Sorting Ceremony

"Form a line quickly and follow me!"

With that, Professor McGonagall led the way into the Great Hall. Li Mu and the other first-years followed her out of the small room in single file, forming a line on a raised platform.

A long table stood on the platform, with all the Hogwarts teachers seated behind it. Below was a broad, brightly lit hall containing four long tables occupied by students from the second year and above. The ghosts who had just passed through the walls from the small room were also clearly divided, their milky-white bodies drifting around the long tables of their respective houses.

At Professor McGonagall's signal, the new students stood in a row with their backs to the teachers and faced the hall below. Every one of them looked nervous. Amid the crowd, Li Mu could even hear Ron breathing heavily and Hermione quietly muttering various spells under her breath.

He smiled helplessly, then saw Professor McGonagall place a stool before the new students. On its seat sat a battered pointed hat, a popular style of wizarding hat from the early Middle Ages.

Most of the new students stared blankly at the hat, having no idea what they were about to face.

Then, all of a sudden, the hat began singing in a strange, off-key voice. With Li Mu's level of English, however, he could not make out the general meaning of the lyrics. He would bet that even ordinary English people could not understand it; every word the hat spat out carried a strong rustic dialect flavor.

When the song ended, everyone in the hall gave the hat a round of enthusiastic applause. Professor McGonagall cleared her throat again. "Now, new students, when I call your name, please put on this hat and sit on the stool to await your placement."

She began calling names, and the new students were assigned to their houses one after another at a rapid pace.

"Hannah Abbott."—A rosy-cheeked little girl with two golden braids.

"Hufflepuff!"

"Lavender Brown."—Another little girl, with curly dark brown hair and a bright, sweet smile on her face.

"Gryffindor!"

Thunderous cheers erupted from the first table on the left. Li Mu looked over and immediately spotted three striking red-haired boys. They were Ron's three brothers: Percy, and the twins Fred and George. All of them shouted loudly, welcoming the arrival of Gryffindor's new member.

And the Sorting Ceremony continued.

"Millicent Bulstrode."

"Slytherin!"

"Justin Finch-Fletchley."

"Hufflepuff!"

As unfamiliar names and the Sorting Hat's shouts drifted past his ears, Li Mu gradually grew bored. Perhaps because he had lived a second life, standing on this platform did not fill him with much excitement. Being watched by so many people only made him feel a little awkward.

He even sincerely hoped Professor McGonagall would read faster and bring this Sorting Ceremony to an end sooner.

One name after another passed by. Finally, among Li Mu's "carriage companions," Hermione was the first to go up. She muttered under her breath as she put on the hat. After a long pause, the Sorting Hat finally placed her in Gryffindor.

Neville came after Hermione. He made the Sorting Hat hesitate for even longer, but in the end, he too was assigned to Gryffindor. The unlucky boy was as nervous as ever. He ran straight off the platform with the battered hat still on his head, then stumbled because he could not see where he was going.

Everyone in the hall, including some teachers and ghosts, burst out laughing.

Gryffindor's ranks continued to grow. Ron, born into the Weasley family, went up next. Almost the instant he put on the Sorting Hat, its voice rang throughout the hall. Naturally, he had inherited his entire family's fine tradition.

Ron seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. He lowered his voice and said, "Oh yeah," before running down toward the Gryffindor table. Just seeing the four redheads seated there was enough to make Li Mu's eyes hurt.

Then, finally...

"Harry Potter."

The lively atmosphere seemed to freeze at once. The entire hall fell silent, so quiet one could hear a pin drop. Only after quite a while did sound finally return to the dining hall, as people at the tables of all four houses leaned together and whispered with a buzzing like a swarm of bees.

Harry had already walked stiffly over and put on the hat. He took a long time as well. The Sorting Hat clearly deliberated over him for quite some time before finally shouting, "Gryffindor!"

The applause from the Gryffindor table was unprecedentedly enthusiastic, and some people even screamed exaggeratedly. The students from the other houses clapped too, but at the same time let out disappointed sighs.

A celebrity... Li Mu had known this would be the result, yet he still felt a little unhappy. He was not jealous; he was not so childish as to entertain such immature thoughts.

But from a certain perspective, having a celebrity as a friend really was not a good thing. They stole all the attention.

Professor McGonagall called a few more names. The students around him put on the hat one after another and headed toward their assigned houses. Finally, Li Mu realized... only he and one other girl remained among the new students.

He even noticed keenly that the bearded Headmaster Dumbledore let his gaze linger on him and the girl for a moment, then smiled and nodded.

There seemed to be some deeper meaning in that smile, and Li Mu's attention immediately shifted to the little girl.

Then he noticed that she was petite, with soft short black hair. She too had black eyes and yellow skin. That made him feel especially close to her.

Asian?... Almost immediately, a surprised thought flashed through Li Mu's mind. At the same time, he recalled what Malfoy had said in Madam Malkin's robe shop in Diagon Alley.

"I heard it! For the first time ever, Hogwarts admitted two international students this year..."—That was what Malfoy had said at the time, and Li Mu had wanted to ask him which country the other international student came from.

Could she be the other international student?... Li Mu examined the little girl closely, only for her to look at him at the same moment. Their eyes met, and almost instantly, the black-haired girl lowered her head, a blush spreading across her snow-white cheeks.

The next second, Li Mu's guess was confirmed.

"Hinata." Professor McGonagall called again, frowning slightly. Evidently, the name was a little awkward for her to pronounce.

The little girl beside Li Mu nervously ran forward, grabbed the Sorting Hat, and put it on. The large hat nearly covered her entire head.

Then she sat obediently with both hands on her knees.

Almost as soon as she put on the Sorting Hat, it quickly shouted, "Ravenclaw!"

She had taken the shortest time of all the new students, even faster than Draco Malfoy had been assigned to Slytherin. But Li Mu noticed that her two delicate hands on her knees clenched tightly at once, with such force that her knuckles protruded. It was impossible to tell whether she was nervous, surprised, or even disappointed...

She sat silently for a moment. Beneath the Sorting Hat, Li Mu vaguely heard her seem to let out a soft sigh and say, "What a pity"—in fluent Mandarin.

Only then did she take off the hat, stand up, and slowly walk off the platform.

Applause rose from the Ravenclaw table, though it clearly could not compare to the spectacle of everyone applauding to welcome Harry earlier.

(End of Chapter)

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