From Azkaban to Hogwarts.

Fortunately, William was wearing a robe, which was a bit wrinkled in the middle due to those little accidents, but it still barely met the dress code.

William used magic to treat his robe, making sure there were no stains, and then walked out of his empty office.

"Ah, Professor William!"

A fervent shout rang out behind William; it came from Professor Lockhart, dressed in a light green robe.

"It's been a long time, Professor William."

Lockhart chimed in familiarly, speaking as if he were talking to an old friend.

"Hello, Professor Lockhart."

"The opening ceremony is coming up soon, and I'm actually a little nervous. I bet you are too—don't you?"

I'm not nervous, I'm nervous about you.

William thought to himself, glancing at Curry's blessing card. Because of Professor Lockhart's presence, the curse's power had been reduced—it was as if the two of them were sharing the burden.

The curse that was shared can't possibly get the professor out of school during the opening ceremony, so there's nothing to be nervous about.

"I imagine a bunch of students will be absolutely stunned. They certainly never imagined I'd come to Hogwarts and become the Black One—"

"Cough cough!"

William coughed noticeably.

"Excuse me, Professor of Wizard Self-Defense Magic."

Lockhart wore a feigned apologetic expression.

"Alright, sorry Professor William, it's getting late, I think we should go on stage."

William didn't even have time to process his thoughts before Lockhart dragged him out.

Chapter 45 What is meant by "iron-clad"?

Opening ceremonies are always boring, even in a magical world.

During the fifteen-minute opening ceremony, William gained a profound understanding of this truth about life.

The only people in the world who will be happy about the opening ceremony are the parents who don't have to attend.

No, we should probably also include the underage wizards who had been cooped up all summer—William saw with his own eyes that some students were secretly taking out their wands and trying to cast spells on the tables below, probably because they had been cooped up all summer.

"Thinking about it carefully, could part of the reason for banning magic during summer vacation be to prevent students from resisting the start of school?"

Thinking hard.

William glanced at the students with boredom—not because he was particularly antisocial, but because Lockhart was too eager to show off, which led to him being subtly ostracized by the professors after being brought over by Lockhart.

It would be better if they were Hogwarts graduates, as reminiscing about the past would always spark common topics. But was William really going to share his daily life in Azkaban with these professors?

As for Lockhart, he was oblivious to being disliked and kept boasting to Professor Pomona Sprout, the dean of Hufflepuff, about the unique plants he had seen in America. The enthusiastic professor's face turned angry as she listened, but Lockhart continued to talk on and on.

As William idly watched the students' antics, a professor suddenly got up from her chair, pulling it as quietly as possible, and moved to sit next to William.

"Professor William, excuse me for interrupting."

The middle-aged witch looked apologetic, but her eyes stubbornly told William that if she didn't get an answer this time, she would come back next time.

"Please sit down. May I ask who you are?"

“Karedi Bubbajee, Professor of Muggle Studies.”

She introduced herself in a gentle tone—it was a course that William was unaware of.

"I'm sorry, I know my question is a bit presumptuous, especially to a stranger, but this question has been bothering me for long enough that I can't wait to get the answer."

She took out her wand and quietly swiped it.

"I assure you that none of the wizards present, including Dumbledore, will hear what follows."

"Professor William, excuse me, but how do the people of Azkaban view Muggles?"

The questions were indeed as sharp as she had predicted.

“I’m sorry, Professor Bubbaji, I don’t want to talk to people about what happened there.”

William decisively rejected her—a response that was clearly not within the professor's consideration, and her eyes instantly became confused.

"I'm sorry, I was in too much of a hurry—" Professor Bubbaji snapped out of his daze, apologized hastily, and almost frantically moved his chair back to its original position.

William knew that the other party's actions were mostly well-intentioned—new professors always need someone to act as a go-between to integrate into the circle of older professors. After she finished talking with William, most professors would probably accept William naturally, instead of the current situation where William was ostracized because Lockhart liked to show off too much.

Unfortunately, the idea of ​​having others conduct research on him always gave William a strange feeling—perhaps a lingering effect of Azkaban. He always felt that having others study him was like being surrounded by Dementors in a cell and eating at a buffet.

He could easily joke with Old Tom about Azkaban and complain to Hagrid about that awful place, but he would immediately become extremely uncomfortable if someone asked him about it.

Fortunately, the freshmen finally began sorting into their respective schools under Professor McGonagall's guidance, which not only piqued the professors' interest but also dispelled the awkward atmosphere from before.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Rows of first-year students stood in a daze, led by Professor McGonagall, facing all the upperclassmen. Their expressions were stiff and their faces were pale. They looked more like they were there to go to war than to be sorted into a new house.

