"Neil, are you really sick for a few hours without making a fuss?"

Neil sneered, pretending not to hear the harsh assessment, but Harry took the initiative to stand up.

"Don't do that, Hermione, he's speaking for me."

"For us." Ron, who had finally regained his spirit after lying on the boat all the way, also added a word.

Hermione, who was caught between two sides, rolled her eyes in annoyance, feeling that all her good intentions had been wasted: "Okay, then whatever you want." ”

"Oh, don't do that, Miss Granger! You know, I've always been grateful for your concern. ”

"Hmph."

Seeing that the simple flattery did not work, Neil shrunk his neck pitifully, most of his head buried in his robe, and only his eyes were exposed and flashing, looking very funny, and the expression of begging for mercy made the three people next to him laugh.

"Okay...... But you know, it's not a good idea to get into conflict with that kind of person. ”

"Really, Miss Granger, you're going to say it to my heart!"

"Don't be poor!"

"God, I'm not credited, am I?" Neil said with a giggle. The laughter was so harsh that one could not tell whether he was revealing his true feelings or was imitating something strange, "There is nothing worse for a merchant than this—oh, the moon, the moon!" Why are you so callous, so impermanent? ”

I don't know which of his impromptu performances or the resulting laughter was so noisy that it caught the attention of the old woman standing at the head of the line to maintain order, and on her thin face, her lips were almost pursed into a thin line, and with a sharp gaze like a falcon, she scolded sharply: "Freshman over there, don't talk anymore!" ”

"I'm sorry, Professor."

Although the group immediately apologized, it was well known that getting eleven or twelve-year-olds to keep their mouths shut during the queue was an impossible task – even with the help of magic. What's more, in the splendid grand hall, the students of the other grades have already taken their seats around the four long tables, and only the first grade is still left waiting at the door, and they can't help but feel anxious and curious.

"What are we waiting for now?" Harry asked in a whisper.

"Sorting House." Ron looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping before whispering in reply. Cautiously, as if he were revealing important information about the wizarding world's top security secret, "I've heard Charlie, my brother say that freshmen are called in turn and let the Sorting Hat decide which house they enter. ”

"What's the Sorting Hat?"

Ron shrugged.

"I don't know. A hat, enchanted, I guess? Anyway, I hope it will at least get me into Gryffindor, or Fred and George will probably never let me go for the rest of their lives. ”

"Gryffindor?"

"I can't believe it, haven't you read the freshman handbook?" Hermione said dumbfounded, her eyebrows almost congealing in disdain and disbelief "There are four branches at Hogwarts, Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, representing the four founders of the house. The Sorting Hat examines each student's character and qualities and places them in the right Sorting House, as it has been for hundreds of years...... I'm surprised you don't know anything about it! ”

"Hmph." This time it was Neil's turn to snort.

"What's wrong, Neil?"

"Nothing, Mr. Potter." Neil shrugged his shoulders and said he was fine, but the smile on his face looked a little unnatural, "I just don't really like this label-like division." Think about it, Mr. Potter, one day you're out into society, and the interviewer looks at your resume, well, Ravenclaw? You must be a genius. Hufflepuff? Phew, idiot! ”

The villain's detrimental face was imitated by him vividly, and even matched with the body movements of scratching his head to enhance the performance effect, Ron next to him laughed insolently on the spot, and was quietly struck by the leading professor before he calmed down.

"Seriously, why don't you just go to art school?"

"What do you want in life, wealth and freedom, Miss Granger." Neil stretched, "Before you can enjoy life, you have to make sure you have to make a material foundation, so I'm here now." ”

Hermione nodded understandingly, but didn't ask anything. She had a hunch that the real answer to the question was beyond what their current relationship would allow.

By the time the group exchanged ears, the sorting ceremony had already begun before they knew it. At the other end of the auditorium, under the high platform where the professors were present, a low stool was set up, and the students who were called by the roll call walked over and sat down, and then someone would come up and fasten a tattered black peaked hat on his head, all as if they were electrocuting the prisoner.

