Sorting

I had watched the Sorting Ceremony seven times without missing a single one, but I still took a few extra looks when Peter was sorted into Slytherin.

Of those seven times, Peter had been sorted into Slytherin three times and Gryffindor three times, except for the time I transmigrated into him and went to Hufflepuff. In my experience, whenever Peter saw James arguing with someone, he ended up in Slytherin.

I guessed Peter had probably set his sights on James from the start, trying to seek his protection. If James showed too much aggression, Peter would back away; if not, Peter would go to Gryffindor.

Lily was the first to be sorted, and the Sorting Hat quickly placed her in Gryffindor. That set James, who was standing beside me, muttering nonstop.

"How could the Sorting Hat let someone like that into Gryffindor? Both of them should have gone to Slytherin!" He glanced at Lily several more times as he spoke. "Maybe the Sorting Hat thinks she's seen the error of her ways. Looks like I should help her get away from that horrible fellow as soon as possible and show her what's good."

By the time he finished, he was nodding in considerable agreement with himself. I was astounded by how thick-skinned he was, and even Sirius took an inconspicuous step away from him.

But James had always been the kind of person who, even if everyone in the world accused him, would think everyone else was wrong. Completely unconcerned by the way we were looking at him like he was an idiot, he went on and on about his grand plan—which was really just how to win Lily over.

All in all, it was pretty ＊Chinese swear word＊.

James was sorted into Gryffindor as usual. As soon as he reached the Gryffindor table, he went straight over to greet Lily, but she completely ignored him.

"Next, Merlin!"

Although I had long been mentally prepared, I was still surprised to actually hear my real name called out with the surname first and given name last. I didn't quite understand why Professor McGonagall read my name that way. All I knew was that my name, which sounded close to that of the great wizard Mr. Merlin, had drawn the attention of the entire school. At that moment, it felt as extraordinary as a Chinese person announcing at an opening ceremony that their name was the Jade Emperor.

[Sirius affection -1]

Would this ever end?!

I strode over to the Sorting Hat and sat down. Just as I had expected, before the Sorting Hat even reached my head, it shouted "Gryffindor!" This was perfectly normal. I was practically chasing Voldemort down to kill him; if that wasn't courage, what was?

At the Gryffindor table, James raised both hands and gave me a thumbs-up. I waved back at him, but just as I was about to head over to Lily, the options box appeared in front of me again.

[Finally sorted...]

[1. Hug James and tell him you're finally together]

[2. Weep bitterly to Snape]

[3. Confess to Lily]

[4. Jump onto the table and shout "Long live the Dark Lord"]

[5. Forget it, go to sleep]

I realized something horrifying-surely every set of options from now on wasn't going to be this outrageous?

Although lying down and going to sleep right there in the dining hall wasn't something a normal person would do, maybe the other students would think I'd suddenly fallen ill and fainted. At most, they'd think I was in poor health. If I picked any of the other options, I figured I'd want to flee the planet overnight.

With no other choice, I went with [Forget it, go to sleep] again.

I had thought I would immediately collapse after making my choice, but unexpectedly, I regained control of my body. I tried walking over to sit beside Lily, and the system didn't give me any prompts.

Could it be that this was actually a meaningless option, there specifically to let me skip the other choices?

"You should be sitting over here," James muttered, clearly unhappy that I had squeezed in beside Lily. "I haven't even had a proper chat with Evans yet."

"Doesn't look like she welcomes you, Potter." Afraid they would start arguing again, I quickly turned to Lily. "Your name's Lily Evans, right? I'm Merlin. I heard your conversation on the train earlier, too. Don't take what they said to heart."

[James affection -1]

I was stunned—not because James's affection had dropped, but because it had only dropped by one point!

Lily hadn't expected me to strike up a conversation so suddenly, much less say something like that. She looked at me in some confusion. I rarely got to look at Lily from this close, and those beautiful eyes, like green leaves covered in morning dew, gazed at me, making me want to reach out and rub her head for a moment.

"Hey! How can you say that about me?" James protested behind me, but nobody paid him any attention.

"Thank you, Merlin." After a brief moment of surprise, Lily quickly recovered. She smiled at me and took the hand I held out. "I wouldn't take what people like that say to heart. They're just a bunch of arrogant idiots."

[James affection -1]

James! You're taking it out on me!

While I was talking to Lily, Remus also came over. He sat down across from me, looking very reserved. Seemingly noticing my gaze, he looked up at me. I smiled at him, and he appeared to freeze. A moment later, a blush spread across his cheeks, and he gave me a shy smile.

"Gryffindor!"

I was just about to continue chatting with Lily when I suddenly realized the entire hall had gone quiet. I turned around and saw Sirius rising from the chair with an expressionless face, everyone's eyes on him.

A moment later, the Gryffindor table erupted in deafening cheers and applause. In contrast, the Slytherin students all looked disgusted. Amid the clamor, Sirius walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down in the seat James had saved for him.

"I knew you'd definitely get into Gryffindor!" James patted him on the shoulder. He seemed to have forgotten that he had just docked me two affection points, and hooked an arm around my neck as well. "Shall we go to the Forbidden Forest together tonight?"

Remus, sitting across from us, coughed. He looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing.

