Chapter 026 Four Academies

This made it even more unsettling, so when they reached the underground dock, the freshmen scrambled to jump off the boat, but Catherine estimated that she would not be able to get ashore safely, so she motioned for the other three to disembark first.

Neville and Hannah went down without any abnormality, and as soon as Hermione left the boat with one foot, the boat suddenly and quickly retreated, and Catherine hurriedly pushed Hermione and sent her ashore, and Neville and Hannah reached out in time to catch her.

"Catherine!" By the time Hermione struggled to her feet and looked back, the boat was more than five feet ashore.

"Don't worry!" Catherine shouted, rushed two steps from the stern, stepped on the edge of the bow, and jumped up vigorously, but unfortunately the force of the rebound on the surface of the water was too small to let her fall to the shore, and the mermaid in the water also estimated this, and quickly swam towards the place where she fell into the water, apparently to take Catherine to the bottom of the water.

But Catherine did not fall into the water, and when she jumped up, she drew her wand and pointed at the water and shouted, "Clear water like a spring!" A stream of water came out of the tip of the staff, knocking the merfolk to the bottom, and the reaction force also pushed the girl into the air, and she used this momentum to adjust her position in the air and gracefully fall to the shore.

"That's amazing!" The freshmen burst into cheers and gathered around to congratulate her on her escape.

"Well done!" Hagrid also came over and patted Catherine on the shoulder, and the force made the girl feel as if he was ready to beat himself up, "But you're completely offended by that mermaid now." ”

As if to confirm this sentence, the merfolk reached out from the water and smashed something into the girl's head, which Catherine took and found to be a shell.

"Let's go! Get out of here first! Seeing this, Hagrid hurriedly waved the freshmen to the shore and led them up to a tunnel in the rocks.

It was only when the light was lost that little head was visible in the water beside the underground dock, and she threw her arrows with all her might, piercing the bottoms of all the boats, before burrowing back into the water with a shrill call.

The silver fishtail made a row of sprays that filled most of the boats, and the underground pier slowly darkened, and when the last light sank into the water, the dark tunnel completely lost all light.

Walking out of the underground tunnel, the freshmen came to a flat, damp meadow, and looking at the great shadow that almost covered the entire meadow, Catherine noticed that the castle in front of her seemed to be bigger than when she saw it on the lake.

"Hurry up, kids, there's only the last stone staircase left!" Hagrid shouted and led them towards the castle gates.

The hazy night made it impossible to see the whole picture of Hogwarts, but the sporadic lights made Catherine estimate that the height of the castle was at least a hundred feet higher, and the exact size of the castle could only be measured after dawn.

As it was the last stone staircase, the freshmen walked very fast, and soon they reached a large oak door.

"Are you all there?" Hagrid turned to all the freshmen, "Catherine, that merfolk didn't catch up, did you?" ”

"Report, no!" Catherine replied aloud with stern snuggness, eliciting a burst of laughter.

"Alright, quiet!" Hagrid clapped his hands above everyone's heads, "Now we're entering Hogwarts!" ”

The freshmen immediately stopped laughing, and they watched quietly as Hagrid raised a large fist and slammed three times on the castle gate.

The gate was immediately opened.

Professor McGonagall, dressed in an emerald green robe, stood behind the gate, her stern expression that made all the freshmen nervous.

"First-year freshman, Professor McGonagall." Hagrid said.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll pick it up here. She glanced at the freshmen and motioned for them to follow her.

Behind the gate was a huge foyer the size of a small building, surrounded by a stone wall with a blazing brazier, but the high ceiling was still invisible.

The foyer is fronted by a sumptuous marble staircase that leads upstairs. There was a double door on the right, and from behind the door came the humming of hundreds of people, but instead of heading towards it, Professor McGonagall led them down the stone floor to a small, empty room at the other end of the hall.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall began to give the new students a basic introduction to Hogwarts, "the opening party is about to begin, but before you get to the dining hall to take your seats, you should first determine which house you are going to attend. ”

"The Sorting House is an important ritual because during your time at school, the House is like your home at Hogwarts. You will attend classes with other students in the college, live in the dormitory of the college, and spend your free time together in the common room of the college.

The names of the four houses were: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own glorious history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards.

