The Long Sorting Ceremony

A rosy-cheeked little girl with two golden braids stumbled out of the line and put on the hat, which fell over her eyes. She sat down.

Sean could not help taking a few extra looks at her, wondering whether some part of her body gleamed with a metallic sheen.

"Hufflepuff!" the Sorting Hat shouted.

Cheers immediately erupted from the long table on the right.

"Terry Boot."

"Ravenclaw!"

Warm applause rose from the second long table on the left. Sean spotted Ollivander's silver-haired granddaughter there. Her expression did not change in the slightest, and she showed no intention of clapping.

As more and more new students were assigned to their houses, Hermione beside him grew increasingly nervous.

When Professor McGonagall called her name, the girl glanced at him before hurrying over to the four-legged stool. She put on the hat and sat down.

The Sorting Hat did not speak for nearly a minute, even longer than it had taken for the light-brown-haired boy, Seamus Finnigan.

At last, the Sorting Hat split into a wide grin. "Ravenclaw!"

Hermione took off the hat with a sigh of relief, then exchanged greetings with the Ravenclaw students who had stood to welcome her.

Sean looked curious. Was this another new change?

Over the next while, Harry and Neville were both assigned to Gryffindor as they had hoped. Malfoy, who had worn an unhappy expression, finally smiled in satisfaction when the Sorting Hat swiftly called out, "Slytherin!"

When only a few students remained, Professor McGonagall finally called Sean's name.

He put on the Sorting Hat and sat down.

Mm, it really does smell awful... The Sorting Hat did not offer him any surprises.

Yet Sean could not tell whether it was just an illusion or whether a great deal of time had truly passed. The Sorting Hat on his head did not make a sound.

Just as Sean began to wonder, a faint voice finally sounded in his ear.

"A—"

Sean:?!

"A—A—what a difficult choice."

Sean rolled both eyes beneath the brim of the hat.

Could you please stop pausing so dramatically? I almost thought I was about to be sorted into Azkaban.

The hat seemed not to hear his thoughts. It said with some vexation, "You're very talented, in every aspect. And I can tell that you're a proud person. Very proud."

"As part of Hogwarts, it is rather inappropriate for me to say this, but you seem better suited to another School of Magic..."

Sean's mouth twitched.

"But since you have already come to Hogwarts, it seems Slytherin is still the best fit for you..."

Sean immediately shouted in his heart, I'm not going to Slytherin.

"Why?" The hat had heard his thoughts and sounded surprised.

"You've just sorted so many students into Slytherin. Don't you know what sort they are?"

The Sorting Hat choked for a moment, but it still patiently persuaded him. "Slytherin can help you win glory."

"I said I'm not going. Hurry up, any of the other three will do. You stink too badly," Sean said disdainfully.

The Sorting Hat fell silent for a moment, then said in angry embarrassment, "What can I do? I haven't been washed in over a thousand years. I'm just a hat!"

"You're a magical hat, all right? Where's the professional integrity of the Sorting Hat? And smelling this bad seriously affects the user experience."

"That isn't within my authority. I have only one task: assigning houses!"

Sean did not notice that while he and the hat bickered, whispers had already begun to spread through the Great Hall.

Hermione glanced worriedly at the boy who still sat there, then quietly asked an older student beside her, "It's been nearly ten minutes. Is this normal?"

The older student shook his head. "At least, I've never seen the Sorting Hat spend this long on one student. Think about it—if every student took this long, the feast would turn into tomorrow's breakfast."

Beside the four-legged stool, Professor McGonagall subtly turned her head and exchanged a glance with Dumbledore at the head table.

The wise old man wore a calm smile, signaling that there was no need to worry.

Sean was still bickering with the Sorting Hat.

"Ha! Later, I'm definitely telling the Headmaster that the Sorting Hat wanted to sort me into Newmontgard!"

The hat raised its voice, sounding anxious. "Y-you, how can you slander a hat's innocence out of thin air?"

"You said it yourself. You also said that life in Newmontgard must be pleasant, since you wouldn't need to spend time making up songs every year."

"That's because they don't need sorting over there!"

"Ha, exposed! How do you know that? Are you planning to defect from Hogwarts?"

"What do you know? It's because my duplicate is in Newmontgard, and we can share—damn it!" Halfway through speaking, the Sorting Hat immediately shut its mouth.

Sean's mouth fell open. They had only been arguing, yet he seemed to have learned some huge secret...

The Sorting Hat gave a few dry laughs and whispered, "C-can you not tell anyone?"

"I'll consider it." Sean narrowed his eyes.

"All right, all right... If you can enter the Headmaster's Office, I'll tell you one of the castle's secrets. But you can't tell anyone about what happened today!"

"Fine. Oh, right, I get to choose my house now, don't I?" A castle secret was already an unexpected gain. Sean did not demand any more secrets; he knew when to stop.

"Why can't I control this mouth of mine..." The Sorting Hat sounded dejected. "Go on, where do you want to go? I'll listen to you."

Sean thought for a moment. "Ravenclaw."

"Ravenclaw!" the Sorting Hat immediately shouted, as though it wanted him to get down as quickly as possible.

"Hm?" Sean took off the hat and only then realized that every student in the Great Hall was staring at him strangely. It was not until he walked toward the long table that Ravenclaw finally broke into applause.

Sean crossed the distance in just a few steps and sat beside Hermione, only to discover that not just Hermione, but all the other little eagles wore strange expressions.

"Did something happen?" he asked quietly in confusion.

"Didn't you feel it yourself? The students in the Great Hall have been talking about it for ages. The red-haired twins in Gryffindor even secretly played a round of Wizarding Cards!"

"Huh?"

"You had the Sorting Hat on for nearly thirty minutes!" Hermione said.

Thirty minutes?! Sean frowned. He had indeed argued with the Sorting Hat for a while, but it had felt like no more than a few minutes. How had so much time passed?

"Ronald Weasley."

"Gryffindor!"

Ron, who went up next, was assigned almost instantly.

Seeing his puzzled expression, Hermione realized that Sean himself might not have known.

"But the professors didn't stop the ceremony, so maybe you're special," Hermione said.

Sean glanced at the professors' table ahead.

"I hope so..."