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Chapter 139 - Chapter 138: Jerry’s Sorting Ceremony

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read lotsstory inpatre** : ilham20 

Hogwarts Targaryen Dragonborn 

Hogwarts Bloodline Wizards 

Hogwarts: Voldemort Inheritance Knowledge, Blood, and the Dark Mark

"Jerry Weasley? Another one of Ron's siblings?"

Tom kept chewing on a piece of ham, the thought drifting lazily through his mind.

Then it hit him.

"Meow—meow? Meow meow meow!"

(Wait. What the hell? Jerry Weasley?!)

The shock was so sudden that Tom forgot to swallow. The entire chunk of ham went down in one go, nearly choking him on the spot. For a split second, the odds of a piece of ham actually killing a cat looked dangerously close to breaking zero.

After a few desperate swallows that left his body visibly stretched into a ham-shaped lump, Tom didn't even have time to reshape himself. His head snapped around toward the Sorting Ceremony so fast it was a wonder it didn't fly off.

Beside him, Harry stared at Ron in complete confusion. "Jerry Weasley? Ron, is he a relative? I don't remember seeing him at the Burrow."

"Jerry? Well… in a way, he's sort of connected to the family," Ron said, his eyes drifting down to the pocket where Scabbers was hiding. If you wanted to get technical, Jerry did have a connection to Scabbers.

Of course Ron knew exactly who Jerry was. Every Weasley knew. A few months ago, a mouse had shown up at the Burrow with a giant snake in tow. It was clever—smart enough that even Ginny, who normally didn't like rodents, had wanted to keep it.

So Jerry had moved in as Ginny's pet.

At first Ron had been excited. At least Scabbers would finally have some company. But for reasons no one could quite explain—maybe some kind of same-species rivalry—Scabbers wanted nothing to do with Jerry. And Jerry wanted nothing to do with Scabbers. If Ron hadn't kept an eye on things, Scabbers probably wouldn't have survived the first week.

Even after Ron made it clear that Scabbers was his pet, Jerry stopped actively tormenting the rat. But after that, the way Jerry looked at Ron had become… weird.

Still, if Ginny wanted to keep the mouse and the snake, that was her business. The real problem started when an owl flew in carrying letters. The whole family assumed one was Ginny's Hogwarts letter.

It was. But there were two.

One was addressed to Ginny.

The other was addressed to:

Mr. Jerry Weasley 

The cage on the table 

The Burrow, Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon

Arthur had stared at that letter for five solid minutes, trying to convince himself it was one of Fred and George's pranks.

Molly had briefly wondered if Arthur had a secret child somewhere, but she was rational enough to realize that if he did, the letter wouldn't have been sent to the Burrow. And the address was way too specific.

The twins had rolled on the floor laughing when they realized Jerry had gotten his own acceptance letter. They immediately started debating which was more impressive: a cat who could do magic, or a mouse who had just been accepted to Hogwarts.

Percy had flat-out refused to believe it. He tried quoting school rules and Ministry regulations, insisting that a mouse simply could not attend Hogwarts.

Fred had shut him down with a single sentence: "But he has an acceptance letter."

"And if Dumbledore let a cat in," George added, "I doubt he'll mind one more mouse."

In the end, the Weasleys had accepted the situation. If Tom could go to Hogwarts, then apparently so could Jerry.

(Ron: What about me? Why am I not part of this family discussion?!)

Harry, of course, had no idea any of this had happened. By the time he moved in with the Weasleys, Jerry had already started keeping to himself. The only time he came out was when someone went to Diagon Alley. And when Harry had visited, Jerry had recognized him instantly as the boy who used to hang around Tom. He'd made sure to stay hidden. No point letting Tom find out he was here just yet.

Now, under the combined weight of Tom's stunned and disbelieving stare, a small brown shape stepped out of the line of first-years.

It was a mouse. Just an ordinary-looking mouse—brown fur, round ears, long tail, bright black eyes—wearing a tiny Hogwarts robe.

Jerry.

"Merlin's beard!"

"Wait, is that actually a mouse?"

"He's got the Weasley name. Is he related to that blood-traitor family?"

"Fits, doesn't it? Weasleys are basically rats in the gutter."

"Hogwarts is turning into a zoo now? They're letting mice in?"

"Hey, Tom's a cat, isn't he?"

"Tom's Tom. Other animals are other animals."

The Great Hall went dead silent for two full seconds, then exploded.

Even the professors were staring. Professor Flitwick stood up on his chair. Professor Sprout dropped her fork. Snape's face remained perfectly blank, but only he knew his heart had skipped a beat when he saw that mouse with the same cartoonish energy as Tom.

