After that unexpected incident, the Sorting Hat stopped dawdling and pretty much sorted each new student as soon as it touched their hair.
With this kind of efficiency, soon there were only two new students left.
"Conna Prince!"
Hearing this familiar name, Kael and Cedric both turned to look at the same time.
"Isn't that the little girl from the train?" Cedric asked curiously. "Where do you think she'll be sorted? Slytherin?"
"Probably." Kael scratched his back absentmindedly and said, "I mean, she's wearing Twilfitt and Tattings, so she's very likely a Pure-Blood, should be Slytherin for sure… huh?"
At this moment, Kael suddenly froze. Was it just his imagination, or after Professor McGonagall called Conna's name, Snape, who had kept a blank face and looked completely uninterested in the Sorting, unexpectedly leaned forward and paid full attention to the Sorting Hat for the first time?
"Don't tell me they know each other!" Kael thought to himself.
Although Snape, because of his special status, practically never participated in any social activities, he was after all still one of the four heads of Hogwarts, and also a famous Potion Master—there's no way he didn't know anyone in the Magic Realm.
Among those people might well be Conna's family.
At this thought, a chill ran down Kael's back. He suddenly had a bad premonition.
If that's really the case, with Snape's personality, and if he found out Kael had tricked Conna, he'd probably be the first to get a taste of Main Character Suffering Treatment.
"No way it's that much of a coincidence, right…" Kael felt his scalp tingling.
This is karma.
Just now I was making fun of the Weasley twins for bad things happening to bad people. Didn't think retribution would be so fast—the very next second it's happening to me.
Kael watched the stage anxiously.
For some reason, when it was Conna's turn, the Sorting Hat's efficiency seemed to instantly drop back to its starting pace.
Everyone waited for over a minute before the Sorting Hat finally spoke up:
"Hufflepuff!"
Huh??
The Hufflepuff table erupted in raucous cheers, and their Prefects stood up again to welcome Conna.
Only Kael, watching Conna walk right past him, had a big question mark over his face.
What the heck? Other than Scamander, are there actually Pure-Blood Families coming to Hufflepuff? That's pretty rare.
Not that it never happened—every House had Pure-Bloods, just Hufflepuff had fewer.
And as for the theory that Conna followed him here… absolutely impossible.
The Sorting isn't a game. If you really think about it, it can even affect a wizard's future path in life.
So—even if Conna's too young to get it, the Sorting Hat would never let her mess around. Otherwise, there's no way the Prince family would just let it go.
Kael remembered Chris once told him that back in the day, when Sirius Black was sorted into Gryffindor, Mrs. Black made a huge scene at Hogwarts.
If Dumbledore hadn't stepped up, the Sorting Hat would have nearly been burned by her with Fiendfyre.
The whole thing caused quite a commotion at the time. While Dumbledore kept things under wraps at Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic actually held several meetings to discuss whether to discard the Sorting Hat altogether and pick some other way for sorting.
The proposal actually had quite a lot of support, since most Pure-Blood Families didn't want their kids in any House besides Slytherin—especially those diehard old-fashioned families.
Having a Gryffindor in the family, to them, was just shameful to the extreme.
Of course, in the end, the proposal did not pass.
After all, Dumbledore twenty-plus years ago wasn't as easygoing as he is now. Once he made it clear he was against it, those Pure-Blood Families didn't dare push the issue.
So—it more or less ended there.
But ever since then, members of those pro-proposal Pure-Blood Families never showed up in other Houses again.
Kael glanced at the staff table.
If you wanted to check whether this year's Sorting was "normal," it was easy enough—just look at Snape's reaction. If Conna's family really was close to Snape, after she got sorted into Hufflepuff, there's no way he'd keep sitting there, chill as ever…
Erm…
Okay, Kael was wrong.
At the staff table, Snape's face was so dark it was practically dripping. He was muttering urgently to Dumbledore, and kept glancing at Hufflepuff's table.
Kael quickly ducked his head and tried his best to minimize his presence.
No way, is the Sorting Hat actually this bold? Kael's heart was a bit nervous.
Meanwhile, the last new student had just finished being sorted and gone over to the Gryffindor table.
Dumbledore immediately stood up, beaming at the students below and spreading his arms: "Welcome, welcome to Hogwarts. Another new school year—nothing makes me happier than seeing all of you here."
What are you waiting for? Tuck in!"
The previously empty dining tables instantly filled with steaming hot food.
Beef, roast chicken, pork chops, sausages, and steaks all piled up into little mountains—just looking at them made your mouth water.
If you thought that was too greasy, there were also aromatic boiled potatoes, pea shoots, and fried chips on the side—a perfect pairing.
The whole Auditorium was filled with the inviting aroma of food.
Kael shook his head, trying to keep himself from thinking about all those messy, complicated things.
Never mind, it's all happened already. No sense overthinking it, just take things one step at a time.
No matter what, he probably won't be the first to get unlucky—there's still the Sorting Hat in front of him.
And even if Snape really wants to mess with him, it won't last long. As long as he survives until next year when Harry Potter enrolls, Snape will definitely have no time for him anymore.
Kael composed himself, grabbed a fried chicken drumstick, and tossed it in his mouth.
After getting jostled around on the train, he hadn't had much appetite and only snacked a little; now, he was actually genuinely hungry.
The little elves' cooking was truly excellent.
The fried chicken leg was crispy outside and tender inside; biting in released a burst of juice and flavor, instantly flooding his mouth.
The roast potatoes were also good—perfectly cooked and with no extra seasoning, preserving the original fragrance of the potato. If it tasted a little plain, there was ketchup and black pepper on the side.
Kael found this combo surprisingly good, so he grabbed another one.
But just as he sliced up the potato and reached for the black pepper, Cedric suddenly leaned over, lowering his voice to say, "Have you noticed she's been staring at you this whole time?"
"Staring at me? Who?" Kael didn't even bother to look up as he replied.
"That new student from the train—Conna Prince." Cedric raised his eyebrows and, full of mischief, gestured at the other side. "Don't believe me? She's looking at you again."