Chapter 32: The Sorting Hat Cannot Decide Your Future

A sudden, piercing howl startled everyone in the Great Hall!

Professor McGonagall shuddered and instinctively took a few steps back, while the other teachers looked on in horror, their faces etched with disbelief. Professor Snape and Headmaster Dumbledore rose from their seats simultaneously, looking equally stunned. Professor Quirrell, possessed by Voldemort, stared fixedly at Chu Yang.

In the nearly thousand-year history of Hogwarts, such a scene had never occurred. What on earth had happened to the Sorting Hat? Why did it emit such a miserable scream?

"So, the Sorting Hat is nothing special after all," Chu Yang remarked. Having shed his earlier tension, he calmly took the hat off his head and pinched the folds that formed its mouth, bringing the wailing to an abrupt end.

Not only that, but with a threatening glare, he forced the sentient hat to learn the virtue of silence in an instant. Speaking out of turn could get people killed... or rather, it could get a hat killed!

"I'm going to put you back on now. Behave yourself, understand?"

The Sorting Hat nodded frantically. Satisfied, Chu Yang placed it back on his head.

"Ahem, I haven't been sleeping well lately; I was a bit out of sorts just now..."

"Yes, excellent. I see the potential within you," the Sorting Hat said, spinning a web of lies while trembling slightly. "You possess the courage to gamble everything, a boundless thirst for knowledge, and immense loyalty to your friends. More importantly, you are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goals—er, no, I mean, you know how to protect yourself and read the situation well."

"Slytherin!"

Although they were confused, the students of Slytherin House still applauded. They did not yet know that Chu Yang came from a Muggle family.

*The other three houses would have been fine... why did it have to pick Slytherin? I was planning on having a quiet school life!*

Chu Yang clicked his tongue, dissatisfied. "Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"

The Sorting Hat jolted. "Did I?"

Chu Yang nodded. "I think you did."

The Sorting Hat stammered, "Then it must be a mistake. Let me re-sort you..."

Before it could finish, Professor McGonagall snatched the hat away.

Professor McGonagall looked at Chu Yang with a complex expression. "The Sorting Hat does not determine your future. After the feast, Headmaster Dumbledore wishes to speak with you personally. You may go sit down for now."

The air in the Great Hall seemed to freeze. Students sat with their mouths agape; even the senior students nearing graduation had never seen such a spectacle! What did she mean, "the Sorting Hat does not determine your future"?

The students weren't the only ones shocked; the professors were whispering to each other behind the high table, their faces full of astonishment. They had never encountered anything so absurd.

"Where should I sit?" Chu Yang asked, scratching his head.

Professor McGonagall, clearly suffering from a headache, sighed helplessly, "Sit wherever you like."

Chu Yang thought for a moment, then plopped down at the Hufflepuff table. The badgers were startled, but surprise quickly gave way to a warm welcome. Chu Yang chose this spot mainly to show his appreciation for Professor Sprout’s earlier kindness; even though his final house placement was uncertain, he felt he had to show some gratitude.

After the brief commotion, the Sorting Ceremony continued. The rest of the new students proceeded normally, and the Sorting Hat showed no further signs of "waking up on the wrong side of the bed."

Chu Yang did not enjoy his meal. The intense gazes from all directions made him feel as if he were sitting under a spotlight. Both teachers and students seemed even more curious about him than they were about Harry Potter.

Fortunately, the arrival of the ghosts helped divert most of the attention. Ghosts emerged from walls, statues, and tables from all corners of the castle. Watching the ghosts materialize out of the food left Chu Yang feeling physically uncomfortable.

The new students, having never witnessed such a scene, fell into chaos once more. The more timid girls began to scream one after another.

As part of the opening ceremony, the teachers and senior students watched the scene with amusement, even Dumbledore was smiling.

"Ghosts! There really are ghosts!" Ron shouted, tugging at Harry’s robes. "Fred was right, there really are ghosts in the school."

Harry clutched his robes nervously, caught between his fear of the ghosts and his fear that Ron might accidentally pull his clothes off. Even Hermione, usually the calmest of the trio, turned pale. She gripped her robes tightly, looking helplessly toward Chu Yang, who was sitting at the neighboring table.

Chu Yang gave her a gesture to relax.

The translucent ghosts stood in sharp contrast to the warm colors of the living. To Chu Yang, this was the boundary between life and death. The ghosts in the Harry Potter world seemed more like earthbound spirits.

Some chose to become ghosts voluntarily. According to "Nearly Headless Nick," it required paying a high price, though only those who became ghosts knew what that cost was. Others, like Moaning Myrtle, had died accidentally at the school and remained as lingering spirits in the second-floor bathroom.

Both were ghosts, yet they were not to be mentioned in the same breath, especially the latter. In Chu Yang’s opinion, it might have something to do with Hogwarts itself.

This castle, having existed for nearly a millennium, held countless secrets; it could perhaps not be viewed as merely an inanimate object. The enrollment records of the students might be a form of contract signed with the castle, which, under specific circumstances, could be activated, causing deceased students to remain as ghosts.

Of course, this was just a guess. Chu Yang thought optimistically, "If I die and become a ghost, the first thing I’ll do is tear Hogwarts apart. There’s no way I’m spending eternity stuck here."

The food at Hogwarts was generally well-received by the new students, but to Chu Yang, it was nothing special—after all, England was notorious for its culinary desert status. Added to that was a ghost with a macabre sense of humor who kept detaching his own head, killing whatever appetite Chu Yang had left.

After the feast, instead of returning to their dormitories, the new students were led by Professor McGonagall to a lounge next to the Great Hall. She began to inspect the students' wands to determine if Malfoy’s misfortune had been caused by human intervention.

After fifteen minutes of inspection, the result was unexpected: none of the new students were carrying their wands.

In other words, human interference in Malfoy’s incident could effectively be ruled out.

"This matter must be reported to Headmaster Dumbledore immediately!" A rare look of gravity appeared on Professor McGonagall’s stern face.