Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is not meant to infringe upon copyrights.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kyle didn't hesitate, quickly making his way to the stage.
Having survived a disaster, he patted his chest and looked at Professor McGonagall sincerely, saying, "Thank you, Professor."
Perhaps not expecting such a polite child at Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall was taken aback by Kyle's sudden action. After a few seconds, she finally reacted and shook her head, saying, "It's my duty."
Despite this, Professor McGonagall's previously stern expression softened. Before placing the Sorting Hat on Kyle's head, she even dusted it off.
"Such a polite child, it would be great if he could be sorted into Gryffindor."
Professor McGonagall felt a pang of anticipation; Gryffindor was in dire need of such exemplary students.
Last year, she had dreamed of moving Cedric to her own house, but Sprout and Dumbledore disagreed.
It all depended on how this year would pan out.
Professor McGonagall stared at Kyle intently, silently praying that the Sorting Hat would prove reliable for once.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Strange, so strange."
After Kyle put on the Sorting Hat, he heard a tiny voice in his ear saying, "You are actually thanking me sincerely? This shouldn't be the case. I mean, are you really that kind of good kid?"
"Of course I am!" Kyle said seriously, "You can go and ask around. Both the Weasleys and Mr. Scamander have said that I am the most polite and good kid they have ever met. So please don't slander me, or even if you are just a hat, I will complain to you."
"..."
The Sorting Hat fell into silence rarely, and the tip of the hat swayed back and forth unconsciously. It seemed to be speechless, and seemed to be struggling with something.
After a long time, he continued, "Your shameless look makes me feel like I've returned to more than a thousand years ago, but at that time I was just an ordinary hat on Godric's head.
So, how about going to Gryffindor? I feel that place should... forget it, it's not suitable for you."
"I think..."
"Let me think about it." Kyle was about to speak when he was interrupted by the Sorting Hat: "Slytherin is better, there you will be glorious, there is no doubt about that."
"That..."
"Wait, wait."
For the second time, the Sorting Hat interrupted Kyle again: "No, it's still not suitable, and if you go to Slytherin, Snape will definitely pour some weird potions on me in the future, let me think about it...
Dumbledore has given me a big problem...
It's a pity, if Azkaban also belonged to Hogwarts, or Nurmengard would also be fine."
The Sorting Hat sounded like it was joking, but Kyle couldn't laugh at all... What was going on? He didn't seem to have done anything wrong. At most, he'd just scared Kanna a little. Were they going to sort him to Nurmengard for that?
How could that be unreasonable?
Besides, the entire wizarding world did the same thing, and there were plenty of people who were even more outrageous than he was saying. How could they be fine ?
There were no such hypocrisy.
Kyle felt he should do something. If the Sorting Hat actually called him out, it would be a disaster.
Azkaban was fine; it was under the Ministry's jurisdiction, not something you could just go to.
But Nurmengard was different. Dumbledore had connections there; sending someone there would be a piece of cake.
Although Kyle knew in his heart that the petty Sorting Hat was probably just upset that he'd just said he was going to complain to it and was just trying to get back at it, it wouldn't have called out that place.
But what if...
a hat that's been around for over a thousand years and still possesses its own consciousness—no one knows what's going on inside its head. What if it suddenly decides to shout to liven things up?
Anything is possible.
"That..." Kyle showed a harmless smile and said, "The song you sang just now was pretty good, especially the first few lines. The lyrics were simple and the tone was light, much better than those clichés of The Weird Sisters."
Upon hearing this, the Sorting Hat immediately became interested: "You think it sounds good too, right? I told you, it took me a year to come up with it, how could it not be good. Only Dumbledore didn't know how to appreciate it. He actually persuaded me to sing the school song, that old bee!"
Uh...
Kyle didn't intend to say anything bad about him under the headmaster's nose. It would be too stupid, even if he couldn't hear it.
After coughing twice to get over it, Kyle continued: "Excuse me, your song sounds familiar to me. Is it a rap style?"
"Rap style..." The Sorting Hat asked curiously: "What does that mean?"
"You don't know! Could it be that you learned it by yourself? That's amazing." Kyle pretended to be shocked at first, and then explained: "Rap or rapping is a very popular Muggle music style."
"Muggle music..." The Sorting Hat became even more curious.
"Yes, I think you could give it a try. It should suit you well," Kyle said sincerely. "If you need it, I can give you a gift in that vein for Christmas."
"Okay... no, I mean, let's sort first. It's been a long time, and you must be hungry. It would be a shame to delay the dinner." The Sorting Hat cleared its throat and said, "Oh, that's where we were."
Kyle smiled. "You said I'm a polite and good child, but you didn't think Gryffindor, Slytherin, or Ravenclaw suited me."
"Huh? I mentioned Ravenclaw... Oh, I almost forgot. That's right, you're absolutely right.
In that case, the result is obvious..."
"Hufflepuff!"
The moment Kyle's house was announced, the entire Great Hall, including the faculty, erupted in thunderous applause.
After a full twenty minutes, what had been arguably the longest sorting in Hogwarts' history, was finally over.
They were also truly hungry. After all, by this time of year, the dinner would have already begun.
The Hufflepuff table was particularly lively. Cedric, unconcerned with the Quidditch team, came over and gave Kyle a warm hug.
"Great, Kyle! I knew you'd come to Hufflepuff,"
Kyle said with a smile. "You've got better taste than the Sorting Hat."
"Huh?" Cedric paused, a little confused by what he meant.
But Kyle simply smiled and offered no explanation.
Just then, several seniors came over to shake his hand. Judging by their badges, they were prefects of Hufflepuff.
This was a common practice in every house, a welcome gesture and a way to make themselves known to the new students.
Kyle smiled and greeted them, then took the empty seat next to Cedric.
A prefect had previously been seated there, but upon realizing Kyle and Cedric knew each other, he offered his seat.
Once Kyle sat down, he, like the others, turned his gaze to the Sorting Hat.
He'd already planned to come to Hufflepuff. After all, Newt was a Hufflepuff, and his father, Chris, was also a Hufflepuff graduate. As a wizard who also loved magical creatures, it was natural for him to experience it.
Besides, Kyle didn't want to think about Voldemort or the Dark Lord right now. He just wanted to fully enjoy the magic and Hogwarts life. The passionate and loyal Hufflepuffs were undoubtedly the best choice.
The Hufflepuff dormitories were right next to the kitchen, which was crucial.
[End of the chapter]