"Susan Pence… Hufflepuff!"

"Justin Finch-Fletchley… Hufflepuff!"

In the beautifully-decorated Great Hall, a wrinkled hat with a gaping mouth that split at the edges was rapping and wiggling erratically. Occasionally, a few fearless young wizards would pinch the brim of the hat, causing them to laugh strangely.

As the names of the students and the house they were assigned to were announced by the Sorting Hat, the young wizards at the bottom of the table clapped enthusiastically or perfunctorily.

Even Gryffindor and Slytherin, who disliked each other, maintained this relative harmony at least during this orientation.

Below the stage, the young wizards and witches who were waiting to be assigned to their respective Houses watched nervously and expectantly as the others put on their Sorting Hats and made their way to their House seats.

However, among the new students, there was a skinny boy who looked out of place. He was looking around at the gorgeous and vintage decorations and the candles that were strangely suspended in midair. The bright sparks lit up the hall, and translucent ghosts could be seen flying around. The boy could not adapt to everything for a while.

"Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?"

"Strange, I thought I was dying in a hospital bed?" A high-pitched female voice rang out in the Great Hall just as the boy was becoming familiar and strange with his surroundings.

"Ivan Hales!"

Professor Minerva McGonagall stood at the corner table where the Sorting Hat was placed and looked at the parchment scroll in her hand. However, after waiting for a long time and seeing that the new students were not coming up, she frowned and read aloud again.

"Ivan Hales!"

It had been a long time since there had been any movement among the new students, and now even Dumbledore was looking at them in confusion.

"Who? Who's Ivan? Who's got the nerve?"

"You didn't go the wrong way and miss the Sorting?"

"This is going to be interesting…"

…

Under the watchful eyes of many professors and seniors, the remaining new students took a few steps back, leaving behind the boy with golden hair and black eyes who was still in a daze.

"Mr. Ivan Hales, please come to the stage!" Professor McGonagall repeated.

"Me?" Ivan pointed at himself in confusion, suddenly finding the scene strange but surprisingly familiar.

"Yes, please come up as soon as possible, will you? Just as everyone else has done… there are other children who need to be sorted." Perhaps because Ivan was a new student, Professor McGonagall didn't seem upset when she asked the question for the fourth time, although she thought the new student might be nervous.

Before Ivan could react, he felt himself being gently pushed, and the new students in the front row pushed him onto the stage one by one.

"Alright, child, come over here…" Professor McGonagall stepped forward and placed her hand on Ivan's shoulder, forcing him to sit down. She then placed her Sorting Hat on Ivan's head.

The Sorting Hat fidgeted on Ivan's head and spoke in a rather funny manner.

"Hey, kid, don't be too shy. You're not the first to get nervous in a place like this… trust me, just close your eyes and let it go… it doesn't hurt at all!"

Ivan rolled his eyes. After spending some time at the new students' office, he had some ideas about what was going on, but he found them hard to believe.

But was this really Hogwarts? The magical place where magic was taught? But wasn't that…

Ivan was about to go on thinking about it when the sound of the Sorting Hat reached his ears.

"Yes… of course, this is Hogwarts! You're not dreaming, I'm one hundred percent sure!"

"I bet you're from a Muggle family, aren't you? Every few years, there'll be some new young wizard who won't believe in magic, says it's all a trick, always trying to get a rabbit with ears out of me… I tell them there's nothing in the hat, but they won't believe me…"

The Sorting Hat droned on and on, its gaping mouth almost reaching the brim of its hat.

The Sorting Hat's ability to read memories stopped Ivan from thinking too much, and he quickly composed himself.

However, perhaps due to the effects of the Sorting Hat, Ivan's mind was like a slide show, with strange memories flashing through his mind. Even Ivan himself could not piece the scattered memories together. It was as if a witch was teaching him magic…

The witch in his memory was around thirty years old, with beautiful long blonde hair, and she was saying something with her mouth open, and then Ivan felt a wave of fear…

The Sorting Hat was also the first time he had seen a young wizard with such a wild mind, and he was surprised that Ivan was not from a Muggle family.

A cold sweat broke out on Ivan's forehead. Although the various thoughts and memories that had been read by the Sorting Hat belonged to the original owner, he did not know if the hat would read any important secrets at this rate. Ivan could only try to force himself to think of unimportant things.

"Cough, cough…" Seeing that the Sorting Hat seemed to be going on forever, Professor McGonagall coughed lightly and reminded the Sorting Hat on the stage to get to work.

The Hat finally stopped talking, and Ivan breathed a sigh of relief, although he was curious about which house he would be assigned to.

"Well…let me see, optimistic…smart and prone to flights of fancy…" the Sorting Hat intoned, then suddenly lowered his voice. "And a bit of the Dark Arts…"

"I can do dark magic?" Ivan hazily recalled.

"Oh, yes, an ancient and rare…dark magic," the Sorting Hat whispered to Ivan, as if they were having a private conversation.

"Of course, it also seems to me to be an interesting piece of Dark Magic, which allows you to see things you don't want to see… Someone once used it as a practical joke. Perhaps you should try it…"

"Although Dumbledore must not have wanted anyone to do it again…" the Sorting Hat complained to himself.

"So where do I go? Slytherin?" Ivan was curious about his dark magic, but the Sorting was the main issue.

He was only able to remove the damned memory-reading hat after they had been sorted.

Of the Four Great Houses at Hogwarts, Gryffindor required bravery (or recklessness?) and Ravenclaw required wisdom or a desire for knowledge.

Slytherin corresponded to a cunning and treacherous personality and an exceptional magical talent.

As for Hufflepuff… it is the kindest and most tolerant of Houses, particularly those adept at food-related Charms, and is the perfect choice for a foodie.

The Sorting Hat's claim that he studied the Dark Arts fitted the Slytherin house criteria, although it is possible that he was sorted into Ravenclaw because he was optimistic and clever.

Ivan thought narcissistically…

"No, no, no, none of that." The Sorting Hat's tone was suddenly humorous. "Although it pains you to say so, Slytherin usually chooses only gifted young wizards, so…"

"Gryffindor!" The Sorting Hat's high-pitched voice, which had been whispering to Ivan, rang through the hall.

"Gryffindor?" Ivan asked as he pulled the Sorting Hat off his head. He was so surprised that he didn't even have time to comment on the Sorting Hat's assessment of his talent.

"Yes…yes, that's where you should go!" the Sorting Hat vowed. "I've never been wrong, and you have the right qualities!"