A Certain Scientific Harry Potter 19

"Hufflepuff!"

However, before he could even identify where the voice came from, the Sorting Hat had already decided Hannah's house.

The next student to be sorted was a girl named Susan Bones. Harry listened carefully this time, and sure enough, he heard that judgmental voice once again.

"Very talented, but lacks confidence..." "Hufflepuff!"

The third person to be sorted was a boy named Terry Boot.

"Good mind, a bit clever..." "Ravenclaw!"

After hearing three people in a row, Harry finally confirmed that what he was hearing was the mumbling of the Sorting Hat itself!

It seemed that while sorting each student, the Sorting Hat would weigh them up while offering commentary. Students with distinct traits would get a result quickly, while others took longer... and naturally, its commentary would increase accordingly.

Moreover, Harry discovered that the new students present, and perhaps even the professors, could not hear this commentary from the Sorting Hat; they could only hear the final result.

So... after a trip to Diagon Alley, had his ears mutated?

The mystery of Harry being able to hear the call of his wand remained unsolved, and now he had the added burden of a hat's commentary. He didn't know if these changes were good or bad.

The sorting continued, and when the next name was called, Professor McGonagall's tone became noticeably agitated.

"Next is... Harry Potter?"

No response.

"Harry... well, Harry Granger."

Harry's position was obvious, and when Professor McGonagall saw the noncommittal expression on his face, she immediately realized she had made a slip of the tongue.

That's more like it.

Harry's originally cold expression relaxed. He ignored the whispers filling the hall regarding his surname and strolled toward the Sorting Hat.

"Hmm... your name is Harry Granger, right? To be honest, I'm really having a hard time deciding where to put you~"

The Sorting Hat twisted and turned on Harry's head. It seemed so conflicted that it was about to curl into a ball, yet it still couldn't reach a suitable conclusion.

"You certainly don't lack courage, and your heart... well, it's decent enough. Talent... oh, impossible! Your talent is simply... I can't believe it! As for the rest... forget it, your ambition doesn't match your talent at all~"

This was truly a headache.

In the Sorting Hat's view, Harry possessed both the courage recognized by Godric and the loyalty championed by Helga, yet he was also a monster that Rowena and Salazar would fight tooth and nail to claim. It made it impossible to choose!

"Harry, ever since I was created by Godric and the others, I have never encountered a child like you..." After struggling for a long while, the Sorting Hat asked as if seeking advice, "Which house do you think you are suited for?"

"Huh?" Hearing the Sorting Hat's question, Harry was stunned for a moment.

This means... he could choose for himself?

Chapter 32: The Broken Hat Needs a Good Burning

"Let me think... Sorting Hat, if there were a genius girl who is very proud and has a brilliant mind, where would you sort her?"

After pondering for a while, Harry seemed to have an idea. He didn't make a choice directly but instead asked the Sorting Hat some other questions.

Harry hadn't expected the Sorting Hat to let him make the choice himself, but since he had been given such an advantage, he certainly had to make good use of it.

To him, which house he was sorted into didn't actually matter; what mattered was which house Hermione would go to.

If he wasn't in the same house as her, wouldn't he be unable to drag her into dropping out with him... no, that's not it, he wouldn't be able to protect her better~

Although in the original story, Hermione was sorted into Gryffindor, the plot had been influenced by him now, so it might not necessarily develop as it once did. It was safer to ask the Sorting Hat clearly in advance.

"That would be Ravenclaw, of course!" The Sorting Hat gave an answer without a second thought. "Rowena loved the kind of clever girls you're describing."

"Then I'll go to Ravenclaw!"

"Alright! Harry Granger is a new student for Ravenclaw!!"

Harry made his decision without hesitation, and the Sorting Hat promptly sorted him into the Eagle House!

"By the way, the girl after me, the top student I just told you about, you should just sort her into Ravenclaw when the time comes."

As he was about to leave, Harry was worried it wouldn't be secure enough, so he pointed at Hermione and gave the Sorting Hat a heads-up.

Professor McGonagall's list of new students was clearly sorted by the first letter of their surnames, and the name he had registered was Harry Granger, which meant Hermione would definitely be sorted right after him.

Giving the Sorting Hat a heads-up in advance would prevent Hermione from running off elsewhere.

"No problem~" The Sorting Hat agreed quite readily.

