https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-176-Are-You-Sure-He-s-Not-Endorsing-Toothpaste-/13440960/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-178-Is-This-the-Level-of-Professors-at-Hogwarts-/13441037/
Chapter 177
Chapter 177
The Sorting Hat must have gone mad to place you in Gryffindor!
After being corrected by Hermione several times, Ivan gave up and simply handed the Questionnaire to her, indicating that she should fill it out for him.
"This is an assignment given by Professor Lockhart! I won't do it for you!" Hermione firmly refused.
But in the end, the little witch filled out the entire Questionnaire because she couldn't stand to see Ivan scribbling nonsense on it.
On the way back to the dormitory, Harry and Ron looked at Ivan with odd expressions. They had thought Ivan disliked Lockhart as much as they did.
Ivan understood their thoughts and explained to avoid any misunderstandings.
"Don't you think Professor Lockhart is easy to fool? Just go along with him, and you can easily get high marks in every class. Maybe he'll give an O (Outstanding) to everyone who likes him at the end of the term!"
The steadfast Harry and Ron were not inclined to flatter Lockhart, but the allure of a good grade on the final exam hit a soft spot.
Moreover, this was an assignment, and even if they were reluctant, they still had to fill out that blasted Questionnaire.
The only silver lining was that they could copy from Ivan's, saving them a lot of time flipping through books.
Ivan sat in a corner, flipping open a black leather-bound diary and discussing Wandless magic techniques with Tom Riddle.
Harry and Ron didn't pay much attention. Ivan had always been a bookworm last year, and taking notes was nothing out of the ordinary.
This mindset meant that Ivan didn't need to spend much time pretending. As long as he acted as he usually did, no one would suspect anything.
The next day, during Charms and History of magic, Ivan, finding the classes too easy, brought the Horcrux diary to class to conduct some research, rather than waste his time.
It's worth noting that when Tom Riddle learned that the young wizard in front of him was a member of Gryffindor, he was utterly shocked.
He thought the Sorting Hat must have gone mad to place this Knockturn Alley-born, black magic-versed, knowledge-thirsty, and overly cautious young wizard into Gryffindor House.
Which house wouldn't be more suitable than Gryffindor—Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff?
Ivan didn't explain, but he guessed that the Sorting Hat had based its decision on the memories of his original self.
Before he crossed over, "Ivan-Hals" rarely went out because he lived in Knockturn Alley, and he had a very overbearing and doting mother, making him fundamentally lack courage.
Ivan closed the cover of the diary and had new thoughts about the Bloodline Mystery Quest.
Although Tom Riddle still hadn't revealed any information, Ivan hadn't forgotten how he obtained the book Bloodline Origins.
It was a reward from another Quest exploring Hogwarts.
Last year, Ivan had been busy stealing Potions and making the Bloodline Fusion Potion, completely forgetting about this Quest. Now, he brought it back to mind.
### Quest Objective: Explore Hogwarts
Current Progress: 51/100
Quest Status: 40% Complete (Achieved), Reward: Bloodline Origins (Awarded)
Progress 70% (Not Achieved)
Progress 100% (Not Achieved)
Quest Description: Curiosity to explore the unknown is a trait every young wizard should possess. The thousand-year-old castle holds countless secrets. Explore and understand them, and when your exploration reaches a certain level, you will be rewarded accordingly.
Ivan, who was reviewing the Quest list, noticed that after the System update, this Quest had some additional details, even listing the rewards needed for subsequent conditions.
"The progress is only just over half? That's too little", Ivan thought, surprised. He had thought he knew the castle quite well, but a glance at the Marauder's Map gave him a sudden realization.
There were indeed many places he had never been to, such as the common rooms of the three major houses, which probably accounted for a significant portion.
He hadn't even fully explored the Gryffindor common room, let alone the Girls' Dormitory.
Remaining were the classrooms for upper-year students and the Chamber of Secrets, which wouldn't show up on the map.
Ivan marked the places he planned to visit on the Marauder's Map with a magic pen, ranking them by danger level.
Excluding the mysterious places,
the classrooms for upper-year students were the least dangerous; he just needed to find a time when no one was around, use the Alohomora spell, and take a look.
Entering the common rooms of the three major houses wasn't difficult either. Ravenclaw required answering a Question, Slytherin needed a password,
and Hufflepuff's common room was said to be very safe, having never been seen by outsiders in over a thousand years.
Of course, this referred to the normal common rooms and Boys' Dormitories. The Girls' Dormitories were particularly dangerous. If he were caught,
Ivan shuddered involuntarily. If he were expelled because of this, his reputation would be ruined, and he would make the front page of Tomorrow's Daily Prophet!
So Ivan put this at the very end.
If he had done everything else and the progress bar still didn't reach 100%, Ivan would have to use the Polyjuice Potion to take the risk.
This was easier than trying to pry information out of Tom.
With that thought, Ivan put away the Marauder's Map and resumed his nightly wanderings.
After Harry, Ron, and the others were sound asleep, Ivan quietly got up, cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself, and slipped out of the Gryffindor common room.
"Strange, someone came out?" The Fat Lady, as usual, moved aside, but after a long wait and seeing no one come out, she asked in confusion.
Receiving no response, the Fat Lady closed the passage again.
Ivan, who had already left, wandered through the castle like an invisible ghost, following the directions given by the Marauder's Map to find one unexplored classroom after another.
While he could do this during the day, a second-year student frequently entering upper-year classrooms might arouse suspicion.
"Alohomora!"
The terrain grew lower as Ivan entered the basement, cast the spell to unlock the door, and entered one of the Potions classrooms.
The room was quite spacious, with cabinets filled with bottles containing various mysterious liquids.
Unlike the second-year Potions classroom, the walls were adorned with many terrifying pictures, but it was too dark to see them clearly.
"Lumos!" Ivan waved his wand and cast a light spell, the dim glow spreading from the tip of his wand in all directions.
(End of Chapter)
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