Ivan was about to ask more questions, but the cheerful applause from below the stage had already begun. Ivan had no choice but to suppress his doubts and place the Sorting Hat on the four-legged table before heading down the steps.
Seeing Ivan come down, some of the older students in the Gryffindor seating area shifted over, making space for him.
A pair of identical twin brothers with fiery red hair, acting as if they'd known him forever, pulled Ivan into the empty seat between them. One of them said in an exaggerated tone,
"Good heavens, I dare say, you're definitely the first to be so disrespectful to Professor McGonagall during the Sorting Ceremony. It's truly-"
"Truly what?" Ivan asked, puzzled.
"Truly brave!" The other twin brother took over.
"You're destined to become a legend in the school!" The two looked at each other and said in unison.
Hearing their answer, Ivan almost choked. The two brothers' thought processes were truly bizarre, and he couldn't quite understand them.
"Okay, thank you..." Ivan politely expressed his gratitude for the twin brothers' "blessing" and then asked,
"My name is Ivan Hals. What are yours?"
"I'm George Weasley, and that's Fred over there," one of the twin brothers said first, winking at Ivan. "You'd better remember, don't get us mixed up next time we meet. Fred hates it when people get his name wrong."
"Okay, George, I don't think I'll get you mixed up," Ivan said, fully aware of the brothers' trick of switching identities and naturally wouldn't fall for it. He turned to the other twin brother and said,
"You agree, right, Fred?"
Fred, who had originally planned to trick the new student with his brother, was immediately stunned. George, who had been talking to Ivan earlier, was also taken aback for a moment before asking,
"Wait, how did you know I was George?"
"Isn't it easy to guess? Every new student knows that you Weasley brothers like to play pranks," Ivan said. Of course, he couldn't say that he had read it in a book, so he had to find an excuse to get by.
"Good heavens, are we already so famous? Even the new students know?" George and Fred said in surprise, both feeling that their years of dedication to fighting against Hogwarts' rules had finally paid off.
"Pfft-" Ron, who was happily eating, almost spat out the food in his mouth. When did his two older brothers become so famous among the new students at Hogwarts? How come he didn't know?
George and Fred were a little curious about the whispers Ivan had shared with the Sorting Hat on the stage. It was the first time they had seen someone chatting with that hat for so long.
Ivan glossed over it with a half-truth, after all, practicing dark magic in Gryffindor wasn't something to be proud of.
Taking the opportunity, Ivan changed the topic to George and Fred's adventurous lives at Hogwarts, vaguely inquiring about the locations and information of various secret passages within Hogwarts.
Having read the original book, Ivan naturally knew that George and Fred had a magical map that could display most of Hogwarts' secret passages and mark the names of the people inside.
With it, one could freely travel through this magical castle without worrying about being discovered by professors and caretakers.
Although Ivan had read the original book in his previous life and knew many of Hogwarts' secrets, he couldn't remember everything perfectly, so this map was still very useful.
The Weasley brothers, facing Ivan, who seemed like a little fanboy, naturally revealed a lot of information without any precautions, and even wanted to recruit Ivan to join their prankster cause.
However, they didn't reveal anything about the Marauder's Map.
Ivan wasn't surprised. After all, it was their first meeting, and even if they got along well, they wouldn't reveal such an important secret. Ivan was just trying to build some goodwill to pave the way for the future.
However, at this moment, a strange voice suddenly rang in Ivan's mind.
[Ding, the host has obtained hidden information, mission generating...]
[Mission Target: Explore Hogwarts]
[Current Progress: 2/100]
[Mission Introduction: The curiosity to explore the unknown is something that every young wizard should possess. The ancient castle contains countless secrets. Please explore and understand them. When the exploration progress reaches a certain level, rewards will be given based on your performance.]
Ivan couldn't help but be stunned by the sudden message, and his conversation with the Weasley brothers was interrupted.
A golden finger?
Ivan quickly reacted, followed by ecstasy.
After inexplicably transmigrating to Hogwarts, Ivan certainly had the joy and good fortune of living again, but he also had a sense of unease about suddenly arriving in an unfamiliar environment, which Ivan had suppressed because he needed to disguise himself.
But now he was much more relieved.
Ivan casually dismissed the Weasley brothers, who were still preparing to continue talking about their adventure experiences, and calmed down to focus his attention on exploring this newly emerging golden finger. After trying various methods from novels to summon the system, a series of information finally appeared in front of Ivan.
[Ivan Hals]
[Occupation: Wizard]
[Magic: Fear Curse Level 1 (3/200)]
[Knowledge Theory: Magical Item Creation Level 0 (435/500)]
[Magical Items:]
[Wand (Yew, Unicorn Hair, 11 and 3/4 inches)]
[Magic Power: Medium]
[Compatibility: 72.5%]
[Academic Points: None]
The information bar that appeared in front of him was within Ivan's expectations, but some of the content in the information bar was somewhat beyond Ivan's expectations.
"Fear Curse? Magical Item Creation?" Ivan muttered slowly. As a young wizard who had just transmigrated and hadn't even fully understood the situation, he naturally hadn't brought these two abilities with him.
Remembering the memories that had appeared in his mind when he was on stage just now, Ivan immediately understood that it should be the magic that the young wizard named Ivan Hals, whom he had taken over, had learned before entering school.
This situation was not uncommon among young wizards. Even Hermione Granger, who was born into a Muggle family, was able to master some simple magic through self-study before entering school, not to mention those young wizards who were born into wizarding families themselves.
However, Ivan thought for a long time about the Fear Curse, but he didn't have any impression of it. It didn't seem to be a magic that had appeared in the original book.
Ivan wasn't surprised either. After all, Harry Potter was just a novel, and it only showed a corner of the magic world. It was impossible to show all the magic in detail. The dark magic that appeared in the original book was even rarer. Real dark wizards couldn't only know these few dark magic spells.
After all, there were countless dark magic books in Hogwarts' restricted section alone.
Of course, Ivan was more curious or worried about the original owner's family situation. A family that could teach their child dark magic before school was obviously not a kind family.
Ivan was very worried about his safety. If someone found out that the young wizard Ivan Hals had been taken over by a soul from another world, heaven knows what kind of dark magic would be waiting for him.