A Twisted Sense of Humor

Unfortunately, most of the young witches and wizards crossing the lake by boat had no time to admire Hogwarts Castle through the curtain of rain. The icy water had them shivering uncontrollably.

"Why do first-years have to cross the lake by boat?" Albert withdrew his gaze and looked at the three others in the boat, their teeth chattering from the cold.

"No, no idea. I don't want to know, either."

"Me too. It's freezing." The twins chimed in as well. They were practically freezing to death—who had the mood to care about that?

Albert could not help shaking his head. He knew a little about the boat-crossing ritual. It was meant to have new students arriving at Hogwarts follow the route the four founders had taken when they first came to Hogwarts Castle. The boats carried four people each to represent those four founders. It was something like a rite of inheritance, allowing students to feel the founders' excitement and joy while remembering the hardships they had endured in founding the school.

But by now, how many people truly understood that?

Even Hagrid, who was guiding them across the lake, probably did not know.

Still, few students cared about such things anymore.

"Careful, heads down!" Hagrid shouted.

The new students hurriedly ducked.

The little boats carried them beneath the cliff and toward the boathouse beneath the castle.

"This is awful. I hate rain." One of the twins hugged his shoulders and sneezed.

Everyone was soaked through, trembling like leaves.

"How did you do that?" Lee Jordan asked in surprise. He had noticed that the rain had not soaked Albert's robes or pointed hat.

"A simple spell." Albert noticed the others looking at him and explained softly.

"All right, everyone, follow me." Carrying a lantern, Hagrid led the new students up a narrow gravel path to the lawn below the castle. A flight of stone steps stood before them, leading to the castle's oak doors.

A witch in emerald-green robes stood before the oak doors. Albert recognized her. She was Professor McGonagall, who had once visited Albert's home.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take the new students from here." Professor McGonagall looked over the bedraggled new students, and Albert thought he saw the corner of her mouth twitch.

That was hardly surprising. "Bedraggled" was no longer enough to describe them. Nearly everyone looked like a drowned rat, with mud clinging to their clothes.

"First-years, all of you, follow me."

Professor McGonagall led the new students into the castle. Albert followed at the back of the group, looking around at the thousand-year-old castle.

"That's Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor. Percy said she's very strict," George whispered.

"Oh, I've met her once. My sister loved the trick where Professor McGonagall turned a teacup into a mouse." Albert's attention was on the stone walls. He had been wondering whether the blazing torches were fueled by eternal fire.

He had heard there was some kind of faerie fire that could burn forever. That would fit what he was seeing.

"Come on. What are you looking at?" Fred gave Albert a light shove and urged him on in a low voice.

"I'm wondering what kind of magical fire that is. It probably isn't ordinary flame." There was no smoke, which meant it was not normal fire.

Fred opened his mouth, but for a moment, he had no idea what to say.

Albert decided he would figure it out later. This castle held many secrets worth exploring.

The moment Albert entertained the thought of exploring the castle, a quest suddenly appeared on his panel:

A Millennium-Old School: Hogwarts

Hogwarts is an ancient and mysterious school of magic that has stood for a thousand years. Countless unknown secrets are hidden within this old castle. As a curious explorer of secrets, you should not let such an opportunity pass. Explore Hogwarts Castle before graduation and uncover its hidden secrets.

Current Progress: 1%.

Reward: 1,000–100,000 experience points, 1–10 skill points.

Holy shit! Albert could not help swearing inwardly. This was absolutely mind-blowing.

This was definitely the most badass quest he had ever seen.

Is this trying to turn me into some kind of nighttime prowling maniac?

It seemed mastering the Disillusionment Charm had to be moved up the agenda. Albert began considering how to get hold of the spell.

Professor McGonagall led the new students into the room where they would wait for the sorting. The space was not large, and everyone was crammed together.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall began with the customary opening speech. "The start-of-term feast is about to begin, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you must first be sorted into your respective Houses..."

It was like the speeches from leaders in his previous life: I'll just say a few words, and then they would ramble on for more than half an hour. Professor McGonagall was not quite that excessive, but she still spoke for over ten minutes.

Albert summarized Professor McGonagall's lengthy speech into three simple points: accommodations, sorting, and the House Cup.

After finishing the customary Hogwarts introduction, Professor McGonagall had all the new students line up so she could remove the water and mud from them.

As the school's deputy headmistress, Professor McGonagall absolutely could not tolerate letting the new students enter the Great Hall looking like this. Their disheveled appearance would disgrace Hogwarts.

The new students jostled in the line, hoping to dry their clothes as quickly as possible. The damp cold made them miserable.

"Are they packing sardines?" Albert watched the new students with interest, stepping back and voluntarily remaining at the end of the line. The rain had not affected him much.

Professor McGonagall worked quickly, skillfully using the Scouring Charm and the Drying Charm. It took only a few minutes before Albert's turn came.

She gave Albert an extra, slightly surprised look, then cast the spells on him as well. His clothes immediately became dry and warm, while the mud splashed onto his boots and trousers vanished.

"Now, please remain quiet," Professor McGonagall said loudly. "When they're ready in there, I'll come and fetch you."

After Professor McGonagall left the room, everyone began whispering about the sorting.

"How are we going to be sorted?"

"How can they accurately place everyone into the right House?"

"Maybe we'll have to undergo some kind of test."

At the mention of a test, everyone grew nervous.

Watching this, Albert suddenly wanted to laugh. He was beginning to understand why no one was willing to tell the new students how the sorting worked.

They really were a bunch with a twisted sense of humor!

"You're not nervous at all? I'm Elia Spinnet." A girl came over to speak with him. Earlier, Albert had given her a hand.

Of course, she had probably approached him because of how calm he was. No matter how one looked at it, he seemed like someone who knew the secret of the sorting.

In fact, she had guessed correctly.

"As long as I don't end up in Slytherin, I can accept anything." Albert shrugged. He had no intention of revealing the sorting ceremony. Watching the anxious expressions on the new students' faces was actually rather amusing.

Well, Albert admitted that he did have a bit of a twisted sense of humor.