A Troll Ate and Went to Hufflepuff House?

Hagrid's figure was much larger than in the movies, and even the shorter wizards among them wouldn't have their view blocked by those in front, easily able to follow behind him.

As they drew closer and closer to Hogwarts Castle, the group of young wizards grew more and more nervous.

"By the way, I heard all new students have to go through a Sorting Ceremony. Does anyone know what the sorting method is?"

"My brother told me that on the first day, you have to fight a troll, and the sorting is based on the result..."

"Whoever can beat the troll goes to Ravenclaw, whoever can eat the troll goes to Hufflepuff, whoever is stronger than the troll goes to Gryffindor, and whoever can make the troll submit goes to Slytherin."

The young wizards were talking loudly, and upon hearing the word "troll," all the magic-born children among them grew even more tense.

Hearing these words, Ron couldn't help but take a few steps closer to Tom, nervously grabbing his sleeve.

"Brother Tom, save me."

"..." Tom was speechless.

He was curious—where exactly had this rumor about fighting a troll come from? Earlier, while looking for the toad on the train, he'd already heard some young wizards discussing how to deal with trolls.

Could it be...

Tom looked ahead at Hagrid. Could it be that because every time new students arrived, they saw Hagrid, who was as tall as a troll, the rumor had spread from that?

Just then, a clean and pretty little girl walked through the crowd toward him. When she reached Tom, she slowly extended a hand: "Daphne. Daphne Greengrass Nott. May I get to know you?"

"Tom. Tom Riddle."

"If the Sorting Ceremony later allows teaming up, would you mind cooperating with me?"

As a pure-blood from the Sacred Twenty-Eight, her theoretical knowledge was certainly richer than that of ordinary young wizards. She knew full well that the Sorting Ceremony wasn't as terrifying as those around her claimed, but just in case, she still wanted to find a reliable person to help.

Someone like Tom, who had won a 1v3 on the train.

"If it's possible, I'll consider it." Tom nodded.

"I want to team up too!"

"Me too!"

Seeing Daphne's move, a large crowd of young wizards immediately surged around Tom, gathering at his side.

At first, only the wizards in Tom's own compartment and the pure-blood compartment knew about his fight on the train. But later, when the Malfoy heir reluctantly dragged himself off to act as a laborer looking for a toad, it piqued the curiosity of many other wizards.

Add to that the fact that the train ride lasted several hours, and everyone was bored, so word about that fight spread like wildfire.

Now everyone on the entire train knew that there was a tough guy among the new students.

"Tom Riddle?" Hagrid turned around, looking at the cluster of young wizards behind him and the child surrounded in their midst.

He couldn't help but dig at his ear, making sure he wasn't hearing things.

But when he heard that familiar and hated name again from within the crowd, his massive frame couldn't help but tremble.

Was it really not just a namesake?

Not just the name—back then, that Riddle had also been surrounded by admirers like this.

Too similar. Far too similar!

Merlin's magical creatures, what kind of person had snuck into this year's new students?

Soon, everyone arrived before a huge, pitch-black lake. The castle, towers, sports fields... these thousand-year-old majestic buildings came into view, reflected on the water's surface by the moonlight.

At that moment, a mysterious and solemn orchestral piece seemed to ring in Tom's ears.

Truly breathtaking!

Even Ron, who had grown up in the wizarding world, couldn't help but widen his eyes.

"New students, pick a boat. Four to a boat."

Under Hagrid's direction, the students crowded around Tom reluctantly dispersed, each finding familiar people to share a boat.

Tom naturally ended up in a boat with Harry and Ron, and the fourth spot was filled by Daphne, whom he had just met.

"Forward," Hagrid commanded.

The small boats moved on their own, without anyone needing to row, heading straight for the castle at the center.

Facing the wizarding world that awaited him, Tom began to stroke his chin in thought. Which house should he choose?

First of all, he definitely had to rule out Slytherin.

Although he had been building his persona toward that of a Dark Lord, his positive image hadn't yet been established in everyone's minds. So if he joined Slytherin today, he'd probably have every professor taking turns using Legilimency on him by tomorrow.

That left the other three houses. Ravenclaw was clearly the best choice—after all, there weren't many grinders like him left.

"Mind your heads," Hagrid warned.

After passing through a rocky tunnel hung with ivy, they reached the end of the Black Lake.

When Hagrid's massive fist knocked three times on the castle gate, the door swung open silently.

Inside stood a tall witch with a stern expression, wearing deep green robes and a pointed hat. She seemed to have been waiting for them for a long time.

"Welcome to Hogwarts!" Minerva McGonagall spread her arms toward the students, putting on a warm, welcoming show.

He then began introducing the characteristics of the four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.

As she spoke, a few transparent ghosts drifted nearby, curiously sizing up the new students.

"My brother once said that wizards killed by trolls don't truly die—they turn into vengeful spirits and haunt the place where they lived."

Someone said this, and the young witches and wizards grew even more frightened. Especially when one or two mischievous ghosts made faces, a few of the little ones nearly burst into tears.

"Ahem!" McGonagall coughed twice, her clear voice echoing through the entire entrance hall.

The ghosts immediately scattered and fled, and the frightened young students regained their composure.

"The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin. Follow me."

Having the students line up in a single row, McGonagall led the way, with everyone following behind.

The Sorting Ceremony was held in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, where all the upper-year students of the school were gathered. Candles floated beneath the vast, enchanted ceiling, which looked like the real sky, stretching endlessly out of sight.

At the very front of the Great Hall, in front of Dumbledore and the other professors, sat a four-legged stool. On it rested a hat that was dirty and patched.

As the new students wondered, the hat split open along a wide seam, revealing a face as ugly as a gourd.

The hat began to wiggle and sang a rather unpleasant song.

But compared to the hat, the new students were more concerned about where the troll was.

"Could it be there's no troll, and my brothers tricked me again?" Ron immediately looked around.

Then he spotted George and Fred snickering below.

Damn it! Not again!

Ron's anger flared. If he weren't outmatched, he'd really love to teach those two disrespectful old fools a lesson.

When the hat finished its song, Professor McGonagall pulled out a long list of names.

"Next, when I call your name, come up and put on the hat."

"Hannah Abbott!"

A little girl with two blonde braids stepped forward, her face red.

After a brief pause, the Sorting Hat loudly announced: "Hufflepuff!"