Little wizards lined up, walked through the Entrance Hall, passed through a pair of double doors at the back, and entered a luxurious dining hall.
Many students sat along four long tables, and thousands of candles floating in midair above the tables illuminated the dining room. Glistening gold plates and goblets were set upon the four tables. Zhang Xiao raised his head to look, seeing pinpricks of starlight twinkling across the velvet-black ceiling, as if this Great Hall had no roof at all.
Magic really was convenient; if car manufacturers ever saw this starry-ceiling technology, they would surely go crazy.
Professor McGonagall placed a pointed wizard's hat upon a four-legged stool. The hat was old and patched.
Ron and Harry both gazed fixedly at this hat. Was this the Sorting Hat that Zhang had mentioned? Then how was it supposed to sort houses?
The dining room was dead silent. Suddenly, a wide slit opened near the brim of the hat, and it began to sing:
You may think I'm not pretty, but do not judge by appearances.
If you can find a prettier hat than me, I can eat myself.
The Sorting Hat finally finished singing its self-composed song. Zhang Xiao even suspected that the Sorting Hat did nothing at all for an entire year except think up songs.
Harry and Ron let out a simultaneous sigh of relief, but immediately grew anxious and uncertain afterward. Both of them hoped to be sorted into Gryffindor, but listening to the Sorting Hat's song, they felt they were more likely to be Hufflepuff.
What did Hufflepuff ever do to offend anyone?
Professor McGonagall picked up a piece of parchment, swept the first-years with a scrutinizing gaze, and then spoke.
"Whosever name I call now, that person shall put on the hat, sit on the stool, and await sorting."
Zhang Xiao looked eagerly toward the chair. Here it came, here it came-flowing fanfic writers, ironclad Hannah.
"Hannah Abbott!"
Zhang Xiao let out a sigh resembling a wish fulfilled, which actually left Harry and Ron somewhat puzzled, unsure what kind of nerve their companion had struck.
A rosy-faced little girl with two golden braids stumbled out of the queue, put on the hat, and the hat slipped down just far enough to cover her eyes. She sat down. After a moment's pause-"Hufflepuff!" shouted the hat.
The people at the table on the right applauded and cheered for Hannah, welcoming her to take a seat at their table. The Fat Friar ghost also waved cheerfully at her in greeting.
"Susan Bones!"
"Hufflepuff!"
The speed at which the hat sorted houses varied, but the number of first-years was truly not large, estimated to be just a few dozen people or so.
When Malfoy's name was called, Malfoy walked over swaggeringly, and got his wish instantly. The hat screeched almost the moment it touched his head: "Slytherin!"
Malfoy went off to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, wearing a look of deep self-satisfaction.
Before long, Professor McGonagall shouted aloud:
"Harry Potter!"
Zhang Xiao and Ron patted him on the shoulder. Harry walked over like a robot, stiffly, and clapped the hat down onto his head.
A sudden buzzing murmur swept through the dining room like the hissing crackle of small flames.
The dining room was a sea of bobbing heads, with everyone craning their necks to catch a clear glimpse of what he looked like.
"Harry Potter?"
"Is that Harry Potter?"
"The papers said Harry Potter is starting school this year!"
After a long while, the Sorting Hat called out:
"Gryffindor!"
A sudden explosion of enthusiastic cheers erupted from one of the long tables. Zhang Xiao noticed that Dumbledore in the center of the staff table also wore a satisfied smile, and even picked up his goblet to take a sip himself.
Harry took off the hat, a happy smile blooming across his face, and jogged over to sit beside the Gryffindor table to accept everyone's welcome, taking the opportunity to give his two companions a thumbs-up to cheer them on.
A little while later, Ron also successfully entered the Iron-Headed Lion house. Thanks to the first letter of his surname being Z, Zhang Xiao suddenly realized that he had, in a frustrating twist of fate, ended up as the very last person.
Finally, Professor McGonagall called out:
"Xiao Zhang!"
Zhang Xiao noticed a few girls over at the Ravenclaw table suddenly whispering among themselves, presumably talking quietly with Cho Chang, but they were too far away, and he couldn't see what the reputed Hogwarts school beauty Cho Chang looked like.
Taking a deep breath to calm his nervous emotions, Zhang Xiao stepped forward and placed the Sorting Hat on his head amidst his companions' expectant gazes.
The hat dropped over his head, blocking his vision, and then utter darkness followed.
