The Sorting Ceremony
For a fleeting moment, Cedric felt an unparalleled understanding of the Niffler's suffering, especially that inherited trembling and weeping.
"Professor Snape, these are items we acquired ourselves," Cedric tried to reason with Snape.
"What do you mean you acquired it yourself?" Snape said coldly, "Thestral are the public property of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; you cannot take them away without permission."
"But we made an equal exchange," William explained. "We fed the Thestral, and they promised to give me their tail feathers—a fair exchange, one that would even be justifiable to Professor Dumbledore."
"What did you feed them? Don't feed the Thestral just any garbage; they're precious Magical Creatures..." Snape sniffed, his expression suddenly changing. "You used dragon blood?"
William nodded honestly.
"Dragon blood is such a precious item, and you're feeding it to Thestral? Do you know how many Potions a single drop of dragon blood can make?" Snape was so angry that his chronic stomach ailment flared up.
William and Cedric were dumbfounded; this kind of dramatic change of expression was truly impressive.
"Given your wasteful behavior, I will petition the headmaster to revoke your right to use the dragon." A dangerous glint flashed in Snape's eyes.
"Now, give me the tail feathers!" Professor Snape went back to his original position.
Just then, the door opened, and Professor McGonagall led a large group of young wizards in.
William and his companions were still trying to reason with Professor Snape.
Professor Snape drawled, his voice like a venomous snake. "If you want to miss the Sorting Ceremony, I wouldn't mind taking you to my office for a discussion about life..."
The group of young wizards kept turning their heads to look at the three strange groups. Snape suddenly stopped talking, as if struck by lightning.
He turned his gaze to the group of young wizards, then stared intently at someone, his aura growing increasingly cold.
William retorted firmly, "Don't even mention the office, I'll argue with you even if it takes us all the way to the principal. So what if we miss the Sorting Ceremony? Let's go, Professor!"
"Where are you going? I don't have time to deal with you right now, get lost!"
Snape glared fiercely at William and Cedric, ignoring the Thestral Tail Feather he had just wanted, and turned to walk towards the hall, seemingly to attend the Sorting Ceremony.
Cedric was completely bewildered.
William seemed to be deep in thought.
Last school year, he saw many memories and even a letter Professor Snape wrote to someone, learning that Professor Snape liked a girl.
Now that he has suddenly seen the girl's son, one wonders what Professor Snape's feelings are.
That's probably why he wasn't in the mood to talk to them.
William even suspected that he had come on purpose to cause trouble, just so he could catch a glimpse of someone beforehand.
William was curious about Snape's feelings for Harry: was it love stemming from Snape's affection for Harry, or was it a deep-seated hatred?
William and Cedric quickly went into the hall and returned to their respective dining tables.
Qiu asked worriedly, "What happened?"
"It's nothing. Professor Snape asked me if I had any medicine to treat baldness; he's quite troubled by it."
William is completely unafraid of breaking the law when he spreads rumors.
He didn't lower his voice, and several students were whispering among themselves. It seemed the rumor would soon spread to every corner of Hogwarts.
The wind is quite noisy tonight.
Soon, it was time for the Sorting Ceremony again, and a group of young wizards walked in, led by Professor McGonagall.
Sitting here, William could see Hermione sandwiched among a group of people, staring nervously at the ceiling, muttering something under her breath.
Professor McGonagall gently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first-year students, and then placed a pointed wizard's hat on the stool.
The Sorting Hat was as worn and tattered as ever, patched up, very old, and extremely dirty.
The giant Acromantula had spun a beautiful web on its hat, like a white curtain.
The Sorting Hat seemed pleased with the decoration.
The dining room was completely silent. Then, the hat twisted. A wide slit appeared in the brim, like a mouth, and the Sorting Hat began to sing:
You might not think I'm pretty, but please don't judge a book by its cover. If you can find a more beautiful hat than me, I'll eat myself...
After a long and tedious song ended, the entire room erupted in applause. The Sorting Hat bowed to each of the four tables and then remained motionless.
William felt that such a monotonous song was a bit boring, so next time he might as well give it a suona (a traditional Chinese wind instrument)... As the saying goes, the suona is the king of all musical instruments, and the moment the suona sounds, the whole show ends.
Professor McGonagall took a few steps forward, holding a roll of parchment in her hand. "Whoever's name I call now, put on your hat, sit on the stool, and await Sorting."
Hannah Abbott!
A little girl with rosy cheeks and two golden braids stumbled out of the line, put on a hat that just covered her eyes, and sat down.
A brief pause...
"Hufflepuff!" the hat shouted.
The people at the table to Hannah right applauded and cheered, welcoming her to sit at their table.
Then a few more people joined them, and soon it was Hermione's turn.
Hermione practically ran to the stool and hurriedly put her hat on her head.
The hat hesitated for a long time before finally shouting:
"Gryffindor!"
Gryffindor was one of Hermione's two options. She wasn't exactly disappointed or happy, just a vague sense of loss.
When it was Neville's turn, he tripped and fell on the road because he was running too fast.
Everyone burst into laughter.
McGonagall's death stare swept around, and all sound vanished.
This pause lasted even longer than Hermione's.
Throughout the process, Neville's Trevor sneaked out of his pocket again, and immediately spotted the spider spinning its web in front of Neville.
The Sorting Hat suddenly cried out, begging Trevor to spare the spider.
Professor McGonagall rushed over and snatched the spider from Trevor's mouth, preventing it from being eaten.
The Sorting Hat, as if sending away a plague, angrily shouted, "It can only be Gryffindor!"
After that, Malfoy was sorted into Slytherin, while Ron and Harry Potter were sorted into Gryffindor.
The entire branch campus project has finally come to an end.
Albus Dumbledore stood up, looking at the students with a broad smile, and stretched out his arms to them, as if nothing could make him happier than seeing his students gathered together.
"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome everyone to Hogwarts to begin a new school year! Before the banquet begins, I would like to say a few words."
That is: Idiot! Crybaby! Trash! Twist!
Thank you everyone!
He sat down again, and everyone applauded and cheered.
(Seventh update, transitional chapter)
Some might say there's a lot of the original text, but this chapter is necessary because the classic quotes from Iron Hannah and Dumbledore can't be omitted—it's a traditional skill in Harry Potter fanfiction.
Try to avoid this in the future.
One issue I want to raise is that some readers have suggested Hermione be sorted into Ravenclaw, but in my opinion, Hermione is a typical Gryffindor at heart.
I like Hermione because of her experiences and adventures; going to Ravenclaw made her like a second Cho.
Of course, this is William's story, not Harry's, so there won't be any so-called nanny fanfiction. The first volume has already completely changed this world, and this story will be the same.
(No charge for entries under 200 words)