When Horatio was sorted into Gryffindor, the students from the other three Houses erupted into thunderous cheers, while Gryffindor fell into dead silence, aside from the Weasley Twins and Harry, who had no idea what was happening.
Horatio walked over to Hermione, drove Neville from his seat to somewhere else, then plopped down beside her and handed her a note. It read, "Hermione, hurry up and use your invincible buck teeth to help me think of something."
Horatio raised both hands, revealing the handcuffs around his wrists.
Hermione ignored Horatio. She knew that the more attention she gave someone like him, the more excited he would get.
Hmph, boring. Horatio had 108 ways to undo an Alchemy item like this.
In no time at all, he removed the handcuffs and lifted the Silencing Charm on himself.
He provocatively held up the handcuffs for Dumbledore to see. Dumbledore's face darkened like the bottom of a pot. Just how advanced was this little troublemaker's Alchemy? (Horatio: Do you even understand what god-tier talent means?)
Professor Snape watched Horatio make a fool of himself, then turned to Professor McGonagall and said, "Looks like Slytherin will be claiming the House Cup for the next few years."
Professor McGonagall wore a deeply troubled expression as well.
Then Dumbledore stood up. Beaming at the students, he spread his arms wide.
"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to Hogwarts for the start of a new school year! Before the feast begins, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"
As soon as he finished speaking, an abundant spread of food appeared on the tables. But Horatio took a closer look and found that everything was either roasted or fried. They had somehow come up with eighteen different ways to prepare potatoes. Understandable, considering British cuisine had a history as short as American history.
Horatio ate steak with mashed potatoes, turkey legs with roast potatoes, and fried fish with chips, until he could no longer endure it.
He stood up, pulled out the Bashu man's battle robe from his pouch, then took out a wok, a stove, and all kinds of seasonings.
After lighting the stove with the Flame-Making Charm, he sliced the steak into strips and tossed them into the wok with light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and black pepper. Then he added shredded green and red peppers and onions. Black pepper beef was ready. Using the same method, he made spicy chicken, cumin lamb, and tomato egg soup.
The aroma of the dishes spread through the air and soon filled the entire Great Hall. The young Wizards, long accustomed to British specialties, became utterly captivated by the scent of this mysterious Eastern cuisine. They tossed aside their knives and forks, protesting about what kind of food the school had been feeding them.
Dumbledore looked at the chaos below and felt his head throb. Yet he could not really say anything to Horatio. After all, Horatio had merely improved his own meals. It was not as though he had done anything outrageously excessive.
"Quiet!!!" Dumbledore finally stood and said, "I will discuss Horatio's cooking privately with him and do my best to have him provide the recipes to the Hogwarts kitchens. For now, please enjoy your dinner."
Horatio looked at Dumbledore and silently held up three fingers. Dumbledore sighed, then finally nodded.
After sitting down, Horatio looked at Hermione, who was practically drooling beside him. "Want some?"
Hermione nodded instinctively, then suddenly came to her senses and shook her head. She turned away and ignored him.
Horatio felt playful and kept tempting Hermione with food. "Hermione, look at this black pepper beef. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, with black pepper sauce coating every strand of beef."
Hermione remained unmoved.
"Look at this spicy chicken. Beneath that crisp skin is tender, juicy meat. The fragrance of chili peppers mixed with Sichuan peppercorns makes it more addictive with every bite."
"And then there's this cumin lamb..."
"Um, Horatio, I want some..." Ron, the red-haired boy sitting opposite him, swallowed and said cautiously.
"You want some? Sure. That'll be two Galleons."
"Huh?? I don't have any money."
"If you have no money, what are you eating for?" With that, Horatio ignored Ron and continued tempting Hermione.
Hermione could not take it anymore. She snatched the plate from Horatio's hand and started wolfing it down.
"Eat slowly. No one's going to steal it from you." Horatio ladled out a bowl of tomato egg soup and set it in front of Hermione.
"Go on, then. What do you need me to do?" Hermione took a sip of soup and asked Horatio leisurely.
"Smart. Just as expected of Hermione. Then I'll leave this semester's homework to you."
Hermione rolled her eyes at Horatio, but ultimately agreed. Horatio had told her that even if she refused, she could not stop him from copying her homework. At worst, he simply would not do it. The professors would not expel him just for failing to complete his homework.
After dinner, Dumbledore clapped his hands. The food on the tables vanished, and the tables became spotless once more.
Then Professor Dumbledore stood up and said, "At the start of term, I would like to give everyone a few notices.
First-year students should note that the forest on the school grounds is forbidden to all students.
Our caretaker, Mr. Filch, would also like me to remind everyone that magic is not to be used in the corridors between classes.
Quidditch team trials will take place during the second week of this term. Anyone interested in joining their House team should contact Madam Hooch.
Finally, anyone who does not wish to suffer an accident and die a painful death should avoid the corridor on the right-hand side of the fourth floor."
Horatio scoffed. That might stop the little snakes, badgers, and eagles, but there was no way it could stop the little lions.
"Now, before everyone goes to bed, let us sing the school song together!" Dumbledore called loudly. "Choose whatever tune you like. Ready, sing."
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts, please teach us something, whether we are bald old men or children with skinned knees, our heads could do with some interesting stuff..."
Horatio picked at his ears and looked at the drowsy students around him. This would not do. He had to give everyone a little excitement.
Just as everyone finished the school song and Dumbledore was about to say something, Horatio seized the moment, did a backflip onto the dining table, and shouted, "All eyes on me."
He then took out a speaker and tossed it onto the table. A hypnotically catchy tune began playing from it—the soundtrack from Golden Wind, Canzoni Preferite.
Horatio began dancing along with the music, performing that familiar dance routine.
Fred and George exchanged a glance, then jumped onto the table as well and began moving along with Horatio.
Harry Potter had been sleepy, but when he heard that catchy music and saw that hypnotic dance, his body began twisting along with Horatio's movements against his will.
Professor Snape had been watching Harry Potter. Seeing him begin to dance to the music, he snorted coldly. "Stupid lion."
When he turned around, however, he saw that the Slytherin students had started dancing along with Horatio too. Malfoy even performed a Thomas flare on the spot.
Professor Snape stood up, intending to stop the students of his House, but someone accidentally patted his shoulder. When he turned around, he stared in astonishment as he discovered that Professor Flitwick had already jumped onto a table and begun dancing.
Professor Snape rubbed his eyes, unable to believe any of this. But when he opened them again, he found that even Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall had started moving to the music.
What was going on? Professor Snape lowered his head and looked at his legs, only to find that they had begun trembling uncontrollably.
In the end, Professor Snape could not resist the hypnotic music and began dancing along with everyone else.
The only one who remained clear-headed was probably Voldemort on the back of Quirrell's head.
"Hmph, childish tricks." Voldemort sensed the Confundus Charm carried within the music. "Once I return, I'll show you what a true King of Dance looks like."
Decades later, a passage in Hogwarts history recorded: "A dance created by an indescribable existence swept across the entire Wizarding World. Later generations named it the Wizard Shake. Whenever its music played, Aurors and Dark Wizards alike would sway along with it. This era became known as the Great Swaying Age."
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