The doors opened, and a black-haired Witch wearing emerald-green robes stood in front of the door.
The young Wizards, who had been chattering endlessly, instantly fell silent, just like suddenly seeing the head teacher quietly standing at the back door of the classroom during a self-study session.
Facing Professor McGonagall, even Hagrid became much more reserved.
“The first-year students have arrived, Professor McGonagall.”
“Thank you, Hagrid, leave it to me here.”
As McGonagall spoke, her gaze kept sweeping back and forth through the crowd, finally landing on Julian.
Silently looking away, McGonagall pulled open the heavy doors and led everyone into the Castle.
Greeting them was a luxurious marble staircase leading straight upstairs.
All around were thick stone walls, and the blazing torches upon them illuminated the entire hall brightly.
The mist from the Black Lake clinging to the young Wizards gradually dissipated under the illumination of the torches.
McGonagall led the young Wizards into a small room at the other end of the hall.
“First of all, welcome to Hogwarts.”
McGonagall skillfully delivered the annual welcoming speech for new students.
“The opening banquet is about to begin, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you must first determine which house each of you will enter.
The Sorting is a very important ceremony…”
McGonagall’s gaze swept over the bewildered young Wizards and began to introduce the four houses.
“They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin…”
After the introduction, McGonagall gave a final instruction.
“The Sorting Ceremony will be held in front of the whole school, and I suggest you tidy yourselves up and look sharp while waiting.”
“When everything is ready over there, I will come to fetch you.”
After McGonagall left, the young Wizards finally released the mute button and began chattering away again.
Now, what interested and anticipated them the most was the Sorting Ceremony.
“How do we get sorted?
Do we choose ourselves?
Or do the Heads of Houses choose?”
“I heard there’s some kind of exam, like reciting the names of a thousand herbs, or brewing a Potion on the spot.”
“That sounds like exam questions to me.
I heard the Sorting Ceremony involves everyone taking an Unforgivable Curse, and you can only enroll if you don’t die.”
“Nonsense!
What kind of school are you enrolling in?
Azkaban?”
Various guesses about the Sorting Ceremony came over from time to time, and the messy claims made Hermione frown involuntarily.
“Julian, do you know how the sorting is done?
I’ve read Hogwarts: A History, but there is no record of the sorting in it at all.”
I really don’t know how generation after generation of Wizards managed to keep it secret, as the new student sorting ceremony hasn’t been leaked out for so many years.
Every time new students are sorted, Wizards never tire of using this topic to deceive the young ones.
It’s as if the Wizarding World had no other entertainment.
Regarding this boring behavior, Julian thought: I’ll throw some fuel on the fire too.
So he shook his head, pretending to be completely clueless.
“I don’t know either, but I suppose we can ask them.”
Julian motioned with his eyes towards the ghosts walking through the wall.
The other young Wizards were so frightened by these suddenly appearing ghosts that they didn’t dare to breathe loudly, and tacitly retreated toward the wall.
The idle ghosts discovered the clear-eyed and foolish new students, and like finding a new toy, enthusiastically came up to perform talents.
For example, lifting their heads with both hands, tossing them up, letting their heads spin a few hundred degrees in the air, and then catching them steadily with their necks.
Of course, occasionally the head would be put on backward.
At this time, they would twist their heads 180 degrees with their hands to set the position right.
At first, the young Wizards were terrified of this talent, but after experiencing it a few times, they found that the ghosts were actually very enthusiastic, and such talent was indeed rare, so they gradually calmed down, and some bold ones even began to comment on the ghosts’ performance.
It must be said that those who can become Wizards really have an extraordinary capacity for accepting such strange things.
Julian asked a ghost wearing a ruff:
“Excuse me, how does Hogwarts sort its houses?
I heard that animals representing each house are summoned from a hat, and then students have to fight them; whichever one you win against is the house you go to.”
That ghost and Julian stared at each other with big eyes, and a strange tacit understanding rose between the two.
“Last year I saw with my own eyes a student eaten by Gryffindor’s lion, and Slytherin’s venomous snake poisoned several to death.”
Several young Wizards who heard this were frightened out of their wits.
Julian even heard crying and demands to go home.
He also put on a terrified look, acting as if he believed it too.
[Silver-tongued: Proficiency + 7]
Julian was very satisfied.
Sorry classmates, but your experience points are simply too sweet.
“Oh no-Julian…” Neville’s face wrinkled up, looking like he was about to cry.
“I feel like I might not be able to go to Gryffindor, I can’t beat a lion either.”
Well, overdone, it scared the true Gryffindor too.
Hermione next to him also widened her eyes: “Do I have to fight a lion too?”
Julian had no choice but to patch things up with a sentence: “This might not necessarily be true…”
As a result, as soon as he said these obviously comforting words, the rebellious young Wizards became even more frightened.
[Silver-tongued: Proficiency + 9]
Julian: “…”
“Ron, you don’t seem scared at all.” Harry whispered from the side.
“Please, dueling with a lion or a venomous snake is already very good, when I was at home they told me I had to fight a Dragon.”
“In that case, we really should be thankful…”
When McGonagall returned to this room, she found the young Wizards looking listless, like Flobberworms squeezed dry of all their mucus.
This made McGonagall a bit puzzled.
Why do this year’s young Wizards look so wilted and not lively at all?
“Remember, sorting is a very serious matter, please keep quiet.
Now line up in single file and follow me,” McGonagall said.
The young Wizards moved dejectedly, lining up in a row closely behind Professor McGonagall.
