As everyone knew, Hufflepuff House was always an afterthought at Hogwarts until the Triwizard Tournament produced Cedric, and Edward was the most overlooked of these overlooked students: first, his mental age was relatively high, making it hard for him to play with a bunch of brats, and second, he was "inherently" several years older than the others, so he did not actively seek out friends, and naturally no one came looking for him either.
The reason he had a good relationship with Cedric was that the two of them were roommates.
Cedric came right up and punched him in the shoulder. "Didn't you stay at school for the summer? Why did you still go take the train? If I had known, I would have come to look for you earlier."
Edward hugged him and smiled.
"I was accompanying a friend, she's a first-year newcomer this year."
"A first-year newcomer? Your sister?"
"No... Actually, she's even a year older than me."
Cedric was stunned, saying blankly, "Wait, a first-year newcomer, and she's older than you by a year? How come I'm a bit confused?"
"Hahahaha." Edward laughed. "Her situation is similar to mine; she never had the chance to go to school. Praise Headmaster Dumbledore, he specially approved her admission."
At that moment, the doors of the Great Hall were pushed open, and Professor McGonagall led dozens of little first-years inside with a stern expression. The newcomers were visiting Hogwarts for the very first time, and they were extremely curious about this magical castle, looking around constantly and letting out sounds of amazement from time to time.
Audrey walked at the very back of the line, accompanied by a girl with thick, bushy brown hair, brown eyes, and two prominent front teeth when she spoke. Without asking, this should be the future Minister for Magic, Miss Hermione Granger.
The two of them walked all the way, talking happily about something as if they had found some common topic, while Harry Potter and Ron, walking right in front of them, listened with blank expressions.
"Once things are ready over there, I will come and fetch you. While you wait, please keep quiet."
Professor McGonagall instructed a few things and turned to leave, abandoning a bunch of nervous newcomers.
Harry Potter let out a breath at that. "How can they accurately sort us into whichever house we belong to?"
Ron shrugged, a hint of uncertainty in his tone:
"I suppose it's always through some sort of test. Fred said it does a lot of damage to us, but I think he was just joking. I've asked Mum and Dad, but they always look so mysterious every time. It's really annoying."
Not telling the newcomers how the sorting worked was considered an old tradition of various warlock families-after all, they had gone through it themselves back then, so naturally they wanted the children to experience it again too.
Looking at these chattering little ones, Audrey's mischievous impulses, which had been suppressed since childhood, suddenly welled up. She said with a deadpan, serious expression:
"Edward... um, he's a senior student of yours. He told me that newcomers have to take a direct hit from the Avada Kedavra curse, and only the ones who survive get to enroll."
"What?"
Ron was still in shock when the little girl with two blonde braids in front of her went weak at the knees and collapsed onto the ground. Fortunately, the girl beside her hurried to support her. "Hannah, what's wrong with you?"
Tears hung at the corners of the little girl's eyes as she sobbed, "She said every newcomer has to be hit with the Killing Curse, and you have to survive to enroll."
"??? Wow!! I don't want to die!"
"Wuwawa!!"
"Wuwu! Mummy!"
"Help! I want to go home."
Chapter 35: Carrying Forward the Fine Traditions of the Tarot Club
By the time Professor McGonagall returned, over half of the newcomers were already crying in a huddle, shouting for daddy and mummy one after another.
Professor McGonagall was completely dumbfounded. Her first reaction was that Peeves was messing with these children again, and she was just about to flare up when she saw Audrey step forward timidly and say, "I'm sorry, Professor McGonagall, I... I just wanted to play a joke on them to fit in, I didn't expect..."
"Did you hit them?"
"No, it's just..."
Audrey had never felt so embarrassed. If she were still in Backlund, if word of this got out, wouldn't it be that Earl Hall's daughter, the most dazzling gem of Backlund, actually bullied a bunch of children and left them wailing in tears? This was simply... too disgraceful!
After listening to her explanation, Professor McGonagall could not help but be speechless. She clapped her hands and said loudly, "Alright, ladies and gentlemen, Miss Hall was merely playing a joke on everyone just now. The actual Sorting Ceremony is very simple. Now, form a single file and follow me."
Professor McGonagall led the newcomers through the aisle in the middle of the Great Hall, coming to the very front amidst the cheers and jeers of the senior students on both sides. Then she carried out a four-legged stool and placed the dirty Sorting Hat upon it.
The Sorting Hat squirmed a few times and began to open its mouth and sing. Although the lyrics expressed the philosophies of the Four Houses and its criteria for sorting, one had to admit-it sang terribly!
A few minutes later, Professor McGonagall spoke loudly:
"Whose name I call out now shall put on the hat, sit upon the stool, and await sorting."
She looked down at the name list:
"Hannah Abbott!"
Walking up was the blonde twin-tailed little girl who had been frightened first just now. Her eye rims were still red, and she walked over with a nervous and fearful expression to put on the Sorting Hat and sit down.
After a brief moment of thought, the Sorting Hat shouted, "Hufflepuff!"
"Susan Bones!"
The Sorting Ceremony proceeded in an orderly fashion, and every newcomer who finished sorting walked toward the area where their house was located amidst the warm welcome of the senior students.
"Harry Potter."
"Gryffindor!!"
"Woo! We've got Harry!"
When Harry Potter walked toward Gryffindor amid the attention of everyone, it was finally time for Audrey, who was at the very end of the line.
"Audrey Hall."
Professor McGonagall finished speaking and took the lead in applauding. "Miss Hall is a transfer student this year, let's give her a warm welcome!"
"Clap clap clap!"
A bunch of upperclassmen instantly went wild, applauding desperately. They had zero interest in the sorting of the previous bunch of brats, and instead guessed wildly what kind of background this beautiful noble young lady actually had.
