Ten minutes later, Professor McGonagall, who had just dragged Roy and the other three out of the Great Hall, led a group of nervous Hogwarts first-years up from the stairwell and to the Sorting Hat resting on a tall stool in the middle of the hall.
These new students were no different from the generations of upperclassmen before them. Fear, unease, and nervousness completely enveloped them. Even with the hat that would decide their House standing right before them, at least half the trembling first-years still thought they would have to fight a troll in a moment.
Just then, after finishing their final piece, the band members on the stage all set down their instruments, as though someone had hit pause on the music. The Great Hall immediately fell silent.
Then the hat on the stool began to wriggle. A wide slit opened along its brim like a mouth, and it began belting out a dreadful, off-key song.
This year's Sorting Hat song was even stranger than usual. It was as awful as ever, but who knew who had taught it? The stinking hat that never left the castle had somehow started following pop music trends.
♫ Oh, Bee Hero, a hero in the wizarding world— ♫
♫ Oh, Bee Hero, passion flows within his heart— ♫
♫ Oh, Bee Hero, everything is in his hands— ♫
♫ Make the world a better place; persevere, and success will surely come— ♫
While the entire school's attention was drawn to the Sorting Hat's song, Roy and the other three, who had finally scrubbed all the mud off themselves and changed into clean clothes, quietly slipped back through the doors to their respective House tables. Roy in particular had changed directly into a formal outfit specially prepared for him by