Bonus Story 2: Cassandra's First Encounter, Sorting

Upon seeing the little girl, Gareth suddenly sat up straight and looked out the window.

The little girl didn't go to see Gareth, or rather, she didn't come here for Gareth.

"So what they said is true."

The girl spoke, her voice arrogant and somewhat domineering.

Harry had never heard this tone before, and instinctively disliked it.

"Among the new students this year, there's a... a little boy with a scar on his head?" the girl asked again.

Harry knew this was directed at him.

"Hello, miss." He couldn't pretend not to hear like Gareth, so he could only greet him.

"Tell me your name," the girl said.

"Harry, Harry Potter." Harry's voice lacked confidence.

This is the Magical World, and the girl in front of him is clearly a young lady from a wealthy family. Harry, who has no one to rely on, dares not offend her.

"Potter..." the girl became alert. "Are you from the Potter Family?"

"No, no," Harry quickly shook his head. "I'm an orphan, not a member of the Potter Family."

The girl nodded.

"I'm sorry." Her apology was extremely arrogant. "I'm Cassandra Malfoy, you'll remember that name."

"Yes, Miss Malfoy," Harry nodded quickly.

Cassandra glanced at the scar on Harry's forehead one last time, then turned and left.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"Who is she?" Harry asked Gareth cautiously, his voice low as if afraid Cassandra would hear.

"You don't even know her!" Gareth as if he had heard something unbelievable, then added with a sudden realization, "Oh, that's not surprising. You're Muggle-born, so it's normal that you don't know the Malfoy family —remember, never mess with her. That's my advice to you. If you anger her, the consequences will be severe."

"Huh?" Harry scratched his head. "Why?"

"Her father is Septimus Malfoy!" Gareth's voice was soft but powerful. "You know, everyone says that Mr. Malfoy is the real Minister for Magic, and the current Minister for Magic is just a puppet of his family—and his son, Cassandra Malfoy's brother, Ignatius Malfoy, is an outstanding wizard who achieved twelve O's in the OWLs! And Mr. Malfoy is also a member of the Hogwarts school board member. If you offend Miss Malfoy, just one word from her and her father, and you'll be expelled from school!"

Harry immediately grasped Miss Malfoy's status; she was a young lady not to be trifled with.

"I understand, Gareth," Harry nodded earnestly.

"I really don't know why Miss Malfoy would be interested in you," Gareth said, shaking his head. "I've heard she has a bad temper—well, she's a bit arrogant and difficult to get along with."

Yeah?

Harry shook his head, not taking it seriously.

He knew that he and Miss Malfoy were from two different worlds, and perhaps the young lady was just acting on a whim and wanted to see a child from the Muggle world.

"By the way," Gareth added, "Have you decided which college you want to go to?"

"Not yet," Harry said honestly. "I don't know which houses Hogwarts has—by the way, which house is Headmaster Mr. Black in?"

"Slytherin," Gareth said. "Oh, Merlin's stockings! Headmaster Black is the most unpopular Headmaster in history, lots of people tell me that!"

The most unpopular Headmaster?

Harry recalled what he saw and heard when he met Headmaster Black while collecting his bursary...

"I absolutely refuse to go to Slytherin!" he said firmly.

"Why?" Gareth asked.

"Because Headmaster Black is from Slytherin," Harry said with a shrug.

The train continued its rumbling journey, and the sky gradually darkened.

"I think we should change into our robes, Harry," Gareth urged. "Looks like we'll be at Hogwarts soon, we need to get ready."

Harry glanced out the car window; it was already dark, and he could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky.

At this moment, the train seemed to slow down.

"The train will arrive at Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train, and we will take it to the school for you."

The sound echoed through the train, making Harry so nervous that his stomach churned, and Gareth turned pale.

"Oh, Sorting." Gareth seemed to have thought of something bad. "My aunt told me that Sorting seems to involve fighting Troll, oh my god..."

"Troll?" Harry clearly didn't know what Troll were.

"It's just..." Gareth thought for a long time but couldn't think of a suitable adjective.

The train slowed down and finally came to a stop. Passengers jostled and pushed their way to the doors and onto a small, dark platform.

The night chill made Harry shiver, then a lamp flickered above the students' heads, and Harry heard a voice with a very strange accent call out, "First-year students, first-year students, come this way!"

Harry stood on tiptoe and saw a middle-aged man standing on a high place, holding a lamp in his hand.

"I am the Keeper of Keys, Gladwin Yue, from Cao County," he introduced himself.

Mr. Yue has an Asia appearance, looks somewhat oily, and has rather small eyes.

They followed in Mr. Yue's footsteps, proceeding along the path until they reached the lakeside, where small groups of three to five boarded the boat.

Everyone remained silent, gazing at the enormous castle that soared into the clouds.

As they approached the cliff where the castle stood, it seemed to rise high above them.

"Duck!" Mr. Yue shouted as the first small boats approached the cliff.

Everyone lowered their heads as the small boat carried them through the ivy curtain covering the front of the cliff to a hidden, open entrance.

They followed a dark tunnel that seemed to lead them underground to the castle, eventually reaching a place resembling an underground dock, before climbing onto a surface of gravel and pebbles.

Climbing the steps, Gladwin took out his key and opened the oak door.

The students followed Gladwin, walking on the stone-paved floor.

This was the castle's Entrance hall. Harry looked around; the Entrance hall was big enough that the Dursley family could have moved in.

They arrived at a small cabin, and Gladwin knocked on the door, saying, "Mrs. Weasley, I've brought everyone here!"

