George's words instantly brought Hugo to a realization. A trace of puzzlement flashed in his eyes, and he hurriedly asked:
"Right, how exactly does the Sorting Ceremony work? I've gone through every magic book, and all they mention is that new students are sorted into the house that suits them best through the ceremony. Not a single book explains the actual sorting rules in detail. Could someone fail the sorting and end up expelled?"
Clearly, Hugo had not taken part in Harry, Ron, and Herman's earlier discussion about sorting, and the conversation circled back to it.
Hearing Hugo's earnest question, George's eyes darted sideways as the idea for a prank instantly sprang to mind. He deliberately invented a lie with a perfectly straight face:
"The Sorting Ceremony is dead simple. I told Ron before: everyone gets a troll when they arrive, and the school sorts you based on how you handle it. Beat the troll, and you go to Gryffindor; get injured but manage to keep things under control, and they assign you to Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff as appropriate; run away scared out of your wits, pissing and shitting yourself, and they send you straight to Slytherin!"
"A troll? That's a fantastic beast with a four-star danger rating! It takes a trained, experienced wizard to handle one!" Hugo instantly looked nervous, his voice full of astonishment.
Fred immediately joined his younger brother's prank in perfect sync, embellishing the story as he added with feigned pride, "Exactly, exactly! Back then, the two of us only passed because of my brilliant mind and masterful planning. It took everything we had to defeat that troll!"
Listening to the twins' vivid lies, Neville's face instantly grew tense and troubled. He was already anxiously weighing things up, terrified that a poor performance would either get him expelled or land him in Slytherin, which everyone thought of as sinister and treacherous.
Only Harry remained relaxed. Listening to their jokes, she said lightly, "So it's a troll. I thought we'd have to deal with a dragon to get in. Looks like my godfather exaggerated a bit too much."
Beside her, Draco frowned slightly, her clear voice carrying a touch of haughty puzzlement. "That's not how it works at all. My father said all you have to do to get sorted is put on the Sorting Hat."
The twins froze at the same time, not expecting anyone to expose their prank outright. They exchanged a glance, looked at the girl's dazzling blond hair, and roughly realized who she was. Curious, they asked, "Right, we haven't asked your name yet, have we?"
Completely unaware of their little thoughts, Draco answered openly, "I'm Draco Malfoy."
"Malfoy... that explains it."
Fred and George understood at once. Being a little older, they had vaguely heard about the various grudges between their father, Arthur, and Lucius Malfoy, but there was no way they could take revenge on Draco, who was still a little girl.
In the end, they could only share an inward laugh at the same thought. What a pure-blood disgrace, ignorant of tradition and ruining our customs! If Draco were a little boy, we'd give you a beating.
"It's getting late. We should head back to our compartment and change into our dinner clothes. You should get ready too. See you at the feast!" Fred casually grabbed the wizard cards from the table, got up alongside George, and left the compartment with a smile.
Neville and Hugo exchanged a glance, then stood up to say goodbye as well. "We'll head back and get our things ready too. Bye!"
"Bye!" Herman raised a hand and gave the two a small wave.
Next, Draco stood up too and looked at Herman, her instructions carrying a note of certainty. "Little brother, I'm heading off too. Remember what I told you: you can make requests of the Sorting Hat when you're being sorted. Make sure you come to Slytherin. I'll look after you."
Herman could only humor her helplessly. "Sure, sure!"
They left one after another, and the noisy compartment finally fell completely quiet, leaving only Harry, Herman, and Ron.
Looking up, Herman suddenly noticed that Ron's face was bright red, her cheeks puffed out in anger and her eyes slightly reddened. She looked both angry and aggrieved, and he could not help asking curiously, "What's wrong? Who upset you?"
Ron was seething with pent-up anger, her voice slightly choked. "George and the others are awful! Before, they lied and told me we had to beat giant spiders to get in. Now they've changed it to beating trolls. They've been messing with me the whole time!"
"Look on the bright side. At least they told you there'd be fighting involved in getting in," Harry comforted her in complete seriousness.
That attempt at comfort only made things worse. Tears instantly filled Ron's reddened eyes, and she looked ready to burst into tears on the spot.
Herman was utterly speechless at the sight and complained helplessly, "You'd have been better off not trying to comfort her."
The moment he finished speaking, a dazzling, stark white light suddenly flashed outside the train window, followed by an earth-shaking boom that made the carriage tremble slightly.
Herman instantly tensed and rose to his feet, reaching inside his clothes almost instinctively to draw his handgun for protection, only for his fingertips to find nothing.
Only then did he suddenly remember that Dumbledore had already confiscated his handgun.
With no other choice, Herman could only take out his wand and grip it tightly, rapidly recalling the few basic spells he knew as he focused warily, ready to cast at any moment should something happen.
Fortunately, the danger he anticipated never came. A moment later, Percy's voice came clearly from the train corridor, steady and gentle. "Professor Malin has cleared the obstruction from the mountainside ahead of the train, and the tracks-the tracks are clear again. All new students, please hurry and change into your dinner clothes and prepare to enter the school."
"So that bright light and loud bang just now were Professor Malin's doing. Instantly clearing even a landslide blocking the tracks-that professor's power is terrifying," Herman said with heartfelt admiration.
As a materialist who had once completed nine years of compulsory education and muddled through a few years of higher education, he knew very well how difficult it was to clear landslides and collapsed rock strata. In reality, it could easily take over a hundred machines working day and night for several days to finish clearing them.
The only way Herman could think of to resolve it that quickly was to blow it up with a nuclear bomb.
Yet this Professor Malin, whom he had never seen in the original novel, had resolved it entirely alone with a single spell. Rounding things off, that meant Professor Malin had just used a spell with the power of a nuclear bomb. Impressive indeed!
Once they confirmed that the danger had passed, Harry and Herman's taut nerves relaxed completely.
Harry looked up at Herman and said coldly, "You can leave now."
Herman looked utterly bewildered. "Why would I leave?"
Harry flicked her wrist lightly. A faint gleam flashed at the tip of her wand, and a set of black wizard robes flew out of her trunk on its own and hovered in midair.
Harry raised an eyebrow at Herman and said icily, "What, feeling me up once wasn't enough? You want another close-up look?"
Clearly, Harry had not forgotten how Herman had accidentally knocked her down earlier.
As she spoke, she raised her wand again and aimed it at Herman, a warning in her voice. "Looks like you really do want to try the power of Diffindo."
"No, no, no! I'm leaving right now!" Herman instantly backed down and hurriedly stepped one foot out of the compartment, though he still could not resist a verbal provocation. "It's precisely because I've felt you that I don't think I need to leave. Feels like there's not much difference between us."
As soon as the words left his mouth, he quickly slipped sideways out of the compartment and slammed the door behind him. The next second, a pale gray spell struck the door squarely with a dull thud.
Outside, Herman secretly breathed a sigh of relief, patting the door as he murmured, "Looks like the twins were right. These compartment doors really are sturdy."
With that, he braced both hands firmly against the door to stop Harry from coming out to hunt him down.