The Eve of the Sorting Ceremony
In the quiet of the night, the first-year students at Hogwarts whispered among themselves.
Knock knock knock.
Three loud bangs silenced the surroundings once more and startled Ryan, who was still deep in thought.
It was Hagrid, who rudely slammed his fist heavily against the door.
The door opened automatically immediately.
What came into view was a tall, dark-haired witch with a stern face, wearing a long emerald green robe. This was McGonagall, the Vice-Headmistress of Hogwarts and Professor of Transfiguration.
Professor McGonagall exchanged a few brief pleasantries with Hagrid, then deftly drew her wand and tapped the massive Oak Wood door.
The door slowly opened wider, revealing a very spacious Entrance Hall to the young wizards. The Entrance Hall was so large that it could fit dozens of trucks.
The castle has stone-paved floors, torches burning brightly on the surrounding walls, a towering ceiling, and a luxurious Marble Staircase leading upstairs.
Then, led by Professor McGonagall, the new students quickly arrived at a small, empty room at the other end of the hall.
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and began to speak.
It begins with a welcome message such as "Welcome to Hogwarts," followed by an introduction to the Sorting Ceremony and the names of the four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.
Most importantly, they said things like, "Each college is your home."
"Hmph, isn't Hogwarts one?" Ryan couldn't help but roll his eyes.
These kinds of words are just empty words. In his previous life, during the nine years of compulsory education, Ryan had already heard them enough, to the point that his ears were calloused from hearing them.
Meanwhile, Harry and the others looked like they'd been fooled, speechless. They'd probably understand when they got points deducted.
When Professor McGonagall mentioned Slytherin, Ryan clearly saw the look on Ron's face as if he had seen something dirty.
After a brief pause, Professor McGonagall introduced the point system: outstanding performance would earn points for the college, while any violation would result in points being deducted.
At the end of the year, the college with the highest score will receive the House Cup, which is a very high honor.
At this point, Harry, Ron, and the others began to lose focus. Ron was even hungry again, and his stomach started growling.
Hermione and Malfoy, on the other hand, wore expressions as if their own house had won the House Cup, or more accurately, as if they had played a major role in the process.
However, in Ryan's view, these are more like ways to scare children. As long as one has no morals, others cannot morally blackmail them, just like Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw never care about these things.
Only Gryffindor and Slytherin would care about these things, and might even isolate others because of point deductions.
"In a few minutes, the Sorting Ceremony will take place in front of the entire school. I suggest you all take some time to tidy yourselves up and look presentable while you wait," Professor McGonagall concluded, her gaze lingering on Neville's cloak (the cloak's belt was tied below his left ear) and the grime on Ron's nose, while Harry nervously frantically smoothed his hair.
Professor McGonagall, however, remained unmoved by Harry's messy hair. Clearly, she understood that it was simply genetic; the Potter family's hair was never supposed to be neat, even though they had invented shampoo for it, but to no avail.
Only useless Galleons kept pouring into the Potter family's coffers.
"I'll come pick you up once they're ready," Professor McGonagall said. "Please keep quiet while you wait."
As soon as Professor McGonagall left, a buzzing sound immediately filled the air, which felt strangely familiar and comforting to Ryan.
Harry, unable to contain himself any longer, began to worry again and asked Ron about the sorting process.
However, Ron knew nothing about it either, and the young wizards around him began to feel uneasy. Various rumors spread among them: there would be a test to see if the young wizards had prepared; they would have to defeat a dragon and steal its eggs; and the house would be sorted based on psychological tests.
Hermione, however, was oblivious to everything around her, constantly reciting the spells she had learned.
This had the opposite effect on Harry; the more enthusiastically Hermione recited, the more color drained from Harry's face.
Ron, on the other hand, remained carefree, clutching his stomach and wondering what to eat for dinner.
Just as Harry was about to faint, and Ryan was about to tell Harry the truth to put his mind at ease, a series of screams, like waves crashing against the shore, began.
It was ghosts. About twenty pearly white, translucent ghosts appeared from behind the wall, hovering in the air, whispering to each other, completely unaware of the trembling little wizard beneath them.
During their conversation, they were discussing whether to give Peeves a chance and whether to expel him from his ghost status.
"What are you doing here?" A ghost wearing a tight-fitting bodysuit with a ruffled collar suddenly spotted the first-year student. He was none other than Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, the resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower, also known as Nearly Headless Nick.
However, none of the young wizards dared to speak, and the only one with courage, Ryan, was apologizing and chatting with Penelope and Kate in the Great Hall.
"New students!"
"I suppose they're preparing for a test?" the Fat Friar said with a smile. Still, no young wizard dared to speak, only nodding silently.
"I hope you get Hufflepuff!"
"I used to study at that academy," the Fat Friar said patiently. The ghost gave off a kind and holy feeling, befitting the wizard who almost became the Pope when he was alive.
At this moment, Professor McGonagall returned and had the young wizards line up in a single file. The ghosts then floated and disappeared through the opposite wall in single file.
After leaving the room, walking through the Entrance Hall, and then through the double doors, the young wizards were greeted by a magical, magnificent, and opulent dining room.
The other students sat at four different tables, each a different color: green, red, blue, and yellow.
Millions of candles floated above the table, illuminating it.
The tables were adorned with gleaming gold platters and wine glasses.
At the head of the dining room, there was another long table set up for the teachers. Professor McGonagall led the young wizards there.
Have them line up facing all the senior students, with the teachers behind them.
How embarrassing! When Ryan came to his senses, he suddenly realized that in the flickering candlelight, hundreds of faces, like pale lanterns, were looking in his direction, and ghosts were also mixed in with the students, shimmering with hazy silver light.
The most powerful white wizard Dumbledore, and the Dark Lord Tom Riddle, were right behind him. Not far away, Kate was at Ravenclaw's table, winking at him, while Penelope just smiled slightly, resting her chin on her hand as she looked at Ryan.
Ryan had no choice but to shift his attention. Just then, Harry, to avoid getting nervous, looked up at the velvety black ceiling, which was dotted with twinkling stars. It was as if they were in an open-air environment, making it hard to believe that there was actually a ceiling.
Hermione was standing nearby, noticed this and whispered, "There's been a spell cast here. It looks just like the sky outside. I read about it in 'Hogwarts: Hogwarts, A History'."
Ron looked on with admiration, playing the straight man, completely forgetting that his teacher was standing behind him and his brothers were watching him from below the stage.
Ryan saw that the Weasley Twins were making a fuss, but because of the sorting system, they didn't say it out loud. Ryan didn't use his superhuman hearing, but instead analyzed what they were saying by reading their lips. It was probably something like, "That red-haired one is my brother, my girlfriend."
Percy, meanwhile, was frowning, looking displeased.
Thanks to Taishi Yumi Xu, Feng, Mo Chen Xinghe for their monthly tickets, and to the other students for their recommendations.