Sorting

As the hat sat on top of his head and slipped down to cover his vision, Pro felt like he had entered a silent room as his surroundings become muffled and quiet.

"Hmm ..." a gruff voice echoed in his mind, "Plenty of lying ... but not much scheming. Nor is there a pure-blood mentality. Not a bad mind ... enjoys sorting through old knowledge, with a hint of desire in pursuing new knowledge but not enough to be called a thirst. Ah my goodness, a lot of recklessness indeed ..."

Pro secretly rolled his eyes as he tried to convey his thoughts of not wanting to enter Slytherin or Gryffindor.

As if reading his thoughts, the gruff voice responded, "Anywhere but Slytherin and Gryffindor eh? You want Ravenclaw eh? Are you sure? Indeed Slytherin is not suitable, but you also don't have much thirst for knowledge ..."

"Instead, your recklessness is clearly known ... punching things until you bloody your hands for no reason, monkeying through dangerous obstacle courses, enjoying the usage of dangerous tools, and most of all, you even have the courage to offend girls, the most dangerous existence in this world ..."

What?! Pro's mind blanked for a bit as he listened to the broken logic of the sorting hat that was way outside of his expectation. Wait ... when did he even offend girls? The heck?! Suddenly, a bad feeling arose in Pro's heart as the gruff voice echoed with a bit of excitement in his head.

"Yes, that should be it then. There's no need to consider further ... better be GRYFFINDOR!"

Noooooo! Pro's face blanched a bit as the hat lifted up a bit and returned him to the reality where a chorus of cheers welcomed him. Weakly taking off the hat and staring at it with a wry smile, Pro could only sigh before placing gently onto the chair. He could only accept his fate and join Gryffindor.

However, Pro still inwardly breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that the hat didn't mention anything regarding the system. It seems it didn't notice or maybe the system removed itself from his memories that were searched by other people.

Closing the quest completion page and strolling towards the Gryffindor table under the cheers of his new house members, Pro could only inwardly comfort himself, "It's not too bad to join the same house as the dangerous trio. I just have to be the side character I am ... and not get entangled with them.

Feeling a glare, Pro meekly looked up to see Hermione glaring at him while biting her lips. When they locked eyes, Hermione huffed before turning away from him. Pro found an open spot and sat down while wondering what he did to offend her. Glancing over at the Ravenclaw table where his three train mates waved at him, Pro could only wave back sadly as now he will probably have to restart from scratch.

The sorting ceremony continued, and Ron Weasley was sorted in Gryffindor as expected. Pro also politely clapped along with the rest of Gryffindor as he began to plan his future. However, he didn't have much time to do so before Albus Dumbledore gave his speech.

"Welcome. Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

After the principal sat back down amidst the applause of the audience, food magically appeared on the golden plates on the table. Staring at all the delicious food that he normally did not have the chance to try at home, Pro licked his lips and dug in. Plans for the future? Eh, that doesn't matter. Filling his stomach comes first.

While consuming a bountiful feast, Pro also greeted a couple of first year side characters that sat near him. As for why they were side characters, it was because Pro clearly did not recall their names from the books or movies. Heck, he didn't even notice them being sorted into Gryffindor. They would probably be the ones marked with unidentified Gryffindor on Harry Potter wiki pages.

Still, Pro made an effort to learn their names as they took the effort to chat with him. There was a red-haired girl was named Lena Kingsley and a brown-haired girl named Jessica Wilson. As for why they would chat with him, Pro attributed it to his face. He was already used to being chased by girls in primary school.

Although Pro knew he wasn't an innocent eunuch that would avoid girls, that only applies to well-developed girls that have grown up. As for these girls surrounding him, well, give em a couple more years and Pro may consider it if they look pretty enough. Right now grinding XP is the most important.

Pro also made an effort to politely greet the other first year boys, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnigan. There was only the six of them in the first year who were boys. Pro expected there to be some unknown side character boys joining, but it seems he was the only extra insert. It seems that he will have to get along with them somehow.

After enjoying his meal and noticing that the feast was still continuing, Pro finally had some time to check on his quest log.

[Congratulations! You have completed Attend Hogwarts Quest. You are awarded: 1 Quest Point, 200 Magic XP]

"Not bad ... with this XP, my magic is now level 9. This has also unlocked the standard spell of Unlocking Charm, a spell I have barely practiced!"

Glancing around, Pro knew he had no chance to practicing his spells at the moment. Checking the quest list, Pro also noticed a bunch of new quests that were added once he had completed the Attend Hogwarts quest.

[Hogwarts Mysteries] Explore the mysteries of Hogwarts! Find the Room of Requirements. Find the Chamber of Secrets. Find the seven secret passages (0/7). Jump over a vanishing step (0/1). Find the Book of Admittance and Quill of Acceptance.

[Hogwarts Explorer] Tour the magical school's iconic landmarks. Enter the Whomping Willow. Visit the Forbidden Forest. Visit Hogsmeade. Visit the Hospital Wing. Visit the Headmaster's Office. Visit Hagrid's hut.

