Chapter 9 Sorting Ceremony

When it got dark, the train slowed down and finally stopped. Passengers ate out of the compartments and rushed to the door. Through the window, a small and dark platform could be seen. A man carrying

He lit a lamp and shouted loudly on the platform, "First-year students, come here! First-year students, come here. Don't worry about your luggage. We will take it to school for you later."

He didn't say anything funny, but the senior students snickered and deliberately imitated his accent and laughed. The dog at the feet of the lantern holder kept growling at those students.

Pomona, Lily and Snape followed the flow of people in the aisle and rushed forward. When she walked out of the car door, the cold wind that hit her face made her shiver. She couldn't help sneezing, causing a beautiful

Boy's attention.

"Oh, damn, you sprayed snot all over my robe." He complained loudly, attracting the attention of many people, and Pomona's face turned red.

"My name is Apollon Pringle, and I am your housemaster. This is Mr. Plutoy." The lantern holder pointed at his dog and said to the little wizards, "You will soon become students of Hogwarts.

Yes, but I want to remind you that there are many dangerous places in this castle. If you are caught by me, you will be deducted points or expelled at most, but if you are caught by them, your life will be in danger. Now I will take

You go to the castle, watch your step, don’t fall behind!”

"Snot-nosed," the gray-eyed boy shouted to Pomona as the crowd began to move again, and everyone around them snickered.

"You are so rude!" Lily said to the boy, "You are such a stingy person!"

Maybe it was because Lily was pretty, so the boy snorted and ignored him. They followed Pringle, slipping and stumbling all the way down a steep path, passing through a dense forest, and turned around.

After turning a corner, everyone couldn't help but exclaimed. At the end of the path was a large dark lake. On the hillside on the other side of the lake stood a majestic castle. There were many spiers on the castle, and there was an orange light behind each window. The castle

The reflection of the light on the calm lake looked beautiful. Pomona had never seen such a magnificent building in her entire life, so she couldn't help but marvel like everyone else.

"Everyone aboard, no more than four people in each boat." Pringle pointed to a row of boats on the shore, so Pomona, Lily, Snape, and a boy who came from nowhere took a boat together.

But after getting on the boat, Pomona searched for a long time and still couldn't find the oar.

After everyone sat down, Pringle took a boat alone, and then all the boats started to move on their own. They cut across the lake silently, shattering the fleeting lights on it, and slowly sailed towards the towering clouds.

huge castle.

"Lower your head!" Pringle shouted loudly as he passed an ivy curtain. Everyone lowered their heads and avoided the rocks hidden behind the vines. They came to a hidden entrance and walked along a dark road.

The tunnel went underground into the castle, and finally came to a place similar to an underground dock. At the end of a set of gravel-paved steps, a witch in an emerald green robe stood in front of the gate waiting for them.

"Get off the boat, one by one, don't fall into the water." After docking, Pringle took the lead on the shore, but had no intention of helping.

Snape jumped to the shore first, and then helped Lily to the shore. Pomona originally wanted to do it by herself, but she didn't expect that the boat was shaking so much, and the boy behind her couldn't stand firmly. She felt like she was about to fall.

Gone to the lake.

"Take my hand," Snape said impatiently, and Pomona grabbed him like a life-saving straw.

His hands were not as cold as she thought, but they could not be called warm. After Pomona came ashore, he ignored the boy. In the end, Pomona looked at him with pity and reached out to give him a hand.

"Thank you." The little man said humbly. He had a protruding tooth that looked like some kind of rodent.

"The first-year freshmen are here, Professor McGonagall." After everyone came ashore, Pringle led the freshmen up the stone steps. At this time, Pomona could see more clearly. To be honest, this Professor McGonagall

She would be really beautiful if she wasn't so serious.

"Thank you Mr. Pringle." Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and said loudly, "Welcome to Hogwarts. I am McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor. I will be here for the next seven years."

Your main time will be spent in the castle behind me. You must abide by the following two rules. Students are absolutely prohibited from entering the Black Forest. It is forbidden to wander outside the common room after lights out. Please line up in two lines.

When you enter the hall later, I will call whoever's name and step forward to get out of the queue. Then I will put the sorting hat on you. The sorting hat will tell you which house you belong to. Are there any questions?"

A boy with black hair raised his hand.

"Please tell me, sir."

"I heard that a Muggle girl died in the girls' dressing room a few years ago, and it was a student of our school who did it. Is it true? Professor McGonagall."

Lily's whole body tensed up.

"It's true that someone died, but the murderer was not a student of our school, but some kind of magical creature that sneaked into the school. As I said, the four founders set a protective spell on Hogwarts. As long as

If you don’t leave the dormitory and lounge at night, you don’t have to worry about your own safety. Are there any other problems?”

The boy raised his hand again.

"What's your name?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"James Potter."

Snape snorted coldly, seeming to sneer at the name.

"What is your question?"

"If I am unfortunately sorted into Slytherin by the Sorting Hat, can I drop out of school?"

"Everyone, line up in two lines!" Professor McGonagall did not answer his question. After a period of chaos, the freshmen finally lined up. Then Professor McGonagall turned around, knocked on the door with his wand, and opened the double doors.

After making a heavy sound, it was slowly opened. After passing through a long corridor, they came to the hall. The voices of hundreds of people could be heard behind the closed door.