Audrey inevitably felt a bit shy as well. Backlund nobility was always reserved; even when praising her, they would not be so straightforward, but these boys were different-some whistled, and some shouted loudly.
Cedric asked in a hurried whisper, "Edward, is that her? Good heavens, she is so pretty! Prettier than those Veela!"
Edward was very surprised. "You've even seen a Veela?" He wouldn't have thought that someone with such honest, thick eyebrows played things so wildly.
He hurriedly explained in a fluster, "I saw it at the Quidditch World Cup!"
"Hahahaha, what are you feeling guilty for?"
Audrey walked forward, picked up the Sorting Hat, resisted the urge to hit it with a Scourgify, and placed it on her head.
"Ooh~ Interesting!"
The Sorting Hat opened its mouth and pondered for a moment. "Perhaps it's because you're relatively old... Oh sorry, I forgot that ladies dislike having their age mentioned."
"You are much more complicated than those children. Within you, there is both the kindness and justice belonging to Hufflepuff, the cleverness and wisdom of Ravenclaw, the bravery, impulsiveness, and curiosity toward all things of Gryffindor, and also the bloodline and a tiny bit of ambition valued most by Slytherin."
"Hmm, let me think carefully. Or... where would you like to go?"
Audrey interlaced her fingers and, hesitating for a moment, said in a soft voice, "To be honest, although I have read the history of the Four Houses in books, I'm not sure where I should go either, Mr. Hat. I might as well listen to your suggestion."
"Mr. Hat, oh~ I like that name." The Sorting Hat twisted its body and let out a weird laugh. "To be honest, it's very difficult, truly very difficult. How about this, I'll offer you two suggestions."
"If you choose Gryffindor, I shall give you a gift on behalf of Godric; if you choose Slytherin, I shall tell you a secret on behalf of Salazar. As for Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw... um, they didn't leave anything behind for me. Of course, from my personal perspective, I would rather you go to Gryffindor-that place must be the most suitable for you!"
"Is it choosing to make yourself braver, or choosing to let that tiny bit of ambition swell? In the end, it still requires you to decide."
Audrey nodded. She hesitated as she spoke, "I understand. I really like the atmosphere of Gryffindor, and I also want to become braver, plus I've already made a few friends there, but..."
Before she could finish, the Sorting Hat shouted loudly: "Slytherin!!!"
After a brief silence in the Great Hall, excited cheers erupted from the Slytherin area:
"We have the most beautiful junior female student!!"
"Ooh-ooh!"
"The Chosen One or whatever doesn't matter anymore."
Hermione and the others in the Gryffindor area were clearly extremely disappointed.
Audrey opened her mouth and swallowed back the words she hadn't finished:
"But, I want to grow strong as quickly as possible to cope with the future apocalypse."
At that moment, the Sorting Hat used a voice that only Audrey could hear to speak an obscure and hard-to-understand passage of words, then added, "Alright, when the appropriate time comes, you will know what to do."
As for Audrey entering Slytherin, Edward was quite surprised. He had thought Audrey might go to Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff, but he never expected it would be Slytherin.
Come to think of it, clearly both of them were "transmigrators," yet when Audrey was sorted, it took so much time-asking for her opinion and offering her suggestions. But when he was sorted back then, from putting on the hat to taking it off took no more than 3 seconds in total: "Ooh~ It's rare that you can still maintain kindness, Hufflepuff!!"
He really wasn't the protagonist after all!
At that moment, Dumbledore stood up, smiling all over his face as he spread his arms and said, "Welcome!"
"Welcome everyone to Hogwarts to start a new school year! Before the feast begins, I would like to say a few words. And they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you all!"
As he sat down, various delicacies appeared on the previously empty plates, and the students, who had been hungry for most of the day, began to enjoy this sumptuous dinner amidst laughter and cheers.
Cedric picked up a chicken leg and asked while eating, "Edward, how was your summer? My dad and I went to France to watch the Quidditch World Cup, it was truly wonderful!"
Edward paused in the middle of peeling an orange and laughed:
"My summer was also wonderful, um... wonderfully excessive, even!"
"You simply must come join the Hufflepuff Quidditch team this term, I know you've always flown very well."
Edward hurriedly waved his hand. "I'd love to go, but... starting this term, I'll probably be away from school frequently. I have some very important matters to attend to."
Cedric let out a disappointed sigh. "Sigh, I knew it would be like this. You don't look like a 16-year-old boy at all."
"Hahahaha." Edward laughed. "Aren't we Hufflepuffs just like this? You're the unusual one among us."
Cedric pinched his chin and thought about it. "Mm, you're the right one."
On the other side, after Audrey walked into the Slytherin area, a bunch of students from pure-blood families asked around among each other and not a single one of them recognized her. However, the aristocratic aura about her was even more noble than those of the so-called Sacred Twenty-Eight, leading some students to imagine that she might originate from some hidden, truly pure-blood aristocratic family, while others claimed she was a descendant of Merlin.
Consequently, a vacuum formed around Audrey instead, and no one dared to approach.
Audrey took in all of their reactions, but she offered no extra explanations. Instead, she picked up her knife and fork, dining very elegantly as she entered the Spectator State to observe and analyze these Slytherins one by one.
"Hey!"
Malfoy sat down beside Audrey, still maintaining his arrogant demeanor. "Everyone is saying you come from a family even more ancient and pure-blooded than the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Is it true?"
Audrey put down her knife and fork, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and smiled. "What do you think?"
A trace of tension flashed in Malfoy's eyes, yet he still spoke up: "Since that's the case, you have even less reason to mingle with the Weasley family, especially since I just saw you hanging out with a mud-wuwuwu."
Before you continue