Chapter 66: The Sorting Hat: Azkaban!

Chapter 66: The Sorting Hat: Azkaban!

"Ding! Detected host inflicting minor mental damage on bad child Malfoy, rewarding the host with 5 merit points."

"Ding..."

"Ding! Detected host inflicting massive mental damage on evil bad child Tom, rewarding the host with 200 merit points."

Theo listened to the series of system notifications in his ears, his heart calm. There was no way around it; this system was too useless. Apart from the items that were useful when it first refreshed, almost nothing good had come up since. Those potion ingredients, alchemy materials, and the like, Theo could buy directly with Galleons; there was no need to spend merit points. Couldn't it at least refresh some Phoenix tears or something? Theo was so annoyed by the system that he almost wanted to drink a sip of Felix Felicis and wait for the refresh.

Later, because he spent every night learning from the senior student, he didn't pay much attention to the system shop that refreshed at midnight, only taking a glance during the day.

...Speaking of the system, he hadn't been getting much merit points when he bullied Tom before, and he thought the kid had learned his lesson. He didn't expect that today, he would get a big reward... he could really hold back.

This was actually quite reasonable; how could a guy like Tom be honest all the time? However, the nightmare magic was unexpectedly useful... thanks to the senior student!

...

The Hogwarts Express had started, and the scenery outside the window was quickly receding...

Tom sat opposite Theo, his head lowered. He didn't dare to make eye contact with Theo, afraid that he would be in trouble right now. Although Theo said he believed his explanation, Tom couldn't believe Theo's words! Tom had a feeling that Theo would definitely take revenge, just not knowing when... Thinking of this, Tom became anxious again.

Suddenly, a few knocks came from the compartment door, breaking the unsettling silence. Theo looked up from his book and looked at the door. The compartment door opened, and a very pretty girl leaned against it, politely asking, "Can I sit here? There are no seats outside."

Theo looked at the girl, feeling she looked familiar, but couldn't remember for a moment. "Of course, there are seats here," Theo said, moving the books on the table to one side.

"Thank you. All the other compartments are full!" The girl happily walked in, carrying a suitcase.

"Tom, don't just sit there..."

Tom understood and stood up, taking the suitcase from the girl and putting it on the luggage rack. There was no way around it, he had just caused trouble, and he hoped that being well-behaved now would make Theo's revenge less severe... Alas, who could be more miserable than him... Tom sat back down sadly.

"Thank you..." the girl said, seemingly a little embarrassed.

"Sit wherever you like," Theo smiled.

"Okay..." The girl looked at the expressionless Tom and finally sat next to the smiling Theo.

Theo smiled and said, "I'm Theo Ever (Lim), you can call me Theo. He's Tom, Tom Riddle. Don't let his silence fool you; he's actually a surprisingly good person. We're both first-year students who just enrolled this year."

Tom raised his head, forced a smile, looking like his mouth had just twitched...

"Hello... my name is Annie Rosier, also a first-year student. You can just call me Annie. Nice to meet you," Annie said with a smile.

"Rosier..." Theo's eyes lit up, and he finally remembered who Annie looked like. The woman standing next to Grindelwald... Vinda Rosier.

Back in Godric's Hollow, that woman was with Grindelwald. But at that time, Theo's attention was all on Grindelwald, and Vinda was busy saving people, so he didn't pay much attention to her. Therefore, when he saw Annie now, he only remembered who she looked like after hearing her surname.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Annie seemed curious about Theo's reaction.

"Oh, nothing, I just suddenly remembered that the Rosier family seems to be one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight," Theo explained.

"Yes, the Rosier family is recognized as one of the purest of the twenty-eight pure-blood families," Annie said proudly. "By the way, are you pure-blood wizards?"

"Yes, very pure..." Theo said firmly.

In fact, Theo wanted to go to Slytherin. And Tom, as a descendant of Slytherin, would of course be sorted into Slytherin. In this era, non-pure-blood wizards would have a lot of trouble after being sorted into Slytherin. Being isolated and bullied was commonplace. Although Theo wasn't afraid of bullying, he didn't want to make things so complicated. So, since no one else knew, he simply said he was pure-blood when asked. This would at least solve eighty percent of the trouble.