The door opened, and standing in the doorway was a familiar face to Harry.

It is Professor Weasley.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." Professor Weasley gestured for everyone to come in, and once everyone was standing, he continued, "The School Opening Ceremony is about to begin, but before you all take your seats in the dining hall, you first need to decide which house you will be joining. The Sorting is a very important ceremony, because during your time at Hogwarts, your house will be like your home. You will attend classes with your fellow students, live in your house dormitories, and spend your free time together in your house's Common Room."

"The names of the four houses are: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own glorious history and has produced outstanding wizards and witches. During your time at Hogwarts, your excellent performance will earn points for your house, while any misconduct will deduct points. At the end of the year, the house with the highest score will receive the House Cup, a great honor. I hope that whichever house you are sorted into, you will bring glory to your house."

"In a few minutes, the Sorting Ceremony will be held in front of the entire school. I suggest you take some time to tidy yourselves up and look your best while you wait."

As he said this, Professor Weasley glanced intently at Gareth face was pale.

"I'll come pick you up when they're ready," Professor Weasley said. "Please keep quiet while you wait."

Just then, Harry noticed that several pale ghosts were floating down from the ceiling.

He was terrified, standing there trembling, too scared to move.

The others weren't so calm. A dark-skinned girl screamed and sprinted backward.

"New students." A chubby, monk-like ghost smiled at everyone. "It seems you're waiting for your Sorting. I won't disturb you any longer—I'm truly sorry to have startled you, children."

After saying that, the three ghosts floated away again.

"He's quite polite," Gareth said. "But I've heard there's this guy called Peeves, who's a real thorn in the side of both the students and the professors."

"Really?" Harry struggled to process the word Peeves, unable to understand why a ghost would have that name.

A short while later, Professor Weasley also returned.

"Now, line up in a single file," Professor Weasley said to the first-year students. "Follow me."

Harry lined up with his classmates, following behind a boy with his head down, with Gareth behind him.

They left the room, passed through a door, and entered the luxurious Great Hall.

Harry had never seen such a magnificent and magical place. Students from other classes were already sitting around four long tables, with thousands of candles floating in the air above illuminating the dining room.

On the platform at the head of the table was a long table, which was for the faculty and staff.

Professor Weasley placed a four-cornered stool in front of the Faculty Table and put a worn-out Pointed wizard hat on it.

The hat was very worn; Harry suspected it hadn't been washed in at least ten years.

Just then, the hat twisted its body, a wide slit appeared on its edge, and it began to sing a nonsensical song.

Harry didn't listen closely to the lyrics, but the hat had an accent.

"So, it seems all we need to do is put on this hat." Gareth breathed a sigh of relief, and color returned to his face. "My aunt tricked me into fighting Troll; what a good aunt she is!"

As if he had heard those words, Professor Weasley smiled at Gareth.

She took a few steps forward, holding a roll of Parchment in her hand.

"Whoever's name I call now, put on your hat, sit on the stool, and await Sorting," she said. "Stella Abercrombie!"

A little girl with freckled, silver-gray hair quickly stepped out of the line. She put on a hat that just covered her eyes.

After a brief pause—

"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted.

The people at the Gryffindor table applauded and cheered for Stella, welcoming her to her seat.

The instant the hat announced the house, Harry noticed that Stella's robes had also changed to the Gryffindor style.

"Quisida Bloom!" "Gryffindor!"

"Astoria Crichton!" "Ravenclaw!"

"Ominis Gaunt!"

Harry saw the boy who had been standing in front of him with his head down walk out and sit on a stool.

"Slytherin!" he yelled before the Sorting Hat even landed on his head.

"Imelda Leyes!" "Slytherin!"

"Cassandra Malfoy!"

Upon hearing the familiar name, Harry saw the blonde, beautiful, and proud girl walk out of the crowd and sit arrogantly on a stool.

Before the hat even touched her hair, he shouted, "Slytherin!"

Cassandra stood up with satisfaction and looked around arrogantly.

The Slytherin students rose to their feet and applauded, cheering that Miss Malfoy had finally arrived in her loyal Slytherin.

"Harry Potter!"

Hearing his name called, Harry stumbled forward and sat down on the stool.

As the hat was put on his head, he suddenly heard a voice.

"Hmm... It's difficult, really difficult. You can see you have a lot of courage, and you're not a bad person. You're talented, oh my goodness, that's good—you have a strong desire to prove yourself, so, that's very interesting... Where should I assign you?"

"No Slytherin, no Slytherin!" Harry thought vehemently. He didn't want to be in the same house as that—that annoying Headmaster Black.

In other words, I don't want to become that kind of person.

"What a pity you don't want to go to Slytherin. Slytherin could actually help you achieve great things!" Seeing that Harry was determined, the voice sighed and said, "Alright, since you don't want to go, then... Gryffindor!"

Harry stood up and, amidst the enthusiastic applause from his Gryffindor classmates, sat down on the bench.

He turned his head and continued looking at the Sorting.

"Anne Saru!"

A quiet little girl stood up and sat on the stool.

"Slytherin!"

"Sebastian Saru!"

Another boy, slightly shorter, stepped out from the crowd. Judging from his name, he should be Anne Saru's brother.

"Slytherin!" the hat announced Sorting, a fleeting look of satisfaction in the boy's eyes.

"Pabbie Sweeting!" Professor Weasley called out again.

A little girl with short hair walked up and sat on the stool.

After a moment's thought, the hat shouted, "Hufflepuff!"

(End of this chapter)