"Susan Pence... Hufflepuff!"
"Justin Finley... Hufflepuff!"
The Great Hall was buzzing with excitement as the old Sorting Hat sat wobbling on its three-legged stool, the torn fabric moving around like it had a mind of its own. Every now and then, the hat's wide brim would let out weird little chuckles, especially when some brave first-years tried poking it while they waited. Candles floated overhead, throwing moving shadows on the magical ceiling, while students at the four House tables clapped, some really enthusiastically, others just being polite.
Even the Gryffindors and Slytherins, who usually couldn't stand each other, were playing nice during the ceremony. Though you could still catch them shooting dirty looks across the hall.
But among all the nervous first-years, one kid really stuck out. While everyone else was either bouncing with excitement or looking like they might throw up, this blonde boy just stood there staring around the hall like he'd never seen anything like it. The ghosts floating by, the moving pictures on the walls, the whole impossible scene, it all seemed to hit him like he was seeing it for the first time.
"Who am I? Where am I? What the hell is going on?" he mumbled to himself, blinking hard like he was trying to wake up from a dream. "Wasn't I just dying in some hospital bed?"
"Adrian Blackwood!" Professor McGonagall's sharp voice cut right through his confusion.
The stern professor stood next to the stool, looking at her list with the efficiency of someone who'd done this a million times. When nobody moved from the group of first-years, she frowned and called out again, louder this time.
"Adrian Blackwood!"
Still nothing. Even Dumbledore looked up from the staff table, those twinkling eyes of his scanning the crowd of new kids. Students started whispering to each other.
"Who's Adrian? Did he get lost or something?"
"Maybe he freaked out and went home?"
"This is gonna be good..."
The other first-years started backing away, leaving the blonde kid standing there like a deer in headlights, still looking completely lost. Professor McGonagall had clearly had enough.
"Mr. Blackwood, get up here right now!" Her voice had that teacher tone that meant business, the kind that had dealt with thousands of scared kids over the years.
"Me?" Adrian pointed at himself, genuinely shocked, suddenly feeling hundreds of eyes on him. Something about this whole thing felt weirdly familiar, like déjà vu mixed with magic and robes.
"Yes, you. Get to the stool now, there's a whole line of kids waiting to be sorted." McGonagall's voice got a bit gentler, probably thinking he was just nervous instead of completely lost about where he even was.
Before Adrian could say anything, the other first-years started pushing him forward, working together like they'd planned it. Next thing he knew, he was sitting on the stool with Professor McGonagall dropping the ancient hat on his head.
The Sorting Hat immediately started doing its thing, wiggling around to get comfortable before talking in a voice only Ivan could hear.
"Alright kiddo, no need to be scared! You're not the first student to freeze up during all this. Just relax and it'll be over in no time, doesn't hurt a bit, promise!"
Adrian had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. After spending a few minutes in this crazy place, he was starting to figure out what might be happening, even though it seemed completely nuts.
But this was actually Hogwarts? Like, the real magical school from the books? Except this wasn't how it was supposed to...
"Oh yeah, definitely Hogwarts!" the Hat jumped into his thoughts cheerfully. "You're definitely not dreaming,I'm sure about that!"
"Let me guess, you're from a non-magical family? Every couple years I get kids who think magic isn't real. They keep saying it's all fake tricks and want me to pull rabbits out of my hat. I keep telling them there's nothing in here but dust and old thoughts, but they never believe me..."
The Hat seemed to be having fun with this, its mouth getting wider as it talked. Adrian tried to keep his thoughts blank, knowing the Hat could read his mind, but weird fragments kept slipping through, like watching old movie clips he couldn't quite remember.
A blonde woman teaching him magic... she looked around thirty, with kind eyes and a patient way of explaining things. Then out of nowhere, this crushing fear hit him like a truck...
The Sorting Hat stopped for a second, clearly confused by the mess of memories it was picking up. How could a kid from a wizard family not know about Hogwarts? That was weird.
Adrian started sweating as he tried to control his thoughts, focusing on boring stuff like cereal brands and weather reports. He had no clue what kind of secrets might be hiding in these borrowed memories.
"Ahem." Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly, reminding everyone they still had a ceremony to finish.
The Hat snapped back to attention, which was a relief for Adrian Now for the big question: which House was he gonna end up in?
"Alright, let's see what we're dealing with," the Hat said thoughtfully. "Pretty positive attitude... smart kid who thinks outside the box..." Its voice dropped to a whisper. "And you know some dark magic too, I see."
"I know dark magic?" Adrian couldn't hide how confused he was, thinking about those weird memory flashes.
"Oh yeah, some really old and rare stuff," the Hat whispered back like it was sharing a secret. "Pretty cool actually. It lets people see things they really don't want to see... Some kids have used it for pranks, though I bet you could get more creative with it."
"Though I don't think Professor Dumbledore would be too happy about any repeats of what happened before," it added, sounding almost fond of past troublemakers.
"So where do I go? Slytherin?" Adrian asked, genuinely curious about this mysterious magic stuff while really wanting to get away from the mind-reading hat.
After all, Hogwarts' four Houses were pretty straightforward: Gryffindor wanted brave kids (or maybe just reckless ones), Ravenclaw was for smart kids who loved learning, Slytherin was for ambitious kids with serious magical talent, and Hufflepuff... well, Hufflepuff seemed to take everyone else.
With the Hat talking about dark magic, Slytherin seemed like the obvious choice, though Ravenclaw could work too since he seemed pretty smart and optimistic.
"Nope, neither of those," the Hat said, sounding amused. "And sorry to say this, but Slytherin usually only takes kids with more... developed magical abilities."
Before Adrian could properly process this casual burn about his magical skills, the Hat's voice boomed across the Great Hall:
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Adrian pulled the Hat off his head, blinking in surprise. "Gryffindor? Seriously?"