"No more than four people per boat!" Hagrid exclaimed, pointing to a group of small boats moored to the shore. Joe, Neville, Hermione, and Hannah Abbott, who had just met the same school, were all on the same page.

"Are you all on board?" called Hagrid, who was in a boat by himself. "That's good...... Go ahead!" A group of small boats immediately rowed across the mirror-like lake. Everyone was silent, staring at the huge castle that reached into the sky. As they approached the cliff on which the castle stood, it seemed to rise above them.

"Keep your head down!" As the first boats approached the cliff, Hagrid shouted. Everyone bowed their heads, and the boat carried them through the ivy curtain that covered the cliff front to the secluded open entrance. They followed a pitch-black tunnel that seemed to lead to the castle underneath, and finally reached a place that resembled an underground pier, and then climbed up to the ground of gravel and small pebbles.

Illuminated by Hagrid's lantern, they climbed a tunnel in the rocks and finally reached a flat, damp meadow in the shadow of the castle.

They climbed a stone staircase and gathered in front of a large oak door.

"Are you all there?" Hagrid raised a large fist and slammed it three times on the castle gate.

The door opened immediately, and Professor McGonagall stood in the doorway, her expression still so serious, probably trying to give the freshmen a disadvantage.

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

"Thank you, Hagrid, I'll take them in. She pushed the door open completely. Inside, the entrance hall is so large that it could fit an entire Dursley's house. 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. Harry could hear hundreds of cacophony coming from the entrance on the right—and the rest of the school had arrived. - But Professor McGonagall led the new students to a small, empty room away from the hall. They all crowded in, standing in a dense space, looking around nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall exclaimed, "The Commencement Dinner is about to begin. But before you can do that, you will be assigned to your respective houses, and the distribution 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, you will be awarded extra points if you follow the rules, and points will be deducted if you break the rules. At the end of each year, the children in the house with the highest score are awarded a supreme honor - the "House Cup". I hope you all bring glory to your college.

"The assignment ceremony will begin in a few minutes in front of the whole school, and I suggest you take advantage of this waiting time to dress up nicely. Her gaze lingered for a moment on Neville's hat cord fixed under his left ear and Ron's dirty nose.

"We'll call you when we're ready, so wait here quietly for a while. She finally left the small room, and Joe saw that Neville beside him was already covered in a cold sweat.

Next to them, Ron and Harry were discussing the criteria for assigning the house. The two hapless kids, who thought they were going to take exams, especially Weasley, who was almost frightened by the hard scenes described by his unscrupulous older brothers.

Suddenly, several people behind him suddenly screamed, startling Joe and the others.

"What are you doing—?" said someone dissatisfied, but after only a short meeting the discussion was gone, and Jo saw that the little wizards were holding their breath. 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 something. One of the short and fat little monks said, "Forgive him, forget the whole thing." I think we should give him another chance—" "My dear Monsieur Good Friar, we've given Peeves enough chances. He's not a good thing to give us ghosts a bad name - hey, what are you doing here?" spoke a ghost in a rounded collared bodysuit. She suddenly spotted the group of children underneath her.

No one dared to answer.

"It's some freshmen!" said the fat monk to them with a smile, "I suppose they're probably going to be tested?" and some of the children nodded quietly.

"Good luck with Hufflepuff," cried the monk, "you know, that's where I graduated. "Now onward," a soprano shouted, "the distribution 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!"

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

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 assembly, where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the freshmen up to the podium and told them to stand in a row facing their seniors and with their backs to the teacher. 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. In order to avoid the eyes of the audience, Joe looked up and happened to see a velvety beautiful black ceiling dotted with 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 Hogwarts, a school history. "It's hard to imagine that the General Assembly Hall is not open-air, and there is a ceiling on top of it.

Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the freshmen, and placed a pointed magician's hat on it. The hat was worn, old and dirty.

It's finally time to validate Occlumency. Joe thought to himself. We must not fail this time!