#11 - Section 11

"I also considered Ravenclaw, but I still think Gryffindor is better."

Hermione insisted on her point of view. The greatest wizards came from Gryffindor, so Gryffindor was naturally the best.

This was similar to the Muggle world. If a school produced enough famous people and had enough reputation, it could prove that the academy was even more outstanding.

While they were chatting, the boat sailed past the steep western cliffs and the ivy-covered canopies, finally stopping at a dock.

After landing, the group climbed through a tunnel in the rocky mountain before arriving at an open and damp meadow under the shadow of the majestic castle.

After Hagrid counted the number of people, he stepped onto a flight of stone steps and raised his huge fist to knock on the castle gate three times.

The door opened immediately, and Professor McGonagall, whom they had seen before, walked out slowly.

"The first-year students are here, Professor McGonagall!"

Hagrid said seriously.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take over from here."

Professor McGonagall replied politely, and then led the young wizards into Hogwarts, this ancient castle that was thousands of years old.

Chapter 19: The Sorting

Following Professor McGonagall, the group arrived at a small empty room, crowded together shoulder to shoulder, staring nervously at everything around them.

The Sorting Ceremony was about to begin, and most people were not feeling relaxed.

"Welcome to Hogwarts!" Professor McGonagall said seriously, looking at everyone. "The start-of-term feast is about to begin, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you must first determine which house you will each enter..."

"In a few minutes, the Sorting Ceremony will be held in front of the entire school. When they are ready, I will come and get you. In the meantime, please remain silent."

After speaking, Professor McGonagall walked towards the Great Hall.

It wasn't until she left that everyone breathed a sigh of relief. After all, Professor McGonagall's serious face put a lot of pressure on everyone.

"How can they accurately sort us into the right house?"

Ethan recognized that it was Harry's voice.

"It may be through some kind of test. My brother said that this test is very harmful to our bodies."

Ron was showing off in front of Harry again.

It's just that his memory wasn't very good. The twins had tricked him countless times, but Ron still believed the twins' nonsense.

With Harry and Ron taking the lead, the sense of urgency among the crowd was raised again.

One by one, they began to talk about the inside information they knew. Some said they had to duel with trolls, others said they had to perform magic on the spot, and there was also a group of pure-blood supporters who firmly believed that as long as they had noble blood and excellent talent, they would definitely be sorted into Slytherin.

"What's that?"

A terrified voice that overwhelmed the audience rang out, attracting everyone's attention.

The scene immediately became silent, and everyone was afraid to act rashly. More than twenty pearly white, translucent ghosts suddenly窜了出来 from the walls.

Ethan was watching the ghosts' every move. He had been to Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley many times during this period, but he had never seen a ghost.

Now that he had the opportunity, Ethan naturally wanted to observe carefully.

He just didn't know what the difference was between Voldemort's current state and these ghosts, or whether the method of making Horcruxes was based on the birth of ghosts.

The only thing that could be determined was that these ghosts had no physical bodies. He just didn't know if they could use magic.

Faced with Dementors, which were also considered non-physical magical creatures, who was more awesome?

Could ordinary spells or dark magic work on these ghosts?

The more Ethan thought about it, the more he wanted to get a ghost to experiment on.

"Move forward now!" A sharp voice rang out. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin."

With the arrival of Professor McGonagall, the ghosts disappeared through the opposite wall.

After organizing the formation, a group of young wizards followed Professor McGonagall out of the room, through the entrance hall, and then through a pair of double doors into the luxurious Great Hall.

At this time, students from other grades were sitting around four long tables according to their houses, and above the tables were thousands of candles floating in the air, illuminating the entire hall.

At the head of the hall, another long table was set up, which was the professors' seat.

Sitting in the C position was Dumbledore, wearing a gorgeous dark blue robe, a flowing silver-white hair with a small wizard hat, and a meticulously trimmed long beard, of course, there was also his long and crooked nose.

Ethan and others were led by Professor McGonagall to stand in a row in front of this, facing the students of the four houses in front.

After arranging all this, Professor McGonagall gently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first-year students. On the stool was a pointed wizard hat. The hat was patched, very old and dirty, and it looked full of history.

Suddenly, the hat twisted, and a wide crack opened on the edge of the hat, like a big mouth, and then began its annual self-hi with some strange melody: "You may think I'm not pretty..."

After a full seven or eight minutes, the Sorting Hat finally completed its annual self-hi program and was greeted with applause from the audience. It wasn't because it sang so well, but because everyone cooperated.

"Now, when I call someone's name, they immediately come forward, put on the hat, sit on the stool, and wait for the sorting."

Professor McGonagall took out the parchment and said to the young wizards, the main show was finally here.

"Hannah Abbott!"

A small girl with a ruddy complexion and two golden braids stumbled out of the queue. It was Hannah, who had just been on the same boat with Ethan and others. Obviously, she was super nervous at the moment.

Wearing the hat, it didn't take long to hear the result.

"Hufflepuff!"

Ethan could clearly see Hannah's tense cheeks relax, and at the same time, the people at the table on the right cheered for Hannah's arrival.

"Susan Bones!"

Similarly, the result came out quickly.

"Hufflepuff!"

Susan was not disappointed with the result, and happily ran to sit next to Hannah.

The Hufflepuff badgers were even more excited, applauding desperately. With the arrival of two new students in a row, the Hufflepuff family would continue its past glory this year and become the academy with the most new students.

With one new student after another stepping forward, the long tables of the four houses below burst into amazing enthusiasm.

"Hermione Granger!"

