When Harry entered the Great Hall with the line of students, he was so surprised he could barely speak.
Not because of the magnificent splendor of Hogwarts' Great Hall, nor because of the thousands of candles floating in the air or the ceiling that resembled the starry sky.
But because of Adrian, who was sitting at the professors' table, smiling.
When Harry saw Mr. Westeros sitting there, he couldn't help but rub his eyes.
'What... was going on?'
Adrian noticed Harry standing motionless, and a flash of satisfaction crossed his eyes. This was exactly the reaction he had been waiting for.
'It was amusing, wasn't it?'
Adrian gave a slight chuckle, then raised his finger to his lips, making a "shh" gesture, signaling Harry to remain quiet.
Harry's eyes widened, clearly at a loss for what to do.
"What's wrong with you?" Ron, behind him, gave a light push to his back when he saw Harry had stopped. "Hurry up and move forward."
Only then did Harry realize he had fallen quite a distance behind the light brown-haired boy in front of him, so he quickly caught up.
Although Harry wanted to rush to Mr. Westeros right then and ask why he was there, it was obviously not the right time to do so.
He could only follow the line forward.
Eventually, under Professor McGonagall's guidance, they lined up facing all the older students.
Adrian glanced at the students below and the professors beside him. Most people's gazes were fixed on Harry Potter.
Of course, this was inevitable—who could blame them when Harry had defeated the legendary Dark Lord?
Everyone wanted to see "the boy who lived" with their own eyes.
Now was the perfect opportunity.
Harry also noticed this. When he realized almost everyone was staring at him, he couldn't help but throw Adrian a pleading look.
But... there was nothing to be done. Adrian could only offer him a reassuring smile.
He couldn't exactly stop people from looking.
Although this wasn't much practical help, Harry still felt much more at ease inside.
Next came the familiar procedure that Adrian knew well.
Professor McGonagall brought out a four-legged stool, and then placed the tattered Sorting Hat on top of it.
Upon seeing the Sorting Hat, Adrian had a sudden thought and had the Wisdom Tree analyze it.
"Eldra."
[Name: Sorting Hat]
[Description: Alchemical Product]
Well, Adrian felt somewhat disappointed.
It seemed that with the Wisdom Tree's current abilities, it could only identify that the hat before him was an alchemical product, with no other information provided.
Neither the hat's materials nor its method of creation.
However, when Adrian had the Wisdom Tree analyze the Sorting Hat, the Hat suddenly stirred.
It looked left and right, as if sensing something unusual, and suddenly spoke: "I feel like someone's watching me."
"Everyone is watching you, Mr. Hat," Professor McGonagall couldn't help but remind it.
"Well, you're right," the Sorting Hat responded, pursing its lips. "Now there are more important matters at hand. I've been waiting for this day for a long time."
With that, the Sorting Hat opened its mouth and suddenly began to sing:
"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me."
...…
It was the familiar melody Adrian knew, but with different lyrics.
The Sorting Hat really deserved credit for coming up with different lyrics every year.
Hogwarts had existed for over a thousand years, which meant the Sorting Hat had composed probably over a thousand versions of its song.
Adrian could only express his admiration.
When the hat finished singing, it bowed to each of the four tables amid applause from the entire hall.
After completing these formalities, the Sorting Hat was ready to fulfill its task.
Professor McGonagall stepped forward, holding a piece of parchment which was the list of Hogwarts students for this year.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted."
"Hannah Abbott!"
Hannah Abbott was a rosy-faced girl with two golden braids.
Only now did Harry learn that Hogwarts' sorting ceremony involved wearing a singing hat.
This made him feel relieved.
Before this, Adrian, following tradition, hadn't told him any details about the sorting.
Harry had thought that Hogwarts' entrance examination might require them to defeat some monster.
That was why he had desperately memorized so many spells before starting school.
...
Finally, the hat called out Hannah Abbott's house.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
As expected, just like before.
Adrian smiled and was the first to begin applauding.
His house had gained a new student, which was worth celebrating.
For Adrian, a Hufflepuff graduate, the more new Hufflepuff students, the better.
"Susan Bones!"
"Terry Boot!"
...
One by one, students were sent to the houses they were supposed to be by the Sorting Hat.
Adrian applauded for each student.
Of course, his applause was naturally a bit louder for Hufflepuff students.
"Harry Potter!"
Finally, Harry Potter's name came from Professor McGonagall's lips.
As Harry walked forward, he noticed people were paying even more attention to him; everyone was staring and whispering.
He suddenly became nervous and, out of habit, looked toward Adrian again.
Adrian raised the corner of his mouth slightly and silently mouthed to him—"Hufflepuff."
'Hufflepuff?'
Harry remembered that was Adrian's house.
'Going to Mr. Westeros' house?
That wouldn't be a bad choice.'
As long as it wasn't Slytherin, honestly, he could accept anything.
Before he could think more, he had already reached the four-legged stool.
Harry took a deep breath, sat down, and then the tattered Sorting Hat was placed on his head.
The Sorting Hat's voice entered his mind.
"Hmm..."
"Difficult, very difficult."
"Courage, kindness, talent—ah, you lack none of these. Very good."
"So where should you go?"
"Hmm, you want to go to Hufflepuff? Not a bad choice. Of course, Slytherin would suit you well too."
At this point, Harry quickly repeated in his mind, not Slytherin, not Slytherin.
"Not Slytherin, eh?"
"Well, alright, I'll respect every young wizard's choice."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Finally, the hat called out Harry's final house.
Harry let out a sigh of relief. Gryffindor was good too.
When the Sorting Hat said "Slytherin would suit you well," he had nearly panicked.
Thankfully, he wasn't going to Slytherin.
At this moment, when Adrian heard that Harry's final house was still Gryffindor, he felt somewhat regretful.
He had thought he might lure Harry to Hufflepuff.
Of course, the final sorting result depended on which house truly suited Harry, and without a doubt, Gryffindor was the most suitable place for him.
...
When Harry walked toward the Gryffindor table, all the Gryffindor students erupted in cheers.
But he paid them no mind, just looked toward Adrian. Only when he saw his approving smile did Harry finally feel at ease.