Wade hurried over and put on the Sorting Hat, thinking to himself, Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff! I want Hufflepuff!
"Hufflepuff?" a tiny voice said. "Oh, perhaps you didn't hear the song I just sang. That's all right, I can sing a verse just for you—where they are just and loyal—"
Wade: "..."
He had a faint premonition.
The Sorting Hat continued to sing, "Hufflepuff students are tenacious and honest—"
Wade: "..."
Okay, I get it, no need to sing anymore!
The Sorting Hat: "—not afraid of hard work—"
Wade: "..."
That's a bit much! Your voice is a little too loud!
The Sorting Hat rustled, "Though Hufflepuff never refuses any student aspiring to Hogwarts, there are places more suitable for you... Hmm—it's always hard for people to truly know themselves, isn't it?"
Wade quickly thought, I am NOT going to Slytherin!
"Of course, it's—" the Sorting Hat boomed, "Ravenclaw—"
The second row of tables on the left began to clap, their applause measured. Wade sighed inwardly, took off the hat, and walked towards the table decorated in teal and blue.
—That rigid Sorting Hat! So what if I'm not honest, just, and hardworking enough? I like making friends with honest, just, and hardworking people, is that not allowed?
Several Ravenclaw students stood up and shook his hand. The leading boy said, "Welcome to Ravenclaw. I'm West Mole, the male prefect."
Another boy leaned in and said, "You're Wade Grey? Then you're a perfect fit for our house!"
"What do you mean?" Wade asked.
"Oh, Benson, don't tell that joke of yours," West said, recalling something with resignation.
Benson winked and said, "Because our house ghost is also named Grey—The Grey Lady."
Wade looked at him, and after a few seconds, slowly said, "...Oh, so?"
Benson: "..."
West pushed the boy's head back. "I told you already, don't try to be like the Weasley twins. You don't have a funny bone."
Benson slumped onto the table as if deeply wounded, his whole demeanor turning gloomy. Wade thought his current expression was actually quite funny.
He sat down and looked around.
No introductions were needed; in his eyes, everyone around him had a name (or two) hovering above their heads. However, Wade had little impression of almost everyone in Ravenclaw, likely because they were never mentioned in the plot. The only exception was a very cute black-haired girl not far diagonally opposite him—Cho Chang. She was watching the new students being sorted, not noticing Wade's gaze.
The people at the teachers' table also matched his memories—silver-haired, long-bearded Albus Dumbledore, pale-faced, greasy-haired Severus Snape, Filius Flitwick, short as a three-year-old, the eccentric Sybill Trelawney, the plump Professor Sprout, and Quirinus Quirrell & Tom Riddle, with one face in front and one in back.
Of course, Wade, sitting at the Ravenclaw long table, was like an invisible man; the professors didn't pay him any attention.
The Sorting Ceremony continued.
"Michael Corner!"
"Ravenclaw!"
Before Wade, a blonde boy named Anthony had been sorted into Ravenclaw and was excitedly greeting everyone. Soon after, a boy with long, curly black hair named Michael Corner arrived and sat next to Wade. Following him was Padma Patil, the younger of a pair of Indian twin sisters; her elder sister, Parvati Patil, was sorted into Gryffindor.
There weren't many new students in Ravenclaw, only about ten or so, arriving one after another. The new students observed their surroundings with a mix of shyness and excitement, until a name suddenly rang out—
"Harry Potter!"
The entire Great Hall suddenly fell silent, followed by a buzzing murmur of discussion.
"Potter? Harry Potter?"
"Is it the Harry Potter?"
At the Ravenclaw long table, some of the typically aloof students who usually paid little attention to new students couldn't help but turn their heads and crane their necks to look at the black-haired boy walking towards the Sorting Hat.
When he put on the hat, many held their breath, waiting. From Gryffindor to Slytherin, from Headmaster Dumbledore to Filch, the castle caretaker standing at the door, everyone was watching that grubby hat and the little boy whose face was mostly hidden beneath it.
The murmuring gradually faded.
Finally—
"Gryffindor!"
The Sorting Hat shouted, and the hall erupted in enthusiastic cheers and applause. The Gryffindor applause was the loudest, but almost everyone in Ravenclaw was also clapping—a reception not given to other students during their Sorting.
"I knew he'd go to Gryffindor!" Benson earnestly told West. "Of course Harry Potter would be in Gryffindor. Where else would he go?"
"Shut up, Benson. Two months ago you were saying Harry Potter was just a character in a book and didn't actually exist!" West said, rolling his eyes.
As the last new student was sorted into Slytherin, Professor McGonagall left with the Sorting Hat, and Dumbledore stood up, spreading his arms.
"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"
Hearing this classic opening, Wade clapped enthusiastically.
"What does he mean?" Michael, sitting next to him, asked.
"No idea," Wade said.
"Then why were you clapping?" Michael asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Was such a short speech not worth applauding?" Wade countered.
Michael thought for a moment, then agreed, "You're right!"
Warm applause mingled with cheers, and in the blink of an eye, the empty long tables were laden with food: roasted beef, lamb chops, chips, mashed potatoes, and more. Though there weren't many vegetables, the aroma was rich and everything looked delicious.
The students, who had been hungry for a long time, immediately began to feast. After almost everyone had eaten their fill, the main courses vanished, and the tables reappeared covered in desserts. The students, their stomachs full, had to slow down their eating and found time to chat with those around them.
Naturally, the new students' conversations revolved around their family backgrounds and bloodlines.
A boy named Stephen said, "I come from a Pure-blood family. My mother was also in Ravenclaw, and my father was in Gryffindor. I've already read all the school textbooks at home."
"What about you, Wade?" someone asked.
Wade stated frankly, "Neither of my parents can do magic."
"Then magic must be a completely unfamiliar field for you, right?" Stephen said sympathetically, "You'll have to work a bit harder in school."
"Mhm, I will," Wade said with a smile.
"Even though I'm a Half-blood, I don't think it makes any difference whether you're Pure-blood or Muggle-born," Michael next to Wade said. "Take my family for example: my father is a Wizard, but he's not as smart as my mother. My mother makes all the decisions at home."
Wade Grey's surname begins with "G", Hermione Granger's is "Granger", and Harry Potter's surname begins with "P", not "B". So, when Wade was sorted, he went after Hermione and before Harry.
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