Chapter 17: The Sorting Hat

Support me and be 20 chapters ahead of webnovel:

patreon.com/Draco_

For every 4 new paid patreon I get irrespective of tiers I will mass release 15 chaps of this book.

*****

A few minutes later, more and more ghosts began to appear in the small room, varying in height, size, and shape, which truly surprised the first-year students.

At first, these young witches and wizards were quite frightened, but they quickly realized that the ghosts were not scary at all; in fact, they were very friendly and greeted everyone warmly.

To help ease their nerves, one ghost even put on a little performance, demonstrating a ghostly talent involving cradling his head with both hands.

"Cool…"

Watching the head spinning in the air, someone couldn't help but exclaim.

"Thank you for the compliment, but I have something even cooler," the ghost seemed to take the cue and, without hesitation, tossed his head up into the air, executing a spectacular front flip while spinning three and a half times before catching his head smoothly upon landing.

The movement was fluid, the posture elegant, and every landing was perfectly precise.

As expected, this impressive display earned a round of applause from everyone, Kyle included.

Such talent was certainly a rare sight!

"Thank you, thank you all." The ghost took a bow, walking around the room with an air of pride as he said, "Oh, did I forget to mention? I joined the Headless Horseman Club thanks to that little routine. Of course, I'm not bragging; I'm just saying you all have good taste."

After that, the atmosphere truly warmed up.

The young witches and wizards gathered around, urging him to perform again.

The ghost didn't hold back; while he didn't attempt the previous high-difficulty moves, his series of tricks still had everyone laughing heartily.

"Ha."

However, just then, a cold, eerie chuckle interrupted from the side. "What's there to be proud of?"

Everyone instinctively turned to see that the speaker was yet another ghost.

"My apologies, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington," the Headless ghost recognized his colleague dressed in a ruffled collar and quickly explained, "I was just trying to entertain the children; I meant no offense."

"Let's hope that's the case."

"Of course, and I sincerely hope you will join the Headless Horseman Club this year, Sir."

Sir Nicholas, the nearly headless ghost, gave a blank stare at his counterpart before drifting through the wall and leaving.

With that interruption, the Headless ghost decided to end his performance. He shrugged and said, "Well, everyone, it's about time for the Sorting. You should prepare yourselves; see you soon!"

With that, he floated through the wall toward the Great Hall.

Though everyone felt it was a shame, they had no choice but to watch the Headless ghost depart.

However, the atmosphere in the room didn't dampen much.

After witnessing the ghostly performance, everyone felt happy and increasingly excited about the upcoming Sorting.

...… Except for Connap.

She was the only one in the entire room who hadn't paid attention to the ghost's performance.

By the time Professor McGonagall returned, the girl was curled up in the corner, looking almost gray and emanating an air of despair.

Unfortunately, Professor McGonagall didn't seem to notice.

"I leave you for just a moment, and this is how you all behave!"

She pursed her lips and looked sternly at the group of first-years below her. "The entire Great Hall can hear your laughter. Is something so funny, or do you all think the Sorting is a ridiculous affair?"

Professor McGonagall's voice wasn't loud, but everyone fell silent, heads bowed, not daring to make a sound.

This continued for over a minute before McGonagall spoke again. "Remember, the Sorting is a serious matter, so please remain quiet. Now, form a single file and follow me."

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone moved, quickly lining up within a minute and closely following Professor McGonagall.

Connap was among them, dragged along by Kyle, shuffling forward like a zombie in a daze.

...

They exited the room, passed through the foyer, and then through a set of double doors, finally entering the grand Great Hall.

Compared to the foyer, the hall was even more magnificent.

The Great Hall was astonishingly large; even with four long tables filled with students, it felt far from crowded.

Luxurious golden platters and goblets adorned the tables, while thousands of floating candles illuminated the space brilliantly.

Above them, the velvety black ceiling sparkled with stars and rolling clouds, leaving everyone in awe.

Someone quietly remarked to a companion, "This place is enchanted to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History."

Kyle turned to see the speaker was a boy, and quickly lost interest.

It was a pity; if he had waited a year to enroll, he might have become good friends with Hermione.

The group stopped at the front of the hall, just before the staff table.

In the center sat Dumbledore, draped in a purple robe, his silver hair and beard neatly groomed. He wore his signature half-moon glasses, kindly looking at each new student.

Beside him were the four house heads.

Sitting there was the slick-haired Slytherin Head, Severus Snape.

The shorter Ravenclaw Head, Filius Flitwick.

The seemingly kind Hufflepuff Head, Pomona Sprout.

As for the Gryffindor Head, Professor McGonagall, her seat was temporarily empty as she was overseeing the Sorting.

Including them, about twenty professors attended the feast today, though Kyle could barely identify fewer than ten, with no recollection of the others.

This was understandable; Hogwarts was so large that if only the few professors he remembered were present, it would be insufficient.

Moreover, he knew that half of those professors were temporary, which made the number even smaller.

...

Kyle shifted his gaze back.

At that moment, Professor McGonagall had just set a four-legged stool in front of the first-years and placed a patched, brown, pointed wizard hat on it.

Well, it could be called brown.

The hat was so dirty that even with McGonagall's careful handling, it still stirred up quite a bit of dust as it fell.

Furthermore, under the candlelight, the hat shimmered slightly, clearly well-used; in such conditions, it was nearly impossible to discern its original color.

Kyle could guarantee that if this hat were not the Sorting Hat and instead appeared at home, he and Chris would definitely end up in trouble.

Or perhaps they'd both be beaten to a pulp by Diana.

(End of Chapter)