She cleared her throat, her voice ringing clearly across the Great Hall. "The Sorting Ceremony will now begin... By placing this hat upon your head, it will assign you to one of the four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin, based on your traits. This house will be your home for the next seven years."
As soon as she finished, Ron's face flushed beet red. He glared furiously at Fred and George at the Gryffindor table. Wrestling a troll? It was all a lie!
Fred and George burst into laughter at his expression.
"Prank successful!"
Ron glared at them with a look that suggested his only desire was to rush over and strangle those two bastards on the spot.
Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes at Ron's reaction.
'Wrestling a troll? Honestly! If I'd known the sorting was this simple, I wouldn't have been nervous for so long!'
While the attention of every new student was fixed on Professor McGonagall and the peculiar Sorting Hat, Victor Wick unobtrusively raised his hand, took a pair of simple black-framed glasses from his pocket, and gently slid them onto the bridge of his nose.
Through the lenses, his gaze sharpened as he focused on a specific student in the Slytherin line.
His vision zoomed in, bringing blurry outlines into focus. He locked onto a faint, flickering dark-green rune sequence near the student's neck, pulsating with a subtle yet eerie frequency.
It was the Imperius Curse!
To date, the wizarding world had no known spell capable of detecting if a person was currently under the Imperius Curse.
Otherwise, people like Lucius Malfoy wouldn't have been able to use that excuse to escape conviction.
In truth, they simply paid a hefty sum and claimed they were forced into their actions under the curse, eventually being released due to a lack of concrete evidence.
But Victor Wick was the exception; he could see the rune sequence of any magical effect.
He even had a way to trace the spell back to the caster by analyzing those very runes!
Currently, Quirrell was the prime suspect, but that made things even stranger.
Regardless of what he planned to make that Slytherin student do, casting the Imperius Curse right under Dumbledore's nose was an incredibly dangerous move.
If Voldemort were truly possessing Quirrell, he would never allow such a foolish risk.
If caught, Quirrell would be exposed immediately. Even if Voldemort managed to escape, his plan to steal the Philosopher's Stone would be ruined...
Yet, Quirrell had done it anyway. This meant the decision had the Dark Lord's blessing.
Victor frowned, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the frame of his glasses as a crucial thought flashed through his mind.
The Dark Lord knew he could see rune sequences and that he possessed the ability to track casters.
But if he knew that, why would he deliberately leave such an obvious trail?
'Wait... he wants me to see this...'
Victor took a deep breath, the fog in his mind instantly clearing.
He finally understood the Dark Lord's intent—this was another test!
After the Gringotts incident, since both he and Dumbledore had shown no suspicious movements, the Dark Lord was likely growing impatient.
This test was designed to see if Victor would report the presence of a cursed student to Dumbledore.
Exposing it on the spot would be an admission of total betrayal. Remaining silent would prove he was still within the Dark Lord's grasp and not yet aligned with Dumbledore.
'Tsk... the Dark Lord's tests are always so blunt and heavy-handed...'
The Dark Lord had likely realized that Dumbledore already had his eye on Quirrell and that exposure was only a matter of time. Therefore, he had turned Quirrell into a disposable pawn, using him to test Victor's true stance.
Yes, that was definitely the Dark Lord's style.
He was essentially gambling on the Philosopher's Stone. Given his cautious nature, this was a rare and bold move, but the secret to immortality was a lure Voldemort could never refuse.
However, if he won this gamble, the payoff would be immense.
If Victor hadn't betrayed him, then Victor would be a far more suitable agent for securing the Stone than Quirrell.
Just then, the once-stationary Sorting Hat began to twitch.
A mouth formed within the folds of the fabric, and a raspy yet booming voice rang out from the brim.
The Sorting Hat began its favorite annual tradition: the singing segment!
'The lyrics are decent, but that voice is a bit hard on the ears...'
Taking advantage of the distraction, Victor used the telescopic function of his glasses to quickly scan every new student in the hall, his gaze sharp and cautious.
