“Oh, Ravenclaw?”
Daniilova paused slightly, the words of Ravenclaw House's founder from "Hogwarts, A History" flashing through her mind: "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure."
If she had to choose one of the four houses, Ravenclaw would undoubtedly be her first choice.
"Whew..."
Daniilova exhaled in relief, walking down the steps with a light step.
At the second table to her right, the Ravenclaw students were applauding and cheering for her, welcoming her to join their table.
Not a single student distanced or rejected Daniilova because of her nationality. When she joined the ranks of Ravenclaw, several older students even excitedly stood up, eager to speak with her.
Foreign students were quite rare at Hogwarts.
"Hoffa Haugh!"
"RAVENCLAW!" the hat shouted again.
A boy with short black hair quickly took off the hat and ran to the Ravenclaw table. After hesitating for a few seconds, he sat down a little nervously next to Roger Davies and his group of boys.
"Harper Powell!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
A cheer erupted from the Slytherin table, welcoming the newcomer.
On the other side, Gryffindor seemed to be competing with Slytherin. Whenever a new student joined, the cheers from their tables would be even louder than the last, like two playful raccoon dogs bickering.
Daniilova didn't know much about the rivalry between the Hogwarts houses.
Compared to the new students in the other three houses, she focused more on those who, like her, were joining Ravenclaw. If all went well, they would be the peers she spent the most time with over the next seven years.
And if all went well, these people would also be her formidable rivals in future studies and exams.
"Kira-bi Carroll!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
This was a small, shy-looking girl who seemed a bit confused while descending the stairs. She ran over with the hat on, and after some good-natured laughter, she scurried back to return the hat to Professor McGonagall.
Her sister, Serafina Carroll, was sorted into Gryffindor.
Next, two more boys were sorted into Ravenclaw.
Verne Kaemond, a sunny boy with hair as bright as the sun and azure eyes, his face was determined but not rigid, and his physique was much stronger than most of his peers, like a squire from a medieval painting.
Although Allen Harris, who joined the Ravenclaw table immediately after him, also had a head of bright blond hair, his temperament was completely different from Verne's.
Allen's soft, light-gold hair lay obediently against his scalp, and he looked elegant and refreshed, like one of those top students from wealthy European families who attend private schools.
Naturally, as soon as these two boys joined the Ravenclaw table, before they could even settle down, Roger Davies, who had been watching them eagerly, "grabbed" them to the side away from the girls.
As the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, Roger was desperate for fresh blood to join the team. Last year, they had been at the bottom of the four houses, five teams.
Daniilova noticed that sometimes the hat would immediately shout out the house name, but other times it would take some time to make a decision.
And whether it was just her imagination, most of the young witches and wizards who sat on the stool for more than half a minute were ultimately sorted into either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw.
Just then, Professor McGonagall's gaze swept across the parchment, and she paused.
The Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts looked up at the young witches and wizards standing before her, pursed her lips, and her serious expression seemed to soften a little. She gave a very rare, slight smile, and softly read the name.
"Irina Ivanovich!"
Professor McGonagall's pause was not obvious, and the students did not notice this small change.
However, as Professor McGonagall read out the name, the conversations at the Hogwarts staff table almost simultaneously stopped. Everyone, including Professor Dumbledore, turned to look at the girl with varying expressions.
Irina Ivanovich—Daniilova looked nervously at the small girl.
If there were any peers in the first year who would bring insurmountable pressure to Daniilova, Irina Ivanovich would definitely be the one at the top. Daniilova had almost never seen a smile on Irina's face.
To be precise, a genuine smile, not the elegant, standard smile that she gave to everyone.
……
In the center of the Great Hall, near the Sorting Hat.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, Miss Ivanovich,"
Minerva McGonagall said softly, looking at the young witch in front of her.
"If you are a little confused, I suggest you consider Gryffindor. Decades ago, I had a discussion with Mr. Ivanovich at an international Transfiguration seminar, and I believe he was a great and upright wizard."
Unlike the other child from the Russian Muggle world, Irina's situation was undoubtedly more special.
Earlier, Minerva McGonagall had heard the story of the Ivanovich family from Dumbledore.
As the "granddaughter of Ivanovich" and a descendant of the "Wizard's Bane," if it weren't for the combined pressure from Albus Dumbledore and Newt Scamander, Irina might never have been able to attend a magic school.
