Ravenclaw

One hour really was torture, but Noah knew there was nothing to be done about it.

After all, there were simply too many people. Sorting two hundred and fifty students in an hour was already pretty efficient; if each student took even thirty seconds, it would take two whole hours!

For that, they had to thank some particularly distinctive students who were assigned by the Sorting Hat almost the instant they stepped up.

What annoyed Noah was, why did he have to be the very last one?

Did they think this was the grand finale?

He wasn't some damn celebrity, so what was this supposed to be?

"Last one, Noah Finneal." Professor McGonagall's tone was still calm, with no sign at all that she had already been reading names for more than an hour straight.

Noah sighed helplessly. Right now, this scene really did feel like all eyes were on him.

There was nothing Noah could do about it, but who had made him the last one?

He slowly walked up onto the platform, took the hat Professor McGonagall handed him, and without saying anything, placed it directly on his head.

"Mm, a newcomer, a surname I've never heard before. A tragic past, full of expectations for the future, are you? You also love brand-new, unknown knowledge very much and yearn to obtain even more knowledge. Mm, interesting. I'll have to think carefully."

Noah had originally thought he would be dismissed in just a sentence or two, then casually tossed into some house.

In the end, after Noah put on the hat, the thing actually rambled on for quite a while, then sank into thought.

This situation left Noah himself a little baffled. What was that supposed to mean, you still had to think?

Could you hurry up? Wouldn't it be over if you just gave me an answer already?

But though Noah thought that, the Sorting Hat did not oblige.

It thought carefully for a long while, and in the end, it still did not come up with any answer.

To be honest, even the Sorting Hat itself was a little puzzled. This child named Noah's thoughts really were quite strange.

Not only did he possess a thirst for knowledge, he also had a certain integrity and loyalty. Most importantly, it sensed that this boy had a measure of courage when facing danger, enough to shoulder his own obligations.

It could be said that aside from Slytherin, he was rather suited to the other three houses—because the boy subconsciously felt he could not get in.

Many people thought Slytherin only accepted descendants of pure-blood wizarding families, meaning that only wizards with the purest blood could enter Slytherin House.

In fact, this was a mistaken understanding. What Slytherin valued most when recruiting students was not bloodline, because there were actually many students in Slytherin House who were not pure-bloods. Many Slytherin students had at least one Muggle parent.

For example, the final villain BOSS of the original work, Voldemort, was himself of mixed blood.

And the current head of house, Snape, was likewise a half-blood.

Compared with bloodline, Slytherin valued ambitious young people more. Whether they wanted to become top wizards or legendary figures in the wizarding world, as long as they had lofty goals and were willing to work hard for their ambitions, then Slytherin would "take a liking" to you and recruit you to help you fulfill your wishes.

What gave the Sorting Hat a headache, however, was that this boy seemed to believe he could not enter Slytherin, and the Sorting Hat did not seem inclined to explain any of this to him.

Of course, this also did not rule out the possibility that the Sorting Hat itself did not much like Slytherin either.

The Sorting Hat found this somewhat difficult. For people with multiple traits, it usually had to choose the best one, or simply ask for their own opinion.

In the end, the Sorting Hat made a decision. It planned to ask the boy himself.

"Tell me, which house do you want to go to?"

"Huh?"

Noah looked a little dazed. What did that mean? Wasn't it supposed to be your decision? Why were you asking me?

"Isn't this something you should be telling me? Why ask me?"

"Because you possess many factors, so I've decided to ask for your personal opinion."

"All right, let me think..."

It was actually letting him choose for himself?

Noah could not help thinking it over. To be honest, he had no particular prejudice against Slytherin. In fact, not all Slytherins were Death Eaters; Noah knew that very clearly.

Unfortunately, Noah felt he had no way of entering Slytherin at all. Otherwise, Noah would not have minded properly befriending those descendants of Slytherin nobles.

With Slytherin ruled out, Noah's options narrowed a great deal. Then, excluding Gryffindor, which Noah had no desire to get mixed up with at all, only two houses remained.

"Hufflepuff students seem pretty good at food-related spells, and Ravenclaw likes clever students. Plus, it's said Ravenclaw has the most books!"

After thinking for a moment, Noah already had an answer in his heart. Ever since coming to this world, Noah's sense of security had never been very high.

He very much looked forward to becoming strong enough, at least strong enough to protect himself!

In that case, abundant knowledge was an absolute temptation. If this world's future did not have so much damn trouble in it, Noah would actually have been quite happy to enter Hufflepuff and mess around with cooking or something.

"I've decided. If possible, I hope to enter Ravenclaw."

"Very good. It seems you've already made your decision. Then—Ravenclaw!"

The Sorting Hat first spoke quietly to Noah, then when it announced Noah's final destination, it once again used its distinctive, high-pitched tone.

At this point, the entire Sorting process could be considered completely over, and Noah was welcomed by all the students of Ravenclaw House.

Noah casually found an empty seat and sat down. He was still secretly pleased with his choice, completely unaware that he seemed to have missed out on something.

"Hello, Mr. Phileas. I'm Evan Kane. I'm very glad you entered Ravenclaw too."

Just as Noah was thinking about what he should do from now on, a voice suddenly sounded beside him. He turned his head and saw a kid about the same age as him, with short blond hair, though there seemed to be rather a lot of freckles on his face.

"Hello, Evan. Nice to meet you. Just call me Noah. Looks like we'll be classmates from now on." Noah was still fairly friendly toward his future classmate.

"All right, Noah. I think this is the first time I've seen the surname Phileas. Were your parents wizards?" Evan smiled at Noah.

"I don't know. I grew up in an orphanage. It wasn't until I saw an owl standing dumbly outside my window that I found out I could actually become a wizard. What about you?"

"The school owls have always been unreliable. As for me, my father was a Ravenclaw, and so was my mother. Now I am too."

Well, so the whole family had come out of the same house. Noah found that rather interesting.

But soon they lost interest in chatting any further, because Dumbledore announced the start of the feast, which meant Noah's school life had officially begun.