He had to confirm if any other students besides that one Slytherin had been placed under the Imperius Curse.
If there were others... the situation would be far more troublesome.
Fortunately, after a full sweep, it seemed only that one student had been compromised.
In that case, Victor decided to remain silent for the time being.
Dumbledore had told him that unless it was absolutely necessary, Victor must not expose his identity!
Yet, even having guessed the Dark Lord's plan, a sliver of unease remained in Victor's heart.
Knowing the Dark Lord, since he had placed such a large bet, he would surely squeeze every bit of value out of a pawn like Quirrell. It couldn't be as simple as just a test.
This kept Victor from letting his guard down.
The Sorting Hat's song finally reached its conclusion.
Professor McGonagall unrolled the yellowed parchment scroll in her hand and picked up the hat. "When I call your name, you will come forward and sit on the stool."
The buzzing chatter in the Great Hall vanished instantly.
"Abbott, Hannah!"
A small girl with blonde pigtails ran up and sat on the stool.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted.
Cheers and applause erupted from the Hufflepuff table, and Professor Sprout on the staff dais smiled and clapped along.
Hannah flushed red, stood up, and ran toward the Hufflepuff table, where she was immediately surrounded by her new housemates.
At that moment, everyone was watching the ceremony with rapt interest.
Victor's gaze drifted aimlessly, but his mind was racing. 'What am I missing?'
Suddenly, Victor's eyes met Harry's in the line of first-years.
Harry gave him a bright, brilliant grin.
Victor raised an eyebrow and reflexively returned a bright smile of his own.
The smile was genuine because he had finally realized what he was missing.
Whether he reported the curse was merely the second test following the Gringotts incident.
Now it seemed there would be a third test...
If he were the Dark Lord, he would order that cursed student to attack Harry Potter while the professors' attention was divided!
As for the timing... it would definitely be right when Harry's sorting result was confirmed!
With Harry's fame, the moment his house was announced would be the peak of the hall's excitement—and the moment the professors were least on guard!
An attack at that moment, even if it only came from an upper-year student, would almost certainly hit Harry.
The Dark Lord's third test for Victor was to see if he would step in to save Harry after passing the second test.
If he saved him, it would prove his betrayal.
But if he didn't act, the Dark Lord would not only confirm his loyalty but also successfully kill Harry and have his revenge!
'Old Voldy, you really are thorough...'
At that thought, Victor's smile faded. If he was right, Quirrell was surely watching him right now.
Victor inconspicuously scanned the room for Quirrell out of the corner of his eye.
Sure enough, Quirrell had moved to stand near the Ravenclaw table, pretending to chat with students while frequently glancing in Victor's direction.
From that position, he could see every single move Victor made.
"As expected of the Dark Lord. This is a ruthless play," Victor sighed to himself.
On one hand was his cover which could not be blown, and on the other was Harry's life, which had to be saved. The Dark Lord had set a dead-end dilemma.
Victor glanced at Dumbledore. The Headmaster was wearing a gentle smile, watching the Sorting Ceremony with delight, seemingly unaware of any anomaly.
But even if Dumbledore noticed him now, Victor couldn't pass a message silently without exposing himself.
He turned his gaze toward Snape, hoping to find a way out of the predicament through him.
A second later, he rolled his eyes in frustration. Snape wasn't looking at him at all!
Snape's deep, black eyes were fixed intently on Harry in the line, his expression a complex mix of emotions as he brooded on whatever was on his mind.
'Honestly... seriously... zero chemistry between us!'
Victor knit his brows, silently resolving that if he made it through this, he would develop a spell for secret voice transmission.
That way, in emergencies like this, he could communicate with Dumbledore or Snape without being left isolated.
But for now, he was on his own.
By this time, the Sorting had reached Draco Malfoy. The ceremony proceeded alphabetically by surname.
M and P were very close, meaning Harry's name would be called any moment, and Victor still hadn't found a way to break the deadlock.
Victor's brow furrowed as his fingers rubbed together nervously.
This time, the Dark Lord had truly presented him with a massive challenge.