"James, it's our first day at school, after all," Sirius said to James seriously. "The Forbidden Forest is too dangerous."

James and I stared at each other. James was the first to reach out and tentatively touch Sirius's forehead. Then he looked at me in confusion. "He's gone cold. Oh, no, I mean his forehead's cool. He doesn't have a fever, so how could he say something like that?"

"The person who rebelled against Black family tradition just to get into Gryffindor says the Forbidden Forest is too dangerous? Black, if you don't want Potter and me going to the Forbidden Forest together, you could come up with another excuse," I said earnestly. "Even suspecting me of being a Slytherin spy would be better than that."

Lily couldn't help laughing beside us. James had originally been planning to speak up for his good friend, but the moment he saw Lily looking kindly at them for the first time, he switched sides and sidled up to me, throwing an arm around my shoulders. "It's fine, Sirius. If you're worried, Merlin and I can go on our own."

[Sirius affection -1]

I had a feeling Sirius was already planning where to bury me.

Lily didn't really know where we were going, so she didn't say much about it. I chatted away with her as I ate and drank my fill, and James kept joining in to get a chance to talk to her. The two of us social terrorists played off each other, and before long we had become so friendly with the students around us that we practically wanted to become sworn siblings. I also successfully went from calling Lily "Evans" to calling her "Lily." Sirius didn't say a word from beginning to end, only watching me with an icy gaze. Remus, on the other hand, kept looking over at me. He seemed to spend almost half the meal watching me, which felt strange.

After dinner, we followed the Prefect, preparing to go to the common room. As we got up, Lily looked at me and hesitated for a while before speaking. "I'm going to Slytherin to find my friend." She watched my expression. "See you in a bit?"

[Lily has decided to find Snape...]

[1. Pick Lily up and tell her you'll never abandon her]

[2. Give Snape the middle finger and tell him to get lost]

[3. Forget it, go to sleep]

...System, you really are ridiculous.

I chose [Forget it, go to sleep], and just like last time, the story continued smoothly.

It seemed this romance system had at least a little conscience after all, and had really given me a meaningless option to skip the others.

"Aren't I your friend?" I knew what she was worried about. After all, most students in the other houses disliked Slytherin, but I had spent more than ten years there myself, so I had no prejudice against the house. I took her hand. "Your friend is my friend. Of course we should go together."

Lily's eyes lit up at once. As if remembering something, she turned and glared fiercely at James, then pulled me away.

[Sirius affection -10]

I didn't even want to calculate how low Sirius's affection for me was now. Speaking of which, why did it keep dropping? Weren't there any prompts for affection going up?

James, meanwhile, gave me a conflicted look, and only after a long while did the system hesitantly give me a prompt.

[James affection -5]

This was the most shocking thing that had happened to me all day. I had shown friendliness toward Slytherin, yet James, a one-hundred-percent house bigot, had only lost half as much affection as Sirius. That wasn't scientific!

"Lily."

Snape still had that familiar gloomy look. Every time I saw him, I felt like mushrooms would start growing on him. I couldn't say whether I liked or disliked him; he was simply a stubborn mule. I had tried everything, but I still hadn't managed to stop him from becoming a Death Eater. Either Lily died or he did; in any case, there was no counting on him to come to his senses while they were both alive. It drove me mad!

After exchanging greetings, we followed the Gryffindor group toward the common room. On the way, Lily opened up. "Severus really is a good boy at heart. He's just been through some very bad things." She looked upset. "How could they treat him like that?"

I already knew James and Sirius's personalities all too well. During my fifth time, when I was in Slytherin House, I had suffered terribly because of them. Although I had beaten the two of them into the Hospital Wing several times too, we really were like fire and water, with hardly any room for things to improve. Thinking of this, I couldn't help sighing and patting her shoulder. "Little boys are the worst."

Apparently amused by my grave tone and expression, Lily couldn't help patting me. "Aren't you a child too?"

"Evans, if you need any help with tomorrow's Transfiguration class, you can come to me anytime. I definitely know more than that filthy Slytherin."

Looking for Snape had delayed us, so Lily and I were the last to enter the common room. We had barely stepped through the door when James's voice reached our ears. Sometimes I really admired how he could be rejected a thousand times and still make a dazzling entrance on the thousand-and-first with a "You still can't resist me" (crossed out). I gave him an admiring look. James was baffled by the way I was looking at him, and Sirius looked over too. Then came the familiar [Sirius affection -1].

I'm fine thank you.

"No need. Mind your own business." Lily didn't even glance at James. Seeing how crushed he looked, I couldn't resist turning my back to Lily and making a face at him.

Why was it [Sirius affection -1] again?! Shouldn't it have been James?

─────

[Aside]

★Notice★

As a game with a high degree of freedom, options only appear at key plot points. Also, even after choosing an option, what you say and do is up to you. Therefore, even if you choose the right option, saying the wrong thing can still lower affection.

If you chose to leave with Lily and the others on the train, Merlin will be assumed to go with her to find Snape here, while the difficulty of pursuing James and Sirius will be raised to the maximum;

If you previously triggered the James romance main storyline [Evening Adventure], the affection James loses will be halved.

★Side route reminder★

*[Hidden route value] +1