Chapter 32: The Sorting Hat Does Not Determine Your Future

The sudden howl startled everyone in the Great Hall!

Professor McGonagall shuddered, instinctively stepping back a few paces, while the other teachers looked on with horrified, incredulous expressions.

Professor Snape and Headmaster Dumbledore both stood up in shock at the same time.

Professor Quirrell, possessed by Voldemort, stared fixedly at Chu Yang.

In nearly a thousand years of Hogwarts history, such a scene had never occurred!

What on earth was wrong with the Sorting Hat? Why did it let out such a miserable scream?

It turns out the Sorting Hat wasn't all that impressive. Chu Yang, the instigator, lost his previous tension and calmly took the hat off. He reached out and pinched the "mouth" formed by the hat's folds, causing its screaming to stop abruptly.

Not only that, but he used a threatening gaze to make the sentient hat learn the meaning of silence in an instant.

Talking too much could get someone killed... oh wait, it would get the hat killed!

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

The Sorting Hat nodded repeatedly in a frenzy. Chu Yang smiled with satisfaction and placed it back on.

"Ahem, I haven't been sleeping well lately; I lost my composure for a moment..."

"Mmm, very good. I see the potential within you."

The Sorting Hat spoke lies while trembling slightly. "You have the courage to risk everything, an endless thirst for knowledge, and sufficient loyalty to your friends. More importantly, to achieve your goals, you know how to be... er, not that, but rather, you know how to protect yourself and read the situation."

"Slytherin!"

Though they didn't understand why, the Slytherin students broke into applause. At this moment, they still didn't know that Chu Yang came from a Muggle family.

The other three houses were all fine... why did it have to be Slytherin?

*I was planning to spend my school years in peace and quiet!*

Chu Yang smacked his lips and said with some dissatisfaction, "Did you get it wrong?"

The Sorting Hat shuddered and asked, "Did I?"

Chu Yang nodded. "I think you did."

The Sorting Hat said tremulously, "Then I must have been wrong. Let me try again..."

Before it could finish, Professor McGonagall lifted the hat up.

Looking at Chu Yang with a complex expression, Professor McGonagall said, "The Sorting Hat cannot decide your future. Once the feast is over, Headmaster Dumbledore intends to speak with you personally. You may go down now!"

The air in the Great Hall seemed to freeze at that moment. The students stared with wide mouths; even the graduating seniors had never witnessed such a spectacle!

What did she mean, "the Sorting Hat cannot decide your future"?

Never mind the students; the professors were also whispering among themselves behind the high table, discussing Chu Yang with faces full of astonishment. They had never seen anything so absurd.

Chu Yang scratched his head and asked, "Then where do I sit?"

Professor McGonagall, also feeling a headache coming on, said helplessly, "Sit wherever you like."

Chu Yang thought for a moment, then plopped down at the Hufflepuff table. This startled the Hufflepuff students, but despite their surprise, they welcomed him warmly.

Chu Yang chose to sit here mainly to repay Professor Sprout's kindness. Although he didn't know where he would ultimately be placed, he felt he should show some appreciation.

After a brief period of commotion, the Sorting Ceremony continued. After Chu Yang, the atmosphere among the other new students gradually returned to normal, and the Sorting Hat showed no further signs of being half-asleep.

Chu Yang found the meal quite uncomfortable. The intense gazes from all sides gave him the illusion that he was sitting under a spotlight.

Whether it was the teachers or the students, their curiosity about Chu Yang seemed to subtly exceed that of Harry Potter.

Fortunately, the appearance of the ghosts helped divert most of the attention away from him.

Walls, statues, dining tables—the ghosts of the castle surged in from all directions. Especially those ghosts that emerged from the food; even Chu Yang felt a sense of physical discomfort watching them.

The new students, having never seen such a scene, fell into chaos once again.

The more timid girls began to scream one after another.

As part of the entrance ceremony, the teachers and older students watched the scene with great interest; 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 pulled at his own clothes nervously, both afraid of the ghosts and afraid that Ron would rip his clothes off.

Hermione, usually the calmest of the trio, turned pale. Her fingertips gripped her robes tightly as she looked helplessly toward Chu Yang, who was sitting at the next table.

Chu Yang gave her a "relax" gesture.

The translucent ghosts formed a stark contrast with the warm colors of the living; in Chu Yang's eyes, this was the boundary between life and death.

The ghosts in the world of Harry Potter were more like "earthbound spirits."

Some of them chose to become ghosts voluntarily. According to "Nearly Headless Nick," one only needed to pay a certain high price.

As for what that price was, only those who became ghosts knew.

Aside from them, there were others who became ghosts in a state of confusion after dying accidentally within the school.

For example, Moaning Myrtle, who was killed by the Basilisk's petrification magic and became an earthbound spirit in the second-floor bathroom.

Both were ghosts, but they were not to be equated, especially the latter.

In Chu Yang's view, it might have something to do with Hogwarts itself.

This castle, which had existed for nearly a thousand years, held countless secrets. It perhaps could not be viewed as a mere inanimate object.

The student enrollment records might also be a type of contract signed with this ancient castle, which could be activated under certain special circumstances, causing deceased students to exist as ghosts.

Of course, these were merely Chu Yang's speculations, but he thought optimistically, *If I become a ghost after I die, the first thing I'll do is tear Hogwarts down. If they want me to stay here forever, they've got another thing coming.*

The food at Hogwarts seemed to receive a positive response from the new students.

But for Chu Yang, it was just so-so.

After all, Britain was a notorious culinary desert.

Furthermore, the presence of a ghost with the eccentric habit of occasionally removing his own head caused Chu Yang's meager appetite to drop to zero.

After the feast ended, the new students, who should have gone straight to their dormitories to rest, were instead led back to the room next to the Great Hall by Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall began to check whether the new students were carrying wands, in order to determine if what happened to Malfoy was man-made.

After fifteen minutes of inspection, the result surprised Professor McGonagall.

Among all the new students, not a single person was carrying a wand.

In other words, the possibility of Malfoy's incident being man-made could basically be ruled out.

"This matter should be reported to Headmaster Dumbledore as soon as possible!" A rare, solemn expression appeared on Professor McGonagall's serious face.