In the doorway stood Professor McGonagall, dressed in an emerald green robe. Her expression was still so serious, as if there was no trick in the world that could make her laugh.

"Professor McGonagall, the first-year students are here." Hagrid reported.

"Thank you, Hagrid, I'll take them in."

She pushed the door open completely. The entrance hall inside is surprisingly large. The stone walls are illuminated by torches, the ceiling is unimaginably high, and a beautiful marble staircase leads to the upper floor.

The children followed Professor McGonagall through a section of the floor covered with bunting. Aitch could hear hundreds of cacophony coming from the right entrance—the rest of the school had already arrived, waiting for the new students to enroll. This opening ceremony is really unprepared.

Professor McGonagall led the new students to a small, empty room away from the hall. Everyone crowded in, standing in a dense cipher's seat, looking around nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall exclaimed, "The Commencement Dinner will begin soon. But before you can do that, you will be assigned to your respective houses, and the sorting ceremony is very important, because since you are here, your house is your home at Hogwarts. You'll have to go to class, live together, and play with the rest of the college. ”

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each academy has its glorious and long history of producing talented magicians. During your time at Hogwarts, points will be awarded for discipline and points will be deducted for breaking the rules. At the end of each school year, the children in the house with the highest scores are awarded a supreme honor – the House Cup. I hope you all bring glory to your college. The sorting ceremony will begin in a few minutes in front of the whole school, and I suggest you use this time to dress up nicely. ”

Her gaze lingered for a moment on Neville's hat cord anchored under her left ear and Ron's dirty nose. Apparently to remind them. "We'll call you when we're ready, so wait here quietly for a while."

As soon as Professor McGonagall finally left the small room, Harry couldn't help but ask Ron, "On what basis did they assign us to different houses?" ”

"Maybe pass the exam. Fred had said it would hurt when it was distributed, but I think he was just joking. ”

Harry's heart sank. Aitch looked around anxiously as he saw that the others were just as scared as he was, and his face was better. When he was unlucky, he found that everyone around him was equally unlucky, which gave him a little comfort. Human nature is sometimes so despicable.

Hermione was the only one in the crowd whispering to the people next to her about her magic, saying she didn't know which ones would come in handy. Neville was already tugging at Edge's robe in fear, and many in the crowd were talking about the horrors of the legendary Sorting Ritual, and the more he listened, the more nervous he became, hoping that Edge, who had mastered the Levitation Charm, would give him some protection.

Hogwarts has been around for more than a thousand years, but hoaxes about the Sorting Rite have survived with this ancient building. The wizards who have been tricked never explain it to the little wizards, and in the name of it, it is also a kind of fun. As in one of Lu Xun's novels, a rural woman in feudal China married her son to a daughter-in-law several years older. The daughter-in-law hated, but after becoming a mother-in-law, she continued to do what her mother-in-law did at the beginning.

Archie whispered the truth in Neville's ear, which made him wipe the sweat from his palms. At this moment, a few people in the back suddenly screamed, and Neville jumped a foot high.

About twenty ghosts entered through the wall from behind. They are all as white as pearls, and they are also translucent. They floated around the room as they spoke, dismissive of the freshmen, as if they were arguing about whether or not to teach Peeves a lesson.

A wreath-wearing, pantyhose-clad ghost suddenly spotted the group of kids underneath him, "Hey, what are you doing here?" ”

No one dared to answer.

"It's some freshmen!" The chubby ghost laughed and said to them, "It's about to be sorted, right?" ”

Some of the children nodded quietly.

"Good luck with Hufflepuff," he cried, "you know what, that's where I graduated. “

"Now onward," a soprano shouted, "the sorting ceremony is about to begin." “

Professor McGonagall returned, and one by one the ghosts left through the opposite wall.

"Stand in line," Professor McGonagall told the freshmen, "now follow me!" ”

A group re-crossed the hall and entered a separate door into the Great Hall.

Aitch had never seen a place so glorious, not even in the venue where some international awards were handed out. The other upperclassmen sat at four long tables, thousands of candles floating in the air above their heads, illuminating the entire hall. The table was filled with glittering gold plates and goblets. There was another long table on the stage directly in front of the conference, where the professors were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the freshmen up to the podium and told them to stand in a row facing their seniors and facing away from the professor. The thousands of faces staring at them were like little pale lanterns in the light of a shining candle. The ghosts scattered among the students turned the otherwise blurry silverware into shiny. Aitch looked up at the ceiling, the black ceiling sprinkled with shining stars. He heard Hermione whisper in his ear, "Someone has enchanted it to make it look more like the starry sky outside." This is what I learned in A History of Hogwarts. ”

Wonderful magic! Aitch grew fond of the school.

