Hat embarrassment is a legend that permeates a small number of Hogwarts families. The Sorting Hat often takes only a short time to determine which house a young wizard should attend. However, this can sometimes happen unexpectedly when encountering exceptional young wizards—often exceptional ones.
It's called a "hat embarrassment" when a young wizard's personality and qualities combine the characteristics of two different houses, each so exceptional that the Sorting Hat can't make a decision for more than ten minutes.
This happened several times in the past, from the legendary Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster himself, who possessed the traits of Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin, to the recent one, Cedric Diggory, who the hat deemed to be suitable for the house of badgers and the house of lions.
However, it was different for Ryan. Thirty minutes had already passed since he donned the Sorting Hat. By now, the young wizards below were already buzzing with discussion. Even the professors in the guest seats had their eyes fixed on Ryan, gazing at this unique young wizard.
"Dumbledore..." Professor Flitwick hesitated. "I remember Minerva also experienced a hat dilemma when she was sorted. Back then, the Sorting Hat took..."
"Twelve minutes," Dumbledore said softly. "The Sorting Hat hesitated between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, and ultimately chose Gryffindor for her." Even among hat dilemmas, a hat dilemma lasting over thirty minutes like Ryan's... at least in Dumbledore's long teaching career, this was the first time.
"How unique," the old wizard said cheerfully.
But it was clear that Ryan didn't know what 'hat dilemma' was. When he was at Hogwarts, the Sorting Hat hadn't even been invented yet. Back then, students were assigned to houses by him and four other teachers. But even if he knew, Ryan wouldn't care at this moment.
"Is that all, Mr. Hat?" He continued his mental conversation with the Sorting Hat, recalling the funeral he had just witnessed. After calming down a bit from the intense grief of Ravenclaw's death, Ryan realized many things.
First, how had Ravenclaw died?
He saw no wounds on the body, and a Ravenclaw in her fifties couldn't have died of natural causes.
"Disease? Curse?" Ryan didn't know—with Ravenclaw's magical proficiency, he couldn't imagine what disease or curse could have taken her life. Besides... "The flowers around the sarcophagus were probably given by Hogwarts students, but... where's Helena?" Ryan was puzzled because he didn't see anyone who should have been at the funeral.
Helena Ravenclaw, Ravenclaw's biological daughter. She had studied with Ryan, and Ryan had practically watched her grow up, treating her like his own sister.
In fact, the other ring engraved with 'HR' on Ravenclaw's hand was a gift from Helena. She shouldn't have missed her mother's funeral, no matter what. Of course, Ryan could explain it—perhaps Helena had attended the funeral but had simply left.
However...
"Helena's absence could still be explained—but the conversation between Mr. Godric and Mrs. Helga..." To be fair, from what Ryan knew about those two teachers, they were both deeply emotional.
A Gryffindor would seethe with the suffering of the innocent and vulnerable, while a Hufflepuff would weep over the withering of plants. But at Ravenclaw's funeral, they seemed remarkably calm. That calm, tinged with sadness, was as if they had anticipated Ravenclaw's demise but hadn't anticipated it coming so soon.
Furthermore, their conversation mentioned Salazar Slytherin, but there was clearly no trace of anger.
"Truly, Mr. Slytherin didn't leave the school because of a disagreement with the other three teachers, but for other reasons..." The more discrepancies Ryan found, the more confused he became. So, he desperately wanted to learn more from the Sorting Hat.
"That's all, young master." The Sorting Hat offered no further information. "After the funeral, I was placed in the Headmaster's office—well, back then, Hogwarts didn't even have a Headmaster position, so it wasn't even called that."
"After that, I never saw the Master of Gryffindor again until the first Headmaster chosen by Master Helga before her death came to the office and asked me to preside over the Sorting ceremony."
Before her death—Ryan hated those words.
"I understand." After confirming the Sorting Hat had no further information, he didn't press the issue. Instead, he asked another question: "So, Mr. Hat... my teacher left me something at the academy. Do you know what it is?"
The Sorting Hat might not know the truth about the Founders, but there was no doubt that the things the Founders had spoken of in the vault, and the things they had left for him at the academy, would certainly contain the truth.
"Oh, of course." The Sorting Hat seemed happy that Ryan didn't continue to ask about those sad past events. "The four founders all left treasures at Hogwarts, and all the young wizards know this legend."
"Of course, I can tell you that the legend is true—the four masters, including the Slytherin master who left first, left something for his successor... that is, you!"
"Where are they?" Ryan asked quickly.
"I don't know," the Sorting Hat replied confidently. "Oh, young master—you can't expect a hat to know everything, even though I'm the greatest hat in the world, with a soul and full of wisdom. I only know they're somewhere in the school, and you'll find them eventually."
Ryan took a deep breath. "Okay, I understand." Just as the four teachers had taught him, he calmed his emotions, letting his wisdom and composure not be overwhelmed by his emotions. After a moment, he said, "As for my identity—you will keep it a secret for me, right?"
"Of course, the Sorting Hat never reveals the secrets of any young wizard."
"Then, please, sort me," Ryan said.
Meanwhile, a sense of curiosity welled up in him. Although he was a student of the Founders and could even become one of the founding members of Hogwarts itself, he had never been sorted into a house. As a student of the Founders, his role at Hogwarts was more like that of a head of house and an outstanding graduate.
So, he was genuinely curious about which house he would be sorted into.
However, the reality was clearly different from what he had expected.
"Oh, sorting... of course." The Sorting Hat's voice seemed even more pleased. "The four masters have already arranged your house... yes, the result is beyond doubt." The inner conversation ended there. The next moment, everyone in the hall heard the Sorting Hat's final announcement of the sorting result with unmistakable clarity.
"Hogwarts!"
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Author's note
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