People are in Hogwarts, What the hell is the flood system?

Ron's face turned red.

All along, the education he had received told him that jealousy was an ugly emotion.

Admitting that he was jealous of his friends was really not easy for him.

Rhine's eyes, however, revealed a bit of surprise, followed by some admiration.

This was Ron, after all. In the original story, he wasn't as prominent as Harry and Hermione, but he was actually someone who could frankly express his thoughts and even sincerely analyze himself.

Maintaining excellence was not easy, but admitting one's own lack of excellence required immense courage.

Ron stuttered as if he had done something wrong.

"It's ridiculous, isn't it?"

"You guys treat me as a friend, but I'm jealous of you."

"When I realized this, I felt like I didn't deserve to be in Gryffindor at all. I should be sorted into Slytherin and be with those despicable people."

Looking at the incoherent Ron, Rhine said seriously.

"No, it's not ridiculous at all, Ron. You're amazing."

"Everyone wants to show others their bright and beautiful side. That's easy, but few people can show their bad side."

"At least I can't do it."

Ron thought Rhine was comforting him, and his tone became a little louder.

"But Rhine, you don't have any bad points at all. You're so excellent. I mean, whether in the Muggle world or the magical world, you're simply a model student."

"Good interpersonal skills, good grades, and you've even joined the Quidditch team. Merlin above, I can't think of anything bad about you."

Rhine smiled and shook his head.

"Ron, it's just that you don't know."

"Actually, in many ways, I'm a bit deliberate and not sincere enough. Sometimes I even lie to achieve my goals. I can never be as frank as you, Ron, in admitting my inner thoughts."

"So I really think you're amazing. It's a valuable quality."

Ron stared blankly at Rhine, looking a bit confused, not quite understanding what Rhine was specifically referring to.

Rhine then changed the subject.

"Also, I think you don't seem to realize your obvious talent."

"Actually, your talent is very obvious."

Ron was stunned again. This was the first time anyone had ever said that to him.

He asked eagerly.

"Me, talent? Where?"

Rhine pointed to the wizard chess piece Ron was twirling in his hand.

"Isn't it right here?"

Rhine wasn't just saying this randomly to encourage Ron. Ron really did have a strong talent for wizard chess, which was described in great detail in the original story.

At least in Hogwarts, no one was Ron's match when it came to wizard chess.

Even Hermione, the academic genius, would be defeated miserably in a few moves.

Being able to dominate among the many wizard chess enthusiasts in Hogwarts was enough to illustrate Ron's talent.

After all, he hadn't received any professional training since he was a child, relying purely on his own exploration.

With some professional training, his chess skills should skyrocket.

Although wizard chess isn't as popular as Quidditch, it's still a widely popular chess sport in the magical world, and there are competitions and professional wizard chess players.

The fame of some professional wizard chess players isn't worse than that of Quidditch stars who rank lower.

If he could become a professional wizard chess player, and even win a place in the competition, perhaps the inferiority complex buried deep in Ron's heart would disappear.

Just the prize money would make his life much better.

At least he could replace his old wand with a truly handy new wand!

Rhine had thought about this before. Ron's old wand was really a major obstacle to his spellcasting.

But if he gave it to Ron, Ron would definitely refuse.

In the original story, Ron was distressed because Harry gave him a gift that he couldn't reciprocate.

If there was a chance for Ron to earn a new wand himself, that might be the best way.

Ron didn't have this opportunity in the original story, but that might not be the case in this life.

Rhine's gaze fell on a niche talent in the reward column.

He hadn't used it since he got it, but now it seemed like it could come in handy.

This talent was Chess Mastery, obtained from the goblins Griphook and others, which would give Rhine a unique talent in chess.

Rhine wasn't interested in playing chess, but using this talent to guide Ron should be able to completely stimulate Ron's wizard chess talent.

Who knows, Ron might become the Hogwarts wizard chess saint!

Immediately, Rhine told Ron his idea.

He also found the Daily Prophet, which had a special section on sports events, including wizard chess competitions.

"Look at this, Ron. There's a small wizard chess competition in two months, on Halloween night. The champion's prize is a full ten Galleons!"

"How about we take it down?"

Ron held his breath.

Ten Galleons was already a huge fortune for him.

He had never seen so much money before.

But participate in a competition?

Could he do it?

Ron hadn't figured it out yet, but his hand seemed to have a mind of its own, trembling slightly.

A kind of desire burst forth in Ron's heart.

Champion?

The latest and fastest novels are at...

In this life, he had never won first place in anything.

From childhood to adulthood, he had always lived under the halo of his brothers.

But wizard chess...

Wizard chess was the thing he was most confident in. Maybe he could do it!

Involuntarily, Ron filled out the registration information according to the format on the newspaper.

"Rhine, can I borrow your owl for a bit, and borrow some registration fee?"

Ron rubbed his hands, embarrassed.

Rhine raised his eyebrows and grinned.

"Owl usage fee, registration fee, these will be deducted from your prize money."

"Oh right, and my sparring fee. You have to treat me to dinner when you win the championship, Ron."

Ron was stunned for a moment.

"Sparring?"

Rhine rolled his eyes.

"You don't really think you can win the championship without any preparation, do you? This is a competition that people rely on for a living. Although the scale is small, the experts you encounter will definitely be better than you've ever seen."

"I'll be your sparring partner for these two months, starting tonight."

"Send the letter out, set up the chess pieces, and let's hurry up."

Ron nodded quickly, revealing a grateful smile.

That night, Ron didn't return to the dormitory, exhausted, until one in the morning, and fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

In his sleep, his mind was still thinking about the chessboard and the games with Rhine.

The emotion of jealousy had unknowingly disappeared.

...

Early the next morning, Ron was groggily flipping through wizard chess scores while washing up, not even knowing how he got to the Great Hall.

When he looked up, Ron saw Rhine sitting in the Great Hall eating.

Rhine gestured to Ron, indicating that he should continue training tonight.

Just then, a dense sound of owls flapping their wings came.

One by one, slender packages were delivered to the tables by busy owls.

Rhine and Harry each had two packages fall in front of them.

Even Rhine, who knew the plot, was a little stunned.

According to the original plot, Professor McGonagall should have sent Harry a Nimbus 2000.

He was also exceptionally selected for the Quidditch team, so Professor McGonagall might also send one.

But who sent the extra package?

Then, he looked at the name on the package.

As he expected, one was a Nimbus 2000 sent by Professor McGonagall, reminding him not to open it in public.

The name on the other package was Lucius Malfoy.

This package also came with a thick envelope.

Opening the envelope, he saw extremely exquisite parchment and elegant handwriting.

Lucius thanked Rhine for what he had done for Draco Malfoy. In addition to this Nimbus 2000, he had also prepared a special gift for Rhine.

"Given what I've heard of your outstanding magical talent, I think this gift will be of great use to you."

"A permit approved in the name of the Board of Governors, with which you can borrow books from the Restricted Section."