Chapter 723: The Sorting Hat's Journey
Chapter 723: The Sorting Hat's Journey
Felix wore the dirty, crumpled, and patched Sorting Hat and whispered, "Do you have something to tell me?" As he spoke, he glanced at the portraits in the frames on the wall, and they immediately closed their scrutinizing eyes and started snoring.
"I don't want to talk to you; you've been eyeing me all along." A faint voice echoed in his mind.
"I'm very curious about your existence."
"Curious about what?"
"You've existed for so long, and your material is so ordinary—"
"Think about the Headmaster portraits and Peeves." The Sorting Hat spoke with a smooth tone.
"Portraits? Peeves? They—?" Felix's expression froze. "Wait, are you also part of the school?"
"Exactly. As long as the school stands, I will continue to exist, even though I am just an ordinary hat."
Relieved and a bit lost, Felix pondered for a moment and then calmly asked in his mind, "By the way, why did you sort me into Slytherin?"
"Let me think—calm, clear-headed, a reverence for power, and on your first day, you set your sights on reaching the pinnacle of the magical world. And—forgive me for saying, but at such a young age, you have a clear understanding of the darker aspects of human nature and are well-prepared. This is quite rare in my entire sorting career."
Felix smacked his lips. "So, I fit Salazar Slytherin's criteria for selecting students?"
"Criteria, what criteria?" The Sorting Hat asked casually.
"Of course, the ideas of the four school founders—"
"Do you think I have a little note sewn into my lining with all the rules written on it?"
"I assumed there would be something like that", Felix said calmly. "A fixed mindset or a standard procedure." The Sorting Hat angrily interrupted:
"Would my job then be to hide behind the students' thoughts and check off items on a list?"
"You have a different opinion."
"Of course, I do! My job is much more important and complex than you think", the Sorting Hat shouted. "Even though I'm just a hat, I have my own thoughts and personality. I'm smarter than most people and don't have human flaws. I don't need to eat or sleep, and my mouth is only for speaking, not for other purposes. I am also passionate about beneficial thinking, and most of the time, I am recalling the past and composing new songs..."
"Truly impressive", Felix said, though he wasn't quite sure what was so memorable. Was it the years it spent in the Headmaster's office, eavesdropping on the Headmasters' meetings? But what was the point of that? Or did it find satisfaction in experiencing nearly a thousand sorting ceremonies alone? The question was, could it really avoid getting confused...
The Sorting Hat seemed taken aback, falling silent for a moment before saying, "I'll show you."
"Alright."
Felix closed his eyes and waited, but the Sorting Hat remained still. He felt puzzled.
"Lower your mental defenses", the Sorting Hat said gloomily. "I can't see anything beyond your surface thoughts; it's like hitting a thick stone wall..."
"Sorry", Felix mumbled, lowering his defenses. A few seconds later, he felt an invisible force pulling him upward from the top of his head, as if it were lifting him toward the ceiling or into the hat. This reminded him of the principle behind the Mind Chamber, and he didn't resist.
His vision blurred, and he found himself in darkness. Gradually, colors appeared in the darkness. Felix watched as a string of floating light points suddenly fell, splashing into grayish-green and silvery-white sparks. They formed a long, shimmering, green-foamed mud pit that stretched into the distance.
A solitary figure waded through the murky shallow water.
Salazar Slytherin, holding a wooden staff for probing, walked at a steady pace past Felix. As they passed each other, his expression remained unchanged. His simple robe seemed to be made from a single piece of black cloth, and several Slytherins followed him closely.
The light flickered, transforming into a desolate wilderness. Felix saw a young man walking down a country path, his back straight and his steps light, his red hair fluttering in the wind. The young Godric Gryffindor leaped onto a rock, looking back at the small village he had just left, then resolutely set off toward the distance.
He naturally didn't know that his hometown would one day bear his name.
By a tranquil riverside, Rowena Ravenclaw quietly watched the flowing water, which reflected the blue sky. An eagle soared over the surface.
In a golden field, Helga Hufflepuff picked up a sunlit stalk of wheat that had blossomed into a small flower.
Felix suddenly realized that these were the memories of the four founders of the school. A new question arose: according to the Sorting Hat's words at previous Sorting Ceremonies, they had imbued it with their thoughts. Felix had always thought it was their ideals, but ideals can become outdated; medieval moral values may not fit the present day. Yet the Sorting Hat's work had never ceased.
Now he understood. The four founders had indeed infused the Sorting Hat with their thoughts, but not mere ideals. It was the paths they had walked.
Felix moved through the darkness, and new images appeared with every passing moment. Gradually, he began to grasp a thread, peering into a hidden corner of history—why did Gryffindor and Slytherin become such good friends? Because they both sought great power. Why did they eventually part ways? When Felix saw Gryffindor learning swordsmanship from Muggle knights and Slytherin ruthlessly eliminating threats, he had a vague answer.