In its view, the girl Harry spoke of definitely met the requirements Rowena Ravenclaw had for her students~

"Hermione Granger!" Sure enough, just as Harry had left, Professor McGonagall called Hermione's name next.

She should definitely be in Ravenclaw...

"This... is a bit tricky~"

What the hell?

Before Harry could even sit down amidst the cheers of the Ravenclaw students, he heard the Sorting Hat muttering in astonishment.

What was going on? Was this broken hat going to go back on its word?

"Although, as he said, your talent is indeed outstanding, but if we consider it from the perspective of personality..." The Sorting Hat struggled for a long while, seemingly finally making up its mind, "I still think your house should be Gryffin..."

"Wait just a minute!!"

The Sorting Hat's verdict for Hermione was ultimately drowned out by Harry's furious roar, and Harry himself had already lunged back into the center of the Great Hall in a single stride!

"Do you dare go back on your word?!" Harry snatched the Sorting Hat off Hermione's head, glaring at it as he demanded, "What did you promise me just now? Didn't we agree that you were going to sort Hermione into Ravenclaw?!"

"She certainly meets Rowena's requirements, that is true, but I feel the courage within her heart is even stronger~" the Sorting Hat retorted with a straight face, feeling absolutely no guilt for its last-minute change of heart.

It was a joke, really; it had presided over the Sorting Ceremony for centuries and was the absolute authority of authorities!

It would not make a wrong judgment... and even if it did make a wrong judgment, it had to be the correct one!

In short, the Sorting Hat had no intention of changing its mind about Hermione being sorted into Gryffindor!

"Mr. Granger, return to your seat!"

"Harry, will you stop acting so foolishly?"

Professor McGonagall's reprimand came from the side, and Hermione also appeared somewhat at a loss; Harry's sudden disruption of the sorting process had clearly caught them off guard.

And after catching a glimpse of Professor McGonagall's volatile expression, Harry's thoughts raced, and he instantly hit upon a way to bring himself and Hermione one step closer to expulsion.

"Hat... there's a price to pay for going back on your word!!"

Harry subtly brushed his hand against the ring on his finger, quickly pulled out a bottle of medical alcohol, and dumped the entire contents onto the Sorting Hat!

Then, with a flick of his wrist, he pulled out a lighter as if performing a magic trick and, right in front of the entire faculty and student body of Hogwarts, set the Sorting Hat on fire!

"Fire! Oh, damn it! Put it out, hurry up and put it out!!"

The sporadic flames, fueled by the alcohol, surged high into the air, and the Sorting Hat, suddenly engulfed in a fireball, began to scream for help at the top of its lungs.

It wasn't necessarily afraid of this little bit of flame, but it was certainly thrown into a panic.

After all, having presided over the sorting ceremony for so many years, this was likely the first time it had ever been set on fire by a student~

"Aguamenti!"

Professor McGonagall immediately used a spell to summon a fountain of water, attempting to douse the flames on the Sorting Hat, while several older Ravenclaw students scrambled to help the other professors restrain Harry, throwing the entire scene into chaos!

The reason Harry was able to succeed wasn't because the Hogwarts professors were too lax, but because the incident was so sudden that they had been completely caught off guard.

Having lived in the wizarding world for so long, these wizards only thought of using magic to solve problems when they arose. If Harry had used a spell to start the fire, then Professor McGonagall or anyone else would have definitely been able to stop him in time.

But who could have guessed that Harry would carry alcohol and a lighter on his person~

Then again, for Harry, who came from a medical background, keeping tools for disinfection and cauterization on hand was common sense.

Especially since he harbored doubts about the medical standards of the wizarding world, the supply of medicine in his Space Ring was naturally quite extensive~

The fire on the Sorting Hat was extinguished, and Harry had been successfully restrained, but the Great Hall was still filled with unavoidable, noisy chatter.

A few students who were usually prone to causing trouble had their eyes shining, looking at Harry as if they were seeing a new king about to be crowned!

"My god... Harry, why on earth would he do something like this?!" Seeing this scene, Hermione, who had been left ignored on the side, was suddenly so frantic she was jumping on the spot.

"Mr. Granger, you..."

"Hat, I'll give you one chance to say it again: which house are you going to sort Hermione into?" Held by several students, Harry ignored Professor McGonagall's questioning and instead threatened the Sorting Hat with a sinister tone, "I'm not afraid to tell you, today I can use fire, tomorrow or the day after I can use scissors, strong acid, or even direct magic—I have all sorts of ways to play with you until you're scrapped!"

