The Sorting Hat finally called Daphne's name. The little witch was extremely nervous. She trotted up to Professor McGonagall and put on the hat.
About a minute later, the Sorting Hat announced the result - "Slytherin!"
There was warm applause from the Slytherin table. The freshmen before her hadn't received such treatment; the applause for them had been sparse.
It was simple. The Greengrass family was one of the twenty-eight pure-blood families, and only those pure-blood clans received this kind of recognition.
Several more students followed. When it was Harry Potter's turn, almost all the students held their breath, waiting for his result.
When the Sorting Hat announced that Potter was sorted into Gryffindor, the second table from the right erupted in the loudest cheers, and the two identical twins almost jumped onto the table.
On the other hand, there was deathly silence on the Slytherin side. Some looked at Potter with ambiguous eyes, while others muttered incoherently under their breath.
It was in this atmosphere that Professor McGonagall read out the name of the next young wizard with a serious expression.
"Tom Riddle!"
Perhaps for the students, only Hermione and Daphne were paying attention to Tom. The other students were indifferent to this ordinary-sounding name.
But for most of the teachers in the Great Hall, it was no less than a thunderclap!
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There are no secrets in the magical world. Everything that exists leaves traces.
Even something as secret as Horcruxes could be unraveled one by one by Dumbledore through careful investigation.
The name Tom Riddle had shone like a star at Hogwarts sixty years ago, and thirty years ago, it became a taboo name everyone was afraid to utter.
Back then, Dumbledore was the Transfiguration professor, Flitwick was the Charms professor. Sprout and McGonagall didn't work at Hogwarts then, but given their close relationships with the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore, he would have naturally shared this basic information with them.
Snape was once Voldemort's most capable subordinate, but now he was the one who hated him the most, and he had investigated everything thoroughly.
As for Hagrid, the big man was shaking the most, his face pale.
Hagrid had been a classmate of Tom Riddle's and had even naively thought Riddle was a good person.
There was another person who was also not calm.
Quirrell.
When Professor McGonagall read out the name, Quirrell, who had been shrinking his neck to avoid Snape's scrutiny, suddenly looked up and stared at Tom walking towards the Sorting Hat.
At this moment, Snape had no time to pay attention to Quirrell's abnormality; there was hatred in his eyes.
This wasn't directed at this Tom—no, it was indeed aimed at Tom, but a different Tom.
"Severus."
Dumbledore's lips moved, and no one but Snape heard his call.
"There are many people with the same name in the world. Names are just a vehicle for remembering individuals. Don't let them give you extra thoughts."
Tch!
Snape didn't reply, just sneered.
Did he think Dumbledore didn't know that the old man had gone to welcome the new students during the summer? He originally thought Dumbledore was going to find Harry Potter, but it turned out it was the big oaf Hagrid who went.
Apart from Harry Potter, the only person who could alarm the old headmaster was Tom Riddle.
Some observant students also noticed the changes in the professors, and the Great Hall gradually became quiet.
When Tom reached the stool, all noise had died away.
"Riddle, just put on the hat."
Professor McGonagall pursed her lips. She had never thought she would have the opportunity to oversee the sorting of a Tom Riddle...
Tom nodded, sat on the high stool, and placed the hat on his head.
He could have sworn on Merlin's frilly socks that the Sorting Hat had only lightly touched the tips of his hair when it couldn't wait any longer and screamed as if someone was strangling it:
"Slytherin! Born for Slytherin!"
McGonagall was stunned, Snape was grim, and Dumbledore was silent.
Tom... was confused.
Taking advantage of the high stool's vantage point, he looked down at all the students craning their necks, and his brain short-circuited for a moment.
How could it be... Slytherin?
First, he wasn't a pure-blood. Second, he wasn't a half-blood (by his own admission earlier). Third, he had no ambition. Why was he sorted into Slytherin?
Was this Tom Riddle's fate?
In the study space, Andros, who was watching everything silently, almost fainted with laughter. He knew very well that Tom had plans, even plans to go to Gryffindor, but Slytherin wasn't among them.
Just as Professor McGonagall was about to remind Tom to return to his seat, the boy slammed the hat back onto his head in full view of everyone.
