Lucien leisurely starts walking toward the stool, on his way examining the teachers at the head table.
Eying the middle-aged man with the beard Lucien thinks, 'Man, he really does look like Jude Law. So, this is Dumbledore...'
Sitting next to Headmaster Dippet was Albus Dumbledore himself. He was dressed in a grey vest and jacket with a white shirt and tie.
'Hmm, I guess he hasn't started wearing all those crazy clothes yet. So this is canon Dumbles... At least I don't have to worry about him being a Dark Lord, just very biased and a tad bit too secret-y... I wonder if I should impress them, I have been practicing all summer after all.'
Lucien had been taking clear advantage of the time dilation offered in the Violet Jade Immortal Realm. Every hour outside is ten hours inside the realm and he would practice for twenty minutes every night before bed. He learned most of the spells up to fourth-year but that's where things got trickier. As much as knowledge is helpful, it doesn't beat a true teacher.
Lucien finally makes his way to the stool before he lightly bows towards the head table.
Turning toward the hat he pulls out his wand and points it, "Tergeo."
Cleaning the old hat of any dust and residue like any good plane walker, Lucien sits down and places it on his head.
"Why thank you, young man, I haven't had a good cleaning in a long time," says the hat.
"No problem Mr. Hat! Hey, is it true you aren't able to disclose about this conversation?" asks Lucien curiously.
"Nope! You have nothing to worry about. Would you mind dropping your occlumency shields?... I really don't want to play with those monsters you have floating around in there."
"Ahhhh, sorry, sorry! How's this?" says Lucienvas he drops his shields.
"Much better! Now, let's see where to put... Merlins Beard! Another one!" exclaims the hat.
"Hahaha, you caught me hat! Man, that was funnier than I thought. I assume you're referring to Mr. Scamander, right bastard messed up this timeline nice and good."
The hat reads Lucien's memories and can't help but agree.
"So, Mr. Black, where would you like to be placed?" asks the Sorting Hat.
"Ehhh??? Mr. Sorting Hat, aren't you the one who's supposed to place me? Don't skimp me on this shit man! I've been waiting eleven plus years for this moment!" He yells mentally.
"Ahem, sorry about that," apologizes Lucien, "where do you think I should be sorted?"
"That's tricky, isn't it? You won't go to Hufflepuff because they're..." the hat begins.
"Scrubs, Hufflepuffs are total scrubs," interjects Lucien.
"Yes... that... Anyways, Hufflepuff is obviously out and Gryffindor could be..."
"Social suicide hat! Me an all-powerful young master as a Gryffindork. Yeah okay, next!"
"Why are we even doing this young Black? We both knew where you were going to go from the beginning. If you want to avoid Albus' suspicions you obviously can't go to Slytherin. Additionally, you wouldn't trust yourself to be anywhere Riddle while sleeping. Leaving you really only one choice..." says the hat.
"RAVENCLAWWWWW!", yelled the Sorting Hat loudly throughout the hall.
The Ravenclaw students start clapping as Lucien makes his way toward the long table. Once seated, Lucien looks back toward the head table and gets a nod from Dumbledore.
'Phew! Good! Suspicion averted for now. I wonder if he's started legillimancing everyone yet?'
'Aurora, please keep a watch for anyone who is showing suspicious behavior towards me. Also, please remind me to look up that shimmery eye spell that Albus uses in all those fanfictions... Sorry Dumbles, that shits mine now!'
The rest of the sorting went smoothly with Orion going to Slytherin as he did in the story. Both brothers seem happy to have some space for once, especially Orion. Lucien knew that Lucretia would look out for him, so he had nothing to worry about on that front.
After the feast ended the first years were escorted to their respective dormitories and told to get ready for sleep, as classes started in the morning.
Ravenclaw was exactly as Lucien imagined it... and he loved it! Although everyone was respectful and cordial, they mostly stuck to themselves and the pursuit of knowledge. Lucien knew that he really lucked out with his choice, as no one would really be looking for him when he snuck off to go train.
Lucien made his way up the stairs to his room. Unlike in Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin students had their own individual rooms. In fact, they kept these rooms for all seven years of their tenure at Hogwarts, so they can decorate and change them as they see fit.
After locking his door, Lucien takes a good look at his room and is not very impressed. For a genius young master such as himself, this will not do.
"Kreacher," announces Lucien to the empty room.
[POP]
"What can I be doing for Young Master Lucien this evening?" asks Kreacher.
"Kreacher, would you please take care of this bedroom? Please make it a bit larger and change the bed. The room could also use some decorations and a rug or two. Also, please bring my desk from the manor since I'll need some type of workspace."
Kreacher starts to wave his hands and perform elf magic. The walls start to push out as the room expands itself to twice its previous size and the walls are painted in a lighter color. Lucien's bed transforms into a large four-post mahogany bed with gold inlays and blue and grey bedding. Kreacher heads back to the manor to grab Lucien's desk and some decorations before popping back and finishing the room set up.
"Is there anything else I can help with Young Master?" asks Kreacher.
"No thank you Kreacher, please just let my parents know that I was sorted into Ravenclaw. I'm sure they won't be surprised."
"Of course," he says before popping back to the manor.
Lucien opens his dresser and removes his pajamas which Kreacher unpacked earlier. Ready for sleep and laying on his new bed, Lucien reviews the day in his mind with the help of Aurora before dozing off with a large smile on his face.
'Now the magic really happens...'