The First Test Upon Enrollment

Tom Riddle, in the original story, was destined to 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.

That young wizard he'd briefly met in Diagon Alley would be walking ahead of him, leading him.

Leading all the new students into a new world!

This twisted feeling made Tom, who craved attention, max out on jealousy.

But he showed no crack in his expression, remaining courteous and sunny in demeanor toward the pure-blood nobles who spoke with him.

In his heart, the little Dark Lord felt that this leading position should only be his, and his resentment wasn't solely aimed at Cypher.

That's the twisted part of the little Dark Lord's psyche, isn't it?

But at this moment, Cypher had no mood to care who was staring at him.

He was the leader, with a pretty girl by his side.

Jealous glances were inevitable.

Cypher followed closely behind Professor Rood's steps, leading the group through the entrance hall and into a small room off the main corridor.

Once all the new students were inside the room, Professor Rood spoke, telling everyone to wait quietly here.

Then he hurriedly left.

Judging by his direction, it seemed he was going to report to the headmaster and professors who had been waiting in the Great Hall for some time.

"Bang—"

The small room's door slammed shut.

Silence didn't last long.

The pin-drop-quiet room was soon filled with the buzz of conversation.

Listening to the chatter behind him.

The content was nothing more than what the Sorting Ceremony was, along with secret intel heard from parents and older siblings.

Cypher sighed inwardly.

He didn't join the new students' conversations.

Instead, he closed his eyes.

With each breath, the presence of the two girls reached his senses.

Cypher relaxed his body, emptied his thoughts, and began to constantly suggest to himself: choose Ravenclaw, it must be Ravenclaw!

Iris wanted to say something, but Luna stopped her with a look and a slight shake of her head.

After who knows how long.

Cypher slowly opened his eyes. He felt that as long as Dumbledore didn't 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 door, shoved open abruptly, cut off the 'lively' chatter in the small room. The young wizards all turned to look at the sound.

Naturally, Cypher also looked over with a displeased expression.

If it had been just a bit earlier, interrupting his self-suggestion.

Losing that intense desire would make it very hard to demand the Sorting Hat place him in Ravenclaw.

Bearing the dissatisfied stares of Cypher and the new students.

A tall, thin old man with graying hair slowly entered from the doorway.

His black robes fluttered without wind, and a suffocating pressure swept over the room.

The old man came to the center of the small room, looking down at all the young wizards before him. His white beard trembled as he spoke in a hoarse, aged voice:

"Hogwarts is a Sacred Ground for learning magic, not a nursery! Here, you are students, not mere children. Not to mention how much knowledge you will one day master or how profound your magic will become. But for now! You will learn what discipline is! What respect is!"

With those words, the old man clasped his hands behind his back, but his eyes, which had been cloudy when he entered, had become as sharp as a hawk's.

Cypher, who had shown his displeasure at the front, was the first to bear the old man's pressure.

It felt terrible, like an unarmed person facing a tiger in the wild.

Or like entering a narrow well, staring straight into a deep ocean trench...

It was the instinctive fear of the body.

Cypher's breathing grew rapid.

But his hands instinctively pulled the two girls behind him.

At this, the old man's gaze finally shifted to behind him.

Cypher, cold sweat on his back, seemed to see the old man's beard twitch, as if he were smiling?

Mocking my overestimation of myself? Or my courage to resist? Or praise for not losing composure under pressure?

Cypher was a bit baffled.

Just as Cypher was reflecting, the old man's gaze swept over the young wizards, and one by one, they lowered their heads, showing no will to resist.

Expressionlessly scanning all the new students, the old man straightened up and withdrew his gaze. Amid the collective sighs of the crowd, he walked toward the door and said, "The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin. The house you're sorted into is where you'll stay for the next seven years. Unless you're expelled, it cannot be changed!"

The old man left without closing the door.

Cypher suddenly understood. He quickly pulled Iris and Luna to follow the old man's steps.

Seeing someone take the lead, the new students seemed to find their backbone.

Without exception, they followed the three out.

Hurrying to catch up behind the old man, Cypher slowed his pace and caught a barely audible word of praise: "Not stupid, indeed."

Yet the old man, back to Cypher, climbed the stairs methodically.

Cypher even had a fleeting thought that he might be hearing things.

Reaching the top of the stairs and crossing a corridor, Before them was the Great Hall where the Sorting Ceremony was held.

The whispering portraits on either side couldn't hold his attention.

Because the scene ahead was so solemn and majestic.

A few candle flames illuminated the staff table. In the center sat an old man with a white beard, dressed in formal robes, his gaze sharp and dark.

That position should belong to the headmaster, Armando Dippet.

Cypher thought to himself.

He looked to both sides.

First, he spotted Horace Slughorn, whose potions professor belly was round as a barrel.

Then, he saw the first wizard he had ever met—Professor Albus Dumbledore.

As if sensing someone staring at him with burning intensity, Dumbledore, who had been conversing sideways, turned his head toward the group of new students. He immediately spotted Cypher looking at him with delighted surprise. He smiled, congratulating Cypher on entering Hogwarts.

"Thank you, Mellors. Leave the rest to me."

Another equally aged voice spoke gently.

Hearing the voice, Cypher realized that in the shadows beneath the staff table, another old man was hidden there.

"Then I'll trouble Vice-Principal Brant."

The old professor called Mellors, standing before Cypher, said in a flat, polite tone before heading toward the staff table.

Their conversation was clearly audible in the silent Great Hall.

"Ahem, then, let the Sorting Ceremony begin!"

Seeing Professor Mellors take his seat at the staff table, Vice-Principal Brant strode over to a giant eagle statue, coughed twice to draw everyone's attention—though everyone was already watching the only person moving in the Great Hall.

"When your name is called, come forward and put on the Sorting Hat!"

The old man pointed to a dusty, crumpled, pointed hat sitting on a blue-cushioned stool.

"The Sorting Hat doesn't sing? Well, under this atmosphere, it really wouldn't suit a song..."

Cypher mused to himself.

While everyone's attention was focused elsewhere, Luna quietly said to Cypher, "He's Iris's grandfather."

Hearing this, Cypher's expression turned complicated...

So this was the person Iris had warned him to be wary of?

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