The Sorting Ceremony of Harry Potter and Lin Yuan

"Hmm..." A faint sound, audible only to himself, rang directly in his ear—no, in his mind. "Difficult, very, very difficult. Considerable courage, no doubt about that. The mind is passable too, not stupid. And, oh, remarkable, truly remarkable—a fierce, burning desire to prove yourself... And... good heavens... what is this? A dark power so pure, so potent, lurking deep in your soul... All of this points perfectly to one place..."

The voice carried a hint of temptation as it continued: "Slytherin, without a doubt. Slytherin will help you toward glory, toward greatness..."

"No! Please, not Slytherin. Anywhere but Slytherin." Harry squeezed his eyes shut, pouring every ounce of his strength into a desperate, silent plea, repeated over and over in his mind.

"Not Slytherin?" The voice seemed taken aback. "Are you sure? You possess every quality Slytherin values... Very well, very well, if you insist... Then there's only one place for you... Better be—"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The Hat shouted the final word at the top of its voice, addressing the entire Great Hall.

Harry felt all the strength drain from his body. He pulled off the Hat with immense relief, staggered over to the Gryffindor table.

The cheers there were the loudest, most frenzied of the entire night.

The entire Gryffindor table erupted. Everyone stood, applauding and cheering for him.

Fred and George Weasley were jumping up and down on either side of his seat like a pair of giant gorillas, shouting over and over at the top of their lungs: "We've got Potter! We've got Potter! Watch out, Slytherin!"

Lin Yuan watched all this quietly, his mind racing.

"The Hat isn't random. It's actually reading the students' thoughts and personality traits. Hufflepuff values loyalty and hard work, Ravenclaw values wisdom and a love of learning... So, Slytherin values ambition and pure blood, Gryffindor values courage and recklessness... No, nerve."

He began to ponder where he would be sorted.

A cultivator pursues the Great Dao—transcendence, freedom, detachment.

From that perspective, he had enough ambition for Slytherin and enough "wisdom" for Ravenclaw.

As for Gryffindor's tendency to charge in headfirst on impulse, that didn't quite match his "plan before acting" nature. But pursuing the path of immortality was, for a cultivator, the bravest act of all.

As for Hufflepuff's "loyalty," he was loyal only to his own "Dao," so that didn't fit either.

"So, which one is it? Slytherin? Gryffindor? Ravenclaw? Ravenclaw's common room has a library, theoretically the best. But Slytherin... Malfoy is there, along with many descendants of old pure-blood families. The ancient magical knowledge and forbidden arts they possess might be even more abundant than what's in the library. Besides, Harry's 'research material' is in Gryffindor. Being too close would actually make observation inconvenient."

Only a handful of students remained in the line.

Finally, after the last boy, Zabini, was sorted into Slytherin, Professor McGonagall glanced at the end of the long parchment scroll, her gaze settling on the final name.

She looked at the solitary young figure standing there, calm as a still pond, and a flicker of anticipation crossed her stern face.

McGonagall paused, then read the name in a tone clearer and slower than any before:

"The last one... Ryan Lin!"

It was his turn.

Lin Yuan stepped out of the line calmly. The gaze of the entire Great Hall seemed to linger a few extra seconds on his unfamiliar Eastern face.

He walked unhurriedly to the stool, picked up the greasy old Hat, gave it a look, and placed it on his head.

The Hat covered his eyes, plunging him into darkness.

An ancient, raspy voice spoke directly in his mind.

[Oh... an interesting soul... very, very interesting... I have never seen such a... resilient and ancient soul. It's like a boulder polished by the ages for a thousand years.]

Lin Yuan's mind stirred, but he didn't respond.

[Let me think... Your mind is filled with knowledge, a thirst for knowledge that surpasses everything else... Ravenclaw would welcome you.]

[But... oh... what is this? Your ambition... it's bottomless, like a dark ocean. You don't seek power or wealth, but something like... eternity? Transcendence? What Slytherin's founder dreamed of—you are pursuing it...]

[Courage? You have it, of course, but your courage is built on absolute reason and calculation, not Gryffindor's hot-blooded impulse. Loyalty? You are loyal only to your own path.]

The Sorting Hat fell into a long silence, as if facing an unprecedented dilemma.

[Too difficult... You fit both the extremes of Ravenclaw and the essence of Slytherin. Child, where do you want to go? Your choice will determine your path forward.]

The Sorting Hat handed the choice to him.

Lin Yuan's thoughts raced.

Ravenclaw? Working behind closed doors won't do. Knowledge needs practice to verify.

Slytherin? The pure-blood circle is exclusive and troublesome, and its goals are too obvious. It would easily draw the attention of both Dumbledore and the future Voldemort, making it hard to keep a low profile and make quiet gains... No, to conduct focused research.

Then...

Harry Potter's figure surfaced in his mind.

This boy was the "eye of the storm" in this world, the center of every major event.

From the Magic Stone to the Soul Artifacts, from the Basilisk in the Chamber to the dragons in the Triwizard Tournament—all the most advanced, bizarre, and dangerous magical phenomena would flock to him like moths to a flame.

For a researcher, could there be a better "field study" location than this?

The knowledge in the library is dead. Slytherin's scheming is hollow. Only first-hand, living, unfolding "miracles" are the shortcut to deciphering the rules of this world.

To conduct research most efficiently, you can't stay in the rear. You have to go to the front lines.

And Gryffindor was the "main battlefield" of this world for the next seven years.

"I choose..." Lin Yuan made his decision calmly in his mind. "To go to the center of the storm."

[The center of the storm?] The Sorting Hat paused for a moment, then burst into a knowing laugh that only Lin Yuan could hear. [Hahahaha! Not for honor, not for friends, but to face the greatest challenge head-on, turning danger into opportunity! Using a Slytherin mind and Ravenclaw wisdom to walk a Gryffindor path! I like it! I like this choice very much!]

The Sorting Hat suddenly turned outward and, with one of the loudest voices it had ever used, shouted:

"Gryffindor!"

For an instant, the entire Great Hall fell silent for half a second.

At the Slytherin table, Malfoy's smile froze on his face. The Ravenclaw students also looked somewhat surprised.

But at the Gryffindor table, after a brief moment of shock, an eruption of cheers broke out—even more fervent than when they had welcomed Hermione earlier.

The Weasley twins, Fred and George, let out sharp whistles and yelled, "We've got a mysterious Eastern wizard!"

Harry and Ron clapped in delighted surprise, clearly genuinely happy for their new friend's addition.

Lin Yuan took off the hat, calmly placed it back on the stool, and gave a polite nod toward Dumbledore at the head table.

He caught a glint in Dumbledore's blue eyes—a deeply meaningful, approving smile.

Without changing his expression, Lin Yuan walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down in the empty seat next to Harry and Ron.

"Brilliant! I knew you'd end up in Gryffindor!" Ron said excitedly, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Welcome to the best house," Hermione added with a smile, seeming a little annoyed at her own misjudgment, but mostly happy.

Lin Yuan just smiled and nodded, but his gaze drifted past the noisy crowd toward the castle gates that led to an unknown future.

The path of cultivation was fraught with hardship and danger.

But now, he had successfully infiltrated the "main character squad" and secured a front-row VIP seat.

The Hogwarts life ahead was bound to be... very "eventful."