"Ah, Mr. Balor! Here you are again!" Dumbledore greeted.

"Here I am again..." Sol replied dispiritedly.

"Is there anything wrong?"

Sol took a deep breath and then exhaled, "No, there isn't. May I ask why I've been called here?"

"Ah, yes! Come here. We mustn't keep them waiting." Dumbledore beckoned.

"Keep who waiting?"

"Follow me and see."

Sol sighed and went forward. Seeing Sol follow him, Dumbledore leads him through the door at the back of his office. Seeing the destination, Sol shivered.

Don't tell me...He gulped and asked warily, "W-Why are you taking me to your living quarters?" His butt clenched.

I need to protect my chrysanthemum[1].

"Huh? Oh no, I'm not taking you to my living quarters."

"Doesn't this door lead there?" Sol asked, still wary.

"It does." That reply made Sol's butt clench harder. "But it also leads somewhere else." The last half did nothing to ease Sol's worries. He silently reached for his wand.

I'm not going in your rape dungeon!

"Come on, now." Dumbledore walked through the door with Sol. Inside was a small room with a door on both the left and right sides. Dumbledore kept on walking with Sol behind. Sol was extremely vigilant as they entered through the door on the right side. Inside the right door was a circular room with four portraits hung high on the walls. There was a desk and chair to accompany it. The desk had a jug of water and a glass on it. Wall lamps lit up the room. Sunlight shone through the lone window directly opposite the door. Sol looked around with a hand on his wand. The portraits were larger than most. Each of them had a ratio of 16:9.

"A bit fancy for a rape dungeon..." Sol murmured.

"Sorry, I didn't hear that."

"Nothing! Not a thing!"

"I see..." Dumbledore looked at him with a strange look.

"Headmaster, why have-" Before Sol could finish, a loud and deep voice cut him off, "Albus, is this that Balor boy?"

"Yes, founder!" Dumbledore hurriedly replied.

Founder? Sol questioned before his eyes lost their light. Oh, Christ! They dragged the four founders into this...

"Come here, Mr. Balor!" A dignified female voice sounded within the room. Sol walked forward and stood in the middle of the room. The four founders within their portraits looked down at him. They each had a different temperament allowing Sol to differentiate them easily. The one who spoke just now was Rowena Ravenclaw. She looked at the Headmaster and said, "Albus, leave us be. We want to talk to Mr. Balor alone."

"As you wish," Dumbledore acceded and left the room, closing the door behind him. Only Sol and the portraits of the founders were left. Sol looked up at them, "My name is Sol Balor. It is an honor to meet you." Trying to fake a tone of respect was really hard to do.

"I'm Godric Gryffindor!"

"My name is Rowena Ravenclaw."

"Hello, Mr. Balor. I am Helga Hufflepuff."

Slytherin snorted but didn't say anything. Seeing his behavior, Sol shook his head. Childish!

"May I ask why you've summoned me?" Sol asked trying to cover his tiredness.

"Right, Balor! We want to ask if you know anything about the Basilisk which you saw in Salazar's chamber." Gryffindor replied.

"Yes, it endangers the students! Finding it is of utmost importance!" Hufflepuff added.

Sol calmly raised a hand, "I believe the Headmaster has revealed to you the extent of our conversation on this very subject. So, I'd like to know why you've really called me here for."

"Ooh~ this boy's got guts! How long has it been since someone's talked to us like this?" Gryffindor laughed.

"Exactly!" Slytherin slammed a table that hadn't been there last time, "Never in my life have I been insulted by such insolence!"

"That's only because you haven't met me," Sol calmly said. "Had you met me earlier, you would've long been insulted."

"You!" Slytherin gnashed his teeth. Greenish veins popped on his forehead. Yet he saw Sol not even sparing him a glance and instead was looking at Ravenclaw.

Ravenclaw covered her mouth and laughed softly. She looked at Sol with an amused expression, "Interesting! We've called you here to ask about your radical ideas."

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Sol's mouth twitched. I knew I shouldn't have run my mouth!

"What do you wish to ask?"

"Why you've looked down on the Sorting System, a time-honored tradition of Hogwarts?"

"This..." Sol hesitated, "The Headmaster has also revealed this to you. So why ask?"

"You seemed to have only mentioned it as a passing remark," Ravenclaw said, "We wish for a more in-depth discussion."

Sol's felt speechless. He wanted to cough up blood. That 'passing remark' should be enough for you fools to do something. How in-depth do you want to go? Need I beat it into you?

Sol massaged his glabella[2], "Please ask what you want."

"Right! Why-" but before she could continue, Slytherin's screams resounded within the room, "How dare you mock the Sorting System, something all four of us have poured our blood, sweat, and tears into?!"

"Christ, you're noisy!" Sol frowned.

"Arrogant!" Hearing Slytherin's constant screeching, Sol truly had enough. It was one thing when someone politely asked for your views. It was a completely different thing when one would keep howling at you like a dog in heat.

"Hah?!" Sol sneered, "Don't you feel ashamed saying you poured your blood, sweat, and tears into a flawed system? If you really wanted to pour those things, you should've done it down the drain."

Hearing a child say those words to him, Slytherin felt like fainting. Where is your respect towards your elders?!"

