Hogwarts: What are the four great masters doing?

But at this moment, Ryan looked at the shabby hat in a rather mysterious way.

He heard it clearly - the hat said it was the creation of the Big Four.

"It looks like four teachers built this thing after I left."

This discovery made Ryan a little excited.

"It possesses wisdom and knowledge, perhaps it knows the whereabouts of the teachers!"

With this thought in mind, Ryan soon heard his name.

"Lian Elias."

As Professor McGonagall called Ryan's name.

All the freshmen looked at Ryan almost at the same time.

The experience on the Black Lake made them all recognize Ryan, and some of them looked at Ryan with strange eyes.

For example, Pansy Parkinson, the look she gave Ryan at this moment was quite complicated.

For example, Draco Malfoy looked at Ryan with a look full of anger and residual fear.

For example, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger, the way they looked at Ryan was also very subtle.

In the guest of honor seat, Dumbledore also adjusted his glasses on his nose and looked at Ryan.

Under the gazes of many people, Ryan sat down calmly on the chair.

Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on his head.

Then...

"!!!"

All the students and professors present could swear that they saw it clearly.

The moment the Sorting Hat was put on Ryan's head, it trembled noticeably, and then the brim of the hat fell down.

It seemed to be saluting.

And at this moment, a slightly respectful voice indeed came from Ryan's mind.

"Oh, it's you."

"You're back—the heir of the Big Four."

Chapter 16: Memories, Funerals, and Songs

really!

As soon as the Sorting Hat's voice sounded, Ryan's heart began to beat.

"You recognize me?"

He asked silently in his heart.

"Of course... the descendant of the Big Four, my little master."

The Sorting Hat's voice was filled with cheerful joy.

"Time has the greatest magic. It makes the world forget your existence, but I will never forget—I am the greatest creation of the Big Four!"

"great."

Ryan paid no attention to the Sorting Hat's boasting. His concern was very clear: "So, Mr. Hat... do you know what happened to my teachers? Are they really dead?"

That was his only concern.

"Oh..."

The Sorting Hat's mood visibly darkened. "I'm not sure, young master."

It said: "I can sense your emotions, but I am just a hat... I cannot witness the end of all my masters."

"All the masters?"

Ryan's mood became even more depressed, and he heard some hidden meaning.

"Yes - Salazar Slytherin left the school long before any of this happened, and he certainly wouldn't tell a hat why he left."

"As for the remaining masters... perhaps you should take a look at this."

As Old Hat spoke as if reminiscing about the past, Ryan felt his thoughts drift away.

A scene appeared before his eyes.

"A memory?"

Ryan determined that he was in a memory.

He turned his head subconsciously, and then his whole body shuddered - because he saw a familiar figure.

That lion-like beard and that tall stature.

"Gryffindor teacher!"

Ryan called out unconsciously, but then he realized that he was just in a memory.

He could find that his perspective at the moment was very strange - he seemed to be held in Gryffindor's hand with one hand, and the perspective was very low.

Then he realized... he was now the 'Sorting Hat'!

Here are the memories of the hat—it actually is a living thing with its own memories!

But Ryan's surprise didn't last long, because he soon noticed the scene around him.

Under the gloomy sky, the cold wind from the Black Lake blew the dry grass.

The season seems to be late autumn, the time when all things wither and even the light seems to become dim.

Gryffindor stood there, and next to him was a witch with a slightly chubby face, but gentle and wise.

That was Helga Hufflepuff.

At this moment, the eyes of these two legendary wizards were very complicated.

There was sadness in the eyes of Gryffindor, which seemed to be always resolute and brave in Ryan's memory.

Hufflepuff's eyes, which seemed always warm and gentle in Ryan's memory, were sharp.

They stood by the black lake, wearing silver medals, looking at things not far away.

Ryan saw that thing, too.

It was a sarcophagus, carved with intricate, elegant and wise patterns, and on the top of the sarcophagus was an eagle with its wings spread out, ready to fly.

Beneath the sarcophagus were countless flowers, magical instruments, as well as numerous books and runes.

Ryan recognized that those runes symbolized 'death' and 'eternal sleep'.

The sarcophagus was not closed, and Gryffindor was tall - so even from the perspective of the Sorting Hat, Ryan could see the person lying in the coffin.

That was a beautiful witch.

She was wearing a blue wizard robe and a crown of mistletoe, and her calm face was as cold, noble and elegant as when she was alive.

She wore two rings on her fingers, one on the index finger of her left hand and one on her right hand.

So, even though he was in the memory, Ryan still felt as if his heartbeat seemed to have stopped for a beat.

He saw the words scribbled on the two rings - 'LE' and 'HR'.

Ryan couldn't possibly forget them, because the ring with 'LE' written on it was made by him and given to her - as the first creation he made when he followed her to learn alchemy, as the initial gift.

LE is exactly his initials.

"Ravenclaw teacher..."

The cruelest fact was before him—Rowena Ravenclaw was lying in the sarcophagus.

He witnessed her funeral.

Sadness washed over Ryan's heart at this moment, but he couldn't even shed a tear at the memory.

But at this moment...

"I have to go now."

A deep voice came, it was the voice of Gryffindor: "As planned, I will leave the Sorting Hat at the school - Hogwarts and Rowena's body will be left to you, Helga."

He turned around and didn't look at the sarcophagus again.

And in front of him, Helga Hufflepuff nodded.

The sadness of the death of one close friend and the impending departure of another filled her eyes.

But even so, her expression remained firm.

"I will recruit some house-elves to serve the school and conceal the news of your departure..."

"I know, Helga."

Gryffindor interrupted her: "You don't have to tell me this. I always believe in my friends - whether it's Rowena, Salazar or you, just as I believe in myself."

"In the past, with you and Rowena around, troubles at school never fell on me."

He said this, looked at Helga and shrugged: "Now that Rowena has gone ahead, you will have to bear even more trouble."

Hearing this, Helga laughed helplessly: "So, you can't take responsibility for the school? After dealing with the chaos, there will still be time to go to the Fairy Kingdom..."

She was obviously quite dissatisfied with Gryffindor's long-standing hands-off behavior.

"Oh, that's really difficult for me."

But the Gryffindor just waved his hand and grinned.

"That's not what I should do. There's only one thing I should do..."

Having said this, the founder of Gryffindor gripped the sword at his waist.

"I have to fight."

"as always."

After saying that, he left with Ryan - or the Sorting Hat.