What does she mean, his name isn't on the parchment?
Professor McGonagall's words silenced the Great Hall instantly. Rey, standing alone in the center aisle, suddenly felt the weight of everyone's gaze, experiencing the kind of spotlight usually reserved for Harry Potter himself.
Rey and McGonagall weren't the only ones confused. The older students began to whisper among themselves.
"How can his name not be there?"
"Is he a Muggle who snuck in?"
"Damn Muggle spy."
"I heard the Quill of Acceptance and the Book of Admittance have never missed a student in the entire history of Hogwarts."
Slytherin lived up to its reputation as the most disagreeable house. Among the students who prided themselves on their blood status, some were already openly speculating that Rey was an impostor.
Rey felt a surge of panic. Honestly, he had mentally prepared himself for being sorted into any of the four houses. But he had never considered the possibility that he wouldn't even be on the list.
Hogwarts had been running for centuries. This was unprecedented.
"Professor McGonagall, I have my acceptance letter right here."
Sensing that things were going south, Rey immediately pulled out his letter and train ticket. McGonagall took them and handed them up to Dumbledore.
Dumbledore examined the parchment, his face unreadable. He looked at the nervous boy for a long moment before finally nodding to McGonagall.
"Alright, students, settle down," McGonagall called out, silencing the whispers in the hall. "Rey Faest, please step forward to be sorted."
Hearing her words, Rey let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. For a second there, he really thought he was going to be shipped back to the Muggle world.
Nervously, he sat on the three-legged stool. McGonagall placed the old, patched Sorting Hat on his head. It was large enough that it slipped down, nearly covering his eyes.
"Oh... you are a very peculiar little fellow."
"You feel incredibly familiar... as if I've met you somewhere before."
"Courageous, a sharp mind, exceptionally high talent... and surprisingly, your heart isn't corrupted. Difficult. Very difficult. Where should I put you?"
"Where do you want to go, child?"
"Just not Slytherin," Rey thought back, communicating silently with the hat. He had heard the nasty comments from the Slytherin table loud and clear. Originally, he hadn't cared, but now? Yeah, Slytherin was off the list.
"Very well. I respect your opinion. Although... now that I think about it, the scar on my right side... it seems to have something to do with you..."
The Sorting Hat rambled on, muttering cryptic nonsense, seemingly torn about where to place Rey.
It felt as though Rey could fit into any house and achieve great things in all of them.
The hat's indecision was rare. Five minutes passed.
"It's a Hatstall!" A knowledgeable student shouted, causing an uproar in the hall.
Some asked what a Hatstall was, while others gasped in disbelief.
"A Hatstall is when the Sorting Hat takes more than five minutes to decide on a house."
Whispers swept through the Great Hall again, forcing Professor McGonagall to call for silence once more.
Soon, students were digging up history, mentioning that both Professor McGonagall and Peter Pettigrew had been Hatstalls in their time.
The Hatstall had everyone on the edge of their seats. They all wondered which house would claim the student who had stumped the Sorting Hat. Everyone hoped he would join their house—except Slytherin. The pure-blood nobles didn't want a Muggle of unknown origin.
---
"RAVENCLAW!"
Finally, after an agonizing wait, the Sorting Hat shouted its decision.
Whoosh!
Applause erupted in the hall, accompanied by cheers from the Ravenclaw table.
Rey felt a rush of excitement. He was officially a Hogwarts student. He trotted over to the Ravenclaw table and sat across from Agnes. They smiled at each other.
Both had talked about getting into Slytherin, yet both ended up in Ravenclaw. Life was funny like that.
"Mencho Gessif, Ravenclaw Prefect. Welcome to Ravenclaw," said the male prefect, extending a hand.
"Hello. I'm Rey Faest. Thank you for the welcome."
The prefect's warm greeting taught Rey something important: Ravenclaw didn't reject eccentric people; they embraced the curious and the clever.
This house suited him perfectly.
Rey quickly settled in. The warm welcome from his new housemates made him feel at home.
Looking around the table, however, he noticed a distinct gender imbalance. Boys made up only about a third of the Ravenclaw population.
Once the applause died down, the ting-ting-ting of a spoon tapping a goblet echoed through the hall.
Dumbledore stood up. "Attention, everyone. I have three announcements to make. First, please allow me to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: Professor Caradoc Dorry."
As Dumbledore spoke, a middle-aged man with graying hair stood up. He was around forty, with a gaunt face and pale skin, but his smile was kind. When he waved, he looked frail enough to collapse.