As Professor McGonagall quietly placed a four-legged stool in front of the freshmen, everyone hurried to look straight ahead.

Professor McGonagall placed a pointed magician's hat on the four-legged stool. The hat was worn, old and dirty. The grimace of the students over the millennium adds to the heaviness of its witnessing history.

Suddenly, the hat twitched, and a crack like a human mouth opened at the edge of it. Let the freshmen unconsciously open their jaws. Then the hat began to sing:

"Hey, maybe you don't think I'm beautiful, but don't just trust your eyes, if you can find a hat that's smarter than me, I'll eat myself.

Your bowler hat is black and shiny, and your top hat is slippery and high, but I'm a Hogwarts Sorting Hat, so they're not as good as mine.

I know best what you're thinking in your head, so put me on, and you'll know where you should go.

You should probably go to Gryffindor, where there are many warriors, courage and spirit, who are not afraid of challenges and storms;

If you live in Hufflepuff, where loyalty, integrity, and excellence, and people are patient and sincere, and are not afraid of the toil of work;

If you live in Ravenclaw, it's really good, there are a lot of scholars and wise men, and it's not easy to find other places;

Or live in Slytherin and you'll find friends and affection, the people are skilled, and the scenery is fascinating.

Come and put me on, don't be scared and frightened!

It's safe to have me protected, because I'm not stupid to think. ”

When the hat finished his wonderful singing, the whole synagogue burst into applause. It looked like a human, bowing to each of the four tables full of students, and then stopped moving.

"Looks like we're just going to have to wear that hat." Ron whispered to Harry, "Damn Fred, he's just going to wrestle with the trolls." “

Aitch snickered to himself, it's really a twin's prank-up style!

Professor McGonagall stepped forward, holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I read your name, I ask you to put on this hat and sit on a stool and wait for the assignment." She said, "Edge! ”

Aitch doesn't have a surname, and rightfully should be first in alphabetical order.

"Oh my God! Aitch without a surname! Hermione was about to scream, and someone was whispering at the long table below. Harry was also surprised, coming from the Muggle world who was more familiar with the unnamed Edgeco than the undead Harry Potter.

"I should ask him for an autograph, Dudley will be jealous." Harry's whisper of regret upset Ron, what is a guy in a mask known for? Just because he's wearing a mask?

Aitch walked over to the quadrangular stool in front of everyone's attention, and obediently put on his sorting hat, "Professor, may I ask how long it hasn't been bathed?" ”

Edge's critical look embarrassed Professor McGonagall. "This ...... Every time the Sorting Hat runs out, it is returned to the Headmaster's Office for safekeeping. ”

"Oh, that said, it hasn't seen water in years." Aitch pronounced "several" very seriously.

Professor McGonagall looked at her eyes wrongly, as if she had hundreds of times more "several" in her memory than "several" that Aitch understood. And there was a stupid girl who used it to divide the house in the first place.

Professor McGonagall is better, but the seniors at the bottom are far from nourishing their qi, and a few of them have already vomited the half-bitten steak.

The freshmen also looked disgusted, and several girls were even more determined to beat me to death and not wear it.

"Okay." Professor McGonagall immediately used his magic to give the Sorting Hat a full-body cleansing, which had always been done by house-elves, and now she was allowed to do it in public! Professor McGonagall replied to the disgrace of wearing it in the first place.

Aitch was deliberately out of the limelight, a test to see if the Sorting Hat really had the ability to think autonomously.

Able to read people's minds, the Harry Potter world has the Dementor Charm, the Mirror of Eris, and the Boggart. But Aitch had always had doubts about the Sorting Hat. I remember the following year in the Chamber of Secrets, Harry wore it when he met the basilisk, and when Neville took the Gryffindor sword in the final showdown, he didn't react at all!

The Sorting Hat's speech was only one conversation with Harry in the Headmaster's office, after which Dumbledore appeared.

Aitch decided that there was reason to suspect that the Sorting Hat was just a medium, and that it was Dumbledore who sat in the middle of the professorship! Dumbledore's silver-white hair was the only thing in the entire Great Hall that could shine like a ghost.

Obviously, when Aitch and McGonagall were discussing the Sorting Hat, it didn't interject a word, the Sorting Hat was a cover!

Then everything is much easier, like the magic item of the Mirror of Eris, it may be useless if you are proficient in Occlumency. It's easier to deal with people, and Aitch has specially invited a hypnotic master to train him, but it may not be worse than a dementor. After all, he has a lot of secrets that he can't be told.

Professor McGonagall drained the last wisps of dirty water out of the Sorting Hat, and the poor hat was washed to the point where the threads came out. Angry, "I'm satisfied." ”

"Hmm." If Aitch finds fault again, Professor McGonagall is about to do it, and she doesn't look angry. Aitch hurriedly put the Sorting Hat over his head, it was so large that the brim hung down, hiding his eyes from seeing the light.