"Hmm," he heard a tiny voice say in his ear, "difficult, very difficult. You are even harder than the previous child... I can see you have a great deal of courage. A kind heart, Gryffindor would suit you well..."
Of course it would; after all, he was someone who would step up to take the bullet for a child. If he weren't reckless, who in their right mind would charge headfirst into the muzzle of a gun?
"Oh... you also have a great deal of talent, hmm... quite a lot of ideas, and Ravenclaw is also a good choice."
You bet, besides having a monopoly at community primary school, he was also a provincial first-prize winner in the Math Olympiad-well, albeit in the primary school division.
"My goodness, why is there such an indelible desire for farming deep within your heart? And such an astonishing understanding and conviction regarding fine food-unbelievable! You were simply born for Hufflepuff!"
Nonsense! All Chinese people are like that, and delicious food is even a Chinese person's bottom line! Take British food here, for instance; in most parts of China it would only fit the criteria of famine relief rations.
The Sorting Hat fell silent for a moment, then continued to ask:
"Well then, is there anything you want to accomplish? Do you have a dream?"
Something he wanted to accomplish? A dream?
Zhang Xiao's thoughts immediately drifted. Of course he had a dream; he even harbored an ambition buried deep within his heart, one he hadn't even shared with his parents.
That was to study hard at school, diligently absorb magical knowledge, unite with his classmates, respect his teachers, and expand his network of connections.
Using the power of magic, with the help of the Obliviator and the Imperius Curse, and making rational use of the Undetectable Extension Charm-whatever the motherland needed, he would transport it!
Whether it was high-end technology, embargoed machine tools, or lithography machines, comprehensively solving the difficult and unusual diseases of ordinary people and the issue of how hard and expensive it is to see a doctor, epidemics included, were not a problem at all.
Zhang Xiao lost himself in his own imagination, almost missing the tiny voice in his ear:
"I can see you have a grand dream, and you are urgently eager to realize it... If that is the case, then without a doubt, that place will help you march toward glory!"
Then, the Sorting Hat roared at the top of its lungs:
"Slytherin!"
This sorting process was exceptionally long, even longer than Harry Potter's had been. Added to the fact that everyone was looking forward to the grand feast after the sorting, all eyes were concentrated on Zhang Xiao.
So much so that after the Sorting Hat shouted out Slytherin, there was actually a brief, awkward silence.
At the Gryffindor long table, Harry and Ron both sat dumbfounded, staring at each other in blank dismay. Their good friend had actually been sorted into Slytherin?
"No, impossible!" Ron was more agitated than anyone. In his eyes, Zhang Xiao didn't mock him for being poor, but instead praised him for having an enviable family, even giving him a precious Chocolate Frog Card, not to mention stepping up righteously to help when Malfoy mocked him.
Zhang Xiao was a Gryffindor through and through! How could he possibly be in Slytherin?
Harry had much the same thought, but since he had just experienced the Sorting Hat's hesitation and persuasion himself, he guessed:
"Ron, the Sorting Hat tried to persuade me to go to Slytherin just now too. I bet Zhang forgot to argue back; since his sorting took this long, he definitely met the requirements for the other houses as well!"
"Besides, Slytherin isn't full of bad people, right?"
Ron thought frantically: "Right! Exactly, Merlin was in Slytherin, and I've even heard of a distant relative from the Black family who apparently married a muggle and broke ties with the family! He was in Slytherin too."
The two little fellows firmly believed in their own guess. They looked at their new friend with eyes full of worry and sympathy, terrified that he would be ostracized and bullied in the wrong house that was Slytherin.
As for Zhang Xiao, he was utterly dumbfounded. Didn't the hat ask him what his ideals were? How did he end up in Slytherin? It wasn't that he had any particular prejudice against the snake house, but the problem was that most people in the snake house were dramatic drama queens-wouldn't hanging out with them be exhausting? Besides, he didn't like green either; to be honest, he liked yellow.
Yet the boat had already sailed; even if he were unwilling, he had no choice but to accept it.
Trudging listlessly over to the Slytherin long table, he sat down next to Malfoy. Draco's expression looked as if he had just lost a relative; he stared with flickering eyes at Zhang Xiao for a moment, deciding to teach this annoying jerk a profound lesson once they reached the common room.
Albus Dumbledore stood up. Beaming, he looked out at the students and stretched out his arms toward them.
"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words.
And they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" "Thank you!"
The little wizards in the huge dining room burst into cheers, and the feast began!
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