It was not too late for them to arrive, and they followed the last small crowd and hurried up the stone steps into the castle. The foyer was lit red with torches, echoing the footsteps of the students. They walked through the stone-paved ground towards the two gates on the right that led to the auditorium, where the opening banquet was held.

The auditorium was filled with four long college tables with a starless pitch-black ceiling, exactly like the sky outside they saw through the high windows. Candles floated above the dining table, illuminating the silver-white ghosts dotted in the auditorium and the excited faces of the students. They were happily talking, exchanging news from the summer, saying hello loudly to friends from other colleges, and examining each other's new hairstyles and clothes.

As soon as they reached the Slytherin table, the whole table erupted in applause, as if Phoenix had returned with glory. As soon as he sat down, Draco spoke.

"Look, new teacher. He pointed to the woman next to Dumbledore. She looked like some unmarried old aunt, short and fat, with short taupe hair and a very ugly pink bow on it, which matched the fluffy pink cardigan she wore over her robe. Then she turned her face slightly, took a sip from her goblet, and Phoenix saw a pale, toad-like face and a pair of eyes with droopy eyelids and bulging eyes.

"It should be the senior deputy minister of the Ministry of Magic. Phoenix grimaced.

"The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher looks exaggerated, maybe he drank the wrong potion when he was a child. Nott, who was on the side, pretended to vomit on the plate.

"How's she?" asked Daphne.

"Hell knows. Judging from this semester's books, I'm afraid we don't have practical classes. As soon as Phoenix finished speaking, the door to the hall opened, and a long line of frightened-looking first-year students was led into the auditorium by Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall held a stool with an old wizard's hat on top of it, with patches on top of it and a wide crack in the frayed brim. The buzz in the auditorium gradually subsided. First-year students line up at staff desks, facing their classmates from other grades. Professor McGonagall carefully placed the stool in front of them, then stepped back. The faces of the first-year students shimmered pale in the candlelight. A little boy in the middle of the line looked like he was shivering.

The whole school waited with bated breath. Then the crack by the brim of the hat opened like a mouth, and the Sorting Hat sang aloud:

I was wearing a new hat a long time ago, when Hogwarts wasn't built yet,

The four founders of the Noble Academy, thinking that they would never go their separate ways.

The same goal unites them, and each other's aspirations are so identical:

To build the best magic school in the world, so that their knowledge can be passed on and continued.

"We will build a school together and teach together!" The four friends were very resolute in their ideas,

However, they never dreamed that one day they would split each other.

What other friends are there in this world. Can it be better than Slytherin and Gryffindor?

Unless you count the other pair of best friends – Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?

How can such a good thing be ruined? How can such a friendship be written off?

Alas, I witnessed this sad story with my own eyes,

That's why I'm going to tell you more about it here.

Slytherin said, "The students we teach must be of the purest blood. ”

Ravenclaw said, "The students we teach must be intellectually superior. ”

Gryffindor said: "The students we teach. You must be brave and courageous. ”

Hufflepuff said, "I'm going to teach a lot of people and treat them the same. ”

The first time these differences came to light, they caused a small quarrel.

Each of the four founders had a college that only enrolled the teenagers they wanted.

The wizards of Slytherin, like himself, are of pure blood and scheming.

Only the sharpest-minded juniors can listen to Ravenclaw's teachings.

Anyone who is bold and adventurous will be accepted into the house by the brave Gryffindor.

The rest were taken in by the kind Hufflepuff, who taught them all her skills.

The four academies and their founders have maintained a strong and sincere friendship in this way.

During those many pleasant years, teaching at Hogwarts was pleasant and harmonious.

But then slowly there was a split, and it intensified because of our shortcomings and fears.

The four colleges are like four stone pillars that once held our school together.

Now they are turning against each other, disputes are continuous, and each wants to monopolize power.

There was a time when the school was dying.

Countless quarrels, countless fights, and former best friends turned against each other.

Finally, one morning, the elderly Slytherin ran away.

Even though the strife had subsided, he left us discouraged.

Only three of the four founders remained, and from then on the situation of the four colleges,

It is no longer as harmonious and united as it was envisioned in the past.

Now that the Sorting Hat is in front of you, you all know what happened:

I have placed you in each house because my duties cannot be changed.

But this year I'm going to talk a little more, so please listen carefully to my new song:

As much as I am destined to divide you, I fear that it is not the right thing to do.

Although I had to fulfill my duty to divide the new students into four parts each year,

But I'm afraid that such a classification will lead to the collapse that I fear.

Oh, know the danger, read the signs,

The lessons of history warn us that our Hogwarts are in danger,

Enemies outside the school are eyeing each other. We must be closely united within ourselves,

Otherwise, everything will fall apart from within. I have spoken to you bluntly,

I've sounded the alarm for you - now let's begin the Sorting.

The hat was motionless again. There was applause, but there was a whisper in between, for the first time in Phoenix's memory.

Throughout the auditorium, the students were talking to the people sitting next to them, and Phoenix and the others clapped their hands, knowing exactly what they were talking about.

"It's a bit off-topic this year, isn't it?" said Daphne, raising an eyebrow.

"That's true. Phoenix said. Often, the Sorting Hat only describes the different qualities that the four Hogwarts houses value and the tasks it performs in classifying its students. Phoenix doesn't remember when it tried to give advice to the school. "I wonder if it warned before?"

"Indeed," said Barrow the Bloody, knowingly, "the Sorting Hat feels it is a moral duty to give the school a proper warning if it feels—"

Professor McGonagall, however, was waiting for the list of first-year freshmen to be announced, glaring at the students with a very stern gaze. Barrow motioned for a moment, and sat up straight, the hum in the auditorium abruptly stopped.

Professor McGonagall glanced at the four tables with another frown, then looked down at the long piece of parchment in her hand and said the first name aloud.

A panicked little boy stumbled forward and put his hat on his head. Thanks to his two surprisingly large ears, the hat didn't slip off his shoulders. The Sorting Hat pondered for a moment, then the crack next to the brim opened again, and he announced loudly, "Gryffindor!"

Slowly, the long line of first-year freshmen shortened little by little. Eventually, Roszeller was sorted into Hufflepuff, and Professor McGonagall grabbed his hat and stool and strode away, at which point Professor Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome to our new students," Dumbledore said in a loud voice, his arms outstretched and a big smile on his lips, "Welcome! Welcome our old students—welcome back! There is so much time for speeches, but not now." Let's eat it and eat it!"

There was a burst of appreciative laughter and applause in the Great Hall, and Dumbledore sat down upright, throwing his long beard over his shoulders to prevent them from blocking his plate—and the delicacies suddenly fell from the sky, and the five long tables were at once filled with large pieces of beef, pies, plates of vegetables, bread, jam, and pots of pumpkin juice, groaning from the rain.

"What do you want to say before the Sorting?" Phoenix asked Barrow, "about the hat warning?" (to be continued.) )