"That's right, her father was the eldest son of the Pure-blood Greengrass family. He was supposed to inherit the bloodline, but he didn't show any magic in his childhood. After countless examinations at St. Mungo's, he was confirmed to be a Squib.
"How could a Squib inherit a Pure-blood family? He couldn't even get into Hogwarts. His family arranged for him to work at a company in London, and when he came of age, he married another Squib—the second daughter of the Nott family."
Gary was stunned by this news. He never expected Alfrina's background to be so melodramatic, like a heroine from the romance novels Howard loved to read.
"But fortunately, their daughter Alfrina Greengrass possesses excellent magic talent," the Sorting Hat sighed with emotion.
Recently, Alfrina's expression was very off when she mentioned her parents, and the hesitant look on her face whenever she faced him made Gary a little worried.
Gary had long suspected Alfrina's parents. The surname Greengrass was already rare, so how could it be such a coincidence that Alfrina was also a Wizard? Gary originally thought her parents, like Sirius's sister Andromeda, had been disowned and cast out by their family. Since the Sorting Hat said it was skilled in Legilimency, he wanted to ask for information about her parents, but he didn't expect to uncover such a big secret.
He sought out the acceptance quill and the Book of Admittance purely out of curiosity, because the descriptions of these two items in "Hogwarts, A History" were not detailed. He wanted to understand the entire process of a Wizard from birth to sorting, so he made this request to Dumbledore.
"Mr. Sorting Hat, you have to promise me one thing." Gary's expression was solemn.
"What is it? Tell me." The Sorting Hat saw Gary's expression was off and lowered its voice a bit.
"You cannot tell anyone about Alfrina Greengrass's background. Anyone." Gary leaned down, facing the Sorting Hat's "eyes."
"Anyone? No, no, I must obey the commands of the Principal of Hogwarts. I cannot fulfill this request!" The Sorting Hat couldn't agree.
"...Then you can't tell anyone except the Principal of Hogwarts," Gary said. "Otherwise, I'll tell Professor Dumbledore that you're revealing student information without permission, and then we'll see if he punishes you."
The Sorting Hat didn't expect Gary to try to make a pre-emptive strike. He was the one who asked it to reveal student information, yet now he was using that accusation to turn the tables.
Its body wilted, its pointed tip pointing straight to the ground.
"I can keep it a secret, but I have one request," the Sorting Hat said.
"What request?" Gary asked, his fingers touching his wand in his pants pocket.
"You come and chat with me for a bit every month," the Sorting Hat said, seeing Gary's troubled expression. "You won't come for nothing. If you have any questions you don't understand, feel free to ask me. Whether it's common knowledge in Hogwarts or various magic knowledge, I will tell you everything I know."
"That's not the point," Gary said. "If you can keep Alfrina's background a secret, then chatting with you every month is certainly no problem."
"The key is how can I find you? You're in the Principal's office, and I can't get in unless there's a special situation." Gary spread his hands.
"That's not an issue, I can persuade Dumbledore," the Sorting Hat said loudly. "So it's settled, I'll help you keep the secret."
Gary thought for a moment, then nodded and agreed. Chatting with the Sorting Hat was a good job, much more interesting than reading by himself, and it could also keep secrets. It was killing two birds with one stone, so why not?
"There's still some time left, what do you plan to do?" The Sorting Hat glanced at the sky outside the window.
"Tell me about my sorting. You said at the time that I didn't possess Gryffindor traits..."
"That was all made up by me," the Sorting Hat said very honestly. "Rowena's part of the consciousness insisted on you, and Godric couldn't argue with her."
"These people are still arguing in your head…" Gary carefully looked at the Sorting Hat's pointed tip, which should be its head.
"Oh, they four only appear during the sorting, and they're asleep the rest of the time."
It found Gary's eager look somewhat amusing. "Don't think about it, they four only injected some sorting standards into my mind, there are no long-lost magic secrets."
"You said Mr. Gryffindor couldn't argue with Ms. Rowena… does that mean I have excellent Gryffindor qualities?"
"This situation is rare, but it's not unheard of. Currently, the Dean of Gryffindor, Minerva McGonagall, and the Dean of Ravenclaw, Filius Flitwick, both caused arguments among the Founders. They both possess the traits of both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw."
This was the first time Gary had heard of this. "But I've been at Hogwarts for three years, and I don't feel particularly brave or have strong leadership."
"...If you ask me these things, I can only tell you what they think. If you insist on asking why, then I don't know either."
"But Godric must have his reasons for wanting you." The Sorting Hat seemed to be a supporter of Godric, and its tone carried some admiration when mentioning him.
This afternoon, an unusually large number of young Wizards burst with magic, and the acceptance quill and the Book of Admittance had been continuously recording the names of eligible young Wizards.
"Is the feather of the acceptance quill really from an Augurey?"
"Of course, this creature is extinct. Its feathers are extremely spiritual and controllable, and using them as the core of a wand is also a good choice."
It wasn't until the sun set over the hill that Dumbledore opened the bronze door, smiling at Gary.
"Time's up, you should go to dinner now. Your friends are already in the Great Hall," Dumbledore squinted.
The two of them went down the tower with the Sorting Hat. Gary clearly felt Dumbledore looking at the Sorting Hat several times.
Ever since Dumbledore entered, the Sorting Hat hadn't spoken. Gary seriously doubted whether it could persuade Dumbledore.
"I'll see you off here. We'll see each other in the next Alchemy class." Dumbledore led him back to the Principal's office and put the Sorting Hat back on the cabinet. Gary noticed that Fawkes the Phoenix, who had been perched on the roost, was gone.
"See you, Principal Dumbledore." Gary glanced at the Sorting Hat on the cabinet before leaving, finding that it was still playing dead.
When he returned to the Great Hall, everyone was eating enthusiastically. He walked past the teacher's table towards the end of the Ravenclaw long table and saw Lovegood sitting with Pandora.
"What's going on?" Gary was very confused. He still vividly remembered the last time Lovegood spilled food on Pandora's head after drinking a powerful sleeping potion. Now, meeting again, the two were actually sitting together.
"After Prefect Lovegood apologized to Pandora, their relationship seems to have progressed by leaps and bounds," Kona gulped down some pumpkin juice.