Caradoc Dorry. Rey recognized him from the Daily Prophet article—the Auror who had survived the vampire ambush. He hadn't expected him to be the new DADA professor. He looked different in person, much thinner than his picture in the paper.
Rey felt a surge of hope. This was his chance to legitimately learn how to fight vampires from an expert.
---
"I know him! He's a famous Auror. He killed several vampires just recently," a student whispered at the table.
"What's an Auror?"
"An Auror is a wizard who catches Dark Wizards and fights dark creatures."
After Professor Dorry sat down, Dumbledore continued. "Second, first-year students should note that the Forbidden Forest is strictly off-limits to all students... unless you wish to be torn apart or eaten by the creatures within."
"Third, Quidditch tryouts will be held on the Monday of the second week of term. House captains, please submit your team rosters by then."
Announcements over, Dumbledore threw his arms wide. "Now... let the feast begin!"
Instantly, the empty golden platters on the tables filled with mountains of food. Roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, boiled potatoes... everything imaginable.
The aroma filled the air, making everyone's stomach growl.
As the feast began, the ghosts of Hogwarts streamed into the hall, swooping around the tables.
It was their feast too, and scaring the first-years was their favorite pastime.
Most of the young wizards had grown up around magic, so after the initial shock, they quickly adapted.
Among the ghosts, the most terrifying one sat at the Slytherin table.
He had blank, staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silvery blood. Shackles hung from his wrists.
He looked like a true demon, yet he sat with a haughty air, claiming his place at the Slytherin table.
He didn't swoop around scaring first-years like the others. He just sat there. And that was scary enough.
Rey stared at him. The ghost's empty gaze seemed focused on nothing, as if he didn't care about anything happening in the hall.
Of all the ghosts, only he looked like a restless spirit. A malicious one.
---
Ting-ting-ting.
Once everyone had eaten their fill, the spoon tapped the goblet again.
The small sound cut through the noise, instantly grabbing the students' attention.
"Now that we are fed and watered, before we head to bed, let us sing the school song!" Dumbledore announced, beaming. "Everyone pick your favorite tune!"
Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, twisting in the air to form words.
"Ready... sing!"
The hall erupted into a cacophony of sound. Everyone bellowed the lyrics to a different tune. It sounded like a choir of banshees, filling the entire castle with discordant noise.
Rey joined in, belting out the lyrics to the tune of a dramatic pop song from his past life.
Amidst the chaos, Dumbledore seemed to be enjoying every second. When he heard Rey's dramatic rendition, he nodded appreciatively and even conducted a few bars specifically for him.
The chaotic singing finally ended. Students began to leave their seats.
The Ravenclaw prefects gathered the first-years to lead them to their dormitory.
Just then, the Bloody Baron, who had been staring into space, suddenly seemed to wake up.
He snapped his head around and locked eyes with Rey, who had just stood up.
The look was sharp as a knife. Rey felt his heart skip a beat, a chill running down his spine as if he'd been plunged into an ice bath.
Fortunately, the clarity in the Baron's eyes was fleeting. The sharp gaze quickly dulled back into its usual cloudy stupor.
Rey stood frozen as the Bloody Baron rose and floated away through the wall.
"Hey, are you okay?" Agnes noticed Rey standing like a statue.
"Oh... yeah. I'm fine."
"Really? You look pale."
"Yeah, just... ate too much. A bit of indigestion," Rey lied poorly. Agnes didn't press him, gesturing for him to catch up with the group.
---
"Listen up, everyone! Most ghosts are friendly, but watch out for Peeves," the prefect warned as they walked.
"Who's Peeves?"
"A poltergeist. He loves pranks. Not technically a ghost—he's a spirit of chaos. He especially loves tormenting first-years."
"Who was that ghost at the Slytherin table? The one with the shackles?" Rey asked the prefect.
The Bloody Baron had left a deep impression on him. It was a genuine horror-movie vibe, like watching a scary film as a kid and being unable to sleep.
"Oh, that's the Bloody Baron. He's the only one Peeves is afraid of. Just... don't mess with him, and you'll be fine."
"Why is he called the Bloody Baron? And why is the blood on him silver?"
Rey asked the question, and several other first-years leaned in, curious. There were too many mysteries at Hogwarts, and Ravenclaws were naturally inquisitive.
In his past life, Rey didn't remember seeing the Bloody Baron in the movies much. He was a character he knew by name, but not by face.
"No one knows," the prefect replied, shaking his head. "And no one dares to ask. Not even the Slytherins."
Even Mencho Gessif, the Ravenclaw prefect, didn't have the answer to that one.