Where Did My Cat Go?

As the train whistle sounded, Harry suddenly had an ominous premonition.

"Sc—" A sharp, grating screech rang out. The train wheels suddenly stopped, but the train continued sliding along the tracks, sending showers of sparks flying outward.

Inside the train, Harry was unable to stop himself from falling backward from the sudden braking. At the same time, a slender figure fell toward him.

The two of them crashed heavily to the floor. Harry immediately felt a burning pain in his back, while the weight on his chest left him unable to breathe. "Hermione, are you all right?" Harry asked worriedly, reaching out to help her up.

When Harry reached his hand toward his chest, he felt something soft in his palm. At that moment, he did not think of anything else. He simply grabbed it instinctively and gave it another squeeze.

Hermione was lying on top of Harry. She raised her head, her face flushed red. "Your hand." Harry instantly realized what he had grabbed. He gave an awkward laugh. "You know, there's an uncontrollable force in this world."

Hermione struggled to climb off Harry and ran away.

Then she stomped back, gave Harry—who was still lying on the ground—two hard kicks, and left.

"Uh..." Harry hurriedly got to his feet. If he did not get up soon, he would be trampled flat by the students getting off the train. Harry dusted off his clothes, looked at his right hand, and suddenly felt very happy! (Luo Bei: What a pervert.)

A voice came from the train: "Please leave your luggage on the train. We will send it to your dormitories." The announcement sounded several times.

Harry thought it over and decided there was no need to go back. He got off the train along with the students in the corridor.

The moment he stepped off, he could not help shivering. It was a small platform, pitch-black all around. Hogwarts was still some distance away, and he had no idea how they were supposed to get there.

A light came on. Hagrid appeared at the front of the group, carrying a lantern.

"First-years, follow me. Watch your step and don't fall. Harry, where are you? Come here." Harry pushed through the crowd, and many of the new students heard Hagrid's words.

"That's Harry Potter, the one who defeated the Dark Lord?" The crowd stirred as whispers spread.

Some girls, after seeing Harry, discussed excitedly, "He's so handsome! It'd be great if he were my boyfriend!" Hearing this, Hermione suddenly felt unhappy. It must be because they haven't seen Harry's true colors. Pervert. Filthy-minded creep.

Hagrid walked ahead, and the students followed him. The ground was slippery as they descended a steep slope, with grass and woods on either side.

At the bottom of the slope was a lakeshore. The lake was vast, with no end in sight on either side. Because it was nighttime, the water looked black, eerie and frightening. Only across the lake could they see reflected lights. They came from a towering castle, its many spires rising into the night and light shining through window after window.

Hagrid had the students board the small boats by the lake. "Four people to a boat. Get ready to depart!"

Neville suddenly shouted excitedly, "I found my toad!" His voice echoed several times across the lake. He quickly covered his mouth and did not dare make another sound.

Once everyone had boarded, the boats slowly moved forward, ripples spreading in rings across the water. Then they reached the opposite shore, and the new students jumped off one after another.

The ground was covered with sand, which soon gave way to grass. This was an open meadow, and the castle stood ahead of them as the new students drew closer.

The closer they got to the castle, the more they realized how enormous it was. The ground within several dozen meters of the castle was paved with stone slabs. They stopped before the castle gates, and Hagrid raised his fist and knocked on the oak doors.

Harry carefully examined the massive wooden doors. They were over ten meters tall, so Hagrid was probably the only one who could make them sound with his hand!

The huge doors opened, revealing a black-haired witch in emerald-green robes. Her expression was stern.

The witch nodded at Hagrid. "Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take them to the Great Hall!"

Hagrid patted Harry on the head, turned, and left.

"Follow me, first-years." The witch headed into the castle. The new students really had been frightened by her; none of them dared whisper to one another, and they obediently followed behind her.

Harry felt that Professor McGonagall must possess the legendary Conqueror's Haki!

They passed a hall that was seventy or eighty meters long. It seemed to already be filled with many people. The witch led them into a small room in front of the hall.

The witch swept her gaze over the new students. Other than Harry, no one dared meet her eyes.

"First of all, welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall. The welcome feast for the new students is about to begin, but before that, we must determine which House you belong to. The Sorting Ceremony will be held before all the students and teachers. I believe you have learned about the Houses from books. No matter which House you are sorted into, I hope you will all strive to perform well. This is closely connected to the House Cup."

At the mention of Sorting, discussion inevitably broke out below. However, Professor McGonagall merely frowned, and the room immediately fell silent!

"The Sorting is about to begin. Wait here for now and tidy up your appearance." Professor McGonagall looked toward Ron and Malfoy. Their hair was messy, and there were several footprints on their black robes.

Then Professor McGonagall left. The moment she was gone, it was as though the room had been set free. A wave of relieved breaths sounded, followed by a flurry of conversation.

One boy asked someone else, "How do we know which House we'll be sorted into?"

Ron said, "It should be some kind of test."

Harry was speechless when he heard Ron. All three of Ron's brothers attended Hogwarts, yet he did not even know this? Was this what it meant to be useless? I wonder whether he's ever had an engagement called off? Harry thought darkly.

Yet quite a few people clearly believed this somewhat plausible explanation.

Some Muggle-born students looked nervous.

One student said in a tearful voice, "I'm an ordinary person. I don't know anything. How am I supposed to pass a test? If I fail, won't they send me home?"

Malfoy looked at him with disdain.

But his words made many people's expressions turn ugly.

Harry noticed Hermione muttering under her breath and suddenly wanted to laugh. He quietly walked behind her and discovered that she was actually memorizing History of Magic!

He suddenly grabbed Hermione's little hand. Hermione, who had been wholeheartedly reviewing the books she had read, was startled. She froze for a long while before recovering from the shock. She glared furiously at Harry and was about to raise her voice when she suddenly noticed how many people were around them.

In a low voice, she asked, "What are you doing?"

Harry replied, "What are you doing?"

Hermione said, "There might be a test later, so I'm reviewing the knowledge from the books."

She glared at Harry. "Can you let go first?"

Harry seemed to only just notice. "Oh, oh. Sorry."

"Actually, there isn't any test for Sorting. There's just an old hat. Once you put it on, it can tell which House you belong to."

Hermione looked doubtful. "Really? It's that simple?"

"Of course it is!"

Hermione looked behind Harry and suddenly asked, "Where's your cat?"

Harry asked in confusion, "Weren't you holding the cat?"

Hermione became anxious. "After we entered the school, I wanted to give it back to you, but it jumped onto the ground. I saw it run toward you, so I didn't pay attention. Did it run somewhere else?"

Harry frowned. Hermione thought he was angry with her, and her heart immediately sank. "I really didn't mean to. I'm sorry."

Seeing that Hermione was about to cry, Harry felt very guilty. He patted her head and said with a smile, "I was thinking about whether I should go out and look for it now. After the welcome feast, we might head straight to the dormitories, and I may not be able to come back out."

Hermione blushed. "Then let's hurry out and look for it. There might be strange people in this school who like hurting cats."

Harry thought for a moment and refused. "No need. I can do it myself."

"Won't that delay your Sorting later?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"I'll be quick. If I really can't find it, I'll hurry back."

"I'm really sorry!"

Harry looked at Hermione gently. "You really don't need to worry about it. If you truly feel bad, just give me a kiss."

Hermione gritted her teeth and pinched Harry hard on the arm. "Satisfied now?"

Harry twitched his lips. "Very satisfied, my dear!"

While everyone else was still talking, Harry slipped out.