"I knew it!" Annie said excitedly. In her opinion, people with Theo's and Tom's temperament must be pure-blood wizards! "Oh? You even keep a snake as a pet?" Annie noticed Nagini coiled in front of the book. "You'll definitely be sorted into Slytherin."

Of course, Slytherin played with snakes, and now Theo did too...

"What about you? What house do you want to be sorted into?" Theo asked casually.

"Slytherin, of course! Our family are all Slytherins, no exceptions!" Annie said excitedly.

"Ah... I see..."

Although Theo chatted with Annie casually, he was very wary. Vinda Rosier was Grindelwald's most trusted follower. And he and Tom had just been targeted by Grindelwald not long ago, and then a Rosier came up to them. He would never believe there was nothing fishy about it. Theo felt that Annie was likely sent to investigate him and Tom. He just didn't know if it was Grindelwald's intention or Vinda Rosier's.

Sure enough, after chatting for a while, Annie began to steer the conversation towards Theo and Tom's families. However, Tom didn't say a word, and Theo was a shrewd person, always dodging the questions. Theo felt this was much more interesting than reading a book.

Later, when even Tom noticed that Annie was acting strange, the announcement for the train's arrival was made on the Hogwarts Express. Annie felt very frustrated. Theo seemed to have chatted with her a lot, but also seemed to have said nothing! For over six hours! Annie was a little thirsty, but still had no useful information!

"Annie, you should change your clothes first." Theo said, walking out of the compartment with Tom. For a moment, Annie was the only one left in the compartment. She quietly pulled the curtain on the compartment door. When she turned around, her face was devoid of any smile. "I don't believe it..." Annie frowned, whispering to herself.

What she didn't notice was that on the table, Nagini was staring at her...

...

"I'm Hagrid, Hogwarts' gamekeeper and Keeper of Keys! Please get off the train in an orderly manner! First-year students, follow me! Leave your luggage on the train; don't worry about it!"

A bald wizard holding a lantern stood on a high place, shouting loudly. The students got off the train one after another, and the station became crowded.

While Annie was pushed to the other side by the crowd, Tom quietly said to Theo, "That woman is suspicious."

"I know," Theo nodded.

"You know?" Tom looked at Theo in surprise.

"Grindelwald's most trusted person... is called Vinda Rosier."

Tom was even more surprised, "So, she was sent by... that man?"

Theo shrugged, "I'm not sure, probably."

"Since you know she's suspicious, why did you let her stay in our compartment?" Tom asked, puzzled.

Theo grinned, "In many cases, such people can be unexpectedly useful... we don't need to expose her."

Tom wanted to say something, but Annie had already pushed through the crowd and came to them, so Tom had to shut up and go back to being silent.

The first-year students followed Hagrid for a long walk and came to the Black Lake. Theo looked at the outline of Hogwarts Castle in the distance and couldn't help but feel emotional.

"Attention, four people per boat," Hagrid said, directing the first-year students to board the boats. Theo and Tom were the first to step into a boat, followed closely by Annie. Soon, another boy stepped into their boat, taking the last seat. The boy raised his head with a smile, wanting to greet the people in the boat. But when he saw Theo, his face froze.

At this time, Theo and Tom recognized him. It was the younger brother of the Black siblings. The boat had already started moving slowly, and it was too late for the boy to switch boats, so he had to sit back down awkwardly.

"Hey, Black family, what's your name?" Theo asked suddenly.

"Me?" The boy pointed to himself in surprise.

"Of course, are there any other Blacks on this boat?"

"Oh... I... I'm Alphard Black..."

"Hello, Alphard, nice to meet you," Theo said, warmly shaking Alphard's hand.

This friendly approach made Alphard less nervous.

"Hello... I remember you're called Theo Ever Lim, right?"

"Just call me Theo," Theo said.

