7

Chapter 7: The Sorting

Wade walked over quickly, put on the sorting hat, and said in his heart, "Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff! I want to go to Hufflepuff!"

"Hufflepuff?" a small voice said. "Oh, maybe you didn't listen to the song I just sang. It doesn't matter. I can sing a section for you alone - the people there are honest and loyal—"

Wade: "..."

He vaguely noticed something.

The Sorting Hat continued singing, "Hufflepuff students are tough and honest—"

Wade: "..."

Okay, I understand, no need to sing!

Sorting Hat: "Not afraid of hard work—"

Wade: "..."

It's a bit too much! Your voice is a bit too loud!

The Sorting Hat whispered, "Although Hufflepuff never refuses any student who wants to go to Hogwarts, there is a place that is more suitable for you... Well - it is always difficult for people to recognize themselves, isn't it?"

Wade said in his mind, "I won't go to Slytherin!"

"Of course—" the Sorting Hat shouted, "Ravenclaw!"

The second row of tables on the left began to clap and applaud, and the applause was very controlled. Wade sighed in his heart, took off his hat, and walked toward the table decorated with cyan and blue.

——The rigid Sorting Hat! What if you are not honest and hardworking? I just like to make friends with upright, honest, and hardworking people, don't you?

Several Ravenclaw students stood up and shook hands with him. The leading boy said, "Welcome to Ravenclaw. I am Roger Davies, the prefect of boys."

Another boy came over and said, "Your name is Wade Gray? Then you are a perfect fit for our house!"

"What do you mean?" Wade asked.

"Oh, Kevin, don't tell that joke of yours," Roger said helplessly, realizing what was coming.

Kevin winked and said, "Because our house ghost is also named Gray—Ms. Gray."

Wade looked at him and after a few seconds said slowly, "Oh, so what?"

Kevin: "..."

Roger pushed the boy's head back. "I told you a long time ago, don't imitate the Weasley twins; you don't have their talent for humor."

Kevin lay on the table as if he was hit hard, his whole body turning gray. Wade thought his current expression was actually more amusing.

He sat in his seat and looked around.

He needed no introduction; in his eyes, everyone around him had a name (or two) in his memory. However, almost everyone in Ravenclaw had no impression of Wade, probably because he was not mentioned at all in the plot. The only exception was a very cute black-haired girl not far away, diagonally opposite—Cho Chang. She was looking at the new students and did not pay attention to Wade's gaze.

Everyone at the teacher's desk also compared with what they remembered—Albus Dumbledore with silver hair and a long beard, Severus Snape with a sallow face and greasy hair, the short Filius Flitwick, the neurotic Sybill Trelawney, the plump Professor Sprout, and Quirinus Quirrell, who had a face in front and another in the back: Tom Riddle.

Of course, Wade, who was sitting at the long table in Ravenclaw, was like a transparent person, and the professors did not pay attention to him.

The sorting ceremony was still going on.

"Michael Corner!"

"Ravenclaw!"

Before Wade, a blond boy named Anthony Goldstein was sorted into Ravenclaw and was greeting everyone excitedly. Soon after, a boy with long black curly hair named Michael Corner came and sat next to Wade. Then came Padma Patil, the younger sister of a pair of Indian twin sisters. Her older sister Parvati Patil was sorted into Gryffindor.

There were not many new students in Ravenclaw; there were only about ten people, one after another. The new students observed the surroundings cautiously and excitedly, until a name suddenly rang out—

"Harry Potter!"

The entire auditorium fell silent, followed by buzzing discussions.

"Potter? Harry Potter?"

"Is that Harry Potter?"

At the Ravenclaw table, some students who were initially aloof and not paying much attention to the new students couldn't help but turn their heads and crane their necks to see the black-haired boy who walked in front of the Sorting Hat.

When he put on the hat, many people waited with bated breath. From Gryffindor to Slytherin, from the principal Dumbledore to the castle administrator Filch standing at the door, everyone was looking at the dirty hat, and the little boy with most of his face covered under it.

The voices gradually became quieter.

Finally—

"Gryffindor!"

The Sorting Hat shouted, and there were enthusiastic cheers and applause in the auditorium. Gryffindor was the loudest among them, but almost everyone in Ravenclaw also applauded—this was a treatment that others did not get when they were sorted.

"I already knew he would go to Gryffindor!" Kevin said to Roger seriously. "Of course Harry Potter would be in Gryffindor. Where else could he go?"

"Shut up, Kevin. Two months ago, you said Harry Potter was a character in a book and didn't exist at all!" Roger rolled his eyes.

As the last new student was sorted into Slytherin, Professor McGonagall left with the Sorting Hat, and Dumbledore stood up and opened his arms.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome everyone to Hogwarts to start the new school year! Before the banquet begins, I want to say a few words. That is: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you everyone!"

Upon hearing this classic opening statement, Wade applauded vigorously.

"What does he mean?" asked Michael, who was sitting next to him.

"I don't know," Wade said.

"Then why did you applaud?" Michael asked with raised eyebrows.

"Isn't such a short speech worthy of applause?" Wade asked rhetorically.

Michael thought for a while and agreed. "You are right!"

Warm applause accompanied the cheers, and in the blink of an eye, a lot of food appeared on the previously empty long tables: roast beef, lamb chops, potato chips, mashed potatoes, and more. Although there were fewer vegetables, the aroma was rich and enticing.

The students, who had been hungry for a long time, immediately started feasting. After almost everyone was full, the main course disappeared, and many desserts appeared on the long tables. The students, now with full stomachs, slowed down to taste and chat with the people around them.

The conversation among the new students naturally focused on their family backgrounds and lineage.

A boy named Stephen said, "I was born into a pure-blood family. My mother is also a Ravenclaw and my father is a Gryffindor. I have read all the school textbooks at home."

"What about you, Wade?" someone asked.

Wade said candidly, "Neither of my parents knew magic."

"Then magic must be a completely unfamiliar field to you, right?" Stephen said sympathetically. "You'll have to work harder at school."

"Well, I will try my best," Wade said with a smile.

"Although I'm a half-blood, I think it doesn't matter whether you're pure-blood or Muggle-born," Michael said next to Wade. "Just like my family. My father is a wizard, but he isn't as smart as my mother. My mother decides everything."

....

Wade Gray's last name is "G," Hermione Granger's is "Granger," and Harry Potter's last name is "P" instead of "B," so Wade was behind Hermione and in front of Harry when he was sorted.