The feast was still underway, and Hogwarts's ghosts had joined the banquet. They kept appearing out of nowhere in front of the first-years, trying to startle them.
A ghost with a ruff collar drifted up to Harley and watched her cut into her steak, looking forlorn. "That looks delicious."
"Are you Spirit World Creatures?" Harley asked unconsciously, gazing at the pearl-white, translucent ghost before her.
"Spirit World Creatures? What's that? Is that what Muggles call us?" The ghost frowned, then introduced himself.
"I'm a ghost, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, the resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower.
"You can call me Sir Nicholas." As he spoke, the ghost straightened his collar.
Harley then remembered that, while they were waiting in that little room before the Sorting, some of the first-years had indeed called out the word "ghost."
But she had been resting with her eyes closed at the time and hadn't paid much attention to the sounds around her.
Harley immediately became interested in ghosts. She set down her knife and fork, wiped her hands with a napkin, and began chatting with Sir Nicholas.
"Respected Sir Nicholas, may I ask you a few questions?"
"Of course!" Sir Nicholas replied happily. "Ask away, child! I'll tell you anything I know!
"You're such a charming young witch. The other young witches and wizards only call me Nick or use my nickname, and they don't like chatting with me."
"That's a shame," Harley said casually with a sigh. She pulled out her notebook and a Muggle ballpoint pen, then began asking questions.
"Sir Nicholas, may I ask how you became a Spirit... 'ghost'?"
"Oh, that's a very long story." Nick seemed ready to launch into a lengthy account, starting with his birth.
But Harley cut him off decisively. "Sir Nicholas, I don't think the feast will last long enough. If it's too long a story, we'll have to discuss it another time."
Nick seemed disappointed, but could only keep it brief. "All right, I'll get straight to the point. Wizards can leave an imprint on this world.
"After they die, if they fear death, they can choose to become ghosts and continue walking in the places where they once lived and left their mark.
"If they choose to become ghosts this way, they'll have to live as ghosts forever. They won't be able to continue on to whatever journey comes after death.
"Of course, those who die unnatural deaths may also become ghosts if they're overcome by powerful emotions before they die, especially resentment.
"They still have a chance to move on, but only if certain conditions are met."
"May I ask what those conditions are?" Harley asked, rapidly taking notes.
"I don't know." Nick shook his head. "Not many people have explored this question. There are so few ghosts like that, after all."
Harley nodded thoughtfully. After learning a good deal more, she ended the conversation and thanked Nick.
By then, the feast was nearing its end. The main dishes and desserts had disappeared from the tables.
Professor Dumbledore stood and went over a few things the students needed to know. He also asked everyone to sing the school song before going to bed.
The singing was truly dreadful, falling even further short than the Sorting Hat—by the distance of two Ocean Songsters.
The fifth-year Prefects began leading the first-years back to their house dormitories.
The entrance to the Gryffindor dormitories was on a corridor on the Seventh Floor. A portrait hung in the corridor, depicting a very plump woman dressed in pink.
According to Prefect Percy, the entrance to Gryffindor Tower was behind this portrait, and the "Fat Lady" depicted in it was Gryffindor's guardian.
Only those who correctly spoke the password to the Fat Lady could enter Gryffindor Tower.
Beyond the entrance to Gryffindor Tower was the Gryffindor common room. Gryffindor students could study there whenever they wished.
After a brief introduction, Percy led the girls through a door into the girls' dormitory.
Percy didn't follow them inside; he stayed outside the door. The rest of the work was left to a female Prefect who had been almost entirely unnoticed until then.
She held a roll of parchment and showed the first-years where their beds were.
Harley was assigned to share a dormitory with Hermione, the haughty girl from the train who had left such a strong impression on her. Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown were in the same dormitory.
Harley's luggage was already at the foot of her bed. After her roommates briefly introduced themselves, she quickly made up her bed and put up the curtains.
After washing up, Harley ignored Hermione, who was still chattering away, and quickly lay down. She cast a simple calming ritual to block out Hermione's voice.
It was already late. Lying in bed, Harley thought over what she had seen and heard that day, especially the ghosts.
After all, ghosts existed in a form close to that of spirits. They simply couldn't interfere with reality, which made them somewhat different from spirits.
Didn't that prove that this world had a Spirit World, or some place like it?
Harley was extremely curious now. She especially wanted to perform a small ritual and send her spirit directly into the Spirit World.
But Harley wasn't reckless enough to do that. With her current abilities, she didn't dare enter directly.
If this world's Spirit World was as dangerous as the Spirit World of the Sequence Pathway world, then some colossal creature could erase her at any moment after she entered.
Suppressing her curiosity with all her might, Harley chose to hurry up and sleep, lest she give in to it and perform some ritual.
In the Headmaster's Office, the Sorting Hat was forcing the headmaster into an awkward conversation.
"Albus, that little girl Harley is so interesting," the Sorting Hat said excitedly.
"It's been a long time since I've seen someone who suited three houses at once. The last person like that was over ten years ago."
"Indeed." Dumbledore flipped through the copy of Transfiguration Today in his hands without looking up. "She's a remarkably gifted child, isn't she?
"She's also hiding quite a few secrets. But I doubt she even knows the secrets she carries."
"Yes, she really is a good child. She'd be even better if she weren't so disgusted by me." As he spoke, the Sorting Hat even mimicked a sob.
"I originally wanted to put that child in Slytherin House, since she was better suited to Slytherin.
"But you insisted that I put her in Gryffindor."
As he spoke, the Sorting Hat's voice even held a trace of resentment.
"That's not my fault, old friend." Dumbledore turned a page in Transfiguration Today and answered casually.
"What she told me when I went to fetch her concerned me too much.
"If I'm not mistaken, the facts she described were that some of Tom's traits had attached themselves to her.
"Those traits have now been destroyed for some reason—or perhaps they've merged with Harley.
"So she now knows quite a few unusual kinds of magic, and they're all somewhat evil in nature, leaning toward Dark Magic.
"I have to make sure Harley grows up in an environment filled with courage and love. That's my duty as headmaster, and it's also my way of atoning for my mistake as an elder.
"It was my mistake, choosing the wrong person, that caused Harley's parents to die."
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