William was stunned for a moment—what, does that mean that when Hogwarts is sorted, the students have to put down their wands and fight each other?

So, according to the hierarchy of discrimination among the four Hogwarts houses in the prison, those who fight fiercely should go to Gryffindor, those who hide and wait for the fight to be over should go to Ravenclaw, those who bribe their opponents should go to Slytherin, and the rest should go to Hufflepuff.

Thinking of this, William couldn't help but chuckle.

Then, as if the laughter were contagious, all the professors at the table couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Lockhart flashed his teeth again.

"Haha, so many years have passed, but the school rules still haven't changed?"

No professor responded to his question.

Lockhart had no choice but to find William and say with a smug look on his face, "Hogwarts has a rule that matters concerning the Sorting House are not to be revealed to children who have not yet enrolled. Everyone will make up all sorts of excuses to deceive the children. I bet most of the students below think that the Sorting House involves a fight."

Who came up with such a ridiculous rule?

And what's the point of generations of people persisting just to see first-graders living in fear?

Well, it really is very good-looking—William had to admit it.

Especially after Lockhart's explanation, the matter became even more wickedly amusing.

Just as Lockhart was explaining, Professor McGonagall gently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first-year students, and then placed a pointed wizard's hat on the stool.

The old hat, patched up, looked like it was from ages ago; it was so worn and tattered that it seemed beyond even the point of being cleaned.

As William waited for Lockhart's boastful commentary, the tattered hat suddenly started singing at the top of its lungs.

The singing was awful and off-key. After William listened with a frown, he realized that many professors had used magic to plug their ears.

I was careless.

William saw that Lockhart beside him hadn't forgotten to plug his ears, and immediately regretted his foolishness.

He didn't understand the Hogwarts system, but the professors around him did. When encountering something new, just follow their rules and you'll basically avoid any mistakes.

The audience applauded after the Sorting Hat finished singing, as if celebrating the relief their ears had finally been given a break. The singing hat then bowed to the crowd after the applause.

After the applause subsided, Professor McGonagall walked to the location of the Sorting Hat, carrying a piece of parchment.

"When I call someone's name, that person should put on their hat, sit on the stool, and wait for the branch."

The professor spoke loudly, then held up the parchment and read out the first name:

"Hannah Abbott!"

The room fell silent. William noticed that everyone at the Hufflepuff table turned their heads toward a particular person on the table.

Even Professor McGonagall herself was taken aback, and carefully examined the parchment.

"I'm sorry, because of some things that happened today, I brought last year's list with me."

Chapter 46 Has the Times Changed? No

The scene became awkward for a moment, but no one actually laughed out loud.

Even Dumbledore, William's deskmate, seemed completely unfazed, staring intently at the table as if he were contemplating what strange thing he could transform it into to add to the festivities.

The students sat there so quietly that William almost thought he had misheard.

Just as he was wondering if there was some kind of deviation in the timeline, Professor McGonagall waved her wand—a loud noise came from upstairs as something rapidly pierced the air, and then a rolled-up piece of parchment was sent flying into the hall.

Professor McGonagall calmly accepted the parchment and then unfolded it to examine it.

William could clearly hear slow exhalations coming from all the faculty desks—everyone visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, the hall suddenly showed signs of activity. The students, who had been sitting upright, relaxed and began to whisper among themselves.

The professor quickly checked the list once, then put it down and addressed the first-year students again:

"The sorting process has begun again. Students whose names I have read, come forward and wait for your sorting."

"Barry Baker".

A little boy timidly stepped out from the crowd and obediently put on the hat.

"Ravenclaw!"

Almost instantly, the hat shouted out the college's name.

A huge round of applause erupted at the Ravenclaw table.

William, on the other hand, was completely stunned.

"You witnessed a great ceremony and have received a treasure chest x1."

Where is it great?

Wearing a hat from a thousand years ago, he was then assigned to an academy—he had inquired about the details, and no one had failed at this stage!

Isn't it an exaggeration to describe something so simple as great?

While internally complaining, William casually opened the treasure chest.

【Ritual Hope (UR) (Special): Since 993 AD, the Gryffindor hat has been used as a tool for selecting students from the four houses. The four great wizards simultaneously bless the hat, adding various blessing effects to the Sorting Ceremony.

The age for wizards to enter school varies around the world. The earliest magic schools can even admit children as young as seven (Note 1), while only Hogwarts admits children as young as eleven.