[Hogwarts Student] Attend all your Hogwarts classes for the first time. Attend Transfiguration class. Attend Potions class. Attend Charms class. Attend Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Attend Herbology class. Attend Astronomy class. Attend History of Magic class. Attend flying lesson.

[Exemplary Student] Show that you can be a competent student by scoring at least 1 point for your house! Answer 5 questions correctly in any class (0/5).

Glancing at the list of new quests, Pro easily determined that two of the quests would be shelved immediately. Pro had no interest in visiting the Principal's office any time soon nor did he wanted to enter the Chamber of Secrets. Perhaps he may try to visit the entrance and see if the quest can be completed, but that is for later. Also, he only knew that the Book of Admittance is located in a tower that forbids student entries, but he has no idea where.

On the other hand, attending classes should be an easy quest. The only hard part about it is getting lost, but fortunately Pro had a mini-map. Even though it doesn't help a lot, it's better than nothing. As for scoring points and answering questions ... Pro secretly glanced over at Hermione who was sitting nearby. He just so happened to lock eyes with her and watched her angrily look away.

"Well ... how the heck am I supposed to beat the genius answer machine in answering question? Dang it," Pro complained softly as he turned his gaze back forward.

Although Pro knew that he studied hard and even had a system to assist him in casting spells, he was no genius when it comes to memorizing things. Even though he did feel that his memory was strong after he transmigrated and merged with his new soul, it still wasn't perfect memory that could memorize all he reads even if he read them a couple of times.

"Well, I'll just have to try my best, and maybe spend a bit more time memorizing content. Maybe I can try to recall or find some of the iconic questions in the book and memorize the answers to them in hopes of scoring some early points," Pro sneakily came up with a way to build himself a cheat sheet and hoped that it could help him answer five questions before the answering machine does.

"Acting as a fake genius ... maybe I should have been in Slytherin after all," Pro chuckled to himself as he ate some dessert while listening in to some of the chatter at the Gryffindor table.

It didn't take long for the desserts to vanish. The hall fell into silence once more as the principal got up to give another speech.

"Ahem. Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils ..."

After a bunch of restrictions and rules that were placed there just to be broken, Dumbledore finally ended his speech by mentioning the first year event, "And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

[Ding! New quest, Third-Floor Corridor, added to quest list.]

In the midst of the laughter of some nearby fellows who didn't realize the seriousness of the event, Pro twitched his lips as he knew he won't be able to escape his reckless fate after he glanced at his new quest.

[First Year Adventure] When they say no, they mean yes. Go find out the mystery behind the third-floor corridor. Locate and enter the forbidden room in the third-floor corridor.

The first part of this quest shown in the quest log just so happens to be throwing himself into danger. If Pro remembered correctly, there should be a three-headed dog waiting on the other side of the door he now had to enter.

"Uhh ... it shouldn't be too much danger if I just enter and exit right after right? As long as I don't lock myself in by accident or provoke the dog ..." Pro muttered with a queasy feeling while weighing the risks versus benefits.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!"

Dumbledore's words brought Pro out of his deep thoughts. Glancing up, Pro saw a long golden ribbon snaking its way above the table. The lyrics to the Hogwarts song were written on it and it didn't take long for the chorus to begin.

After the song ended with the Weasley twin's funeral march tune, Dumbledore then sent the students off to bed. Getting up from his seats, Pro joined the first year crowd and followed Percy out of the Great Hall, leaving the chattering crowds behind.

Climbing up the marble staircase, Pro observed the living portraits decorating the walls with interest. After he climbed up the first set of stairs, Pro also unlocked a new quest.

[Magical Stairs] Climb all 142 moving staircases in Hogwarts (1/142).

Pro also did his best to memorize the path that Percy took them along while matching the path with his mini-map, which showed the routes behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries.

In the midst of the climb, the group bumped into Peeves. Pro calmly dodged with the rest of the students as he saw Peeves diving towards them and watched one of the pranksters of Hogwarts fly away. Just another thing he will have to find a way to deal with.

Not long after, the group arrived at the end of the corridor where a portrait of a very fat woman in pink silk dress hung.

"Password?"

"Caput Draconis," Percy replied, after which the portrait swung open to reveal a hole.

Stepping through the whole, Pro arrived in the Gryffindor commons room. Glancing at the squishy arm chairs and the fireplace, Pro wondered how comfortable they were.

After the girls were led away, Percy brought the boys into the boys dormitory. Then, it was time for Pro to climb the spiral staircase to find his room. As Pro climbed higher and higher whilst searching for his room, he couldn't help but wonder who his new roommates will be.

Pro wasn't too clear on how the dorms were organized as it wasn't clearly described, so he still has no clue where he was assigned. Will he be in a separate room with unknown side characters? Or will he be so unlucky to be stuck with the trouble-making duo?