Sorting, Azkaban~

At the open end of the Great Hall's four long tables, all packed with students, stood a high-backed chair with a very old, tattered, wrinkled pointed wizard's hat resting on it.

Farther away, at the end of the Great Hall, the professors' table was arranged in an arc. In the middle sat Dumbledore, dressed in white robes with a white beard.

Even seated, he was much taller than the others. His snowy beard hung all the way below the table. He looked very old, but seemed to be in good spirits.

Ted swept his gaze over the professors' table. Snape was there, his hair greasy and his face gloomy even on such a happy occasion. Flitwick, the goblin half-blood seated on a specially raised stool, was there too... And Quirrell was there as well, his head wrapped up like an Indian.

Good, good. At least the main plot of first year hadn't changed.

If Quirrell had disappeared, or if his head wasn't wrapped up, Ted really wouldn't have known how things were developing.

If he couldn't even get his bearings from the start, that would truly be a hellish opening.

Professor McGonagall held a piece of Parchment and called out, "When I call your name, sit on the chair and put the hat on your head..."

The Sorting Hat on the high-backed stool wriggled. The wrinkles upon it turned into eyes and a mouth, and then it began to sing: "This is a legend spanning a thousand years, telling of four strong-willed and wise witches and wizards.

"Brave Gryffindor came from desolate marshes. Beautiful Ravenclaw came from tranquil lakes.

"Kind Hufflepuff came from vast valleys. Shrewd Slytherin came from that muddy swamp.

"They vowed to impart all they had learned in their lifetimes. Witches and wizards came from afar, making their grand wish ever greater, until this castle rose upon the shores of the Black Lake..."

Naturally, the Little Wizards stared wide-eyed. It was their first time seeing a hat that could sing.

Ted gave a token round of applause. Not bad. Don't sing again next time.

Professor McGonagall had clearly heard it enough times already and immediately began calling names. "Hannah Abbott?"

"Yes." Iron-Hat King answered and hurried forward. Nervously, she plopped the Sorting Hat onto her head. Her little head could barely support it; it even covered her eyes.

"Hufflepuff~" After perhaps four or five seconds, the Sorting Hat loudly assigned her to Hufflepuff.

The Hufflepuff students applauded to welcome her. She even waved at Ted some distance away. They had met before through an introduction from her grandfather, Old Tom.

The protagonist might change, but Hannah remained constant. After that, things proceeded naturally. There was Ron's first-kiss thief, Lavender Brown, and Demolition Genius Seamus...

Seamus Finnigan, known as Demolition Genius Seamus, not only had a knack for blowing up Cauldrons, but also got Dumbledore's Army surrounded and wiped out by Umbridge on the very first night he joined—the incident later known as the Moxie Bombing Incident.

Some students were sorted quickly, while others took a minute or two before a result was reached.

Ted felt a faint flicker of unease. The Sorting Hat definitely possessed some degree of Legilimency—or at least the ability to assess a wizard's personality.

Although Ted, as a Mind Mage, had taken good precautions regarding his mind, he had never been tested before, so he wasn't entirely confident.

He worried that a mistake might lead to something serious.

Many years later, a legend would circulate: Child, when you enroll, your sorting shall echo throughout all of Hogwarts—Azkaban! But Ted had no time to indulge in such fantasies, because Epiphany began with E, placing him fairly early in the list.

Very soon, Professor McGonagall called his name. "Ted Epiphany~"

She glanced at Ted. Clearly, she had a deep impression of this student. She had even mailed him her old Transfiguration Class textbooks.

Ted nodded to Professor McGonagall, put on the hat, and sat down.

As a Mind Mage, he had an extremely profound understanding of matters of the mind, as well as unique ways of dealing with them.

Abilities that probed a target's thoughts could generally only detect their current emotions or ideas. They could not extract memories, unless they used exceptionally violent methods.

So all Ted had to do was begin recalling the various books he had read. Data surged through his mind at nearly 1 MB per second, and he could flip through an entire book in ten seconds.

If the Sorting Hat could still detect his emotions or thoughts under those circumstances, then it would truly be a divine artifact! "Hmm..." The Sorting Hat hesitated. What the hell is that noise?

For the first time, it felt a headache. Was it about to grow a brain? Thirty seconds passed without it saying anything.

Ted decided to break the stalemate by taking the initiative. He asked quietly, "Is there a problem, Mr. Hat?"

"Hmm~ It is difficult to decide. It seems some kind of power has been constantly affecting my ability to see you clearly..."

Conceal Thoughts combined with Mental Resistance Lv. 2 was indeed useful. Methods like Legilimency, mind reading, and Veritaserum would all be disrupted.

Combined with Ted's utterly unsporting "thought-stream attack," ambushing this thousand-year-old hat, it truly had no idea what was going on.

After several dozen more seconds, the Sorting Hat finally spoke.

"Shrewd, pursuing power, disdainful of law and authority—you would suit Slytherin..."

Ted: Huh?

"Intelligent, pursuing knowledge, skilled at dealing with every problem you encounter—you would suit Ravenclaw..."

Ted: Hmm?

"Brave, yearning for the unknown, bold and full of courage—you would suit Gryffindor..."

Ted: What?

"Diligent, content with an ordinary life, possessing a rare heart full of universal love and tolerance—you would suit Hufflepuff... What should I do?"