Seemingly as though Sol had read his mind, he continued, "Don't keep harping on about age and whatnot. Age isn't a prerequisite for garnering respect." Taking account of his personality, it truly is unusual for Sol to act like this, though this time it is not that unreasonable. Ever since his unexpected reincarnation[3] here, he had kept on hearing about the magnificence and the tales of the four founders. How they advanced the Wizarding World by leaps and bounds. When he saw the reverence in his mother's eyes, he truly believed that these four were great to have brought light to a previously dark and lawless world, even if he only learned from her shallow knowledge of this subject. Even as a Ravenclaw she strived for the future, what was the use of obsessively learning about the past. And Sol fully understood her.

But as he grew up, he looked into them. He read books and records of their deed. And after being done, he would slam those books close and come to a single conclusion. Every single one of their deed has been. thoroughly. exaggerated. Their deeds weren't great. It was an expected outcome given their capabilities. Yet they were content with only advancing the wizarding world by this much. And most of the better innovations didn't even stem from them. The Knight Bus, conveniencing hundreds daily, was inspired by Muggle Double Decker Carriages[4] and was proposed by Minister Dugald McPhail. And it was scorned at that time! And all because of the values instilled in the wizards through Hogwarts and ultimately the four founders.

When he understood this a few years back, Sol was seething with rage. Who wouldn't be? Finally, a step towards the right direction, finally a path towards the advancement towards of the Wizarding world and you...and you try to hinder it? If he could've found the 'founders' then, he would've certainly said, "Stop finding things!"

And he kept finding more issues like these. He could only imagine the good that the Wizarding World would've experienced if they weren't overly reliant on these founders and their traditions, and actually tried to improve. Sol would've believed the date-rape drug known as the 'Love Potion' was made by these four using their 'blood, sweat and tears' had he not read about the inventor and got her card on the Chocolate Frog card. And the culmination of all his grievances was being poured into their rightful owners.

"You four only managed to advance our world by a measly decade, there are no grounds for any respect for this when it was the bare minimum you should've done!" Sol berated, his spittle flying out of his mouth.

"You can't even achieve half-" Sol mercilessly cut Slytherin off, "Abolish the sorting system. This one proposal of mine can advance this world by 3 years!"

"Tell us why or you won't be able to leave!" Slytherin spat out through grit teeth.

"Oh?" Sol raised an eyebrow, "I was going to do so regardless but now I'm intrigued. How will you stop me from leaving?"

Slytherin felt angry but did not respond. In truth, even he knew that he had just said a ridiculous thing. How can a portrait which is 2-dimensional stop Sol who is a 3-dimensional being?

"Anyway," Sol looked at Slytherin, "Since you're done making a fool of yourself, I'll be going a bit 'in-depth' about my radical ideas."

"Go ahead," Ravenclaw had a grim look on her face. In truth, she also felt angry at Sol's disrespect towards them. She wanted to tell him 'not to go far or they'll expel him' but kept her mouth shut. She had no grounds to do so as he didn't break any of the school rules.

"Right!" Sol clapped his hands. "As for why the Sorting System is flawed, it has more to do with the houses themselves."

"Boy, do you know what you're talking about?" Gryffindor asked in a deep and serious tone. "Will you take responsibility for what you say regarding the houses?"

"I will. You needn't worry about that," Sol nodded.

"Then proceed."

"Right, the Sorting Hat sorts the students based on their traits," seeing he had their attention, Sol continued. "For example, students who are brave will be sorted into Gryffindor, or students who are intelligent will be sorted into Ravenclaw. But do these values make up a person? No! These traits aren't mutually exclusive. And some of these traits can be seen in everyone. Say Slytherin's requirement for his students to be ambitious, does that mean the students of the other house don't have ambitions? No!

Everyone has ambitions or goals they work towards. They have dreams they want to achieve. Some want to become prefect or head boy, that is their ambition. Some want to acquire a job and provide a stable life to their families, this is also their ambition! Then will all of them be sorted to Slytherin? Even Ravenclaw's requirement for intelligence! Sure it is defined as something bright but any intelligent person can learn to be cunning. The only thing that might prevent them from doing so is morals and time."

Sol stopped and took a deep breath, "Sorry, my throat's a bit parched from the talking. Let me drink some water first." Saying so, he went towards the desk and picked up the jug of water. After pouring the water into the jug, he took a sip. As his mouth became wet, he kept the glass on the desk again. It had water left in it. Sitting down on the chair, Sol continued, "My first point is one can't measure a person based on prerequisites. People change. They might act one way but after some time their personalities may change. Secondly, the Sorting System happens way too early. We sort students when they're only 11 years old. Do you honestly believe a child will remain the same even when they grow up?"

"Hold on!" Ravenclaw interrupted. "The values our houses signify are core values. They-" This time Sol interrupted her, "Given time, even core values will change."

"As I was saying, 11-year-old children have yet to experience the world. So on what basis are we labeling them when they haven't even finished tempering themselves? This also takes me back to my first point, children will not stay the same when they become adults. I don't see any adults throwing tantrums about wanting to buy the latest Pogs[5]. Even if you want to keep the Sorting System, which I don't condone, it should be done in the sixth or seventh year. Now, thirdly, I believe that-"

Gryffindor cut him off, "Wait a minute!"

Sol looked at him, "Yes?"

Gryffindor looked serious and in great thought. After minutes of what seemed to be deep contemplation, he hesitated and asked, "...What are Pogs?"

Sol was about to faint.