Open Your Mind Already

Lyon stepped forward and, out of habit, held out his hand to Professor McGonagall. She froze for a moment, then quickly understood and shook his hand.

Lyon seemed to possess a natural air of leadership. Even in an unfamiliar environment among unfamiliar people, he never showed the slightest fear.

Professor McGonagall's eyes flickered as she committed the boy to memory.

Lyon picked up the hat, then suddenly frowned.

He suddenly wanted to cast Scourgify on the Sorting Hat.

He could practically see the hair oil that had built up on it over the years...

It was filthy.

A glimmer flashed across Lyon's fingers as he held the Sorting Hat, and an almost imperceptible blue light instantly enveloped it.

When Professor McGonagall saw that Lyon had not moved, she had initially wanted to remind him, but the sudden movement made her pupils contract.

That was wandless, silent casting!

And from her perspective, Lyon was undoubtedly on the verge of reaching master level!

Such extraordinary magical skill?!

The hall suddenly fell silent. Lyon swept his gaze over everyone and found pair after pair of eyes fixed on him, with occasional sharp intakes of breath.

The older students all knew what that meant!

Wandless, silent casting. Even Flitwick in the distance looked somewhat astonished. "Oh, what a gifted child. How did you learn wandless casting?"

Even Dumbledore was watching him from afar with a searching, surprised gaze.

Lyon smiled elegantly. "I rather like Charms, so I studied it a little more."

Then, under everyone's astonished gazes, he put on the Sorting Hat.

The brim was large, completely covering Lyon's eyes and plunging his vision into darkness.

"Damn it! You dared use Scourgify on me!"

"Do you know who I am? I'm the famous Gryffindor... hat!"

The moment he put it on, a stream of curses came from inside the hat. Lyon curled his lip. He had not expected this hat to be so tsundere.

"Let me see what's inside that little head of yours..."

"Huh? You know Occlumency?"

Lyon said nothing. The first spell he had learned that month had been Occlumency.

He did not want others to know his thoughts so easily. Besides, if everything he had done from childhood onward were exposed, a life sentence in Azkaban would be more than justified.

"Open your mind already."

The Sorting Hat spoke again, and Lyon felt offended.

"You don't need to look. I'll sort myself."

"Just announce it. Slytherin."

Lyon replied. He had intended to go to Slytherin anyway.

"No. As the Sorting Hat, I must select students with the utmost care. I am the famous—"

"What about Harry Potter just now?"

Lyon calmly retorted, choking the Sorting Hat speechless with a single sentence.

"Well... that was due to special circumstances. I—"

"Wasn't it because Dumbledore told you to put him in Gryffindor?"

"You—"

"I said, put me in Slytherin."

"I—"

"Stop talking nonsense. My time is limited."

The Sorting Hat fell silent.

Who exactly was the Sorting Hat here?

Couldn't you show me at least the bare minimum of respect?

He had started off with a Scourgify, then used Occlumency, never allowing it to finish a single complete sentence before deciding which House he would enter?

The Sorting Hat remained silent for a long time.

"Fine."

"You know, the last person who argued with me like this was Miss Granger."

"Oh?" Lyon asked, somewhat interested.

"I saw her thoughts. She cared about you very much. I even told her that going to Slytherin would make things very difficult for her, but she still chose Slytherin."

Lyon fell silent.

In this life, there was only one person who could care about him so deeply.

His father, old Carl. The poor old wizard had called Lyon's name until the day he died.

He had never expected Hermione to care about him so much.

"Fine, I won't force you any further." The Sorting Hat's voice rang out above his head again.

"SLYTHERIN!"

The Sorting Hat announced it loudly, its voice echoing through the entire hall.

At the Slytherin table, little Hermione happily called out his name, drawing displeased looks from the girls around her, whose eyes sparkled as they watched Lyon.

"Lyon, you're finally here!"

Lyon sat in the seat Hermione had specially saved for him. The nearby girls looked dissatisfied, their eyes occasionally drifting toward him. After all, Lyon had both status and talent.

That wandless Scourgify had truly stunned them. Who would not like a handsome, talented top student?

The Sorting Ceremony soon came to an end.

Dumbledore rose to his feet and lightly tapped his throat with his wand. "Sonorus."

"Welcome, everyone, to a new year at Hogwarts. Before the feast begins, I would like to say a few words."

"They are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

Listening to those four words, Lyon recalled that, according to the ideas of his previous life, they were actually metaphors for the traits of the four Houses.

Nitwit corresponded to Ravenclaw, because Ravenclaw had always revered wisdom and rejected nitwits.

Blubber referred to Gryffindor. Gryffindor championed courage and hated crybabies the most.

Slytherin corresponded to oddment. Slytherin believed in the survival of the fittest and called the weak oddments.

Tweak referred to Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff was simple and honest, while "tweak" represented rebellion.

They were all opposite terms, a form of teasing.

With a wave of Dumbledore's wand, vast amounts of food instantly appeared on the tables of the four Houses.

However, none of the teachers at the staff table had much appetite. They were puzzled. Were there not far too many students entering Slytherin House this year?

There were only two or three hundred students in total, yet more than a hundred had entered Slytherin...

The heads of the other three Houses—Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, and Flitwick—instinctively glanced at Snape, the head of Slytherin.

They suspected Snape had secretly brainwashed every student admitted this year.

Snape frowned and looked over at the Slytherin table. "Indeed, there are quite a few Slytherin students this year."

The other three Heads of House inwardly scoffed. Wasn't that obvious?

Seeing that Snape showed no reaction, the three Heads of House let their gazes linger on the Slytherin table for a while longer.

As the instigator, Lyon was currently enjoying a small piece of steak before him.

He used his knife and fork to cut off a small bite. Steam rose from the sizzling oil on the well-done steak, and the cut revealed its fine texture. Looking closely, one could even see the muscle fibers within, every strand carrying an irresistible aroma.

"Lyon, aren't there far too many students entering Slytherin this year?"

Hermione looked across the four long tables. The Slytherin table was obviously packed, while the first-year seats at the other three Houses were not even full.

From what Hermione knew, this was definitely abnormal.

Hermione was about to say something more when a piece of warm, fragrant steak was suddenly stuffed into her mouth.

Hermione's eyes widened. She watched Lyon's movements with the knife and fork, then anxiously glanced at the seemingly casual gazes around them. Her face flushed bright red.

"Don't talk. Eat." Lyon stopped Hermione's mouth with steak.

Soon, the dishes on the tables were wiped clean by the students. Dumbledore waved his wand and rose to his feet.

"First-year students, take note. The Forbidden Forest is off-limits. I hope some of the older students will take note of this as well."

As he spoke, his gaze seemed to drift toward the Weasley Twins. The twins immediately stood up as though Dumbledore had just presented them with an award.

"Also, if you do not wish to meet an unexpected and painful death, it would be best to stay away from the corridor on the right-hand side of the fourth floor."

Lyon's eyes flickered as he glanced at Harry. The corridor on the right side of the fourth floor was where the Philosopher's Stone was kept.

Naturally, he had no interest in the Philosopher's Stone. It was merely something Dumbledore used to lure Voldemort out and build Harry's reputation.

After Dumbledore finished speaking, he waved his wand once more. "Now, let us sing the school song."

Everyone at the staff table looked miserable. Then the school song began, and the students throughout the school started singing in all manner of different tunes.

Lyon even heard the Weasley Twins singing it to the tune of the Funeral March.

Dumbledore seemed deeply engrossed, using his wand to conduct the Weasley Twins' melody.