They walked out of the room, crossed the entrance hall, passed through a set of double doors, and entered the luxurious Great Hall.
The entire Great Hall was surprisingly large; even with four long tables filled with students, it didn’t feel crowded at all.
Luxurious golden plates and goblets were placed on the long tables, and tens of thousands of candles floating in mid-air illuminated the place brightly.
Passing through the gaps between the candles, one could see that the ceiling was not boring, heavy stone, but a night sky with churning clouds and twinkling stars.
All the young Wizards who noticed this could not help but exclaim in admiration.
Hermione whispered: “It’s enchanted here, it looks just like the sky outside.
I read about it in Hogwarts: A History.”
The young Wizards walked all the way to the very front of the Great Hall before stopping.
On the steps was the staff table, and Dumbledore in purple robes sat right in the middle, a pair of kind and gentle eyes peering behind his half-moon spectacles.
The seat beside him was empty, probably Professor McGonagall’s seat.
Further over was the Slytherin’s head, Severus Snape, with greasy, shiny hair that looked like it hadn’t been washed in ages.
The other two Heads, Filius Flitwick and Pomona Sprout, were sitting on the other side of Dumbledore.
Of course, Hagrid and the disposable Defense Against the Dark Arts Class Professor were also present.
McGonagall placed a four-legged stool in front of the new students, and then placed a patched, dirty-looking pointed Wizard’s hat on it.
Some young Wizards looked at the hat fearfully, thinking that a lion or venomous snake would really crawl out from inside.
The Great Hall was dead silent.
Then, that dirty hat wriggled, a wide slit opened up, and it began to sing.
Although the singing was indescribable, fortunately the young Wizards heard from it that the so-called Sorting Ceremony meant wearing this hat.
This made them breathe a sigh of relief.
Although this hat was dirty and ugly, it was much easier than fighting a lion or a venomous snake.
Professor McGonagall held a long piece of parchment, stood before everyone, and began to read the sorting list.
“Hannah Abbott.”
“Hufflepuff!” shouted the hat.
Hogwarts’ sorting order was sorted alphabetically by student last name.
Julian’s last name “Prewett” started with P, belonging to the same batch as Harry’s “Potter”.
So Neville and Hermione were both ahead of him.
Name after name was read down, and soon it came to students whose last names started with the letter G.
Hermione glanced quickly at Julian, then practically ran over to the stool and put on the hat.
The Sorting Hat twisted its brim and shouted: “Gryffindor!”
After taking off the hat, Hermione didn’t rush to walk down the steps, but cast an extremely surprised look at Julian, as if saying: “You were right after all.”
Neville wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, cheering himself up inwardly.
“Julian’s divination is so accurate!”
“I will definitely be sorted into Gryffindor!”
Even he himself felt a surge of confidence well up inside him.
Neville turned his head to look for Theodore Nott in the crowd, only to find the other party glaring fiercely at him.
He shrank his neck in some fear, but after seeing Julian, an inexplicable burst of courage arose in his heart, and he widened his eyes and glared back at Theodore Nott.
This made Theodore Nott furious.
This guy, who usually took things lying down, actually dared to glare at him, which made him very unhappy, and he even implicated Julian in his anger.
Blame this guy!
“Neville Longbottom.”
Hearing his name, Neville took a deep breath and nodded at Julian.
“Walk a bit slower when you go, Mr.
Longbottom.”
“Okay.”
Hearing Julian’s words, Neville slowly walked up to the stool.
Although he looked a bit nervous, fortunately he didn’t trip and make a fool of himself.
After putting on the Sorting Hat, Neville closed his eyes.
He only heard a small voice murmuring in his ear: “Difficult, truly difficult…”
This made him nervous, his two hands placed on his legs tightly grasping his robes.
He felt a bit scared, but even more nervous.
What if the Sorting Hat found out he was a coward and assigned him to scrub toilets?
Grandma would definitely be sad.
Julian would also lose his confidence along with him.
“Gryffindor…
Gryffindor…”
Neville muttered Gryffindor in his mouth, wanting to cheer himself up.
But he clearly felt that his mood had dropped to the extreme, and the temperature on his body seemed to be drained bit by bit, making his limbs feel ice-cold.
After a long while, until the other students were getting a bit impatient, the hat shouted loudly:
“Gryffindor!”
Neville simply couldn’t believe his ears.
His body reacted even faster than his brain.
That ice-cold feeling in his limbs instantly receded, replaced by a pleasant warmth that put him at ease.
He jumped off the stool, ran towards Julian, shouting loudly:
“Gryffindor!
Gryffindor!”
He was too happy, and even forgot to return the hat to Professor McGonagall.
The crowd burst into laughter, which made him a bit at a loss.
Julian smiled and pointed at his head, and only then did Neville realize he hadn’t taken off the hat.
He ran back somewhat sheepishly and returned the hat to Professor McGonagall.
The young Wizards who had witnessed the conflict between him and Theodore were all shouting Nott’s name, booing him wave after wave.
Theodore’s face turned green and white in turns, glaring resentfully at Neville and Julian.
He hadn’t expected Neville to actually be proven right by Julian and sorted into Gryffindor.
This made him angry while also feeling somewhat relieved; good thing he hadn’t made a bet with him.
Otherwise it would have been even more embarrassing.
This made him smug again; it seemed that when it came to cleverness, he was still a cut above.
The sorting continued.
After Harry was called, it was soon Julian’s turn.
“Julian Prewett.”