15 Chapter 15: Azkaban!

In the astonished eyes of the new students, around twenty pearly-white, semi-transparent ghosts emerged from the walls, gliding through the room. They paid little attention to the first-year students. After all, new students arrived every year, and they had probably seen hundreds of generations come and go. However, one chubby monk-like ghost greeted everyone.

"I hope you get sorted into Hufflepuff!" the chubby monk said. "I used to study at that house."

Some students asked him about the sorting ceremony, but he floated away as if he hadn't heard them.

Professor McGonagall also returned. The moment she entered, Harry had a strange feeling that she was about to lead them to their doom. Professor McGonagall had the first-year students line up, and she then led them into the Great Hall.

Hogwarts' Great Hall doubled as the dining hall and was extravagantly decorated. Students sat at four long tables, with thousands of floating candles above them. The table settings and goblets sparkled with gold. At the head of the hall was a long table where the teachers sat. Professor McGonagall brought the first-year students to this table, making them stand in a row while the rest of the school's students were seated at their respective tables. The other staff members were behind them.

In front of the first-year students, Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool with a battered, pointed wizard hat on top of it. The hat had patches all over it and looked quite dirty.

After being seated on the stool, the hat twisted and turned. A seam at the brim opened like a mouth, and the hat began to sing. No one knew what it was singing, but it definitely wasn't the Hogwarts school song. After it finished its song, Professor McGonagall held a roll of parchment and called out students' names one by one. They had to put on the hat and wait for it to sort them into their houses.

After hearing how simple the sorting process was, the students who had been worried earlier blushed with embarrassment. However, at this moment, no one cared about their earlier concerns.

"Hannah Abbott!" Professor McGonagall called out the first student's name.

Upon hearing the name, Tom inexplicably felt relieved. He watched a little girl with two golden pigtails approach, put on the hat, and after a moment, the hat shouted, "Hufflepuff!"

Those at the Hufflepuff table clapped and cheered, including the chubby monk-like ghost who waved at her enthusiastically.

One by one, Professor McGonagall called the young wizards and witches: Susan Bones, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ernie Macmillan, and so on, all heading to Hufflepuff. Terry Boot and Mandy Brocklehurst went to Ravenclaw, Millicent Bulstrode became the first student sorted into Slytherin, and Lavender Brown was the first Gryffindor.

Now it was Hermione's turn. She hurried to the stool and put on the hat.

The hat hesitated for a moment but then loudly declared, "Ravenclaw!"

Relieved, Hermione stood up and smiled at Tom before making her way to the Ravenclaw table to join her older schoolmates.

Tom was the last one to be sorted, not because he was special, but because his last name started with a Y. He was called forward by Professor McGonagall after Blaise Zabini had been sorted into Slytherin.

Tom put the hat on his head, and it slipped down to cover his eyes.

A faint voice sounded in his ear, "Hmm, you're quite the ideal Slytherin candidate..."

"I absolutely refuse to go to Slytherin," Tom thought firmly.

"Oh? But you're perfectly suited for it. Slytherin can help you achieve greatness, without a doubt..."

"I don't think a Tom from an orphanage like me is suitable for that house," Tom argued silently.

"My duty is to sort students into the houses that suit them best, so..."

"I swear, if I get sorted into Slytherin today, I'll tear you apart with my magic," Tom threatened in his mind, his tone filled with malice. "Use your brain! What would happen if a wizard with my background went to Slytherin? If you make my life miserable, I'll make sure you have no life at all!"

The Sorting Hat fell silent.

"Azkaban," it muttered softly. Professor McGonagall, next to him, thought her hearing had gone awry.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing," the Sorting Hat wriggled, finally giving up the idea of shouting "Slytherin" or "Azkaban."

"Since you're not willing to go to Slytherin, then fine. As you wish—Ravenclaw!"

With those words, applause erupted at the Ravenclaw table, and students from the other houses also clapped, mostly in relief that the Sorting ceremony was finally over and they could start eating.

Apart from the applause, there were also some changes in Tom's system.

Firstly, in the character menu, Tom Riddle's name changed to [Tom Riddle (Air)] because he had been sorted into Ravenclaw, which was associated with the Air element.

Then, the main quest also appeared. Tom accepted a quest called [The Stranger Who Hunts the Wind] and decided to research it in his dormitory later.

"If I had been sorted into Gryffindor, would the main quest have been 'The Firestarter'?" he thought to himself.

With the sorting complete, Tom breathed a sigh of relief. He removed the hat, quickly ran to the Ravenclaw table, and took a seat. There was an empty spot next to Hermione, so he sat there. Professor McGonagall rolled up the parchment and carried the Sorting Hat away.

At that moment, Professor Dumbledore also stood up. Like all the headmasters, he had to say a few words at the last moment, but fortunately, he only spoke a little.

"Welcome, everyone! Welcome to another school year at Hogwarts! Before we begin the feast, I'd like to say a few words. Those words are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He said these few sentences and then sat back down. "Seems a bit mad, doesn't he?" A senior Ravenclaw student sitting across from Tom smiled.

Because the magical world was a small community, and Hogwarts had a unique atmosphere, the older students at the school were unusually friendly and helpful to the new students, even those from Slytherin.

"I'm Robert Silverside," he introduced himself.

"Tom Riddle."

"Actually, that phrase has a unique meaning," Robert patiently explained to the new first-years. "It describes the four houses: Ravenclaw always thinks the others are nitwits, Gryffindor believes everyone is a blubbering coward, Slytherin regards houses with non-pureblood wizards as oddments, and Hufflepuff folks are just...well, they're peculiar."

The new students' expressions changed as they understood the meaning behind the phrase.

(End of this chapter)