"Let's talk, Hat," Tom said in his mind.
"Well, little wizard, the sorting is over. What do you want to talk about?" a tiny voice said in his ear.
"You haven't even touched my head properly yet! Weren't you just talking about Potter's sorting result? He is the savior who defeated You-Know-Who, the last descendant of the pure-blood Potter family. He's indeed very suitable for Slytherin."
In order to get things back on track, Tom didn't care and sold out Harry Potter directly.
He wondered if Dumbledore would come to talk to him after finding out.
"Of course not."
The Sorting Hat's voice was a little annoyed. "Riddle, don't doubt the professionalism of a hat. I have never made a mistake in judging anyone. Although I am an old hat, how could my reaction time be that long? Slytherin is your sorting result."
"But this isn't magical at all. How could I possibly go to Slytherin?"
He wasn't some destined dark lord!
The Sorting Hat continued to absorb Tom's bewildered emotions, and its voice became cheerful again: "The ambition to become the strongest, the tenacity to never give up until the goal is achieved, and magic purer and more ancient than even Salazar's or Godric's."
"If Salazar were still alive, he would definitely kneel down and beg you to become his disciple."
Tom gritted his teeth secretly. Born for Slytherin... How come he didn't know he was so 'evil'?
This lousy hat was slandering him!
"Sorting Hat, doesn't it say that the houses will consider students' requests? I strongly request to go to Ravenclaw."
"I reject your request," the Sorting Hat said straightforwardly. "Well, don't delay my work. There are still a few young wizards waiting for me. If you really can't bear to leave, you can come find me in Dumbledore's office. I can chat for a few Galleons."
"Then Hufflepuff is fine too! You see, I'm a wizard of Muggle origin. I'm kind by nature and what I like most is making friends. I'm simply a natural Hufflepuff." Tom tried hard to sell himself.
The atmosphere fell into silence. After a long while, the Sorting Hat's voice finally rang out, this time sounding gentler and more persuasive: "Child, you can have nothing, but you must know yourself. Promise me you will face who you truly are, okay?"
"Damn hat, sooner or later I'll sew your stinky mouth shut," Tom cursed in his heart.
As soon as his vengeful thought appeared, the Sorting Hat caught it and shouted again in anger:
"Slytherin! Slytherin! Tom Riddle belongs in Slytherin!"
Tom was about to say something else, but Professor McGonagall took the hat off his head.
"Mr. Riddle, the Sorting Ceremony has concluded. If you have any questions, please discuss them later."
Tom forced a smile that was uglier than crying, bowed slightly to Professor McGonagall, and then walked towards the Slytherin table.
There was no applause at first because everyone was confused by Tom's operation of putting the hat back on.
"Maybe it was too fast, and he wanted to be more involved?" the young wizards thought uncertainly.
It wasn't until Daphne reacted, smiled sweetly, and clapped vigorously that the Slytherin table began to respond with sparse applause.
Tom sat down next to Daphne.
"I never thought you would come to Slytherin," the girl said in a low, excited voice. "That's great. We can go to class together in the future."
"Yeah, I didn't expect that either," Tom responded weakly.
After him, the last few students completed the sorting ceremony, and Blaise Zabini was the last to be sorted into Slytherin.
Tom then realized that this guy was the one who had earlier believed Professor McGonagall's 'lie' about treating the school like his own home.
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"We should talk."
Snape pondered the scene just now, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.
Could this Tom Riddle be the product of Voldemort's reincarnation through some dark magic?
The speed at which the Sorting Hat sorts wizards doesn't necessarily represent their potential, but it can definitely reflect their character and inclinations.
He had never seen a student sorted into Slytherin so quickly before. He feared only the resurrection of Salazar Slytherin himself could have such an effect.
What did this mean?
It showed that Tom Riddle was a perfect fit for Slytherin House. Even though he was the Head of House, he didn't think this was a positive evaluation.
However, Dumbledore ignored Snape. After Blaise Zabini sat down, he stood up with a smile on his face.
"Welcome! Welcome, new students and old students, to Hogwarts for a new school year."
"What I want to say is: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you all!"
After saying this, Dumbledore bowed slightly and sat back down.
Thunderous applause erupted from the audience, including from Tom.