However... all they could do was just that.
Whether it was Newt Scamander or Albus Dumbledore, their influence was mostly limited to the European and British wizarding world.
They were simply unable to cross the English Channel to influence the Russian Ministry of Magic, Koldovstoretz, or even the tacit consent of the International Confederation of Wizards.
And for McGonagall, there was even less she could do.
Trying to take care of her as much as possible was all that Minerva McGonagall could do.
"...Thank you, Professor McGonagall."
Irina Ivanovich straightened her back and politely shook her head slightly.
"But—sorry, I already have a house I want to go to..."
The girl pursed her lips into a line, solemnly picked up the Sorting Hat, and put it on.
In the moment that the large brim slid down and obscured her vision, Irina Ivanovich suddenly recalled what Aeliana had whispered in her ear last night while she was standing on the bridge of the Hyperion.
"Those who carry firewood for the masses freeze to death in the wind and snow; those who pave the way for the world are trapped in thorns... This world should not be like this!"
"Miss Ivanovich, if you just want to spend a wonderful and carefree time at school, then Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, or even Ravenclaw would be a good choice for you."
"But..."
"If you plan to change the world with me, to take back the honors that your grandfather deserves, then..."
In the dark world, Irina gripped the edge of the stool tightly.
"Slytherin?" a faint voice asked.
"Are you really sure? You are a brave child, and your heart is not bad. As for talent, it is rare even in Hogwarts... Although Slytherin will help you reach glory, it is destined to be a lonely, cold road. Is it—for the greater good, no matter the cost? Well... since you insist... then of course, SLYTHERIN!"
Irina heard the hat shout that name to the entire hall.
She took off the hat, heaved a sigh of relief, and walked towards the Slytherin table with trembling legs.
Aeliana Kaslana's first test, she passed it. The Hogwarts Sorting Hat verified her determination. She successfully entered Slytherin, the house with the most pure-blood wizarding families, and also the most stubborn minds.
Next, there was only one task left—to completely conquer this place... and then, change the world!
But before that...
Amidst the applause and cheers from the Slytherin students, Irina elegantly and appropriately returned their smiles, while casting her gaze at the little witch who looked a little dazed. At least she couldn't lose to the other "Na" who was the same age as her.
However...
Irina didn't realize that while she was watching Luna, Daniilova was also secretly observing her.
……
At this time, there were not many people left.
When Professor McGonagall called out the name Luna Lovegood, a low murmur rippled through the hall, like the hissing of small flames. Luna's popularity and fame were clearly several levels higher than the other first-years.
Not to mention that as Hogwarts' "favorite" last year, Lvo's Luna had reduced the difficulty of the end-of-year "dungeon" for many students.
In addition, her family also ran a series of the most popular top-tier publications in the wizarding world, such as "The Quibbler," "A Bite of Hogwarts," and "Exploring Magic."
You should know that whether you want to run for prefect, president of the student council, or find a good job in the wizarding world, you usually need to have published one or two articles.
More importantly, Luna still had a huge bonus of points from the last school year.
As for Luna Lovegood's house affiliation, there was no doubt...
"RAVENCLAW!"
The Sorting Hat barely touched Luna's hair before shouting out loudly.
Immediately, the loudest cheers and applause since that evening erupted in the hall. Daniilova clearly heard the older Ravenclaw students around her collectively sigh in relief, followed by deafening cheers and screams.
In the past academic year, Ravenclaw had been having a very hard time—
Their house points were at the bottom of the school, the Quidditch team was on the verge of disbanding, they had to spend at least two or three days a month in the corridors, the hot dishes on the table were always the least, the lower-year freshmen were lacking, and the grades of all years were completely suppressed...
As the Sorting Hat's voice fell...
At the same time, a series of clear, tinkling sounds suddenly came from the house-point hourglasses outside the Great Hall.
In the flickering firelight, sapphires fell like raindrops, striking the bottom of the Ravenclaw hourglass and creating a delightful and wonderful sound.
The stomping and cheering of the Ravenclaw students became even more deafening, and the cheers almost lifted the enchanted ceiling. The magical candles above their heads seemed to tremble slightly from the sound waves.
"Quiet! Quiet down! The Sorting is not over yet!"
