Chapter 7: Hogwarts

As they chatted, time flew by quickly. In the blink of an eye, the sky darkened, and the train slowed down, preparing to arrive at the station.

The three of them quickly removed their Muggle coats and put on their Hogwarts robes.

Arthur couldn't help but shiver as he looked out the window in the rain and felt how cold and wet it was. Thinking of something, Arthur opened his suitcase and took out a scarf, which he wrapped around Cho's neck.

"Put this on. It's cold outside because of the rain."

Cho blushed a little but didn't refuse his kindness.

The train arrived at the station, and Arthur and Cho walked out with the crowd.

"First-year students, first-year students, come this way!"

A loud voice came from nearby, and a man stood standing over three meters tall with a horse running on his back. He kept calling new students to gather around him.

"Cho, I'm going to go line up with Hagrid now," Arthur nodded at Cho.

"Good luck, Arthur. I hope you get arranged into Ravenclaw," Cho said, looking at Arthur with a soft and hopeful expression.

Arthur's heart hurt when he saw Cho's hopeful look. Since his last name was Gaunt, he would probably put in Slytherin.

But for Cho's sake, he would try and see if he could persuade the Sorting Hat. Besides, he didn't have a good impression of Slytherin himself, and as a half-blood wizard, he knew he would be in trouble if he entered Slytherin.

(They only knew that he was half-blooded, but the system is improving his ancient bloodline)

Soon, all the new students gathered around Hagrid, and after counting them, he picked up an old lamp and led the group of young wizards towards the distance.

As they walked, Hagrid kept turning around and shouting warnings.

"Watch your step, everyone, this path is difficult to walk on!"

The young wizards followed Hagrid with problem, as he was quite far ahead and the old lamp was very dark.

Arthur took out his wand and said, "Lumos."

Suddenly, his wand radiated a bright white light. The small wizards behind him breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wow, Ron, look at him, he's really amazing."

Hearing the voice, Arthur couldn't help but turn around, and to his surprise, Ron and Harry were behind him.

Harry felt a little embarrassed when he saw Arthur turn around. Even if he is being nice, it's always awkward to talk about someone behind their back.

"Hello, I'm Harry Potter, and this is Ron Weasley," Harry introduced himself and his friend.

Arthur nodded and introduced himself as well. "Hello, I'm Arthur Gaunt."

When Harry saw that Arthur wasn't overjoyed when he heard Harry's name, he quickly guessed that Arthur might not have been raised with magic either.

"Hi, are you also from a Muggle family?" Harry asked.

"You are amazing. I still haven't learned a single spell yet. However, I met a girl on the train, Hermione Granger, and she was able to fix my glasses with a spell. She's also a Muggle."

While everyone in the wizarding world treated him like a savior, Harry had no idea what he had done or how he had done it.

So, it was a relief to meet someone from a Muggle family who didn't react to his name and made him happy.

"It's nothing, I just learned a few spells on my own after getting my books and got lucky enough to master one or two," Arthur replied, not intentionally distancing himself from Harry.

He wouldn't refuse normal interactions, but as for whether or not Professor Dumbledore would set some traps for him to jump into, that would depend on who had more morality.

Harry awkwardly chuckled. Since receiving his textbooks, he had also flipped through them, but after reciting the spells without any response, he didn't try again.

"Which house do you want to be sorted into? Ron said Gryffindor is the best house, I hope I don't get sorted into Slytherin."

Arthur smiled and didn't make any judgments. He thought of the pretty and soft girl with her soft hand and unconsciously said, "I choose Ravenclaw, it's quite good there."

"What?" Harry said he didn't hear it clearly.

"Nothing, I just think Ravenclaw suits me better, I like it there,"

"I see, okay,"

Harry noticed that Arthur didn't seem very excited about going to Gryffindor, which disappointed him, but he didn't want to interfere too much with other people's decisions.

Under Hagrid's lead, the young wizards boarded the boat in groups of four, slowly approaching the cliff. Also, Hagrid told them to put their heads down to walk through the bridge tunnel.

Arthur couldn't help but want to laugh. Even though Hagrid lowered his head, he was still one or two times taller than the young wizards, but they all followed and lowered their heads.

Finally, the boat slowly approached the dock. Hagrid led them through the tunnel across the grass and arrived at the main entrance of this magnificent castle.

After the sound of the gate, the castle gate slowly opened.

A solemn, old-fashioned witch in a green wizard hat walked out with a serious expression, making the young wizards who had just been talking and laughing not dare to breathe.

"Professor McGonagall, the first-year students are all here," Hagrid pointed to the back.

"Thank you for your hard work, Hagrid. I'll take it from here,"

Professor McGonagall's expression relaxed slightly, and with a wave of her wand, the young wizards behind her were refreshed despite being soaked in the rain and wearing dirty robes.

Suddenly, the young wizards' impressions of Professor McGonagall improved a lot.

Professor McGonagall led the group into the hall, where countless torches burned brightly on the walls. The ceiling was covered with countless lights sparkling.

A long table was placed horizontally at the head of the hall, with an older man with white hair sitting in the middle and talking to Snape on his left.

Four long tables were arranged vertically below, with countless floating candles above them, and golden goblets and plates were placed on the tables.

The older students sat next to them.

In the center was a high platform, on which rested a certain shabby hat, silently waiting.

Professor McGonagall didn't lead them directly through the hall but turned right and lined the young wizards up in a row.

Other students in the hall were either chatting with each other or looking over at them.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. We need to determine which house you belong to, and then you can officially sit down."

"Next, I will call your names, and then please step onto the center platform and put on the Sorting Hat. It will choose your house."

Arthur lined up with the young wizards, looking at the scene in front of him as if in a dream. He was incredibly excited.

Hogwarts, here I come.

...

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