closer to the castle as Pro observed the castle's growing size. It was much more grand than he could have imagine. Seeing it in person was a much more amazing experience than reading about it in a book or seeing it through a movie. The real castle also has a charm that the ones in Universal Studio doesn't have.

"Heads down!"

Ignoring the warning of Hagrid, Pro took a last glance at the lake behind him as the boat sailed into the curtain of ivy and into the dark tunnel. While sitting down, none of the children were actually tall enough to actually hit their heads on the cliff. Perhaps, Hagrid was the only one that needed to duck.

It didn't take long for the boats to arrive at an underground harbor of some sort, after which the group clambered onto the shore of rocks and pebbles. Whilst climbing out, Pro also heard the happy exclamation of Neville as Hagrid returned his toad.

With Hagrid's lamp as a beacon, the group followed him up a passageway and onto a grassy area that was fairly damp. The group continued forward and walked up a flight of stone stairs and arrived at a huge, oak front gate.

Comparing the size of the gate to himself, Pro could only hope to grow up faster. Being a child really made everything else giant and intimidating. After Hagrid gave three loud knocks on the door, the door swung open and a tall, black-haired witch in emerald green robes appeared. She glanced at the new students with a stern face as Hagrid handed over the students to her.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall."

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

The large doors were pulled open to reveal an enormous entrance hall. Flaming torches decorated the walls and Pro was able to see a beautiful marble staircase leading to the upper floors.

Along with the rest of the students, Pro followed Professor McGonagall pass a door where the droning voices of hundreds of students came from and into a small side chamber. Professor McGonagall then welcomed them to Hogwarts and gave them a brief explanation regarding the school's sorting ceremony and Hogwarts houses. After telling them to get ready, Professor McGonagall left the children alone in the chamber.

Pro could hear the soft mumbles of the group of nervous children around him. If he didn't know how the sorting ceremony works, he might join them in being nervous, but Pro didn't feel much fear in the face of the known. He was just a bit worried about his memories being searched by the hat.

"Pro, you'd seem to not be nervous. Do you know how this sorting ceremony works? My parents won't tell me. They'd said it was better to be surprised," Anthony muttered as he lightly nudged Pro.

Some of the children nearby that heard him also glanced over. To avoid attracting too much attention, Pro simply answered, "No."

Pro then stayed silent as he checked his system quest log. He had already arrived at Hogwarts, but the Attend Hogwarts quest still hasn't finished. Pulling up the quest details, Pro noticed that there was a minor change. A line of text 'Arrive at Hogwarts' was crossed out and a new line 'Complete the sorting ceremony' appeared underneath.

"It seems that the quest will complete after the sorting. I just hope that the system memory barrier will be effective and that the hat won't be able to see my system in my memories," Pro thought before comforting himself, "Well, what must come will come. No point in worrying about it."

Suddenly, the group of children gasped, causing Pro to look up and see a group of pearly-white, transparent ghosts floating through the walls. Pro observed the arguing ghosts with a bit of interest whilst wondering if his system could also turn him into a ghost. There are ghosts in R*nescape as far as he knows, and the only question is will the system continue to stay with him if it happens?

It didn't take long for Professor McGonagall to return and shoo the ghosts away. Professor McGonagall ordered the children to form a line and follow her into the Great Hall.

Strolling through the double doors, Pro saw a grand, magical scene of thousands of lit candles floating below a starry ceiling above the long tables filled with students in robes. Experiencing this scene in real life was much more impactful than seeing it through a screen. So far, Pro had no regrets about coming to Hogwarts.

Examining the students that he passed by, Pro was able to see the rich decors on the tables and couldn't help but smack his lips secretly while anticipating the food he will eat. Arriving near the front where the professors of the school sat in a row behind a table, Pro briskly swept his eyes over them while avoiding eye contact.

Noticing Professor Quirrel, Pro could only inwardly groan and hope he doesn't end up getting entangled in that mess. Of course, if he has a quest to do so, he might consider it if he was strong enough and the risks weren't high.

For example, he might attempt a quest of breaking through the defenses prepared for the Philosopher's stone because he already knew the solution to most of the trials, but he will definitely not do a stupid, death-seeking quest such as pulling the turban off of Quirrel's head.

Returning his attention to Professor McGonagall, Pro saw her standing besides a four-legged stool where a patched, frayed, and extremely dirty wizard hat sat. The hall quieted down and after a moment of silence, a mouth ripped open on the hat. Then, the hat sung a song that could be considered a rhyme while Pro wondered if he could create a similar hat in the future.

After gaining the applause of the audience, the hat returned to silence and the sorting ceremony began. Professor McGonagall began to call out the names of students one by one. As expected, there wasn't any change in the sorting of the iconic characters. The famous Harry Potter also got his expected special attention.

On the other hand, the trio that sat with him on the train were all sorted into Ravenclaw with less fanfare as expected. Seeing this, Pro was also inclined to be sorted into Ravenclaw, but he didn't know if he could choose his house like one could do in some Harry Potter games.

Through the constant cheers of the spectators, everyone was sorted into houses one by one, and after a while when Pro's leg grew a bit sore from standing, it was finally Pro's turn.

"Smith, Pro!"

The hall gradually quieted down once more as Pro calmly walked forward towards the sorting hat. Although he didn't feel much tension before, the stares of hundreds of people still gave Pro a bit of jitters. Fortunately, he was got used to being stared at when he was chased by girls in primary school.

Picking up the hat and putting it on his head, Pro then plopped down onto the chair to await his fate. What will Pro's fate hold? Where will he be sorted?