Chapter 6: The Sorting Ceremony Begins
Chapter 6: The Sorting Ceremony Begins
A scary-looking wizard with a thick beard and a large build emerged from the darkness, holding a lantern. He waved his arms and shouted, "I'm Rubeus Hagrid, gamekeeper at Hogwarts, in charge of guiding the first years! Are there any more first years?"
"Are all the people here? Well, watch your step and follow me!"
Hagrid led a few dozen nervous and curious freshmen along a rugged and narrow path, stumbling for a while, until a wide lake suddenly spread out at the end of the road. On the opposite bank was a magnificent castle towering into the clouds, emitting dense lights under the cover of night. The tall towers on top pierced the sky, echoing the twinkling starry sky and exuding an ancient and mysterious atmosphere.
"Hogwarts is just ahead. We can take the boat on the shore to get there. No more than four people can be on each boat!" Hagrid turned around and shouted at the stunned first-year students. He then led them to the shore and watched them get on the boat one by one.
Avada, Baron, and Cho Chang were already familiar with each other, so they naturally chose to take the same boat.
"Are you all seated? Then—let's go!"
Hagrid occupied a boat by himself. With his order, all the boats moved without wind and headed steadily towards the castle on the other side. The freshmen kept silent along the way, just staring at the towering castle that would host their seven years with curiosity, nervousness, or awe.
The boat carried them through the ivy curtain that covered the cliff face to the hidden open entrance, then along a dark tunnel to a place like an underground dock, and finally climbed up a gravel and pebbled ground to a huge oak door. Hagrid walked up and knocked on the door three times with his fist.
The door opened a little, revealing a witch with a kind face and wearing a patched gray-brown robe.
"Here are the new students, Professor Sprout," Hagrid said to the witch in a muffled voice.
"Thank you for your hard work, Hagrid," Professor Sprout replied.
Sprout nodded gently, then waved her hand gently, and the door behind her, which had only been open a crack, suddenly opened completely. The huge doorway was almost big enough to fit a house. She stood in front of the door, smiling and gazing at the crowd below, and spoke loudly:
"First-year students, welcome to Hogwarts!"
"The opening banquet is about to begin. But before you officially enroll, you still need to go through the sorting ceremony to enter one of the four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin."
"The houses are like your home at Hogwarts. You will attend classes with other students in the houses, live in the house dormitory together, and spend your spare time in the common room together. Your outstanding performance will earn your house extra points, while violations will cause your house to lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the highest score will receive the highest honor of the year, the House Cup."
"The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin. It will be held in front of all the teachers and students in the school. Please remain quiet, tidy up your appearance a bit, and then follow me."
Sprout walked into the door first, then led the freshmen behind her and stood in the hallway, giving them time to tidy up their appearance and whisper to each other.
"I once asked my mother about the sorting process," Cho whispered mysteriously to Avada and Baron. "But she just smiled and told me that I would know when I got there. No matter how much I asked, she didn't answer."
"My parents are the same," Baron said seriously. "I have also asked other elders, but they all remained silent without exception. I suspect that the process of sorting may include a magical contract that prevents students from revealing the specific process of the sorting."
"But why is this happening?" a boy nearby heard the conversation between the two and couldn't help but ask. "Is the process of sorting dangerous or even illegal?"
Another girl joined the discussion. "That's not the case. My father works for the Law Enforcement Department. He also graduated from Hogwarts. If there was any problem, he would have investigated it long ago."
"My parents also told me that if you are a bad kid, you will be sent directly to Azkaban..."
The noise of the discussion gradually grew louder, leaving Avada speechless.
That is to say, because there are fewer people in the magical world, they can maintain a strange tacit understanding in such a strange place.
"Alright."
Madam Sprout clapped her hands to quiet the discussion.
"Everyone line up and follow me into the auditorium to prepare for the sorting."
"Also, some ghosts will appear later. Don't panic. They won't hurt you. They can't even touch you. At most, they'll make you feel a little cold..."
As she spoke, Professor Sprout led the freshmen through the corridor and into the magnificent Great Hall. Students from other grades were already sitting around four long tables, and thousands of candles floating in the air above the tables illuminated the hall. The four tables were set with glittering golden plates and tall wine glasses. The teachers' seats were at the top table, behind which sat Headmaster Dumbledore and several other wizards and witches.
Professor Sprout gently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first-year students and placed a pointed wizard hat on the stool. The hat was patched, worn, and dirty, and it seemed that it had not been cleaned for a long time.
Avada was looking around the teaching seats, trying to identify the professors he was familiar with. But when the Sorting Hat appeared, all the professors, including Dumbledore, stretched out their fingers and tapped their ears. Many senior students in the audience also took out their wands and did the same thing.
Then, a wide crack appeared on the brim of the Sorting Hat, like a mouth, and it began to sing loudly:
"Fuck!"
As soon as the Sorting Hat spoke, Avada's face changed drastically, and he quickly took out his wand and pointed it at his ears.
"Silencio!"
As the spell he had figured out took effect, Avada felt the world become completely quiet.
After the Sorting Hat finished singing, the whole audience applauded, as if celebrating their liberation. Avada also waved his wand and removed the magic from his ears.
Professor Sprout stepped forward and stood next to the Sorting Hat, holding a piece of parchment in her hand: "Whoever's name I call now will put on the hat, sit on the stool, and start the sorting."
"Michael Duncan!"
A blond boy trotted onto the stage with an excited look on his face and nearly fell off the stool when he sat on it.
"Gryffindor!"
As soon as he finished speaking, huge applause broke out from the long table on the middle right.
"Shabby Nott!"
"Hufflepuff!"
There was thunderous applause at the long table on the far right with the most people.
"Henry Summers!"
"Hufflepuff!"
...
"Cho Chang!" Professor Sprout read loudly. Cho took a deep breath, grasped the corner of her clothes, walked forward, and put on the sorting hat. A discussion also broke out at the long table below.
"Wow, it's an Asian face; it's rare to see it!"
"It seems that the first Chinese wizard at Hogwarts was several decades ago. This should be the second one!"
"And she's so beautiful..."
The Sorting Hat hesitated for a moment on Cho's head before shouting, "Ravenclaw!"
The cheers at the Ravenclaw table were noticeably louder than before.
"Baron Shafiq!"
Baron turned around and smiled at Avada, then walked forward with his head held high and put on the Sorting Hat.
"Slytherin!" the Sorting Hat shouted almost as it touched his hair.
"Tsk." Two red-haired faces were huddled together at the Gryffindor table, muttering, "He who decided to join Slytherin so decisively must not be a good person."
"You should be kind-hearted when you speak." The tall red-haired wizard at the side glanced at them and said, "They are freshmen, after all."
Baron was very satisfied with the result and strode towards the Slytherin table.
Professor Sprout was about to read the next name, looking at the student list, when she suddenly frowned and was silent for a while.
"Next, uh... Mister Ken!"
Before Avada could react, the people at the long table below started to discuss:
"What's going on? Why doesn't he even have a full name?"
"That's not necessarily true. Maybe his name is Mister Ken?"
"This is too perfunctory! Were his parents drunk when they named him?"
"The last name that was given in such a perfunctory way was probably Tonks..."
"Shut up, asshole!"
Avada sighed silently, walked forward, and put on the hat in the spotlight.
On the first day, he became famous throughout the school.
(End of this chapter)
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