Professor McGonagall had to draw her wand and cast a spell to make her voice sound like thunder, in order to drown out the Ravenclaw students, especially the deafening cheers and stomping of the girls.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I suggest you save the celebrations for the common room tonight... otherwise, I may have to consider removing some of your points from the house hourglass ahead of time—perhaps, all of them?"
Accompanied by Professor McGonagall's cold voice, the enthusiastic atmosphere in the hall seemed to be put on pause, and the sound was instantly sucked away, becoming quiet all of a sudden, with only the cheerful air dancing on the long table.
Of course, to be more precise, it was the atmosphere around the Ravenclaw table.
Human wizards don't share the same joys and sorrows. The little wizards of the other three houses just thought they were noisy.
There were only four wizards left waiting to be sorted.
And Ravenclaw's luck was clearly far from over.
Except for Ginny Weasley, who unsurprisingly became a Gryffindor student, the remaining three little wizards: Evan Mason, Alex Stock, and Zoe Siegel, were all sorted into Ravenclaw by the Sorting Hat.
"Excellent, wonderful, fantastic!"
Professor Flitwick clapped excitedly, wiping the corner of his eye.
Since Aeliana entered school, he had even mentally prepared himself to be an also-ran in the House Cup for seven consecutive years. However, the potential shown by this year's Ravenclaw freshmen made Flitwick see hope again.
As the reserved Head of Ravenclaw, he would not participate in the competition for a problem student like McGonagall, Snape, and Sprout, just for the sake of the House Cup.
On the one hand, it was because of Ravenclaw's traditional arrogance, and on the other hand, it was mainly because... Aeliana didn't give Ravenclaw a chance to poach her!
Even the friendliness in Charms class was limited to Flitwick and Aeliana.
Alas, what a pity...
Professor Flitwick glanced with a little regret at the silver-haired witch who was talking to Professor McGonagall in front of him.
If Luna Lovegood had officially enrolled last year, with this little white fluffball's level of being lost, she might have wandered into Ravenclaw.
On the other side, since Luna Lovegood's enrollment was already the last batch on the list.
Even though there was a brief commotion in between, the Sorting Ceremony didn't last long.
As the cry of Ginny Weasley being sorted into Gryffindor rang out, Professor McGonagall finally stopped reading names and slowly put away the large roll of parchment. According to the usual procedure, the next step was the feast.
"It's time..."
Ron Weasley said, grabbing his knife and fork, staring eagerly at the golden plate in front of him.
It wasn't that Mrs. Weasley's cooking had deteriorated, but the food made in the Hogwarts kitchen was too delicious. Heaven knows how much he had missed the delicacies in the Great Hall of Hogwarts in the past two months.
In fact, it wasn't just Ron.
As the last freshman entered the long table, almost all the children subconsciously grabbed their knives and forks, either smiling foolishly at the empty plate in front of them, or pitifully looking at Dumbledore, who was sitting in the center of the staff table, waiting for the meal to begin.
To everyone's anticipation, Professor Dumbledore stood up.
He looked at the students with a smile, opened his arms, and made a welcoming gesture. It seemed that nothing could make him happier than seeing the Great Hall of Hogwarts filled with students again. The old man took a deep breath, and his rich voice echoed in the hall.
"Welcome! Welcome everyone..."
"Ahem! I am very sorry, Headmaster Dumbledore."
Unprecedentedly, Professor McGonagall suddenly cleared her throat, interrupting Dumbledore's voice.
"This year's Sorting Ceremony is over, but there is still one person from last year's Sorting Ceremony who has not worn the hat. I think, whether from tradition or from the system, we should take this opportunity to make up for this step."
Professor McGonagall pursed her lips and glanced at Aeliana meaningfully.
"You agree, Miss Aeliana Kaslana—"
"Minerva! Oh no, Professor McGonagall! Your statement may not be correct!"
Pomona Sprout, who was smiling and chatting with Madam Pomfrey, changed her face and frowned heavily. Her tone was gentle but contained a trace of resoluteness, and she said calmly.
"Undoubtedly, Miss Kaslana is a student of Hufflepuff House. This was admitted by the Sorting Hat himself. As far as I know, in the history of Hogwarts, there has never been a ridiculous precedent of a student being sorted twice."
"But..."
Just then, a slow voice suddenly floated out.