Ted: You're just blindly guessing, aren't you?

Ted seriously suspected that it couldn't see through him clearly, so it said all four Houses would work. It was like fortune-telling, just spewing vague nonsense in circles!

Knowing that his method was working, Ted calmed down.

He felt that this was a rare opportunity and quietly asked, "Mr. Hat, may I ask how old you are?"

"Ho ho, I'm already over nine hundred years old!"

"Oh! Magic that can endure for a thousand years is already worthy of being called great." Ted exclaimed with a "shocked" expression.

"Oh ho ho ho ho, you flatter me, you flatter me. Not that great, not that great." The Sorting Hat was quite pleased by the praise.

At that moment, Professor McGonagall coughed lightly beside them a few times. The Sorting Hat came to its senses. "Ahem, we need to continue sorting."

"You're not going to sort me into Azkaban, are you?" Ted asked.

"Haha, you're quite humorous. I like you." The Sorting Hat laughed at the joke.

That was good! Ted breathed a sigh of relief. "I think I can accept anything as long as it isn't Slytherin."

"Are you sure? You should be able to accomplish great things there."

"Of course. As you said, I'm content with an ordinary life. I've never thought about accomplishing anything great. Besides, do you really think a yellow-skinned Little Wizard from a Muggle orphanage would fit in at Slytherin?"

"Very well, since you insist—RAVENCLAW!!!" the Sorting Hat shouted at the top of its lungs! After more than four minutes of hesitation, it sorted Ted into Ravenclaw.

The Little Wizards below and the professors above had all grown impatient from waiting.

Professor McGonagall looked once more at Ted as he took off the hat and even bowed to it—when she had been sorted, it had taken five minutes before she was placed in Gryffindor.

To be honest, she was somewhat disappointed that Ted had not been sorted into Gryffindor. She rather admired this independent, self-reliant little fellow.

Of course, Ted wasn't disappointed at all. After all, if he ended up in Professor McGonagall's hands, he was afraid he wouldn't have any good juice to drink~ Ted waved to Hermione, Harriett, and the others before taking a seat at the Ravenclaw table.

A group of students nodded to him or welcomed him.

Among the crowd, Ron quietly said to Neville and Jerry, "What a pity. Ted didn't get sorted into Gryffindor!"

Jerry quietly replied, "That doesn't affect us being friends, does it?"

Neville said, "Right." These five companions were his first friends. Different Houses would not affect their relationship.

Hermione looked toward Ted, feeling somewhat anxious.

Once seated, Ted began to think.

Ravenclaw! Being a scholar or magical researcher wasn't bad either.

"Ravenclaw" literally translated as "Raven's Claw." The hidden meaning in its name was "a greedy plunderer," referring to a thirst for knowledge.

Ravenclaw's House motto: "We come from the lakeside. We are wise and learned. We love research. We are unlike ordinary people. We look far ahead. We are Ravenclaw."

"We are scholars clad in black who see through darkness. We are Ravens that soar through the skies yet never forget to gaze upon the land."

"Thank ancient Ravenclaw for granting me eyes that see through all things and a quick mind."

However, Ravenclaw did not have much presence in the original work.

For Ravenclaw herself, perhaps the most frustrating part was that whenever the original work mentioned an outstanding student, not a single one attended her House.

The Golden Trio, McGonagall, and Dumbledore came from Gryffindor. Snape and Voldemort came from Slytherin. If Grindelwald had attended Hogwarts, he would one hundred and ten percent have been sorted into Slytherin. And Cedric Diggory, the legitimate Triwizard Tournament champion, was a Hufflepuff.

Capital-letter awkward! Still, there was nothing wrong with Ravenclaw. As the saying went: Think long and seek knowledge; knowledge grows complex and thoughts thirst—Ravenclaw, be not trapped by it... Uh, forget it! Forget it!

A "ding~" woke Ted from his thoughts.

Quest Magical World! (Blue) completed. Reward: 500 experience, Magic Power +Lv. 1, random card.

Ted clenched his fist and resisted the urge to draw the card on the spot. It would be bad if it caused some kind of strange phenomenon.

Bear with it. Wait until tonight, when no one was around.

This was agonizing! Just then, Professor McGonagall called Hermione's name.

The little girl hurried over at a trot and placed the hat on her head. Hermione was sorted into...

Joke:

Harry walked forward and sat on the high-backed stool. Professor McGonagall placed the enormous Sorting Hat on his head.

"Hmm, very brave, very wise. I think you're suited for materials science." The Sorting Hat's voice appeared in Harry's mind.

Not biochemistry, chemical engineering, environmental engineering, or materials science! Not biochemistry, chemical engineering, environmental engineering, or materials science... Harry silently chanted in his heart.

"Not biochemistry, chemical engineering, environmental engineering, or materials science? You could clearly achieve great things there... Since your mind is made up, then—Civil Engineering School!"

Upon hearing this, Harry stared blankly, then collapsed onto the floor as though his soul had been sucked out.

Next came:

"Harry Potter and the Concrete Stone"

"Harry Potter and the Project Manager's Office"

"Harry Potter and the Tower Crane Worker"

"Harry Potter and the Baijiu Cup"

"Harry Potter and the Supervision Department"

"Harry Potter and the Bathhouse Prince"

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Red Bucket"

Thanks to reader "Star Power Something Something" for the 100 reward!