There was silence, and the Great Hall seemed to fall silent for a moment, and after a while, the voice of the Sorting Hat rang out in Aitch's head, "Where do you want to go?" ”

As soon as Aitch heard it, he knew that the "Sorting Hat" couldn't read his thoughts, and he didn't drag it anymore, "I want to go to Ravenclaw." ”

"Well, it's a nice place, it's a good place for you. Then ...... Ravenclaw! —" The final sound echoed throughout the Great Hall. There was applause at the second long table on the left, and Aitch took off his Sorting Hat and walked there.

"Hannah Abbott!"

A little girl with pink face and blond hair walked out of the group, put on a hat so big that even her eyes were covered, and sat down quietly. After a while,—— "Hufflepuff!" The hat shouted.

Students from Hufflepuff sit on the far right. When Hannah came down to sit with them, they all applauded and cheered. Aitch also saw the chubby ghost waving to her in high spirits.

"Susan Payne!"

"Hufflepuff!" Hat shouts. Susan sat down and sat down beside Hana.

"Terry Bout!"

"Ravenclaw!"

A few of the students who lived in Ravenclaw even took the initiative to shake Terry's hand.

Mandy Brooke Lanhurst will also be assigned to Ravenclaw; Levent Brown was the first freshman to join Gryffindor, and the leftmost table burst into cheer, followed by Ron's twin brothers. Millison Bustelo joins Slytherin.

"Justin Finch Flecheni!"

"Hufflepuff!"

When it was Hermione's turn, she ran forward, put on her hat, and sat down on the stool.

"Gryffindor!" The hat shouted. Ron was frustrated.

When it came to Neville Longbottom. It took a long time for the hat to make a decision, and when it was finally announced to be Gryffindor, Neville couldn't even take it off and ran down, so to the laughter of the crowd, he trotted back and passed the hat to Malfoy's henchman, Goyle.

Malfoy swaggered forward and immediately got his wish: as soon as the hat touched his hair, he loudly announced "Slytherin!" ”

Malf walked over to his two friends, Crabbe and Goyle, looking very happy.

Now, there are not many new students left on the stage.

"Menth" ...... "Noether"... Then there are twin sisters,...... And finally – "Harry Potter!" ”

Harry stepped forward, but the sound of the audience was like a boiling pot.

"Did she just say Potter?"

"That Harry Potter?"

Aitch is just a legend in the Muggle world, this is the wizarding world, and Harry Potter's popularity is beyond Edge's reach. Harry's Sorting House was the time spent the longest.

Finally "Gryffindor!" ”

When the last freshman chose Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up the parchment and walked away with the Sorting Hat.

Dumbledore stood up, looked at the students in the audience, and spread his arms, as if to say that there was nothing more joyful than seeing all his students in the room.

"Welcome!" He said, "Welcome to Hogwarts!" Welcome to the new school year! Before I start the dinner, I would like to say a few words. All I want to say is: stupid! Cry! Leftovers! Thank you! He sat down. Everyone applauded and cheered.

Dinner officially began, and after Aitch introduced himself, he was listening more, and several enthusiastic seniors also introduced themselves to me, and he knew Cho Zhang, a freshman, and Penelo Crivat, who was already a prefect.

Finally, when dessert was finished, Professor Dumbledore stood up, and the audience fell silent.

"Aha, since we've all eaten and drunk, I'll say a few more words. I'm going to make a couple of announcements now. New students should pay special attention to the fact that students are not allowed to enter the Forbidden Forest. This is something that older students should also keep in mind. ”

Dumbledore's eyes glared over to the Weasley twins.

"Our administrator, Mr. Filch, wants me to remind you that magic is not allowed in the hallways between classes.

The Quidditch test will take place in the second week, and students who would like to represent their house are invited to register with Ms Hooch. ”

"Finally, I must warn you that those who don't want to die a tragic death should not go to the third-floor corridor on the right hand side within this year!"

Harry burst out laughing, and Harry was one of only a handful of students who laughed.

Finally, "Before going to bed, let's sing the school song together!" Dumbledore shouted. He picked up his wand and struck it lightly, as if he wanted to fly off the platform. A long golden ribbon floated out of the wand and rose high above the table, the serpentine realm winding into words. At this point, Aitch noticed that the other professors didn't look good.

"Everybody's in their own tune," said Dumbledore, "Ready, sing!" ”

The whole school roared.

Ready, Aitch immediately plugged his ears. I saw that the mouths of the people around me were closed before I put them down.

"Ah, music—" he said as he wiped away his tears, "a magic that transcends one's own realm!" Okay, now it's bedtime, run – go! ”