177: Chapter 175: Measures to Prepare for Hogwarts Enrollment

Toby had a relatively steady mindset, but as he realized no voice had come from above his head for a long time, his heart slowly began to sink.

What was going on?

Just as he couldn't help but want to ask Rowling, the Sorting Hat's aged, somewhat eerie tone squeezed into his ears.

"Little fellow, heart standing at the crossroads, have you decided which way to go?"

Is this... talking to me?

A bit confused, Toby glanced out of the corner of his eye at Rowling beside him and the students below the stage.

Judging by their expressions as they waited quietly for the result, it seemed he was the only one who could hear it.

How should I answer?

He tried to silently recite what he wanted to say in his mind, but the Sorting Hat didn't respond.

So he muttered in a voice only he could hear: "Where I go, isn't that for you to decide?"

"Heh heh heh..." Its laughter was as grating as nails scratching a blackboard, "No, no, no.

I do not have the power to decide a person's will; I merely convey the inner heart of the new student.

Your heart tells me where it wants to go, and then I help speak it out."

Toby's fist, resting on his thigh, tightened: "Did it tell you the answer?"

"It said... at first it hoped to enter Gryffindor without any hesitation, but then it heard something else."

Very quickly, Toby understood what the Sorting Hat was referring to.

His lips moved soundlessly: "Not Slytherin..."

Toby never expected that his firm heart would actually be shaken just because of a few words from Wino.

"Do not resist your own heart's voice, child." The Sorting Hat's tone became normal. "Hmm... let me think, let me think... Gryffindor!"

"Oh!"

Amidst the cheering, Toby's white-knuckled fist relaxed.

With a smile, he stood up and strode off the stage, pulling his suitcase to sit beside the clapping Leon.

"Congratulations on the successful conclusion of our Sorting Ceremony." The white-haired, white-bearded Dumbledore stood up. "Now, please enjoy the delicious food to your heart's content."

As the words fell, cafeteria staff in uniforms pushed food carts from the side doors on both sides of the Great Hall to the long tables, placing silver-covered plates on the surfaces.

The five people, whose stomachs were already growling, feasted along with the upperclassmen.

Mealtime passed quite quickly.

About half an hour later, the table was piled with leftover bones.

Dumbledore announced it was time to return to the dormitories to rest. Led by their respective House Prefects, the five left the Great Hall.

The teachers also stood up and returned to their rooms.

Rowling had exhausted a lot of energy from her previous excitement, and her face was now visibly fatigued.

After saying goodnight to Dumbledore, she walked toward her room.

Watching the Great Hall become empty in an instant, the kindness on the old man's face turned into an expressionless mask.

"Formal classes start tomorrow.

After observing for a day to ensure there are no problems, this batch of freshmen can be left alone for the time being.

I need to find time to return to Saul Continent, make a list of the supplies I need, and then the plan for the next batch of freshmen can begin.

Hmm... I'll take a look back at Blue Star. The Queen and that damn Prince Suleiman better not cause me any trouble."

With that, Zhang Mu manipulated the Core and sent himself out of the 'world.'

...

London in the early hours of the morning was deserted, with only the bleak winter wind swirling withered yellow leaves and plastic bags that hadn't been thrown into trash cans, dancing in the air of the streets and alleys.

The doors and windows of the houses were dark, with only the dim yellow light of street lamps remaining.

The entire city was like a middle-aged man lacking energy, sleeping soundly in the night.

But there were always active young people still enjoying the nightlife.

Unlike the darkness in other parts of London, the Queen's palace was brightly lit at this time.

In the vast conference hall, the U-shaped conference table that divided the hall in half was filled with the ruling class of Ying Country in expensive suits.

Their heated debate, with spit flying, had lasted from yesterday morning until now.

The Queen narrowed her eyes, watching in silence.

Throughout the entire process, she rarely spoke.

Basically, only when both sides reached a deadlock over whether a resolution should pass would she slowly propose a compromise.

At this moment, this situation had arisen again.

The Prime Minister's secretary suggested that the Kingdom immediately start organizing a school, equipped with the best educational resources, to specifically train preparatory students for enrollment at Hogwarts.

As soon as he finished, Suleiman's assistant immediately stood up to refute him.

He stated that after analyzing the first batch of freshmen who received assessment qualifications, no commonalities could be found.

Profession, status, and gender lacked any concentration.

The age span was enormous, ranging from sixty-year-old seniors down to teenage girls.

All factors that might affect the probability of an Interview Letter being mailed had no discernible patterns.

The only thing worth studying was likely the examination process itself.

After investigating the five who successfully enrolled and the eighteen who failed, it was discovered that the only criterion for passing the assessment was 'overcoming.'

One simply needed to overcome their most difficult-to-face and uncontrollable desires.

It wouldn't be difficult to develop specialized auxiliary training for this point.

But connecting back to the previous problem...

Their side simply couldn't determine the nature of the group of people most likely to be picked by Hogwarts.

Naturally, there was no talk of consciously conducting training.

The Prime Minister's secretary didn't sit back down after hearing this, waving his hands as he argued his point.

"Are we, as the leaders of the Kingdom, to just let things take their own course?"

"Rather than wasting resources on uncertainty, it's better to establish a corresponding logistics department.

Once a Hogwarts Owl sends out mail, we immediately get in touch with the person involved and help them resolve their own psychological barriers.

That is the most effective way!"

"That efficiency is too slow!"

"It's better than a high probability of failure!"

Clap clap— Seeing that the verbal debate between the two sides was about to escalate into a physical conflict, the Queen clapped her hands.

"Calm down, gentlemen."

The Queen smiled: "First, please set aside your past cognitive inertia.

For example, thoughts of using new students to slowly infiltrate from the bottom and eventually control Hogwarts—stuff those back into your bellies."

Except for the Prime Minister and Prince Suleiman, everyone else present was stunned.

After a while, they realized that they had indeed been instinctively thinking and strategizing in that direction.

After a few seconds of silence to give them time to recover, the Queen continued:

"I have had two brief meetings with Mr. Dumbledore.

His power exceeds the range of human understanding.

Perhaps he is standing in some corner of the hall right now, listening to our meeting with great interest."

"No... that's impossible." The Prime Minister's secretary looked around. "I know wizards have stealth methods, like the magic cloaks in movies that turn you transparent, but we've installed the most advanced detection..."

"Useless."

The two words from the Queen's mouth made the surrounding air freeze.

Although she didn't provide strong proof, such as having tested it herself,

everyone knew that while the Queen looked old, her mind was still very clear.

Since she said it was useless, there must be a sufficient reason.

After a long time, Prince Suleiman, who hadn't said a word from beginning to end, looked at the Queen and asked: "Mother.

The way wizards hide themselves isn't something like optical stealth?"