Severus Snape stroked his chin, carefully looked at Aeliana, and then casually glanced at Irina Ivanovich, who was sitting at the Slytherin table. He said softly, as if lost in thought.
"If I remember correctly, Miss Kaslana has indeed never worn the Sorting Hat. The judgment about her being sorted into Hufflepuff seems to have no basis—wearing the hat and listening to the sorting, that is the tradition of Hogwarts."
"Professor Snape? Huff... okay, very good... I understand..."
Professor Pomona Sprout's face stiffened, and she glared fiercely at the Head of Slytherin, who was sitting to the right of Dumbledore.
Now she finally understood why Gryffindor and Slytherin had broken the rules to award Aeliana special prefect badges, and had joined forces in a rare display of cooperation—they wanted to fight for the ownership of Aeliana's year-end scores.
Or rather, the ownership of this year's Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry House Cup.
"Filius, what do you think? From an objective point of view..."
Professor Sprout took a deep breath, tried to suppress the displeasure in her heart, and turned to look at Professor Flitwick.
Since the beginning of the last semester, she had known that Gryffindor and Slytherin had been coveting the cabbage in her garden. Fortunately, not all college professors lacked a bottom line like that. At least Ravenclaw had always been on her side.
According to Hogwarts' tacit understanding, if there was a tie vote on something, the usual practice was to keep the status quo unchanged—unless there were special circumstances, Albus Dumbledore would not actively come out to favor one side.
"Um? In my opinion, Aeliana Kaslana is of course a student of Hufflepuff House..."
Filius Flitwick was stunned for a moment, then answered without hesitation.
Huff... fortunately, Ravenclaw was as trustworthy as ever.
However, before Professor Sprout's smile could appear, the small, unassuming Head of Ravenclaw paused for a few seconds, then cleared his throat and added seriously.
"Because of this, I think it doesn't matter if Miss Kaslana completes the sorting process—the right to decide on sorting in Hogwarts does not belong to us, nor to the students, but to the Sorting Hat, which is infused with the wisdom of the four founders."
"Filius, you!"
"Three to one, the result is obvious..."
Professor McGonagall had a victorious smile on her face, and looked down at Aeliana.
"Then, Miss Kaslana, hurry up—the students of the whole school have been waiting for a long time. It's better for us to complete this ceremony as soon as possible. Didn't you say before that you would set an example as a prefect and abide by the school rules?"
"This..."
Aeliana's mouth twitched, and she swallowed.
This was completely different from what she had thought before. In the earliest version, the script she had discussed with Professor McGonagall should have been to mix in with the sorting of the freshmen, pretend to be a habitual accident, symbolically wear the hat, and get away with it.
Instead of... delivering a pledge of allegiance in such a clear and public manner!
Aeliana glanced at Professor Sprout not far away, and rubbed the broken hat with a headache—if she had known this would happen today, she wouldn't have threatened the hat in the first place.
Undoubtedly, the elderly catwoman's behavior today was a carefully planned act of revenge.
If that's the case, then...
Aeliana sighed and put the Sorting Hat on her head with a determined expression.
"Hey, hat... let's cooperate, otherwise..."
As the girl thought this, the faces of Gellert Grindelwald, Newt Scamander, members of the SCP Foundation, scenes from the gatherings of the Saints, and the Hyperion testing weapons in the distant sea, the thousands of years of war reserves of Gringotts goblins, and the mushroom clouds rising from the ground successively flashed in her mind...
The Sorting Hat was silent for at least dozens of seconds, with a trace of tremor in those familiar faint voices.
"...Your Majesty, everything is according to your will."
Sure enough, knowledge is the most valuable wealth of mankind.
The facts proved that a hat may not understand mathematics, but it must understand art.
Aeliana nodded with a slight smile of satisfaction.
"Very good, then, say the names of the four Hogwarts houses in turn, and then... loop infinitely!"
"This..." The Sorting Hat twisted its body with a frown.
"Start quickly! Until Professor McGonagall takes you off my head—"
"Alas..."
The Sorting Hat sighed unwillingly. In order to protect Hogwarts, it decided to abandon its dignity...
Then, under everyone's gaze, the Sorting Hat shouted, as if giving up all hope.
"Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff..."
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Super chapter! ps: All the extras are easter eggs! Learned little wizards can guess what they are~