"I'm Tom, Tom Marvolo Riddle," Tom said coolly.

Honestly, after experiencing so much today, Tom had lost his idealized view of pure-blood families.

"I'm Annie Rosier," Annie introduced herself.

"Um... hello," Alphard said, feeling a little overwhelmed.

Soon, the boat reached the shore. Hagrid led the first-year students off the boat, up the long stone steps, and to the castle gates.

At this time, some first-year students in the line saw Theo and moved away in fear. Theo looked at them and grinned, "Tom, aren't they your good friends?"

"No, no, don't talk nonsense..." Tom quickly denied.

...

Ten minutes later. The first-year students lined up and entered the bustling Great Hall, then stood in front of a tattered hat placed on a stool.

Theo glanced at the professors' table and immediately saw several familiar faces. Dumbledore sat next to a white-bearded old man, smiling at Theo. Theo guessed that the white-bearded old man was the current Hogwarts headmaster, Armando Dippet. On the other side of Dumbledore sat Professor Hicks. As for the other professors, Theo didn't recognize them, except for the young Professor McGonagall and the corpulent Professor Slughorn.

However, it was the first time Theo had seen a young Professor McGonagall.

While Theo was lost in thought, the Sorting Hat suddenly spoke, singing a strangely tuned song that introduced the characteristics of the four houses.

After the song ended, Dumbledore stood up, holding a roll of parchment, and came to the stool. In this era, this job still belonged to Dumbledore.

"First-year students whose names I call, sit here and put on the Sorting Hat..."

"Henry Avery!"

As the first boy walked up nervously, he was sorted into Slytherin. The Sorting Ceremony officially began.

As the list shortened, Theo felt Alphard next to him become increasingly nervous. Tom was calm, but Theo noticed his knuckles were white. After all, he was still an eleven-year-old kid...

"Theo Ever Lim!"

Dumbledore's voice pulled Theo back from his thoughts. "So fast..." Theo was a little surprised that it was his turn so quickly. He walked forward quickly and sat on the stool.

"Don't be nervous, Theo. Relax," Dumbledore said with a smile, placing the Sorting Hat on Theo's head. The hat was still too big for Theo. As soon as it was on his head, it covered his eyes.

Then, Theo felt a small voice speaking in his mind. "Hmm... that's strange. You don't seem to have a particular place you want to go? How is that possible?"

Theo thought that his Occlumency must have been too effective. So, he quickly activated Occlumency and fabricated some scenes in his mind. Sure enough, the voice spoke again.

"Ah! I see... so that's it... brave, cunning, and ambitious... ah, and a heart that truly cherishes friends!" Dumbledore, who had been waiting nearby, couldn't help but smile when he heard this. Theo was indeed a good boy...

"Oh dear, this is difficult. You seem to be very suitable for all four houses! So... where do you want to go?" Faced with the memories and thoughts Theo had deliberately created, the Sorting Hat was also troubled.

"Then Slytherin," Theo thought to himself. Only in Slytherin could he earn merit points, even though the system was a bit useless...

"Ah, I see, in that case, as you wish... SLYTHERIN!"

When Dumbledore heard that Theo seemed to have voluntarily chosen Slytherin, he was slightly taken aback. He didn't expect Theo to choose Slytherin. But when he saw Tom in line behind Theo, Dumbledore understood. It was for Tom.

Dumbledore didn't even need the Sorting Hat. After learning about Tom's actions in the orphanage, he knew he would definitely be a Slytherin. Right, Theo valued friendship so much, of course he wanted to be in the same house as his friend... that made sense.

Theo smiled and handed the Sorting Hat back to Dumbledore, then walked towards the applauding Slytherin table. But no one noticed that his fingers, which had just held the Sorting Hat, flashed with a faint white light...

After a while. "Tom Riddle!" Tom walked up nervously and put on the Sorting Hat. For students with such distinct personalities as Tom, the Sorting Hat didn't have to hesitate. But when it announced the result, the Slytherin that was about to come out of its mouth turned into...

"AZKABAN!"