Newt's eyes darted between Jerry and Tom. He would've bet his entire case that there was serious history between that cat and that mouse.

Nicolas stroked his beard thoughtfully. If Tom was a once-in-a-lifetime genius, was this mouse the same? He wasn't quite ready to take on another apprentice just yet, though. Tom had already done enough damage to his ego.

Percival Graves looked amused. "Albus, is this another one of your surprises?"

"No," Dumbledore said, his expression just as strange. "I genuinely didn't expect another… student quite like this one."

Unlike the Lovegoods, the Weasleys had assumed that since Jerry received a letter, Hogwarts already knew about him and had made arrangements. They hadn't bothered to warn Dumbledore.

Dumbledore really hadn't seen this coming.

Percival rolled his eyes. "Sure. You knew nothing."

Some reputations were just impossible to shake.

None of that stopped the Sorting.

Professor McGonagall's expression froze when a mouse walked out of the line.

She wasn't afraid of mice. And Jerry wasn't an ordinary mouse—he was actually rather cute. But her Animagus form was a cat, and some instincts were hard to suppress when a rodent was right in front of her.

She spent several long seconds silently chanting this is a student, you cannot catch this student before she managed to keep her composure. She took a deep breath and said evenly, "Please put the hat on."

Jerry looked up at the tall stool and the battered hat sitting on it. He squeaked twice, then scampered up the leg of the stool, climbed onto the seat, and disappeared under the hat.

He was so small that it looked less like he was wearing the hat and more like the hat was wearing him.

Tom's DNA itched violently at the sight.

He barely managed to stop himself from lunging forward and grabbing the mouse right then and there.

"Hmm? What in the—? Has Hogwarts got a mouse problem? Oh. You're a new student. My apologies."

The Sorting Hat sounded startled at first, but calmed down once it realized Jerry was supposed to be there.

"Well now, you're certainly unusual. And I have the strangest feeling I've met someone like you before…"

What followed was a long, intense negotiation between hat and mouse. No one knew what they discussed, but eventually the hat's voice rose with clear decision.

"If that is truly your wish, then—Ravenclaw!"

Ravenclaw table fell into an awkward silence.

Welcome the new student? But why was the new student a mouse?

Students at the other tables were just as lost. No one wanted to admit it, but Ravenclaws were supposed to be the smart ones. If the hat put a mouse in Ravenclaw, did that mean the rest of them were dumber than a rodent?

Tom raised an eyebrow at the weird atmosphere. So Luna was probably safe from bullying now, and the target had just shifted to Jerry? Did these kids seriously think they could bully Jerry?

Please. The only person allowed to bully that mouse was him.

Still, Tom wasn't about to let the other students push Jerry around. He lifted a paw, ready to start clapping.

Before he could, applause broke out first.

Not from Ginny. Not from the twins.

From Draco.

Even though Draco was getting along with Harry's group these days, openly clapping for a mouse was basically picking a side. As a Slytherin, he should have been more careful. But here he was.

Tom smirked. Not bad. Worth the effort I put into him.

He started clapping too. The rest of the hall followed, though a lot of students still looked like they were forcing it.

Tom and Jerry didn't care either way.

Jerry crawled out from under the hat, scampered down the stool, and trotted straight toward the Ravenclaw table like he owned the place.

"Surprised? Shocked?"

He climbed onto the table with ease and plopped down right in front of Tom. He didn't speak out loud, but those bright, mischievous eyes said it clearly.

"Surprised? More like traumatized," Tom muttered, glaring.

He really hadn't expected to see Jerry at the Sorting Ceremony.

Forget the Weasley last name for a second—how the hell had the mouse even gotten accepted? Tom had assumed Jerry would be hiding out in some forest somewhere, waiting for him to show up like in every story ever. Side characters were supposed to stay put until the protagonist arrived.

More importantly—why was this damn mouse starting school this year? There was no way he was younger than Tom. Absolutely not.

"You were thinking something rude about me just now, weren't you?"

Even after all this time apart, Jerry could still read Tom like a book. One twitch of that cat's tail and Jerry knew exactly what kind of nonsense was going through his head.

"Me? Never. I was just happy to see you again!"

Tom grinned, all teeth.

"Happy? Then why are your claws out?"

Jerry complained, even as both of his tiny front paws reached straight for the roast meat on Tom's plate.

"One thing at a time. Hogwarts isn't going to run out of food just because you're here. Why do you have to steal from my plate?"

Tom smacked the paws away without hesitation.

Some things never changed. Old friends meeting again should have been emotional. But with these two, it was business as usual—bickering, stealing food, and trying not to stab each other in the back until there was mutual benefit involved.

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