The Sorting Ceremony, System Upgrade

The sound of a golden bell rang beside his ears, audible only to him. The system screen before him began to refresh, and Rhine could no longer hold it together.

"What the hell?"

"So Hannah Abbott's name being called was what the system considered a golden bell?"

But after a moment, Rhine reconsidered and found that it actually made some sense.

After all, the Harry Potter world might change, but Hannah Abbott remained constant!

Still, no matter what, the system was as blind as ever, and Rhine truly breathed a sigh of relief.

At that moment, after displaying a message congratulating Rhine, a torrent of information began to scroll across the system screen.

The initiation ceremony is in progress. A Saint has cast their gaze from afar. The system must temporarily conceal itself and complete an upgrade.

Host, please handle the following matters yourself.

The system screen immediately entered a flickering, unstable state.

Rhine did not particularly mind the system hiding itself. After all, the talent he had gained was still there, and the Hogwarts Sorting Ceremony was hardly some sea of blades or mountain of fire. There was no danger involved.

What interested him more was the "Saint" mentioned by the system.

He had already met Voldemort before, but the system had identified Voldemort as Daoist Duobao.

Although Daoist Duobao was the Senior Disciple Brother of the Jie Sect and one of the greatest figures in the Primordial Fengshen era, capable of deploying the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation with the Immortal-Slaying Formation Diagram and the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords on behalf of Sect Leader Tongtian, he was ultimately not a Saint.

That one step of difference was the gap between heaven and earth.

Though the system was blind, after seeing it make so many judgments, Rhine felt there was still some logic behind them.

Voldemort was already one of the most powerful beings in Harry Potter, yet the system had not identified him as a Saint.

It was hard to say who was stronger between Dumbledore and Voldemort, but the gap between them could not be too large. The system certainly would not identify Dumbledore as a Saint either.

Rhine guessed it was most likely Immortal Official of the South Pole, the highest-ranking disciple of the Chan Sect and Daoist Duobao's counterpart.

Then who was the Saint?

One of Hogwarts's four founders, or an even more ancient being?

Could it be related to Ancient Magic?

Rhine gently rubbed the wand in his hand. His eyes narrowed slightly, a thoughtful glint passing through them.

The wizarding world ran deep.

But judging by the original story, even the later war in the wizarding world had not brought forth anything more extraordinary. It seemed that coming into contact with things on the level of Saints would not be so easy.

At the very least, as long as he did not court death, he did not need to think about it.

The thoughts in his mind gradually settled, and Rhine returned his attention to the Hogwarts Great Hall.

After all, this was the once-in-a-lifetime Hogwarts Sorting Ceremony. Rhine did not want to miss any exciting moments.

Professor McGonagall was still calling names.

"Susan Bones..."

"Hufflepuff!"

A little girl removed the Sorting Hat and walked toward the Hufflepuff table. Nearly every professor looked at her with considerable gentleness.

Professor Sprout, the head of Hufflepuff, even took the lead in applauding enthusiastically.

Rhine understood that it was because of the Bones surname.

That family could be said to be filled with martyrs. Though most of them came from Hufflepuff, they had displayed the courage to fight Voldemort and the Death Eaters, even drawing Voldemort himself into taking action to kill Mr. and Mrs. Bones.

In the original story's 1995, after a Death Eater escaped from prison, he still had not forgotten his old grudge and brutally murdered Susan Bones's uncle, aunt, and several cousins as well.

Thinking of this, Rhine's eyes revealed a hint of sympathy.

Then, one after another, familiar figures underwent their Sorting.

Lavender Brown, Ron's first girlfriend in the original story, was sorted into Gryffindor.

Seamus Finnigan, the infamous explosive prodigy, had the Sorting Hat hesitate on his head for a full minute, seemingly considering where to send him so he could best put his talents to use.

In the end, as expected, he was sent to Gryffindor, known for adventure.

Explosions went best with adventure and recklessness!

Finally, someone beside Rhine stirred.

"Hermione Granger!"

Hermione's Sorting had only been briefly mentioned in the original story, but in fact, both J.K. Rowling's descriptions and later additions to the story indicated that Hermione was also a difficult case to sort.

