The Last One

It was common knowledge that Hogwarts had four great Houses, each with its corresponding symbol and culture.

Noah knew all of this clearly, but when he truly walked into the great hall of Hogwarts, he was still shocked by everything before him.

Floating candles gleamed and reflected off one another in the hall, all sorts of ghosts drifted here and there, and students wearing the uniforms of the four Houses were talking quietly among themselves.

Noah was extremely familiar with all of it. It was practically identical to what he remembered, but when he himself became part of it, everything felt different again.

Under Professor McGonagall's lead, they quickly passed through the long corridor and made their way to the very front of the hall.

There were roughly two hundred forty to two hundred fifty students in the same batch as Noah, but these young wizards would soon be split among the Houses, so each House would have about fifty to sixty new students.

And the thing that would assign each of them to their future House was a filthy hat!

Noah really did not know what to say about that. Having a hat decide their future—Noah could not tell whether these wizards had something wrong with their brains.

But this was a tradition, and Noah felt he could only obey it.

Sometimes tradition was a terrifying thing, and following tradition was also a terrifying thing. Noah was not stupid enough to tell these people something like, "This tradition is bad."

I just hope this damn hat can't actually see my inner world. Otherwise, will I be treated like a monster and taken away for dissection and research?

Noah quietly complained inwardly. To be honest, he really was a little worried.

His origins were extremely difficult to explain clearly, and Noah did not want such a pain-in-the-ass thing to happen to him.

"Don't worry. This hat can't see anything. You can even decide for yourself which House you want to go to."

Just as Noah was agonizing over it, the system that frequently crashed suddenly spoke up.

"Huh? Is that so?" Noah was a little surprised, but thinking about it, this seemed like normal operation too.

After all, it was a system that could bring him to other worlds. If it did not even have this much ability, then it would be disgracing the system family!

Mm, though Noah felt it was already pretty embarrassing. That attribute panel was so crude it was ridiculous.

"Yes. Of course, you can also choose to block the memories you don't want it to see. Lastly, don't let your thoughts run wild. You and I are bound together. I know everything you think."

"..."

Noah rubbed his head. This was the first time he had discovered that his system, which was often frozen, actually had a bit of a temper.

But soon, Noah no longer had time to think too much about it, because Dumbledore had already stood up and was preparing to speak.

It was not just Noah. All the other young wizards in the same batch as him also obediently quieted down. One by one, they honestly raised their heads and looked at this white-haired old man.

Dumbledore smiled faintly, then said unhurriedly, "Hello, children. I believe Professor McGonagall has already given the welcoming speech, so I will simply say a few more important things."

Professor McGonagall had given a welcoming speech?

Noah had a face full of question marks. When he had just gotten off the train, he had still been half-asleep, so he had some gaps in his memory regarding that.

But it did not matter. Noah had come here to learn things, not to listen to welcoming speeches.

"Before the term begins, I have a few matters to state in advance."

Dumbledore continued, "First, all students are forbidden from entering the Forbidden Forest. Oh, and second, caretaker Mr. Filch asked me to remind everyone that anyone who does not want to die a very miserable death should not enter the corridor on the right side of the fourth floor. Thank you!"

The corridor on the right side of the fourth floor? Was that not the place where a three-headed dog was locked up?

Noah thought to himself. Did this count as giving information in advance?

Or was it specifically to keep those mischievous Gryffindor students from going off to explore?

Noah was not sure, but he knew that since Dumbledore had specially said this, there would probably really be someone who would go and try it.

He casually glanced around and sure enough, Noah noticed quite a few students at the Gryffindor long table whispering about something.

Even beside Noah, quite a few little ones were discussing this matter. Noah listened for a moment and then lost interest. They actually thought some treasure was being kept there.

"All right, everyone, please be quiet." At this moment, Professor McGonagall spoke. She held a roster in one hand and a hat that looked filthy in the other.

"Now, whoever I call will come up. I will place the Sorting Hat on you, and then you will be assigned to your respective Houses. Is that understood?"

Professor McGonagall looked at the new students, who said nothing at all, some of them even still immersed in their astonishment from earlier, then directly picked up the roster and began to read.

"First: Hermione Granger."

"What?"

Not far in front of Noah, a young girl suddenly cried out quietly. Then Noah noticed her force herself to stay calm as she walked up.

Noah shook his head and could not even be bothered to look at the final Sorting result. To be honest, all of this was quite similar to the movie, because in the movie, Hermione had been the first person to go up for the Sorting.

Looks like it should be Gryffindor, Noah thought silently.

Sure enough, very soon, that filthy hat shouted in a ringing voice, "Gryffindor!"

Hermione took off the hat with a smile on her face and placed it on the table, then turned and ran toward the Gryffindor long table.

At the same time, the Gryffindor long table gave this newly arrived girl warm applause. This was their welcome to their new classmate.

With Hermione starting things off, what followed became very easy.

Following Professor McGonagall's roll call, these students walked up to the platform one by one in an orderly fashion to undergo this Sorting. Just as Noah remembered, the Sorting did not seem to produce any strange incidents because of his appearance.

Basically, everyone found their own mother and returned to their own home.

For example, Ron and Harry still went to Gryffindor, while Malfoy and his two lackeys still went to Slytherin.

Harry Potter being assigned to Gryffindor still caused the students to cheer, though of course, that was limited to the Gryffindor students.

As for the professors, their reactions were actually quite calm, apart from Dumbledore, who was genuinely rather happy.

After almost an hour, it was finally Noah's turn. By this point, Noah had long since waited until his legs were going a little weak. Heaven knew why he was actually the last one!

"Bloody hell, I'm actually the last one? I've been standing for a damn hour!"