"We will hold the opening party in this hall later. The house is like your home in Hogwarts. You have to study with other students. The names of these four houses are Gryffindor, Huff

Puff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, each house has its own glory. Your outstanding performance during your studies in school will add points to the school you are in, while violations will deduct points. The one with the highest score at the end of the year

You will receive the College Cup, which is the highest honor. I hope that no matter which college you are assigned to, you can bring glory to the college. In a few minutes, the sorting ceremony will begin in the hall behind me. Whoever I call will step forward. I

I suggest you sort yourself out."

Immediately some little wizards were uneasy to adjust their clothes, but some others took advantage of this moment to whisper to each other.

"I bet this is her first time leading a group." James Potter said with a playful smile to the boy who said Pomona was a snot-nosed boy.

"Lily, don't worry, we will all be sorted into Ravenclaw." Snape comforted Lily Evans, and Lily reluctantly smiled at him.

"Are you all ready?" Professor McGonagall asked. Seeing no one said anything, she opened the door to the hall, and then there was a burst of applause in the hall.

No words can describe the magical sight Pomona saw. The ancient stone wall hall was very spacious, with four long tables arranged in a row. At the end of each long table hung the flags of the four colleges. They hung from the ceiling.

It is dragged all the way to the ground and looks extremely luxurious.

There are hundreds of candles suspended in the air, with a vast starry sky above them. In front is a marble staircase, and a long table is arranged in a row. All the teachers are sitting behind the long table, and the leader is a man wearing a half-moon.

The old man with glasses, who often appears in the pictures of Chocolate Babies, is the wizard who defeated Grindelwald, Albus Dumbledore.

They walked forward with Professor McGonagall, passing by the long tables on both sides. Pomona unconsciously looked at the Slytherin table, and finally saw Bella Black, who was glaring at them fiercely.

At the same time, she was so frightened that she did not dare to raise her head.

There are only a thousand people in the entire Hogwarts, which is the total number of wizards in the entire UK. Soon they stood in front of a high platform with a chair on it and a dirty, old and ugly hat on it.

It looks very out of place on the velvet cushion.

"Now, two rows in a row." Professor McGonagall said, and then fell silent. After another commotion, the two rows lined up again. Pomona was behind Snape, and his

In front is Lily.

When everyone stood up, the hall became silent again, and then the patched hat actually started to sing.

"You may not think I'm good-looking, but you can't judge a book by its appearance. If you can find someone smarter than me, I'll eat myself."

It sang in a nonsensical way, and the students in other colleges looked bored. Pomona was also distracted. In her panic, she accidentally glanced at Pete. He waved towards her and then mouthed, "

come on".

Hufflepuff had the largest number of people, and Pomona wasn't worried about her at all. She just felt a little pity for Severus Snape. He probably wouldn't be able to enter Ravenclaw as he wished.

Professor McGonagall took out a piece of parchment and began to read names. The queue began to become shorter and shorter. Pomona also met many people. Among them, the boy who called her Snotlout was Sirius Black, who was the head of the branch.

When the hat sorted him into Gryffindor, Bella Black pulled out her wand on the spot. If Professor Slughorn, the head of Slytherin, had not stopped her, Pomona had no doubt that she would ask Sirius

Casts a Rawada Kedavra.

"Pomona Martin."

Although she was ranked behind Snape, Pomona's initials were in front of Snape and Evans, so she scored Hufflepuff as expected.

"Where is the fat monk?" she asked a senior student after sitting down.

"It's right there, next to Dumbledore." The senior pointed at a ghost with pearly whites and said, "He is trying to persuade the principal to invite Peeves to the party again."

Pomona looked at Dumbledore, wondering if it was her imagination. She always felt that they were looking in her direction, but she didn't pay too much attention because soon Professor McGonagall began to read Lily's name.

The red-haired girl took a deep breath and quickly sat on the chair. As soon as Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on her head, she shouted "Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindor table immediately began to rejoice, in contrast to Snape's undisguised disappointment.

"Severus Snape!"

Soon Professor McGonagall called his name, the Sorting Hat stayed on his head for a while, and finally shouted "Slytherin!"

Pomona was almost certain that she heard Snape's heartbroken voice. Sure enough, he was not sorted into Ravenclaw, and was also sorted into Slytherin, a house that was hostile to Gryffindor.

When the last student was sorted into Hufflepuff, Professor McGonagall rolled up the parchment and took the Sorting Hat away. Dumbledore urgently knocked on the crystal cup and stood up slowly.

Just when Pomona thought he was going to make a long speech, he only said, "Welcome to Hogwarts. What I want to say before the party starts is, brooms, cakes, crying noses, thank you all." Then he sat down.

When we got down, everyone started to applaud enthusiastically, and then suddenly a lot of delicious food appeared on the empty long table, which seemed to mark the beginning of the banquet.

Pomona couldn't help but look at Gryffindor and Slytherin. Lily Evans looked a little nervous, but was still communicating with others normally, while Snape was immersed in eating the food on his plate.

No one can see his expression.

You need a life of your own, Pomona.

She thought to herself, picked up the knife and fork and put a piece of steak on her plate. It was so tasteless that she put it in her mouth to chew. If the house elves at Hogwarts knew what she was thinking, they would definitely cry.
Chapter completed!