Sorting Ceremony

The first-year witches and wizards followed Hagrid down a winding, steep path, with dark woods on either side.

Roy, Cedric, and the Weasley twins walked together. No one in the crowd spoke, and Roy quietly whispered to the three of them.

"I really don't get why Aisling was so angry."

George rolled his eyes at Roy helplessly.

"She's a pampered young lady. When has she ever been mocked like that?"

Fred was still holding the snacks Aisling had just given him, and he spoke up for her as well.

"It was all your fault. You have no sense of limits when you joke around. We really should have let that Dark wizard kidnap you in Knockturn Alley."

The twins traded jokes at Roy's expense, but Roy was not in the mood to bicker with them. He lowered his head and silently walked with the group.

"Alright, once you cross this lake, you'll arrive at Hogwarts. No more than four people to a boat!"

At the end of the narrow downhill path lay a pitch-black lake. The clear night sky reflected on its calm surface.

The four of them boarded the same boat. Once Hagrid loudly confirmed that all the new students had gotten aboard, the boats slowly left the shore and headed toward the center of the lake.

Boat after boat sent ripples across the water. Roy leaned over to peer into the bottomless lake, where stars bobbed up and down on the surface.

"Do you think something might come out of the lake and attack us? These rickety little boats couldn't take much damage."

Fred dipped his hand into the icy lake water and shivered at the chill.

"I heard from Bill that there are merpeople in the lake, but they have an agreement with Hogwarts and have always lived peacefully with wizards."

Hagrid loudly reminded the young witches and wizards to watch out for the jutting cliff faces. After passing through them, the boats carried everyone through a vine-covered entrance and into a deep, dark tunnel.

After traveling through the darkness for quite a while, all the boats finally stopped at a hidden dock beneath the castle.

After getting off the boats, everyone followed Hagrid up a rubble-strewn passage until they finally emerged onto a patch of grass outside the castle.

At last, all the students climbed the broad stone steps and stopped before a massive wooden door.

Hagrid used his booming voice to confirm that all the young witches and wizards had arrived, then raised his fist and knocked heavily on the wooden door three times.

The door immediately swung open. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes appeared in the doorway.

"First-year students, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take them from here."

The new students followed the stern Professor McGonagall into the castle.

The entrance hall was nearly larger than the entire orphanage. Torches lined the aged stone walls on both sides, and Roy watched the blazing flames, wondering why they did not use electric lights in this day and age.

McGonagall led the new students into an empty room. They filed in, packed shoulder to shoulder in the cramped space.

The young witches and wizards could all tell that the stern Professor McGonagall was not someone to mess with. Even Fred and George stood straight-faced and rigid at attention. McGonagall swept her gaze around the room, and it was so quiet that no one dared make a sound.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," McGonagall said. "The start-of-term feast will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you must first be sorted into your respective Houses. Sorting is a very important ceremony, because while you are here, your House will be like your family at Hogwarts. You will attend classes with the other students in your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend your free time in your House common room.

"The four Houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own glorious history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards. During your time at Hogwarts, excellent conduct will earn points for your House, while any rule-breaking will cost your House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points will win the House Cup, a very great honor. I hope that no matter which House you are sorted into, you will bring it honor.

"When they are ready, I will come for you," McGonagall said. "Until then, please remain quiet."

McGonagall left the room, and all the young witches and wizards let out a breath of relief.

"So, how exactly does Hogwarts sort the new students?"

Roy did not seem nervous. His eyes searched the crowd for Aisling, but he did not see her anywhere.

Even Cedric was a little nervous now, his voice tinged with unease.

"I heard they make the new students fight trolls and sort them based on how they perform."

Fred and George had also lost their usual carefree attitude and began making fearful guesses.

"I heard from Bill and Charlie that it can cause students serious injuries. Some new students are even sent to St Mungo's Hospital."

Roy did not really believe that. These young witches and wizards had no means of fighting back except giving a troll a full meal. Dumbledore would have to be a muddle-headed old lunatic to make first-years face trolls.

He looked around at the other new students and found everyone worried for their own safety. The twins were secretly discussing countermeasures, while Cedric gripped his wand tightly, eyes closed as if imagining himself fighting a troll.

Ghosts passing through the walls suddenly startled the group of new students. The Fat Friar welcomed them kindly, then passed through the wall again and left.

"Alright, new students, follow me."

McGonagall pushed open the door once more, arranged the young witches and wizards into two lines, and led them into the extravagantly decorated Great Hall.

Fred and George stood in front of Roy, their legs seeming too heavy to move. Roy quietly mocked them from behind.

"At this rate, neither of you will ever get into Gryffindor."

Roy's words seemed to jolt them awake, and the twins immediately started moving much more briskly.

Just as they were about to retort, McGonagall took out a patched, battered old hat and placed it on a tall stool before the teachers' table. The old hat suddenly began to sing loudly.

Settle down, don't sway. I am the Sorting Hat. I have been here since the four cornerstones of this castle were laid.

Place your little heads beneath me, and I can see the deepest things in your hearts—courage you dare not show, wishes hidden beneath your pillows, weaknesses you refuse to admit even to yourselves, and the tightly clenched thoughts of where you want to go.

I have watched countless people leave from beneath this hat. Some carved their names into the castle walls; some left and never returned.

And I have seen... long, long ago, two sets of footsteps walking the same path.

Both thought the world beneath their feet was too stifling, and wanted to change the way it was walked. When they came together, even the castle candles shone brighter than usual.

But as they walked, something beneath their feet broke.

So softly no one heard it, yet so heavily it split the whole road in two.

It never joined together again.

One turned back, guarding the place where he had first set out. He broke the days that followed into countless ordinary little moments, watching over generation after generation of growing children, sealing all the words he had never spoken into his own shadow, never drawing them out again.

The other walked in the opposite direction, farther and farther away. He built towering walls around himself, thinking they were the highest place he could stand. Only at the end did he realize those walls had trapped him inside, and he never escaped them for the rest of his life.

So, little ones, remember this.

Whether your hearts hold the courage to brave a dark forest, honesty that refuses to bow, a mind that can pierce through fog, or the desire to reach the highest place—magic in your hands can pave roads, and it can tear down bridges. It can find you a home, and it can draw a circle you will never escape for the rest of your life.

You walk your own path. Do not wait until you have crushed something beneath your feet before turning back.

Alright, stop clutching your robes and trembling.

Put me on your heads, and leave the rest to me.

I will find the place that suits you best, within this castle.

That was awful, Roy thought to himself.

Applause erupted through the Great Hall, but it quickly died down. Apparently, no one liked the Sorting Hat's song very much. Except for Dumbledore—this old man was clapping more enthusiastically than anyone else. Even after everyone had stopped, he was still applauding with all his might.

Only when McGonagall shot Dumbledore a warning glance did the old man pretend to cough and awkwardly stop making a fuss.

McGonagall stepped forward a few paces, took out a roll of parchment containing all the new students' names, cleared her throat, and announced the start of the Sorting Ceremony.

"New students whose names are called, come forward. Katie Bell."

The Sorting began.