Chapter 22

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During the summer vacation, I received my Hogwarts admission letter. Wayne felt a little afraid of the Sorting Hat. He had too many secrets, including cheats, his identity as a time traveler, and memories familiar with the plot. Each one was a shocking secret. If people found out, they might want to study him.

But as Wayne understood and mastered magic, he realized the Sorting Hat wasn't as scary as he thought. The hat held the wisdom of the four founders and could place young wizards in the most suitable house. However, this didn't mean the Sorting Hat could see through a person's memory. It could only see some of the shallowest thoughts and detect the strengths in young wizards to identify their houses. Therefore, Wayne practiced a few mind-transfer exercises and stopped worrying.

On the other hand, Dumbledore needed more attention. If Wayne thought about plot-related or system-related things while looking at Dumbledore, he would be in big trouble.

"You don't feel nervous at all?"

The Sorting Hat and Wayne were communicating as Wayne reflected. Over the past thousand years, the Sorting Hat had seen all kinds of young wizards, but few were as relaxed as Wayne.

"Why should I be nervous?" Wayne replied. "There are only four houses you could sort me into. You're not going to expel me, right?"

"Of course not, kid," the Sorting Hat answered cheerfully. "But I could shout Azkaban. I think that would have a good effect."

"I once heard Dumbledore complain that Azkaban has become an advanced class at Hogwarts. With your talent, it wouldn't be a problem to go there directly."

Wayne remained calm. "That's the Ministry of Magic's territory. You don't have that ability."

Just kidding, if he had SS-level black magic talent, he might panic for a few seconds. But now? 

A+ black magic talent wasn't bad, but it depended on what it was compared to. He only had a few SS-level talents. When it came to black magic, Wayne was still quite inexperienced.

"Snort." The Sorting Hat, seeing it didn't scare Wayne, snorted and began its work, analyzing Wayne's mind.

"Full of talent, this comfortable feeling reminds me of Dumbledore. How about Gryffindor?"

"Huh? You don't like Gryffindor?" 

"Hey, boy, be polite to the house my master founded. Although I don't like those little lions very much, they always try to give me a bath."

"Then Slytherin; you could definitely rise to the top there. But your ambition... Merlin's beard, why is your ambition like this?"

"If I sort you into Slytherin, the Slytherins would hate me."

Wayne blushed a little. His ambition... well, it was best not to mention it. He felt it was his duty to strengthen the Lawrence family.

"Then go to Ravenclaw. Smart little minds are very popular in Ravenclaw, and you can pursue your ambitions. Ravenclaw has the most girls..."

Wayne interrupted, "Old man, why didn't you mention Hufflepuff?"

The Sorting Hat was silent. Maybe it was because of Wayne's novel idea, but more likely it was marveling at Wayne's lack of self-awareness.

"No..." the Sorting Hat asked, a little confused, "How can you tell that you have the qualities Hufflepuff needs?"

"What do you mean by that?" Wayne replied, unhappy. Which quality did I miss?

"Loyalty?"

"My little brothers are all loyal to me. No one dared to betray me in elementary school."

The Sorting Hat was speechless. Is that how you understand it?

"Kindness?"

"I don't even bother to step on ants on the roadside."

"Perseverance?"

"I will always be the best," Wayne answered emphatically.

The Sorting Hat was again speechless. "Do you really want to go to Hufflepuff?" It was confused. It thought there was nothing wrong with what Wayne said, but there was a big problem. Fortunately, the young wizard's wishes also played a large role in the sorting, so the Hat asked again.

"Sure, hurry up, and I'll bring you a set of Muggle clothing care tools when I have time."

"It's a deal," the Sorting Hat said, now interested. 

A dirty deal was made, and the Sorting Hat shouted, "Hufflepuff!" 

When the dust settled, the entire auditorium burst into thunderous applause, sending heartfelt blessings. Except for Hermione, who was a little disappointed. She really hoped that Wayne could come to Ravenclaw so she could have a companion in class.

For fifteen minutes another "hater" appeared in Hogwarts (a student whose Sorting Hat could not decide the sorting result for more than five minutes). All the teachers and students in the school remembered the name Wayne Lawrence.

Looking back at history, apart from Wayne, there had only been two "haters" in this century. One was Peter Pettigrew, the deceased Order of Merlin First Class. The other was Professor McGonagall, standing next to Wayne.

She looked at Wayne, who took off his hat, nodded to herself, and ran to the Hufflepuff long table. She thought of several possible outcomes: Wayne could go to Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or even Slytherin. But she did not expect it would be Hufflepuff in the end. She called out the name of the next little wizard and glanced at the Sorting Hat surreptitiously. Could it be that this hat had been working for too long and lost its mind?

"This way!" Cedric stood up and waved enthusiastically. The classmate next to him made room for Wayne. When Wayne sat down, Cedric whispered, "You are so awesome. For fifteen minutes, I almost couldn't stand it."

Wayne watched in horror as Cedric rubbed his belly. "I'm already starving to death. You guys took so long this time."

Oh, so that's what he meant. It startled him. "Then how long did it take you?" 

"Me? It was over in three seconds. Isn't that quick?"

"Too fast." Wayne gave a thumbs up, and Cedric was proud of himself.

The next students went much more smoothly until Harry Potter appeared, causing another sensation in the auditorium. When he was assigned to Gryffindor, the twins and several classmates next to him almost overturned their table.