Hearing her name, Hermione almost ran to the stool and hurriedly placed the hat on her head.

This time, it took a little longer, but not to the point of a 'Hatstall'.

"Gryffindor!"

In the end, she still went to Gryffindor.

What followed was similar to Ethan's memory: Neville went to Gryffindor, Draco to Slytherin.

The atmosphere reached its peak when Harry Potter was sorted into Gryffindor, the cheers of the little lions almost lifting the roof of the ancient castle.

"Cassandra Vawrey!"

A slender girl with golden curly hair, walked out from the dwindling line with graceful steps.

Just as the hat touched Cassandra's head, the Sorting Hat screamed:

"Slytherin!"

This time it was the snakes' turn to cheer, not just perfunctory applause as before, but genuine cheering.

Chapter 20: Ravenclaw

"Ethan Adrian!"

The entire line was empty, now only Ethan remained.

Approaching with indifference, Ethan put the hat on and sat on the stool, ready to begin his sorting.

Although he knew the Unforgivable Curses and had reaped lives with the Killing Curse, he should have been sent to Azkaban in theory.

But the Sorting Hat clearly didn't sort by reading memories, but because it embodied the ideals of the four founders, sorting wizards into the houses that suited them best.

In this process, it could indeed understand some of the young wizards' thoughts and the shining points on them, but only to this extent.

Ethan had undergone special training for this, which was the most basic ability of Occlumency: the transfer of thoughts.

"Magic power far exceeding that of your peers, extremely high talent for dark magic, and some ambition, greedy enough, truly an excellent seedling. Salazar should be very happy to see you, it's just that your ambition is a bit strange, but the rest fits."

"I'm not a pure-blood, not even a half-blood. Can I enter Slytherin?"

Ethan asked curiously.

"Of course, you can. It's just that in recent centuries, people have misunderstood the ideals of Slytherin. The Slytherin of the past valued ambition, shrewdness, honor, assessing situations, self-preservation, and victory above all else."

The Sorting Hat's voice sounded in Ethan's mind with regret. It knew that the wizards' understanding was wrong, but it couldn't change it.

Because this impression had been fixed, some wizards with these traits were unwilling to go to Slytherin, because it had become a gathering place for pure-blood ambitious people, who often had nothing but ambition, yet stubbornly identified with Slytherin.

Although the Sorting Hat had the power to sort, it couldn't completely act on its own, and still had to consider the thoughts of some young wizards, which was one of the reasons why it had become what it was today.

"Actually, Azkaban is more suitable for you. I heard Dumbledore say that it is a gathering place for dark wizards and a cradle of dark magic. You would definitely achieve great success there, but unfortunately, Azkaban is not included in Hogwarts."

A somewhat regretful voice echoed in Ethan's mind.

"Azkaban is a prison!"

Ethan said helplessly.

"What's wrong with a prison? I once spoke with a former Azkaban inmate who returned to Hogwarts as a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. He said that everyone there was talented and pleasant to talk to, and I believe you would like it there too."

The Sorting Hat was a little unconvinced. How could Ethan deny its judgment?

The only pity was that Azkaban was not a Hogwarts house. It had heard Dumbledore lament more than once, 'Azkaban has become a graduate school for Hogwarts'.

"So, which house should I go to? It's been quite a while since I put you on."

Ethan didn't want to talk about Azkaban. What if those thoughts that couldn't be exposed were revealed?

"What's the rush? Sorting is a major event, you can't rush it!"

The Sorting Hat's displeased voice came.

"Alright, you continue!"

"That's more like it. You also have courage and a spirit of adventure. Gryffindor is also quite suitable, although the chivalrous spirit doesn't quite fit, but these days, where can you find someone who perfectly fits? It's all just about right."

"Ravenclaw is also good, smart and wise, and very eager for knowledge."

"Kid, tell your old hat which house you want to go to!"

The Sorting Hat's rambling voice echoed in Ethan's mind.

"What about Hufflepuff? I have a good impression of that house."

"Hufflepuff? Just, loyal, hardworking, honest, which of those do you fit? Wouldn't I be harming them if I let you in? No, absolutely not!"

The Sorting Hat refused on the spot. Although it had to consider the thoughts of the young wizards, it couldn't be too outrageous!

"Ravenclaw!"

Before Ethan could say anything, the Sorting Hat loudly announced the result.

And left Ethan with a sentence, "Your ambition can be perfectly realized in Ravenclaw, according to the aesthetic of wizards, that is the house with the most beautiful women."

Enthusiastic applause rang out from the Ravenclaw direction, and Ethan's arrival made them particularly excited.

This was a Hatstall, and a super long Hatstall lasting more than ten minutes. Every Hatstall is no ordinary wizard, such as the current Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall.

Arriving at the Ravenclaw table, Ethan greeted the upperclassmen, upperclasswomen, and classmates. As expected, there were many girls in Ravenclaw, and many beautiful ones. The Sorting Hat didn't deceive me!

With Ethan leaving the stage, the Sorting Ceremony was completely over. Professor McGonagall put away the Sorting Hat and the four-legged stool, and went to sit beside Dumbledore.

Now it was Old Dumbledore's turn to go online.

He looked at the students with a smile, and opened his arms, as if nothing made him happier than seeing the students gathered together.

"Welcome!"

"Welcome everyone to Hogwarts to start a new school year! Before the banquet begins, I would like to say a few words, namely: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

"Thank you all!"

After he sat down again, everyone applauded and cheered.

It was unclear whether they were applauding for Dumbledore or for the upcoming feast.