During your time at Hogwarts, your outstanding performance will result in extra points for your house, while any violation will result in a loss of points for your house. At the end of the year, the college with the highest score receives the House Cup, which is a high honor. I hope that no matter which house you are assigned to, you will be able to bring glory to the college. ”

"In a few minutes, the sorting ceremony will be held in front of all the teachers and students of the school. I'm suggesting that while you are waiting, you should tidy up and be more energetic. Her gaze wandered over a few of the freshmen who didn't look good, "I'll pick you up when it's ready." While waiting, please be quiet. With that, she left the room.

"How can they assign us exactly which house we are going to?" As soon as Professor McGonagall left, Harry asked Ron.

"I think it's always a quiz. Fred said it hurt us a lot, but I think he was joking. ”

"Does magic that tests a person's character hurt a lot?" As soon as he heard Ron's words, Neville immediately asked.

"Does the quiz have to do with a person's personality?" A girl named Lisa Dupin asked in surprise.

"Catherine asked the four prefects before getting out of the car," Hermione explained, "and they acquiesced. ”

"What kind of character do you need to be assigned to which house?" Another boy, Zabi Rice Smith, asked, cocking his nose.

"There doesn't seem to be any specific information on this, but after summarizing the more famous graduates of the four colleges, I found that each college has a relatively distinct personality trait." Catherine began to explain the results of her analysis over the past month.

"For example, most of the people who are assigned to Gryffindor House are passionate, brave, fearless, and adventurous, so there are many brave warriors, but because more often than not, they always do things without thinking, so the people of Lion House are often relegated to be reckless."

"Hufflepuffs are honest, humble, gentle, and generally good at healing magic, so they are often called kind healers, but because they are very diligent and generous, many people mistake the people of the badger house for cowardice."

"The people of Ravenclaw are intelligent, studious, curious, and focused, and almost all of them are erudite and wise, but when their research is motivated, it often happens that the donkey's head is not in the horse's mouth, so it is often said that the people in the Eagle House are crazy."

"Slytherin is the most complex house in Hogwarts, and because Salazar Slytherin requires his students to have pure blood, shrewdness and ambition, so Slytherin students have a good foundation when they enter the school."

"In order to maintain this advantage, the Slytherins must be strict with themselves, they must learn to be calm and cautious at all times, they must learn to analyze all forms, and everything around them is a war, and they must be the smartest generals."

"But this situation is enough to break down many students who are not strong enough, who are willing to degenerate into dark wizards, destroy at will, and wreak havoc everywhere, and the existence of these people makes people think that the snake courtyard is full of cunning and evil people." Catherine shook her head and concluded:

"Every house has its strengths and weaknesses, and basically, as long as your personality is similar to that of the graduates of that college, then you will most likely be assigned to that house."

"What if it happens to be in line with multiple colleges?" Daphne asked.

"It's up to you. Like Catherine—" Hermione patted the red-haired girl on the shoulder, "she chose Slytherin." ”

"What!" Everyone else looked over, especially the freshmen who had just learned about the complexities of Slytherin from Catherine's introduction.

"Did you really choose to go to Slytherin?" A cold voice suddenly sounded above them.

"Ahh As soon as the first-graders looked up, they all let out a frightened scream.

For above their heads, there were twenty or so pearly white, translucent ghosts hovering at this time, and the one who leaned over to inquire about Catherine was none other than the most terrible of them all, with a withered face, a robe stained with silver and blood, and a dull glare at the girl, which frightened all the new students around her to retreat, and for a moment the girl's side became a no-man's land.

"Yes—yes—" Catherine had been through a lot of things, but she was still frightened by the sudden situation, and her voice became a little stammering.

"What's going on!" Professor McGonagall shouted in the doorway, and when she could see the room clearly, she immediately showed an angry expression, "Why are you trying to scare the new students like Peeves?" ”

"We're listening to this little girl explain the four houses," a chubby little friar-looking ghost explained to Catherine, "Oh! She said so much that we were all intrigued, especially when it came to her choice of Slytherin, Barrow couldn't help but lean over and ask. ”

The horrible ghost who was named nodded at Professor McGonagall, and then floated away silently, and Professor McGonagall couldn't help but look at the red-haired girl who seemed to be familiar, her face was a little pale, and Professor McGonagall didn't know if it was because she was frightened by the ghosts, or because she was "isolated" by the other students.

Professor McGonagall felt as if she should say something, but it didn't seem appropriate to say anything, and she finally said, "The sorting ceremony is about to begin." Now, line up in a single line and follow me. ”

The ghosts fluttered through the walls and disappeared.