Hufflepuff

Kyle did not hesitate, taking three or two steps to reach the platform.

Having survived the ordeal, he patted his chest and looked at Professor McGonagall sincerely, saying, "Thank you, Professor."

Perhaps not expecting such a polite child at Hogwarts, Kyle's sudden gesture caught Professor McGonagall off guard. It took her two or three seconds to react, after which she shook her head and said, "It is my duty."

Despite her words, Professor McGonagall's originally stern expression softened considerably. Furthermore, before placing the Sorting Hat on Kyle's head, she took the extra care to brush off the dust.

Such a polite child; if only he could be sorted into Gryffindor.

Professor McGonagall felt a glimmer of anticipation; Gryffindor was precisely in need of such model students.

Last year, she had dreamed of poaching Cedric for her own house, but unfortunately, both Sprout and Dumbledore had disagreed.

Let's see how this year turns out.

Professor McGonagall stared intently at Kyle, praying in her heart that the Sorting Hat would be reliable for once.

"Strange, too strange."

As soon as Kyle put on the Sorting Hat, he heard a faint voice in his ear: "You are actually thanking me sincerely? That shouldn't be right. I mean, are you really that kind of well-behaved child?"

"Of course I am!" Kyle replied solemnly. "You can go and ask around. Whether it's the Weasley family or Mr. Scamander, they have all said that I am the most polite child they have ever met. So please do not slander me, or even if you are just a hat, I will file a complaint against you."

"..."

The Sorting Hat fell into a rare silence. The tip of the hat swayed back and forth unconsciously, appearing at a loss for words, or perhaps struggling with something.

After a long while, it continued: "Your shamelessness makes me feel like I've returned to over a thousand years ago, though back then I was just an ordinary hat on Godric's head. So, how about Gryffindor? I feel like that should be... never mind, that place doesn't suit you."

"I think..."

"Let me think." Kyle was interrupted by the Sorting Hat before he could finish: "Slytherin is better. There, you will head toward glory; there is no doubt about that."

"Um..."

"Wait, wait."

For the second time, the Sorting Hat cut Kyle off again: "No, that still doesn't fit. And if you go to Slytherin, Snape will definitely pour some strange potions on me in the future. Let me think again... Dumbledore has given me a real headache... It's a pity, if only Azkaban belonged to Hogwarts, or perhaps Nurmengard would do."

The Sorting Hat's tone sounded like it was joking, but Kyle couldn't laugh at all... What was going on? He hadn't done anything wrong; at most, he had just scared Kanna a little earlier. Could it be that he was going to be sent to Nurmengard because of that?

Is there no sense of justice left?

Besides, the entire wizarding world does things like this, and there are plenty of people who do things far more exaggerated than what he said. Why are they fine?

There shouldn't be such double standards.

Kyle felt he needed to do something. If he really let the Sorting Hat shout that out, he would be finished.

Azkaban was one thing; it was managed by the Ministry of Magic and wasn't a place one could just go to.

But Nurmengard was different. Dumbledore had connections there; sending someone over would be effortless.

Although Kyle knew in his heart that the petty Sorting Hat was likely saying this because it was dissatisfied with his threat to complain about it earlier and wanted to be cheeky to get back at him, it was unlikely it would actually shout that place out.

But what if...

A hat that had existed for over a thousand years and possessed independent consciousness—no one knew what was going on in its head. What if it had a lapse in judgment and decided to shout it out to liven up the atmosphere?

Anything was possible.

"Um..." Kyle flashed a harmless smile and said, "That song of yours earlier was quite good, especially the first few lines. The lyrics were concise and the melody was light; it was much better than the clichés of the Weird Sisters."

Upon hearing this, the Sorting Hat immediately became interested: "You think it sounds good too, right? I told you! That took me a whole year to come up with, how could it not be good? Only Dumbledore doesn't know how to appreciate it; he even tried to persuade me to sing the school anthem. That old honey-bee!"

Uh...

Kyle had no intention of bad-mouthing the Headmaster under his very nose; that was too suicidal, even if he couldn't hear it.

After clearing his throat to gloss over it, Kyle continued: "If I may ask, your song sounded a bit familiar. Was it a rap style?"

"Rap style..." the Sorting Hat asked curiously, "What does that mean?"

"You actually don't know? Could it be that you learned it without a teacher? That's amazing." Kyle first feigned shock, then explained: "Rap, or rhyming, is a very popular style of Muggle music."

"Muggle music..." the Sorting Hat became even more curious.

"Yes, I think you should give it a try. It should suit you very well," Kyle said sincerely. "If you need it, I can give you a gift related to this at Christmas."

"Okay... no, what I mean is, let's finish the sorting first. It's been a long time, and you must be hungry too. It wouldn't be good to delay the feast," the Sorting Hat cleared its throat and said, "Right, where were we?"

Kyle smiled: "You just said that I am a polite and good child, but you feel that Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw don't suit me."

"Hmm? Did I mention Ravenclaw just now... oh, I almost forgot, that is indeed the case, you are absolutely right. Since that is the case, the result is already obvious..."

"Hufflepuff!"

The moment Kyle's sorting result was announced, the entire Great Hall, including the staff table, erupted into thunderous applause.

Twenty whole minutes—this could be called the longest sorting in the history of Hogwarts, and it had finally come to an end.

They were truly famished, after all; in previous years, the feast would have already begun by this time.

The Hufflepuff table was particularly lively, and Cedric, no longer concerned about Quidditch team matters, came over enthusiastically to give Kyle a hug.

"That's fantastic, Kyle! I just knew you would end up in Hufflepuff."

Kyle laughed, "You have a better eye than the Sorting Hat."

"Huh?" Cedric blinked, a bit confused as to what that meant.

However, Kyle only smiled and offered no explanation.

Just then, several upperclassmen came over one after another to shake his hand; judging by the badges on their robes, they were Hufflepuff prefects.

This was a tradition for every house, a way to show welcome while also becoming a familiar face to the new students.

Kyle greeted them with a smile and then took the empty seat beside Cedric.

A prefect had been sitting there previously, but upon realizing that Kyle and Cedric knew each other, he had voluntarily given up the spot.

Once Kyle sat down, he turned his gaze toward the Sorting Hat just like everyone else.

Coming to Hufflepuff was something he had already decided on; after all, Newt was a Hufflepuff, and his father, Chris, was also a Hufflepuff graduate. As a wizard who shared a love for magical creatures, it was only natural to come here and experience it for himself.

Furthermore, Kyle didn't want to think about Voldemort or the Dark Lord right now; he only wanted to wholeheartedly enjoy the wonders of magic and his school life at Hogwarts, and the warm, loyal Hufflepuff house was undoubtedly the best choice.

Because the Hufflepuff dormitories were right next to the kitchens, and that was very important.