Hannah Abbott!

The sky outside the window had already darkened, and the magical lamps inside the carriage were lit.

Matthew was reading a travelogue; in his spare time, he occasionally glanced at miscellaneous books, sometimes finding interesting clues in that kind of reading material.

Neville had fallen asleep clutching his toad, while the anxious Hermione held a book and muttered to herself beside him.

Jerry shot Matthew a disdainful glance—this guy loved teasing new students, and he himself had been fooled by Matthew back in the day.

"The train will reach Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train; we'll deliver it to the school for you." The conductor's voice echoed through all the carriages.

The train's speed gradually slowed, and finally came to a halt.

After a ten-hour journey, the train had reached its final stop.

Even though the conductor had just reminded them, Neville was still sleeping soundly.

"We've arrived." Matthew patted Neville on the shoulder, waking him up.

Seeing Neville awake, Matthew stood up, tugged at his robes, and said, "Let's get off. Someone will take you new students to do the entrance test soon. We part ways here—hope we meet again."

Neville, still groggy, snapped awake instantly. He picked up the textbooks from the bench and said, his face pale:

"Oh! There's an entrance test! I just fell asleep and didn't memorize anything."

Would he get expelled? Maybe he'd be the first unlucky kid from the Lumbaton family to be kicked out of Hogwarts. He had no idea how to face his grandmother when he got back.

Hermione ignored them. She held a copy of A Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, muttering to herself as if memorizing its contents.

Matthew smiled faintly. He hadn't lied to them—there was an "entrance test," but it was the Sorting Ceremony with the Sorting Hat. All they had to do was put on the hat, and the "entrance test" would be done.

Matthew and Jerry got off first, walking along the platform toward the row of horseless carriages.

They heard someone shouting loudly from the platform: "First-years! First-years, come over here!"

The man was unusually tall, towering over the new students beside him, who didn't even reach his thigh. He held a magical lamp in his hand, making him very conspicuous.

He was Hogwarts' Keeper of Keys and Grounds, Rubeus Hagrid.

Jerry picked a carriage and said, somewhat dissatisfied, "Can't anyone clean these? So many carriages are moldy."

He drew his wand and gave the carriage a cleaning.

Matthew raised an eyebrow as he noticed a blond boy walking toward them.

"Yo, Geralt, no need to keep your girlfriend company?" Jerry spotted him too.

Geralt scratched his head awkwardly and said, "Pansy's a first-year; she still has to attend the Sorting Ceremony."

Matthew felt the name was familiar.

"You don't even spare someone who hasn't enrolled yet. Your menu's pretty broad," Jerry teased.

Once the three were seated, the carriage wobbled into motion. Geralt enthusiastically recounted his busy summer holiday.

Not long after, the carriage stopped beside the stone steps in front of the castle gates.

Geralt, sitting on the outside, jumped off first, muttering, "I'm starving, but there's still the Sorting Ceremony later."

The snacks he'd brought had all been eaten by Pansy on the way.

"I still have some sandwiches here." Matthew kindly took out three sandwiches and handed them to Jerry and Geralt.

"Oh! Matthew, you're still so reliable!" Geralt wolfed them down, clearly very hungry.

The three ate their sandwiches as they walked toward the Great Hall.

Jerry said with a grin, "Which family is your new girlfriend from? What if she gets sorted into Gryffindor?"

Geralt stuffed the remaining half of his sandwich into his mouth and mumbled, "The Parkinson family. It's not like I've never dated a Gryffindor girlfriend before. Besides, there's no way she'd go to Gryffindor—she's definitely a Slytherin."

Pansy Parkinson? Matthew remembered now—wasn't she Little Malfoy's girlfriend?

Jerry immediately taunted, "I remember when you broke up with your Gryffindor ex-girlfriend, she poured ink all over your head."

Geralt swallowed the food in his mouth and said proudly, "Because I was still immature back then. A shrewd Slytherin doesn't fall in the same place twice."

After that, Geralt always waited until after a breakup before pursuing another girl.

They entered the Great Hall and found seats in the middle of the Slytherin table.

Geralt enthusiastically greeted the girls nearby, and soon he was chatting with them.

Matthew glanced toward the teachers' table on the dais and happened to meet the eyes of a white-bearded old man. The eyes behind his half-moon spectacles were very bright, his azure pupils seeming to sparkle.

After meeting Matthew's gaze, the old man gave a kind smile.

Matthew could only smile back.

A few seconds later, Dumbledore withdrew his gaze and calmly resumed talking with Professor Snape.

Matthew felt he'd been added to Dumbledore's watchlist. He didn't know why he'd drawn Dumbledore's attention—he was just an excellent student who ranked first in his year.

As for past conflicts with classmates, that wasn't exactly rare in Slytherin.

Slytherin had many proponents of Pure-blood Supremacy, but plenty of half-blood wizards too, and the two sides had a natural conflict.

A commotion came from the entrance of the Great Hall as Professor McGonagall led the new students inside.

The new students fidgeted nervously, unsure what trial awaited them.

Just then, Professor Quirrell, a turban wrapped around his head, hurried into the Great Hall—he was late.

Matthew glanced at the turban on Quirrell's head. He knew that Voldemort was currently attached to the back of Quirrell's skull, and the headscarf was meant to hide Voldemort's face.

Quirrell found a seat as far from Dumbledore as possible and sat down.

Professor McGonagall brought out a four-legged stool and placed it before the new students, then set a shabby old Wizard Hat on top of it.

The Sorting Hat used to be very dirty—until it met Matthew.

—He had rinsed it clean with an "Aqueous Spring."

—At the time, it had shrieked: "Azkaban! Azkaban! You ought to be sorted into Azkaban!!!"

The Great Hall fell silent. Then the Sorting Hat began to sing its newly composed song, one it had spent an entire year crafting.

"Look, that's Harry Potter—the one with the scar on his forehead." Jerry pointed toward the new students.

Harry was walking alongside Ron. Hermione and Neville weren't with them; thanks to Matthew's interference, they didn't know each other yet.

Matthew was curious what changes this would bring. Would the "Iron Triangle" of the protagonist group be broken apart?

Once the Sorting Hat finished its song, Professor McGonagall stepped forward a few paces, holding a piece of parchment in her hand.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted."

McGonagall glanced down at the parchment:

"Hannah Abbott!"