"The acceptance quill and the Book of Admittance have been in this tower since Hogwarts Castle was built," Professor Dumbledore said, leading Gary slowly up the stairs, the candles on both sides of the passage lighting up one by one with their footsteps.
"Whoever's name the acceptance quill writes in the Book of Admittance will be a new student at Hogwarts. Those on the list can choose not to come to Hogwarts and instead go to other magic schools, but no one can add a name against their will."
"We've arrived." After climbing hundreds of steps, Professor Dumbledore stopped and said happily. Gary quickly stopped, almost bumping into Professor Dumbledore.
Before them was a bronze door, about two people tall, intricately carved with patterns. Gary, by the candlelight, distinguished some of them: badgers underground, snakes and lions on the surface, and ravens in the sky, all surrounding a structure.
That structure was incredibly vast compared to them; the lions on the ground were like ants before this Castle.
"Come in." Without waiting for Gary to look further, Professor Dumbledore had already opened the door. He pushed the bronze door open with force, and Gary, following behind, saw the full view of the room.
It was actually a tower. Gary was a bit bewildered when he saw the sky outside the room; the sky and the room were separated by a row of windows. The empty room contained only an ancient book with a Black dragon-skin cover that was somewhat peeling, next to which was a small silver inkwell with a long, faded quill inserted into it.
"Many people don't know of this tower's existence; it's hidden among a cluster of buildings, and students usually can't come up here," Professor Dumbledore opened a window, and the cold winter wind squeezed into the room. "Sometimes I come here to enjoy the view; I can see the Quidditch pitch."
Gary was hit full-on by the cold wind. He cast a warming charm on himself and placed the Sorting Hat he was holding on the ground.
"Until dinner tonight, the right to use this tower belongs to you," Professor Dumbledore took out his wand and circled inside the tower, casting various spells whose names Gary couldn't recognize.
Layers of blue and white barriers, like Muggle cling film, protected the tower.
Then Professor Dumbledore left directly.
Gary looked at the empty room, full of questions. Professor Dumbledore hadn't asked about his purpose since entering the door, and had simply entrusted this tower to him with such confidence.
He looked at the wilted Sorting Hat and discovered the problem: the spell Professor Dumbledore had cast on the Sorting Hat earlier hadn't been lifted yet.
He picked up the Sorting Hat, turning it over and observing it, trying to figure out a way to make it speak.
"Stop bothering me, you brat," the brim of the Sorting Hat suddenly split open, "I'm getting dizzy."
"…Didn't Professor Dumbledore cast a spell on you?" Gary looked at the Sorting Hat in his hand.
"Can such a petty trick stump me?" The Sorting Hat said with extreme disdain, "I just… let Professor Dumbledore have his way at the time." Its voice grew softer and softer.
"Never mind that, you brat, what do you want with me?" The Sorting Hat changed the subject, its voice becoming firmer.
"I just wanted to ask… how do you decide the house assignments for new students?" Gary asked cautiously, sitting cross-legged and placing the Sorting Hat on his lap.
"House assignment?" The Sorting Hat yelled loudly, "It's very simple, you know: bloodline, intelligence, their own wishes, and so on… Why are you asking this?" It asked warily after saying this.
"Could you tell me about the house assignments for Sirius Black and Alphard Black? How did you decide?" Gary kept his posture very low.
"Alphard… that must have been over thirty years ago, right?" The Sorting Hat fell into reminiscence.
"I remember he wanted to go to Slytherin himself, didn't he?" The Sorting Hat seemed a bit senile, mumbling things Gary couldn't understand.
"Mr. Sorting Hat, do you already have a decision about house assignment as soon as you come into contact with a new student?" Gary's question was very direct.
"…" The Sorting Hat fell silent.
Suddenly, the acceptance quill hummed, the faded quill flew out of the inkwell, and the all-Black Book of Admittance opened, revealing its yellowed pages. The quill quickly wrote on the pages.
Gary and the Sorting Hat's attention were both drawn to it. Gary clearly saw that the acceptance quill had no ink, yet it left marks on the Book of Admittance.
The acceptance quill wrote very quickly; this process lasted only a few short seconds. After it stopped writing, the acceptance quill flew back into the silver inkwell.
Gary leaned over and saw "Charlie Weasley" written in the Book of Admittance. "Another Weasley," the Sorting Hat, squeezed behind Gary, also saw the name and grumbled discontentedly.
The Book of Admittance immediately snapped shut with a crisp sound, startling Gary.
It was his first time seeing this process of Hogwarts determining new students, and he found it very novel.
"Mr. Sorting Hat, now answer my question. Do you already have a decision before asking the new students their own preferences?" Gary, having retracted his gaze, had no intention of letting the Sorting Hat off the hook, determined to get to the bottom of it. "Does what the new student says not affect your decision?"
The Sorting Hat seemed intent on playing dead. It lay motionless on the ground, looking like an ordinary hat.
"Mr. Sorting Hat…" Gary pulled out his wand, "You don't want me to use unconventional methods, do you?"
"Oh, you have to satisfy my need to talk to someone, don't you?" The Sorting Hat's tone became very aggrieved. "I only get to come out for one night a year, and normally no one talks to me… Is it easy for me?!"
"Your attitude means you admit it, right?" Gary's gaze was aggressive.
The Sorting Hat sighed, "Yes," it saw Gary's expression wasn't right and quickly explained, "It's really not up to me; I'm also beyond my control."
"It's rare to have someone to talk to, and this isn't a secret anyway, so I'll tell you plainly." The Sorting Hat organized its thoughts, then slowly said:
"Before Hogwarts was founded, I was Godric Gryffindor's hat. This is my earliest memory, though my mind wasn't fully formed then, and these memories are fragmented…"
"On the day I truly gained sentience, Hogwarts Castle had already been built, and the four founders were arguing endlessly about how to assign new students to houses."
"They discussed many plans, like creating a talking statue or a series of magic challenges, but all were rejected."
"Finally, they decided to make me the tool for assigning new students." The Sorting Hat's tone carried a mix of nostalgia and bitterness, as if reminiscing about that time a thousand years ago.
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