It Pays to Charge Him More

It Pays to Charge Him More

The castle gates opened, and Professor McGonagall stepped out in a robe of emerald green.

Her expression was extremely stern, and her gaze was sharp. Harry turned to Charles and said, "She's formidable. She won't be easy to deal with."

Harry then noticed the pure, innocent smile on Charles's face. No matter how he looked at him, Charles seemed just like a good kid.

Charles had no choice but to be a good kid. The Old Man had said that if he made Professor McGonagall angry, he was to report to his private room in Azkaban and stay there.

Besides, the Old Man had custom-ordered him a flying broomstick and told the manufacturer to send it directly to Professor McGonagall for safekeeping once it was finished.

Professor McGonagall led the students into the castle and brought them to a small room on the left side of the Entrance Hall.

She told the first-years that the Sorting Ceremony would be held shortly and instructed them to tidy up their appearances.

Charles was a little distracted until Harry asked him whether he had brought a comb.

Nearby, several students began discussing what the Sorting Ceremony would be like.

Hermione felt a little nervous. She reached out to tug at Charles's sleeve and ask whether he knew what it was.

Charles lowered his voice mysteriously and said, "I asked Mr. Ollivander about it. He said the test is related to everyone's wand. You'll fight whatever animal was used to make the wand's core."

"R-Really?" Hermione asked, trembling. "My wand... its core... is a dragon's..."

She was so frightened that she couldn't finish.

The students beside them were frightened too. They had all met Ollivander, and if he had said so, then it had to be true.

"Dragons... are very powerful... I read about them in a book." Hermione looked as though she was about to cry. "What do I do? They'll reject me!"

Harry said nervously, "I... I can't fly! What do I do?"

Charles ignored Harry and comforted Hermione instead. "It's fine. A dragon's weakness is its abdomen. When it pounces, you just slide beneath it and attack its abdomen with your wand."

Ron, standing nearby, then witnessed what it meant to change expressions in an instant. Harry and Hermione, who had been terribly nervous, immediately relaxed. One jabbed Charles with an elbow, while the other kicked him.

Harry had known Charles, who lived across the street, ever since he was old enough to understand things. Hermione had been this guy's classmate in primary school, and over the years, she had suffered plenty of his pranks.

Harry: "Ow!"

Hermione: "Ouch!"

Charles: "That was the Shield Charm. If you want to learn it, go read a book."

The Old Man had said that Hogwarts was dangerous, and that Charles would have to kill ten people just on the way to class. Therefore, he had to be ready to protect himself at all times. The Shield Charm had to remain active all day.

At that moment, a group of ghosts passed through the wall. The Fat Friar greeted everyone.

The ghosts distracted everyone, but the pressure brought on by the Sorting Ceremony was not so easy to dispel. If Professor McGonagall had not reminded him, Harry could have kept gripping his comb tightly until he saw the Sorting Hat.

After Hannah Abbott demonstrated the Sorting process, the first-years breathed a sigh of relief.

Charles saw that the Sorting results were the same as he remembered. When Professor McGonagall called his name, he couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

The moment the filthy Sorting Hat was placed on Charles's head, it immediately shouted, "Azkaban!"

Everyone thought the Sorting Hat was playing a prank, and laughter filled the entire dining hall. Even Dumbledore laughed.

Harry asked George Weasley beside him, "What does Azkaban mean?"

George replied, "It's the wizard prison."

Fred continued, "Mum is always worried that we'll end up there someday."

"Oh..." Harry nodded. "I don't think it would be a joke if Dudley came here."

Over there, Charles asked the Sorting Hat in a low voice, his face darkening, "I haven't offended you, have I?"

The Sorting Hat swayed its tip and said, "Life is so dull. Why not find a little fun?"

"I can feel that you're enduring tremendous pain. What extraordinary courage and spirit! Gryffindor is the most suitable house for you!"

"Gryffindor!"

With the Sorting complete, Charles calmly removed the hat and walked toward the Gryffindor table with a smile.

The moment Charles approached the table, the fourth and fifth Weasley twins pulled him over and made him sit between them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Smith."

"Oh, your name is Charles too, just like our second brother. I'm sure we'll get along wonderfully."

"Charlie is a Romanian Dragon Keeper now. He used to be the captain of the Gryffindor House Quidditch team. Do you know Quidditch? We're members of the house team. If you want to learn, we can teach you."

"How about some pre-meal sweets? What do you think of a Chocolate Frog?"

The two identical Weasleys took turns chatting up Charles. The atmosphere looked quite harmonious, which greatly pleased the Weasley prefect.

Although Charles played along on the surface, alarm bells were ringing in his mind. He was worried they were plotting something.

When the twins saw that the mood was right and felt they had built up enough goodwill, they began to get to the point.

Fred asked Charles, "I heard you have a Bag of Holding?"

George said, "You just took out a comb for Potter."

Charles understood. He remembered Ron mentioning on the train that the two of them had once studied Bag of Holding, only to give up because they couldn't afford the materials.

"I do have one." He had never intended to hide it. There was no way he could conceal it anyway.

Fred immediately asked, "Can we take a look?"

George followed up, "We can do your homework for you."

Charles replied, "No problem. You don't have to do my homework, though. This isn't the place. We'll talk about it back in the dormitory."

Seeing that he had agreed, the twins happily began sharing stories about the prank devices they had made.

Charles was thoroughly impressed by them. He could tell that the two had a mastery of spells far beyond that of their peers.

As the three chatted and laughed, the Sorting Ceremony ended. Ron walked over to the Gryffindor table. After Dumbledore finished his speech, a sumptuous dinner appeared on the tables.

Hogwarts maintained many very old traditions. The benefit was that its food remained at the level of what people had eaten before Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated.

Charles asked for a large piece of roast beef, two pork chops, and three boiled potatoes. He also took some pea shoots and carrots, then finally poured ketchup over the potatoes.

George stared at the heaping plate in front of Charles and asked in astonishment, "Can you eat all that?"

Harry, sitting beside George, said, "He's eaten more than other people since he was little."

Hermione, sitting across from them, joined in. "Back in primary school, he had to pay for three people's meals."

Charles raised his head and glared at Hermione. He glanced at her plate and said with a cold laugh, "I'll write to Mr. Granger and tell him you ordered a lot of mints."

Hermione immediately caved. Her family tried to limit how many sweet snacks she ate so they could protect her teeth.

Charles glanced at the plate in front of Harry and said just as coldly, "Remember to eat more vegetables."

Harry caved just as quickly.

At that moment, a ghost came over. Nearly Headless Nick had originally intended to remind Charles that leaving too much food would result in deducted points, but when he saw Charles eating so heartily, he felt that it might not be enough.

"There's still pudding later," Nick reminded him.

"Thanks for the reminder." Charles took a sip of Pumpkin Juice. "I know my limits when I eat."

He chatted with Nick while eating. Somewhat reluctantly, Nick showed them the relationship between his head and neck.

Charles had seen this unfortunate ghost in the Old Man's memories. The Old Man had even helped him once, but Nick had been unable to join the Headless Hunt Club because of his own circumstances.

However, the Old Man had deliberately concealed some things, skipping over many details.

Nick left not long afterward, and pudding appeared on the tables.

Charles chatted with everyone about his family and ate two pieces of apple pie in the process.

Dumbledore had been secretly observing Harry all along. He also noticed Charles, whose mouth never stopped moving, and wondered whether Hogwarts ought to charge him for meals.