Bring a fairy tale to Hogwarts!

You may think I'm not pretty enough;

But never judge a book by its cover...

A mouth split open on the pointed top of the Sorting Hat, and a song emanated from it. After it finished singing, Professor McGonagall emerged with a list, her face stern, and said:

"Whoever I call by name, sit down on the stool, put on your hat, and await sorting."

"Hannah Abbott!"

A little girl rushed out of the left-hand entrance of the auditorium and put on the Sorting Hat. Half a minute later, the Sorting Hat shouted:

"Hufflepuff!"

A burst of applause and cheers came from the table to her right, clearly the largest group of the four houses. Hannah took off her hat and ran happily towards it.

"Susan Bornes—"

Then came the repeated Sorting Ceremony.

The Sorting Hat called people over one by one and then sent them away one by one, coming and going.

After watching the first few, Victor finally started to get bored.

He turned his attention back to the faculty seating area. Unlike the four large tables for the students, the faculty seating area was covered with a layer of fine red velvet cloth, with about twenty seats in a row. Most of them were occupied at the moment, except for Professor McGonagall's seat, which was still empty.

Many professors were clearly getting bored. Victor heard at least three or four professors whispering among themselves, and one or two unfamiliar professors curiously peering in his direction.

"Who is that?"

"I've never seen it before. Why don't you go ask?"

"Go. You're closer to him."

"That's not a good idea..."

Unfortunately, even with Snape sitting next to him, no one came up to talk to him.

Finally, the professor sitting to his left was poked twice and shakily leaned over. He was wearing a large headscarf and smelled of garlic, but his face looked very young.

He stammered in a low voice, "Y-hello, I am the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, my name is Quirinus Quirrell."

"Victor Vanderbom, Professor of Divination."

Victor reached out and shook his hand. Quirrell's hand was icy cold, but his wasn't much better, and Quirrell ended up shivering again.

After shaking hands, Quirrell gave a slightly twitching smile.

"So—so you're a Slytherin student? I don't think I've ever seen you before."

"No, I come from the Far East. I didn't attend a magic school before; I learned magic from another wizard."

"Then—then your parents are—"

"Oh, you want to ask if they're wizards?" Victor understood. "No. They're just ordinary Muggles, but I've never seen them."

"When I was about to be born, the town experienced a once-in-a-millennium meteor shower, but one of the meteors fell and hit our house right in the middle. I was the only one who survived in the womb."

...?

"A shooting star?"

"Yes, a shooting star," Victor said casually. "In my hometown, there's even a saying that shooting stars are a symbol of the devil."

Quirrell was speechless for a moment.

The story was so fantastical that Quirrell, who had only wanted to ask if the other person was a pure-blood wizard, opened and closed his mouth several times, unsure of what to say.

But in the end, he patiently spoke in a voice so low it was almost inaudible:

"A shooting star is actually—well, it's good. Your birth was—a miracle."

"At least you won't have to have much contact with that kind of guy anymore."

Quirrell seemed to be echoing Victor's words, after all, Victor wore a Slytherin brooch on his chest, and everyone knew what Slytherin admired.

But to Quirrell's surprise, the next second, Victor looked at him with astonishment.

"What kind of guys? Muggles? Don't you like them?"

"...Not many wizards like it, right?" Quirrell's voice lowered.

"Why do you say that? You're mixed race too, aren't you?"

"?!"

Quirrell paused for a moment.

"What did you say?"

"I said, you're mixed race too, right?"

Victor tapped his head with his finger.

"Your soul wears shackles of its own making, rejecting half of your own bloodline. Perhaps by removing the bloated parasites on your soul, you can break free of these shackles and liberate your spirit..."

"Would you like to give it a try?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"But the aura surrounding you clearly has double images..."

Quirrell's expression froze on his face.

As he listened to Victor's words, his face grew paler and paler. For a moment, a ruthless look seemed to appear on his face, but he returned to normal the next second.

Just then, a voice suddenly interrupted their conversation.

"Victor!"

Victor looked over and saw that it was Dumbledore who had interrupted them, and he was now looking at him with a smile.

"Victor, could you please go outside and let the house-elves know? I suddenly think it would be a good idea to get some honey beer for the teachers' table, since you're new here."

"Just snap your fingers when you go out, and the fairies will appear. You can also order yourself some desserts while you're at it."

Dumbledore blinked.

"OK."

Victor did not refuse, and nodded to Quirrell, ending their conversation.

Victor didn't seem to care much about the conversation that had just taken place.

Although he knew Quirrell was strange, he wasn't interested in having his fortune told, because he intuitively felt it posed no threat to him. He had wanted to make a deal with Quirrell, but Quirrell didn't seem interested.

forget about it.

He left at Dumbledore's request.

After he left, Dumbledore turned back, paying no attention to Quirrell whatsoever, and appeared not to have heard anything.

Quirrell trembled as he exhaled, his face deathly pale. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his forehead beneath the headscarf.

His forehead was covered in cold sweat.

I'm drenched in sweat.

"Thank goodness..." He moved his lips, making a smile that looked more like a cry, "He didn't notice, ha...he didn't notice..."

……

A few minutes later, when Victor returned, he caught the Sorting Ceremony just as it was coming to an end.

After a student named Saria Borks passed by, Professor McGonagall called out "Harry Potter." A commotion erupted among the students in the Great Hall.

Harry simply ran out and put on his hat, looking nervous and lost in thought.

When Victor sat back down in the teachers' seat, he looked at Harry, who was nervously closing his eyes, and casually said:

"What a pity."

"What's a pity?" Snape asked, not in a good mood.

"That kid is thinking about not going to Slytherin; his desire is so clear it's almost overflowing. It's a shame he can't be your student anymore, even though he seems to have quite a talent for potions."

Snape replied coldly, "Then you're mistaken."

"Mr. Potter looks like a complete idiot. It's the best news I've ever heard that he's not coming to Slytherin."

Snape gritted his teeth as he said the word "Potter".

Just then, the Sorting Hat in the audience shouted "Gryffindor!" again, triggering a deafening roar of excitement from the table to the right. Fred, whom Victor had seen before, stood on his chair, gesturing wildly and yelling, "We have Potter!"

Snape showed obvious disgust, picked up the empty teacup with annoyance, glanced at it, and then slammed it back down.

Seeing his expression, Victor tilted his head and didn't continue the conversation.

The remaining two or three students quickly finished their sorting into their respective houses. After everyone was seated, Dumbledore clapped his hands and looked lovingly at the students below:

"welcome!"

"Welcome everyone to officially begin the new school year at Hogwarts! I know you're all starving. But before we eat, I have three things to tell you."

"First of all, any student who does not wish to encounter an accident or suffer a painful death should not approach the corridor on the right side of the fourth floor."

A burst of laughter came from the group of students.

"Yes, yes... I understand, ladies and gentlemen."

"Secondly, there are two job changes at Hogwarts this year, which I'd like to introduce to you. Professor Quirinus Quirrell will be replaced by Professor Bubbaggie in Muggle Studies, and he will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts instead."

"And another new professor—Professor Victor Vanderbohm. He will take over from Professor Trelawney and teach everyone divination."

A sparse ovation rang out from the audience, suggesting that neither Quirrell nor Victor were particularly popular.

But when Fred and George were introduced to Victor, the two of them still created a huge atmosphere, attracting countless eyes.

Victor silently looked away.

"And before the banquet started, my last words were: Idiot, crybaby, trash, wringer! Thank you everyone!"

And so, the new semester began.