This feeling grew stronger when he saw Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.
As two of the most outstanding witches of their time and close friends, they had traveled together to many places, helping the weak. Hufflepuff's heart was full of compassion, treating everyone equally and always willing to help the less fortunate. Ravenclaw, on the other hand, preferred to deal with clever minds, as it helped solve problems. Together, they complemented each other perfectly: Hufflepuff defused many unnecessary conflicts, while Ravenclaw excelled at devising long-term solutions, such as building a windmill.
Felix saw the early forms of the kitchen magic and the castle's architecture in the travels of these two women.
Naturally, the experiences of the four founders in their youth also laid the groundwork for their future disagreements.
Among the four, Salazar Slytherin was the most radical, or perhaps the most solitary. His life was more akin to that of a hermit, traveling alone through a chaotic world. Like Gryffindor, he pursued power, but with fewer scruples. Like Ravenclaw, he was emotionally distant and detached, but even more cold and self-centered. And like Hufflepuff, he had compassion for young wizards in harsh environments, but this compassion was miserly and never extended to those outside his circle.
These four outstanding wizards and witches of their time met, each having heard of the others. To Felix's surprise, the three excluding Hufflepuff initially got along better, with Slytherin bluntly dismissing Hufflepuff's magic as "trivial and useless in a chaotic world." Fortunately, the calm Ravenclaw and the enthusiastic Gryffindor managed to mediate, and Hufflepuff's usual good temper prevented the conflict from escalating.
As their interactions deepened, Hufflepuff proved herself to be an exceptional witch, not only skilled in cooking magic but also adept at identifying herbs and concocting potions.
In the end, the four decided to establish a magical school together.
They chose a remote location in the Scottish Highlands, where the ancient rocks had been carved by rivers and glaciers into canyons and lakes. Ravenclaw selected a cliff by a lake, surrounded by emerald hills capped with snow, with a deep canyon below and a dense forest along the lakeshore.
The four agreed that this was the perfect place to build their school.
Among them, only Ravenclaw had firsthand experience in (magically) constructing buildings. She designed the layout of the school, particularly the spiral staircase in the main building that could move flexibly. The two men brought various materials, while Hufflepuff searched for flowers and plants to decorate the school. She unexpectedly discovered a wild Wand Tree in the nearby primeval forest.
The castle gradually took shape. The four worked together to set up the most advanced defensive magic of the time. Considering that the castle would eventually be filled with students, they came up with a brilliant idea—unprecedented at the time—to harness the stray magic collected by the castle as the most crucial part of maintaining its magical functions and defensive systems.
Felix watched the scene with rapt attention.
He hadn't expected to gain profound magical knowledge from the Sorting Hat. Initially, he was merely curious about its existence, and later, he wanted to talk to the four founders within it, if possible. But the surprises came unexpectedly—
The four founders worked together with unbridled enthusiasm, freely displaying their skills. The secrets of Hogwarts Castle slowly unfolded before Felix's eyes. His hands moved in tandem, the Book of Runes hovering at his chest, automatically flipping pages. Waves of rune symbols spread out from him, covering the floor, climbing the walls, and seeping through the door cracks to extend outward.
As a magic hub within the castle, the Magic Channels in the Room of Requirement became visible, absorbing the power of Ancient Runes. Soon, this new force flowed through the magic conduits like surging blood, spreading throughout the entire castle. It branched out at Myrtle's abandoned bathroom, heading straight for the Chamber of Secrets.
In the Charms classroom, Professor Flitwick had just given an impressive demonstration for the students. He suddenly paused, raised his hand, and lightly flicked his wand, drawing a string of golden rune symbols in the air.
The students looked up as the walls and floor rippled like fine waves, calming down in an instant.
Professor Flitwick cleared his throat. "Class, let's continue."
In the kitchen, the house-elves were busy preparing lunch for the students. A gentle breeze swept through, and they seemed to sense a loving gaze. The house-elves looked around but found nothing. A simple portrait hung on the wall, depicting a woman with a kind gaze. This painting was not connected to the castle's magic and possessed no magical properties; it had simply been passed down through generations of house-elves.
Every house-elf remembered from childhood an ancient story: "It was Lady Hufflepuff who brought them to Hogwarts, providing them with shelter, respect, and work, personally teaching them the magic of cooking..."
Felix opened his eyes, the last image lingering in his mind. It was the four founders standing together, infusing their thoughts and life paths into the Sorting Hat. Slytherin wore the locket, Gryffindor held the sword, Ravenclaw wore the diadem, and Hufflepuff held the goblet. For a moment, their gazes were filled with relief.
Felix slowly stood up and placed the Sorting Hat back on the shelf. His gaze fell on the glass case beside it, which contained the locket, the sword, and the goblet. While Gryffindor's sword gleamed brightly, the other two founder relics were somewhat dull.
Felix took out Ravenclaw's Diadem from his ring and gently placed it beside the others.
(End of Chapter)
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