Harry Potter: Becoming a Top Student from Scratch

Wade quickly walked over, put on the Sorting Hat, and silently repeated in his heart: "Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff! I want to go to Hufflepuff!"

"Hufflepuff?" a small voice said. "Oh, maybe you didn't hear the song I just sang. That's okay, I can sing a bit just for you—where dwell the just and loyal—"

Wade: "…"

He had a vague sense of foreboding.

The Sorting Hat continued: "Hufflepuff students are tough and honest—"

Wade: "…"

Okay, I get it, no need to keep singing!

Sorting Hat: "Unafraid of toil and hardship—"

Wade: "…"

This is getting a bit much! Your voice is way too loud!

The Sorting Hat rustled and muttered, "Although Hufflepuff never turns away any student who longs to be at Hogwarts, there might be a better place for you… Hmm—people often have a hard time recognizing their true selves, don't they?"

Wade quickly thought: "I'm not going to Slytherin!"

"Of course, it's—" the Sorting Hat called out loudly, "Ravenclaw!"

The second row of tables on the left started to clap, the applause measured and reserved. Wade sighed inwardly, took off the hat, and walked toward the table decorated in blue and bronze.

—Stubborn Sorting Hat! So what if I'm not perfectly honest, loyal, and hardworking? I like hanging out with people who are! Is that not allowed?

Several Ravenclaw students stood up to shake his hand. A boy at the front said, "Welcome to Ravenclaw. I'm the boys' prefect, West Moore."

Another boy leaned in and said, "Your name's Wade Gray? Then you really fit in here!"

"What do you mean?" Wade asked.

"Oh, Benson, don't start with that joke," West said helplessly, as if already expecting it.

Benson waggled his eyebrows and said, "Because our house ghost is also Gray—The Grey Lady."

Wade stared at him for a few seconds, then slowly said, "…Oh. So?"

Benson: "…"

West pushed the boy's head back. "I told you not to try copying the Weasley twins. You're not naturally funny."

Benson collapsed on the table like he was crushed, looking totally defeated—Wade actually found his expression funnier now.

He sat down and looked around.

There was no need for introductions—everyone around him had a name floating above their heads (or sometimes two). But Wade had no memory of most of the Ravenclaws—probably because they were never mentioned in the original storyline. The only exception was a very cute, black-haired girl sitting diagonally across from him—Cho Chang. She was watching the new students and didn't notice Wade looking her way.

At the teachers' table, all the faces matched his memory: the silver-haired, long-bearded Albus Dumbledore; the sallow-skinned, greasy-haired Severus Snape; the tiny, child-sized Filius Flitwick; the loopy Sybill Trelawney; the chubby Professor Sprout; and of course, Quirinus Quirrell & Tom Riddle—the man with one face in front and another in the back.

Naturally, sitting at the Ravenclaw table, Wade was as invisible as a ghost—the professors weren't paying any attention to him.

The Sorting continued.

"Michael Corner!"

"Ravenclaw!"

Before Wade, a blonde boy named Anthony had already been sorted into Ravenclaw and was enthusiastically greeting everyone. Not long after, a boy with long, wavy black hair named Michael Corner was sorted and sat next to Wade. Then came the younger of the Indian twin sisters, Padma Patil—her sister Parvati Patil was sorted into Gryffindor.

Ravenclaw didn't have many first-years, just about ten. The new students looked around excitedly but somewhat nervously, until a sudden name echoed—

"Harry Potter!"

The entire hall fell silent. Then came a buzz of whispers.

"Potter? Harry Potter?"

"Is it that Harry Potter?"

At the Ravenclaw table, even the aloof upperclassmen who usually ignored new students turned to stretch their necks and watch the black-haired boy walking up to the Sorting Hat.

When he put on the hat, everyone held their breath. From Gryffindor to Slytherin, from Headmaster Dumbledore to Argus Filch by the door—everyone stared at that dirty, patched-up hat, and the small boy whose face was mostly hidden under it.

The whispering died down.

Finally—

"Gryffindor!"

The Sorting Hat shouted. The hall erupted in cheers and applause, loudest from the Gryffindor table, but even the Ravenclaws clapped—something they hadn't done for any other student.

"I knew he'd be in Gryffindor!" Benson told West seriously. "Harry Potter has to be in Gryffindor—where else could he possibly go?"

"Shut it, Benson. Two months ago, you were saying Harry Potter was just a character from a book and didn't actually exist," West rolled his eyes.

Once the last student was sorted into Slytherin, Professor McGonagall took the Sorting Hat away, and Dumbledore stood up with arms spread wide.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before the feast begins, I have a few words. And they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

Hearing the classic opening speech, Wade clapped enthusiastically.

"What does that even mean?" Michael, seated beside him, asked.

"No idea," Wade replied.

"Then why did you clap?" Michael raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't a speech that short worth clapping for?" Wade shot back.

Michael thought for a moment, then nodded. "You've got a point!"

Cheers and applause filled the hall. In the blink of an eye, the empty tables were covered in food—roast beef, lamb chops, chips, mashed potatoes, and more. Though vegetables were a bit lacking, everything smelled delicious and looked amazing.

The students, long hungry, dug in eagerly. Once everyone was stuffed, the main courses vanished, and desserts appeared. Bellies full, the pace slowed as students began chatting with those around them.

Naturally, the new students started talking about their backgrounds and heritage.

A boy named Stephen said, "I'm from a pure-blood family. My mother was in Ravenclaw, and my father was in Gryffindor. I've already read all the school textbooks at home."

"What about you, Wade?" someone asked.

Wade answered honestly, "My parents aren't magical."

"So magic must be a completely unfamiliar world to you?" Stephen said in a sympathetic tone. "You'll have to work extra hard at school."

"Yeah, I'll do my best," Wade replied with a cheerful smile.

"I'm a half-blood, but I think whether someone's pure-blood or Muggle-born doesn't matter at all," Michael said to Wade. "Take my family for example—my dad's a wizard, but he's nowhere near as smart as my mum. She makes all the decisions at home."

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