Ivan had barely opened his mouth to ask another question when a round of enthusiastic appuse erupted from the Great Hall below. He swallowed his confusion, pced the Sorting Hat carefully back on the four-legged stool, and made his way down the steps.

  As he approached the Gryffindor table, a few older students shuffled over to make room. Without missing a beat, a pair of identical red-haired twins fnked him and plopped him down between them with the practiced ease of people who had long made chaos their craft.

  “My word,” one of them said, voice dripping with theatrical exaggeration. “I’d bet ten galleons you’re the first student in Hogwarts history to btantly ignore Professor McGonagall during the Sorting Ceremony. That was—”

  “What?” Ivan asked, baffled. “That was what?”

  “Brilliantly brave!” the other twin chimed in without missing a beat.

  “You’re destined to become a Gryffindor legend,” they said in unison, exchanging a dramatic, knowing gnce.

  Ivan almost choked on his own breath. He had no idea what kind of logic these two operated on, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t Earth logic.

  “Right... thanks?” Ivan said politely, unsure how else to respond to their enthusiastic prophecy. “I’m Ivan Hals. And you two are…?”

  “I’m George Weasley, and that over there is Fred,” said one of the twins, winking. “Best commit that to memory—Fred hates being called by the wrong name.”

  “Got it, George,” Ivan replied smoothly. He was already wise to the identity-swapping act and wasn’t about to fall for it. He turned to the other twin with a sly smile. “Right, Fred?”

  Fred froze, his mouth slightly agape, caught off-guard. George blinked, too, before recovering.

  “Wait—how did you know I’m George?”

  “Oh, come on,” Ivan said casually. “Every first-year’s heard about the infamous Weasley prank duo.”

  Naturally, he couldn’t tell them he’d read about them in a book. So he just made something up to brush it off.

  “You mean we’re famous already?” George and Fred looked positively eted. “We’ve finally made it! Our years of defying school rules are paying off!”

  “Pfft—” a snort erupted nearby. Ron Weasley, who’d been stuffing his face, nearly choked on his mashed potatoes. Since when were his brothers famous among the first-years? No one had told him that.

  George and Fred, meanwhile, were now buzzing with curiosity. “So,” George leaned in, “what exactly were you whispering to the Sorting Hat? You two seemed awfully cozy.”

  “Yeah, we’ve never seen someone chat with the Hat that long,” Fred added.

  Ivan waved it off with a half-truth, half-lie. In a house like Gryffindor, openly admitting he knew Dark magic wasn’t exactly a flex.

  Instead, he smoothly changed the subject, steering the conversation toward the Weasley twins’ many exploits at Hogwarts. With careful subtlety, he began probing for information about the secret passageways and hidden corners of the castle.

  He knew from the books that Fred and George possessed a certain magical artifact—a map that revealed nearly every hidden path in Hogwarts, complete with live tracking of people’s movements.

  With a map like that, he could move through the castle undetected, without worrying about being caught by professors or that cat-loving caretaker.

  Sure, he remembered a lot from the original story, but he didn’t have a photographic memory. The map would be a game-changer.

  To his delight, the twins—clearly fttered by his eager questions—were more than happy to brag. They shared all kinds of juicy details about Hogwarts’ lesser-known nooks and crannies, and even tried to recruit him into their noble cause: the advancement of pranking arts.

  They didn’t, however, mention a word about the map.

  Ivan wasn’t surprised. It was their first meeting, after all. No matter how well they hit it off, no one would hand over such a valuable secret right away. For now, he was content pnting the seeds—earning their trust for future gains.

  But just then, something unexpected happened.

  A strange, mechanical voice rang out in his mind.

  Ding! Host has acquired hidden information. Quest generated.Quest Objective: Explore HogwartsProgress: 2 / 100

  Quest Description:Curiosity is the mark of every promising young wizard. Within the thousand-year-old castle of Hogwarts lie countless secrets. Seek them out. Learn their stories. As your progress grows, you will be rewarded based on your performance.

  Ivan froze. The conversation with the twins trailed off as he processed what just happened.

  A... system?

  His eyes widened.

  He had a system!

  It hit him all at once—the overwhelming joy of a transmigrator finally discovering their golden finger. When he first woke up in this world, sure, there had been some excitement, some thrill at getting a second chance at life. But there was also fear, uncertainty, and the quiet dread of not knowing what y ahead.

  Now?

  Now he had a cheat code.

  He politely excused himself from the Weasley twins, who were still halfway through a story about exploding cauldrons, and turned his attention inward, focusing on the mysterious system. After testing a few “summon system” commands he remembered from web novels, a panel appeared in front of his eyes.

  [Ivan Hals]Css: WizardSpell List:· Fear Curse – Level 1 (Progress: 32 / 100)

  Knowledge & Theory:· Magical Item Crafting – Level 0 (Progress: 435 / 500)

  Magical Items:· Wand (Purpleheart wood, Unicorn Hair core, 11 ? inches)— Magic Power: Medium— Compatibility: 72.5%

  Academia Points: None

  Everything listed was roughly what he expected… but a couple of entries caught him off guard.

  “Fear Curse? Magical Item Crafting?” Ivan muttered, eyebrows knitting together. As someone who’d just arrived in this world, he was certain those weren’t skills he brought with him.

  Then it hit him.

  The memories he’d glimpsed during the Sorting. This body’s original owner—Ivan Hals—must’ve learned these before enrolling.

  It wasn’t unheard of. Even Muggle-borns like Hermione Granger had taught themselves basic spells before school started. For pure-bloods and half-bloods, it was even more common.

  Still, Fear Curse? That one didn’t ring any bells from the books. Ivan racked his brain, but couldn’t recall seeing it in the original series.

  Then again, why would he? The books only showed a fraction of the magical world. Dark magic, especially, was barely touched on. Real dark wizards probably had far more than the handful of curses Rowling ever named.

  And let’s not forget the Restricted Section in the library—that pce’s practically a treasure trove of forbidden spells.

  What concerned Ivan more, though, was the question of where the original Ivan learned such a spell. For a family to teach their child Dark magic before they even got to school…

  That’s not exactly a sign of a wholesome upbringing.

  Which begged another question—one that sent a chill down his spine.

  If someone found out that Ivan Hals had been possessed by a soul from another world…

  What kind of dark magic would they use on him then?

  <><><><><>

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