Hearing the clear, crisp "Azkaban!" from the Sorting Hat's mouth, the air above the professors' table went utterly silent for a moment.
The professors stared at the Sorting Hat in astonishment. Their gazes wandered between Dracula and the hat perched on his head, their expressions a mixture of extreme bewilderment and disbelief.
'After being Headmaster for so many years, this is the first time I have learned that our Hogwarts has a fifth house!' Dumbledore was the first to speak, his voice cheerful and his eyes twinkling with mirth. 'Then let us congratulate Professor Dracula on becoming the first member of Azkaban House! Your promotion to Head of Azkaban is surely just around the corner!'
Dumbledore took the lead in applauding warmly.
Professor Kettleburn, who had only one arm and half a leg left, never one to miss out on the excitement, hobbled over to Snape's seat with his crutch.
'Severus, if you ask me, now that there is an Azkaban House, your Slytherin students do not need to go through the process anymore. You can just send them directly to Azkaban!' He happily patted Snape's shoulder with his only remaining hand and laughed loudly. 'Why bother going to school for 7 years before ending up in Azkaban? It is far too much trouble!'
As an old-fashioned Hufflepuff, Professor Kettleburn naturally enjoyed making things difficult for Slytherin House. After all, Slytherin's disdain for Hufflepuff's students was a long-standing and well-known tradition.
Snape's face was a thunderous black, but given Professor Kettleburn's seniority as a professor of some 60 or 70 years, he, a young man still in his 30s, could not directly retort.
Listening to the good-natured teasing of the professors around him, the corners of Dracula's mouth twitched.
'Is your leather itching again? Do you want to experience the feeling of being burned?' He took the Sorting Hat off his head, his face unfriendly. 'Do not think I do not know. You are probably still holding a grudge about me cleaning you and wanted to take the opportunity to get your revenge.'
'Lord… Lord Dracula, I did not!' the Sorting Hat said in an aggrieved tone, as if it had been greatly wronged. 'Is it not Christmas? I just wanted to be humorous and liven up the atmosphere…'
'Good. The Christmas banquet is indeed lacking some entertainment to liven up the atmosphere.' Dracula looked at the hat in his hand, a malicious arc appearing at the corner of his mouth. 'Then I am going to perform a Sorting Hat jumping through a ring of fire for everyone. I will need you to cooperate with me.'
Dracula spun the Sorting Hat in one hand. Amidst its panicked little expression, he casually snapped his other finger, and a ring of fire, burning with raging dark flames, appeared in front of the hat.
'Wait, Lord Dracula, I have not finished speaking yet!' The Sorting Hat lowered its voice in a bit of a panic and said quickly to Dracula, 'There is a reason why I did this! It involves the four founders!'
It deliberately controlled its voice so that only Dracula could hear it. Dracula's eyes flickered with interest.
The next moment, the ring of fire in front of him disappeared abruptly. The Sorting Hat also stopped spinning, drooping listlessly in Dracula's hand.
'This hat just needs to be scared from time to time; otherwise, it can come up with all sorts of tricks.' He smiled at the curious professors around him and elegantly placed the Sorting Hat back on his head. 'Now my Christmas hat is completely in place. Everyone, hurry up and eat. In a while, the main course will be taken away.'
Once the other professors had completely turned their gazes away, Dracula used his hand to adjust the brim of the Sorting Hat.
'You can start now. Let me see what kind of reason you have come up with this time.' Wearing the hat, he began to communicate silently with it, using the Sorting Hat's natural Legilimency ability as a bridge.
'Lord Dracula, I am in such a difficult position!' The Sorting Hat's voice sounded in Dracula's mind, and it began to complain as soon as it started. 'It is not as if you do not know—your life has spanned a thousand years! Even if you exclude the time you were asleep, it is still seven or eight hundred years! Even if you deliberately released your Occlumency, it is impossible for me to judge which founder's temperament you fit…'
'So you are saying I am making things difficult for you?' Dracula asked in his mind as he elegantly stuffed a mouthful of blood pudding into his mouth.
'Not really,' the Sorting Hat said very sincerely, its mental voice full of earnestness. 'It is just that my own ability is not enough. I will definitely work hard to improve!'
'Actually, I thought you would just make up a house for me, at least as a formality,' Dracula chuckled mentally.
'I wanted to do that too, but there is no way,' the Sorting Hat said. 'A thousand years ago, the four great founders of Hogwarts injected their thoughts into my very fabric, giving me the unique ability to sort students into their respective houses based on their talents and qualities.'
'But the wills of the four founders have also remained in my body ever since, and their memories and feelings for you, Count Dracula, have also existed for a long time. If the previous things were only secondary, then what really troubles me is another point—the founders' thoughts will argue!'
'Wait. Are you saying that the thoughts left by Salazar and Godric and the other two will argue?'
Dracula immediately became interested. He even stopped eating the pudding in front of him and sat up straight, ready to listen carefully to the Sorting Hat's story.
'That is indeed the case. In fact, when I was placed on your head, the remaining wills of the four founders all wanted me to sort you into their respective houses. You understand—Rowena Ravenclaw has always had a strong affection for you, while Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin have always wanted to prove which of them is the wizard friend who has had the greatest influence on you…'
'Those three are really something,' Dracula mused, shaking his head with a light laugh. An expression of deep reminiscence and fond remembrance unconsciously appeared in his eyes.
At that time, he was far from being the fearsome Vampire Count of later years, and the four founders of Hogwarts were just fledgling young wizards. Four like-minded wizards and a vampire friend who had joined halfway… five people walking together on the frozen surface of the Black Lake. That was his youthful memory from a thousand years ago.
After unconsciously reminiscing for a long time, Dracula suddenly thought of a question.
'Why did I not hear you mention Helga? Did she not want me to be sorted into Hufflepuff?' he asked the Sorting Hat in his mind.
'Lord Dracula, please wake up,' the Sorting Hat could not help but complain, its mental voice exasperated. 'Look at which aspect of you possesses the qualities of being upright, loyal, honest, or unafraid of hardship… Helga Hufflepuff's thoughts gave up hope long ago and have not participated in the arguments of the other three founders. Instead, she has been acting as the peacemaker.'
Dracula's face could not help but darken slightly.
'Having said so much, it is still that question,' his mental tone became unkind. 'Why did you shout out "Azkaban"?'
'This… this ah… Why do you not blame Gryffindor?' the Sorting Hat said uneasily, its voice suddenly timid. 'As Gryffindor's hat, I must have inherited his… inappropriate sense of humour. Yes, that must be it!'
***********
✨ 300 gems = 1 bonus chapter
✨ 500 gems = another bonus chapter
Get access to advanced chapters at my P@treon.
[email protected]/meowthtl