The Sorting Hat had hesitated over her head for at least five minutes, wavering between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.

In the end, it decided that Hermione's courageous nature stood out more than her passion for knowledge and sorted her into Gryffindor.

There was no need to elaborate on Harry's Sorting process. It was the biggest commotion the Sorting Ceremony had ever seen, and the wave of cheers nearly seemed ready to blow the roof off the Great Hall.

After Harry, only four people remained.

Rhine and Ron were among them.

The next one called was Rhine.

"Rhine Snow!"

The moment that name echoed through the Great Hall, it immediately shocked the Muggle-born first-years.

A burst of discussion erupted, almost no less intense than when Harry Potter had been sorted.

"Rhine Snow?"

"Oh my God, is that the famous Rhine Snow? The one the Queen called Britain's literary jewel?"

"Good Lord, when I was in school, my teachers forced us to memorize passages from his collected works every day. And now you're telling me Rhine Snow came to Hogwarts too?"

"Which house will Rhine be sorted into?"

"Do you even need to ask? Ravenclaw has produced many Literary Giants. Gilderoy Lockhart came from Ravenclaw, and now it looks like Ravenclaw is about to gain another Literary Giant."

Hearing the uproar, Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and the others exchanged looks. They had not expected a Muggle-born young wizard to cause such a stir.

At that moment, Rhine stepped forward, accepted the Sorting Hat, and placed it on his head.

The Sorting Hat's voice immediately sounded in his mind.

"Oh, it seems we have another young wizard who was famous even before enrolling. Let me see... Hmm, complicated. Quite complicated."

"A clever mind and astonishing aptitude for learning and comprehension. But I heard those young wizards saying you're a Literary Giant?"

"And Gilderoy Lockhart became a Literary Giant too?"

The Sorting Hat's voice carried obvious confusion.

"How strange."

"I could clearly sense that neither of you has any talent for literature. Lockhart should clearly possess great attainments in Obliviate and become a leading scholar in that field."

"Well, it seems everyone has their own circumstances."

"As for you, although your talent suits Ravenclaw well, you do not possess that great a thirst for knowledge. Ravenclaw does not suit you."

"You like making friends, you are dependable, and you support your friends. That fits Hufflepuff's style quite well."

"But Hufflepuffs are all honest folk, diligent and hardworking. You seem rather scheming, and as for diligence... forget it. It does not seem to have anything to do with you."

"Then that leaves Gryffindor and Slytherin. Though I already have the answer in my heart, I still must ask you one question."

"If I sorted you into Slytherin, what would you do?"

Rhine smiled faintly and answered the Sorting Hat's question in his mind.

"Of course, I'd make good connections and lots of friends. Make more friends and fewer enemies."

"Those willing to befriend me are all my friends. Those unwilling to befriend me who still oppose me, in order to keep them from going astray, I must take responsibility for supervising them—hang them up and beat them, three times a day..."

"Send me to Slytherin, and I guarantee I'll wipe out the corrupt influence left behind by The Dark Lord and restore a bright and clear world to the wizarding community!"

Rhine's words rang out forcefully in his mind, while the Sorting Hat fell silent.

"Similar. So very similar."

"The things you say and do are very much like a young wizard from long ago."

"He was very approachable, very charismatic—extremely so. He did indeed unite all the Slytherin wizards, but what happened afterward was truly regrettable."

"Based on past experience, as well as the private requests of your friends Harry and Hermione, who said they hoped to be sorted into the same house as you, and also..."

"Mr. Draco Malfoy firmly informed me that he absolutely did not want to be in the same house as you, or he would kill himself on the spot."

"I think this result will benefit everyone."

The Sorting Hat loudly announced Rhine's result.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The instant the result was announced, Harry excitedly stood up and applauded.

Hermione, meanwhile, breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that agreeing to give the Sorting Hat cleaning solution had not been for nothing.

A faint smile appeared on Rhine's face as well, and he slowly walked down.

Before his eyes, the flickering screen gradually solidified.

Congratulations, Host, on officially joining the Chan Sect and becoming a disciple of Primordial Lord of Heaven.

System upgrade complete. Talent Fusion function unlocked!