"In front of the entire school, I can solemnly promise you: if you insist on sorting Hermione into another house, there won't be a Sorting Hat left for Hogwarts to use in the future!!"

"This... Ravenclaw! Hermione Granger will be sorted into Ravenclaw, is that enough for you!!"

Under Harry's barrage of threats, the Sorting Hat clearly cowered, finally screaming to change its judgment.

It had just gained a rough understanding of Harry's personality, so it knew very well that this kid was absolutely not joking!

So... face is valuable, but life is even more so~

Chapter 33: Dumbledore's Punishment is 'Very Serious'

At this moment in the Hogwarts Great Hall, various noisy sounds rose and fell, and the onlookers kept discussing Harry's previous actions while also focusing their gazes on Hermione.

The legendary savior, Harry Potter... no, he should be called Harry Granger now; had he gone to such great lengths and caused such a scene, even burning the Sorting Hat in front of the entire school, just to change Hermione's sorting result?

Even with the relationship of adopted siblings, there was no need to pay such a high price!

At this moment, many people on the scene, especially some students who fancied themselves very knowledgeable, had already begun to scrutinize Harry and Hermione with a peculiar look.

To be sorted into the same house as the girl he spent every day with, he was willing to risk his own future and brazenly challenge the authority of the Sorting Hat... tsk tsk~

As expected, this is the beauty of youth!

"Harry, why did you have to be so reckless..."

Standing in the center of the hall, Hermione was both angry and anxious, but when she saw Harry's still calm and breezy face, she couldn't bring herself to utter a single word of complaint.

Her thoughts were actually similar to those of the onlookers, just without the flowery extrapolations for the time being.

Hermione knew that Harry doing this ultimately came down to him caring about her.

After what happened earlier, Harry was very afraid that she would be bullied at Hogwarts, which was why his attitude was always particularly sharp when facing people like Malfoy.

And now, to ensure they were sorted into the same house so he could look after her at any time, he had used a fire to force the Sorting Hat to compromise!

But... did this guy not consider his own situation at all?

He had made such a mess of things; how was he going to clean this up later?!

And then there was the question of... after today, how would the entire school view him?

"Miss Granger, your sorting is complete. Please take your seat at the Ravenclaw table now."

With such a major incident having occurred, Dumbledore naturally could no longer sit calmly in his seat of honor watching the show. Rising slowly, he was the first to speak, ushering the bewildered Hermione away.

"Yes..." Hermione walked toward the Eagle House table, glancing back every few steps. She was deeply worried about how the situation would develop, and even more concerned about what kind of punishment Harry would face.

As for the Ravenclaw side, there was only a smattering of sparse applause, serving as a lukewarm welcome for Hermione's arrival.

Students capable of entering Eagle House were generally quite sharp, so many were secretly calculating exactly how many points Harry's recent actions would cost their house.

Dumbledore kept his eyes fixed on Hermione's back, only withdrawing his gaze once she was completely seated, before dragging his long beard as he slowly walked over to Harry.

"Harry... Granger, how exactly did you manage to set the Sorting Hat on fire?"

"Rubbing alcohol paired with a lighter, I keep them on me~" Harry nonchalantly pulled the incriminating tools he had just stowed away from his robe pocket, while simultaneously taking the opportunity to slip his ring into his pocket.

"Why would you do such a thing?" Dumbledore asked, staring intently at Harry with an incredibly profound gaze.

"My reasons? Didn't you just hear them, Headmaster?" Harry glared resentfully at the water-stained Sorting Hat. "It was clearly this hat that went back on its word, yet it refused to admit it! I couldn't swallow my anger, so naturally, I had to set a fire~"

"So... just because you couldn't swallow your anger, you can act recklessly?" Hearing Harry's reply, Dumbledore's expression darkened.

"Say whatever you want. It's already done, anyway." Harry carelessly clasped his hands behind his head. "As for the punishment, you lot can decide; I don't care~"

Harry handled the situation with ease, yet he failed to hide the trace of hidden resentment in the depths of his eyes.

Heh, reckless?

If burning a hat counts as being reckless, then does Dawlish's casual hypnotizing of those two children, William and Harry, count as reckless too?