Tom Riddle, in the original story, would become the Second Dark Lord after Grindelwald.
At this moment, he was following behind Cypher as they entered Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Before this, Tom had never imagined it.
That young wizard he had met only once in Diagon Alley would actually walk ahead of him and lead him.
Leading all the new students into a new world!
This twisted feeling sent Tom's jealousy, born of his desire for attention, soaring to its peak.
Yet he showed no cracks in his expression. He continued to treat the pure-blood nobles talking with him with polite, sunny warmth.
In his heart, the little Dark Lord believed that the position at the front could only belong to him. It was not that he was targeting Cypher alone.
That was the little Dark Lord's twisted side, wasn't it?
At this moment, Cypher had no interest in who was watching him.
He was the leader, and there were beautiful girls by his side.
Jealous stares were unavoidable.
Cypher closely followed Professor Rood, leading the group through the entrance hall and into a small room beside the main corridor.
Once all the new students had entered, Professor Rood told everyone to wait quietly there.
Then he hurried away.
From the direction he took, he seemed to be reporting the situation to the headmaster and professors who had been waiting in the Great Hall.
Bang—
The door to the small room slammed shut.
After only a brief silence,
the room, quiet enough to hear a pin drop, filled with buzzing conversation.
Listening to the chatter behind him,
the topics were nothing more than what the Sorting Ceremony was, along with secret information they had heard from their parents, brothers, and sisters.
Cypher could not help feeling emotional.
He did not join the other new students' conversation.
Instead, he closed his eyes.
With every breath, the scents of the two girls entered his senses.
Cypher relaxed his body, emptied his mind, and repeatedly suggested to himself that he would choose Ravenclaw—it had to be Ravenclaw!
Iris wanted to say something, but Luna stopped her with a look and gently shook her head.
After an unknown amount of time,
Cypher slowly opened his eyes. He felt that as long as Dumbledore did not forcibly assign him to Gryffindor, no one could stop him from going to Ravenclaw!
Just as Cypher was about to say something to the two girls,
Bang!
The abruptly flung-open door brought the "cheerful" chatter in the room to a sudden halt. The young wizards all turned toward the sound in unison.
Naturally, Cypher also looked over with an unhappy expression.
If it had happened just a little earlier and interrupted his self-suggestion,
losing that intense desire would have made it difficult to ask the Sorting Hat to place him in Ravenclaw.
Under the dissatisfied gazes of Cypher and the new students,
a tall, thin old man with graying hair slowly entered through the doorway.
His black robes fluttered without wind, and an oppressive aura swept toward them.
The old man walked to the center at the front of the room and looked down at all the young wizards before him. His white beard trembled as he lectured them in an old, hoarse voice:
"Hogwarts is a Sacred Ground for learning magic, not a nursery! Here, you are students, not merely children! Never mind how much knowledge you will master in the future, or how profound your magic will become. But right now! You must learn what discipline is! What respect is!"
As his words fell, the old man clasped his hands behind his back. Yet his eyes had already changed from the cloudiness they held when he entered into a sharpness like that of an eagle.
Cypher, standing at the front and openly showing his displeasure, was the first to bear the old man's pressure.
The feeling was awful, like an unarmed person facing a tiger in the wilderness.
Or like entering a narrow well and staring directly into a deep ocean trench...
It was the instinctive fear of the body.
Cypher's breathing became slightly hurried.
Yet his hands instinctively pulled the two girls behind him.
Only then did the old man's gaze finally shift beyond him.
Cold sweat broke out on Cypher's back. He seemed to see the old man's beard twitching, as if he were smiling?
Was he mocking Cypher's overestimation of himself? Or his courage to resist? Or was he appreciating the fact that Cypher had not lost his composure under the pressure?
Cypher could not make sense of it.
And while Cypher was reflecting on this, every young wizard caught in the old man's gaze lowered his head, unwilling to resist.
After sweeping his expressionless gaze across all the new students, the old man straightened again and withdrew his eyes. Amid the sound of everyone exhaling, he walked out of the room and said,
"The Sorting Ceremony will begin shortly. Whichever House you are assigned to will be the House you remain in for the next seven years. Unless you are expelled, it cannot be changed!"
The old man did not close the door behind him.
Cypher suddenly understood. He quickly pulled Iris and Luna along as he followed the old man.
With someone taking the lead, the new students seemed to find their backbone.
They all followed the three of them out without prior agreement.
After hurrying up behind the old man, Cypher slowed his pace and heard an almost inaudible word of praise: "Not stupid after all!"
Yet the old man had his back to Cypher as he steadily climbed the stairs.
Cypher even wondered if he had imagined it.
After climbing to the top of the stairs and passing through another corridor,
the Great Hall where the Sorting Ceremony would be held lay before them.
The whispering paintings on either side could not draw his attention.
Because the scene ahead was so solemn and majestic.
A few candles illuminated the teachers' table. At its center sat a white-bearded old man in formal dress, his eyes gloomy.
That seat should belong to Headmaster Armando Dippet.
Cypher thought to himself.
His gaze shifted to both sides.
First, he saw Horace Slughorn, the round-bellied man who seemed to be the Potions professor.
Only after that did he see the first wizard he had encountered—Professor Albus Dumbledore.
Perhaps sensing someone watching him with a burning gaze,
Dumbledore, who had been turned sideways in conversation, looked toward the group of new students. At once, he spotted Cypher looking at him with delighted surprise. He smiled, congratulating Cypher on entering Hogwarts.
"Thank you, Mellors. Leave the rest to me."
Another aged voice spoke gently.
Only upon hearing the voice did Cypher notice that another old man was hidden in the shadows beneath the teachers' table.
"Then Vice-Principal Brant, I'll leave you to it."
The old professor in front of Cypher, called Mellors, offered a perfunctory courtesy before walking toward the teachers' table.
Their conversation was clearly audible in the silent Great Hall.
"Cough, cough. Then, the Sorting Ceremony will begin!"
After Professor Mellors took his seat at the teachers' table,
Vice-Principal Brant strode beneath a giant eagle statue and cleared his throat twice, attempting to draw everyone's attention. In truth, everyone had already been watching the only person moving in the Great Hall.
"When you hear your name, come forward and put on the Sorting Hat!"
The old man pointed to the dusty, wrinkled, pointed hat sitting atop a blue-cushioned stool beside him.
Doesn't the Sorting Hat sing? Well, singing would be rather inappropriate in this atmosphere...
Cypher mused inwardly.
While everyone's attention was drawn elsewhere, Luna quietly said to Cypher, "He is Iris's grandfather."
At her words, Cypher's expression became unreadable...
This was the person Iris had told him to beware of?
Before you continue