Both Harry and Ron stood on tiptoe, wanting to catch a second glimpse of the legendary Sorting Hat. The rag-like thing comes to life as soon as it gets on a person's head—it sounds a bit of a problem, but it has a lot of fun with its self-created sonnets praising the four founders of the academy and making all sorts of mischief suggestions to the trembling freshmen, and it subverts most people's perceptions of magical objects.

The students who hadn't yet been called all straightened their backs and stared at it with eager eyes that were a mixture of nervousness and excitement, but when Ron turned his head to look at Neil because he felt the need to show off the treasures of Hogwarts to his foreign friends, he found that the latter was staring at the thing with a terrifying expression.

"Are you uncomfortable? Dude, your face is worse than it was just now. ”

"It's a shame to give your body and your fate to a suit that has been enchanted...... Are you also entitled to claim to be the children of Hans Christine Andersen? Oh? I'm alright, Mr. Weasley, I'm alright...... I'm just, a little excited. ”

His disgust was so evident this time that it even outweighed his disgust with the sorting system, that Hermione felt that maybe it was no longer time to care about friendship.

She cautiously reached out and patted Neil on the shoulder, "Are you okay?" Plus Andersen is Danish, you know. ”

Neil let out a long sigh and didn't answer her most important question directly, but talked about another part of the story in an evasive manner.

"I beg your pardon, Miss Granger, but I think that Europeans must unite and cross national boundaries in order to confront a formidable enemy across the Atlantic...... Well, that's not the point, right? ”

He paused halfway through.

"In addition, today's children must regard the story of 'The Red Shoes' as a simple mistake in the work of the Department of Forbidden Magical Objects, so they behave so carelessly in the face of danger, and personally, I am willing to pay a hundred ...... Maybe eighty-five? Yes, eighty-five is more appropriate...... I'm willing to pay eighty-five Galleons in exchange for that hat not to be put on my head, and to let a rag of unknown curse peek into your brain is the stupidest decision a man can make in his life. ”

"Okay." Realizing that the source of this disgust was much more childish than she had imagined, Hermione felt a sense of relief, "What can I say?" Be strong, Neil. ”

"Thank you, Miss Granger."

At that moment, the professor in charge of the roll call called out Ron Weasley's name, and in surprise, he rushed out with his hands and feet, fell halfway, and ran to the low stool amid the laughter and sighs coming from near the Gryffindor table. From Neil's point of view, he can only see his red and shiny ears, and presumably the other party will not be in a good mood at the moment.

Neil Wan didn't think there would be an alternative to Gryffindor for such a warrior, after all, from what he had observed so far, the qualities of bravery and recklessness, impulsiveness, and recklessness seemed to mean more or less in the black rag.

From the moment Ron tripped over his robes, Hermione's eyes never took off the low stool, the electric chair that Neil called to execute prisoners from the social level.

"Neil? Can I ask you another thing? ”

"Of course."

"To be honest, I'm a little nervous right now, and if you're willing to satisfy my curiosity, it might make me feel better. But I don't force you to do it, okay? ”

"If that's the case, you can ask a hundred more, Miss Granger."

"What did you do with the Americans...... Is it a holiday? ”

"Ah, you noticed that." Harry Potter's name had already been shouted earlier, and it seemed that there was not much time left for small talk, "Okay...... To put it simply, the Office of Mysteries, an affiliate of Area 51, passed a series of decrees in 1904 containing a long list of magical creatures that could be legally hunted, processed, and traded, in order to facilitate the plundering of resources from the area by their expatriate forces, including me, I mean, our sect's sacred beasts. ”

He waved his arms and gestured in the air as if he were about to split someone's head. However, even though the owner of the body seemed to be in a state of extreme anger, his every move still felt a little funny.

"You see, this is a great hatred, and if it weren't for O. Henry and Rob Johnson, I would have cursed each of them for anthrax...... Yes, Rob Johnson, the greatest blues singer of all time, though he has a name for selling baby products – ah, they're shouting your name! Good luck, Miss Granger. ”

"Thank you, Neil - but stop impersonating that interviewer and don't hum jazz anymore, I don't want to accept the sorting while holding my stomach."