34 Chapter 34: It is Said that Tall Boys are Popular with Girls
Bell looked at the hat in front of him, which even a beggar might not want to wear. He gritted his teeth and put it on his head, while simultaneously employing his Occlumency.
As soon as Bell's hair touched the Sorting Hat, it shouted out, "Ravenclaw!"
Breathing a sigh of relief, Bell placed the Sorting Hat back on the chair and headed towards the Ravenclaw table.
After exchanging greetings with a few older students, Bell sat quietly at his place, waiting for dinner. It's worth noting that Hermione still went to Gryffindor, indicating that Bell's skills in avoiding questions were still subpar.
Bell felt helpless about this. After all, his younger sister was so obedient that whatever his brother said was always right. He never had the chance to practice avoiding questions.
...
After the Sorting ceremony, Professor Dumbledore stood up, cast a Sonorus charm on himself, and began to speak.
"Welcome everyone to another school year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our feast, I'd like to say a few words. That is: Fool! Crybaby! Dregs! Twister!"
"Thank you!"
After Dumbledore finished his unconventional speech, dinner finally began.
Bell was already hungry. He had been using magic to aid his body in digesting and absorbing food since many years ago, promoting his physical evolution.
Today, this behavior had become instinctive, requiring no deliberate effort.
Although he had eaten a lot for lunch, even more than Hermione and Neville combined, he now felt hungry again.
Dinner was sumptuous, whether it was because it was the start-of-term feast or because it was like this every day.
The table was filled with steaks, fried chicken, chips, and other delicacies. The taste was decent, but it paled in comparison to the Chinese cuisine made by Bell's house-elves.
However, Bell was truly grateful to the house-elves for providing decent food in Britain.
The atmosphere at the table was lively. Although not as rowdy as the Gryffindor table, everyone was happily chatting while eating.
Once again, Bell felt that his decision to join Ravenclaw was correct. He disliked noisy environments, and if he had been in Gryffindor, he would probably have wanted to flip the table by now. After all, those little lions were so excited about the arrival of "the chosen one," Harry Potter.
The atmosphere in Ravenclaw was barely within Bell's tolerance range.
Watching Bell devour the food on the table at a speed far exceeding that of others, the surrounding young wizards were stunned.
"Hi, I'm Michael Corner, but you can call me Michael. You can really eat," a young wizard sitting next to Bell exclaimed.
Swallowing the food in his mouth, Bell politely greeted, "Hello, I'm Bell Minashel, you can call me Bell. We're at the age of growing, so we need to eat more to grow taller."
Michael glanced at Bell, who was half a head taller than himself.
"So, is that the secret to your height?" he asked.
"Of course," Bell affirmed. "By the way, let me tell you a secret: tall boys are usually more popular with girls."
"!?"
The surrounding young wizards immediately followed Bell's example and started eating voraciously.
Soon, dinner was over, and the table was filled with desserts.
There were all kinds of ice cream, pudding, and pies. It's strange how British desserts were made so well; why couldn't they allocate some of that enthusiasm for desserts to the main course? It's truly inexplicable.
Finally, with free time to socialize, the first-year students introduced themselves to each other.
There was a total of eight new students in Ravenclaw this year, five boys and three girls. So, it was likely that the other four young wizards would be Bell's roommates.
"It's a pity. Why do you think Harry Potter wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw? After all, a wizard who can defeat a mysterious person must be very knowledgeable, even if he is younger." Morag MacDougal sighed.
Apparently, she was very unwilling to be sorted into a different house from Harry, but since she was now sitting at the Ravenclaw table, she believed that no one in their right mind would say, "Why wasn't I sorted into Gryffindor?"
"Maybe it's because Professor Dumbledore is from Gryffindor," Bell replied casually.
"What does that have to do with Professor Dumbledore?" Lisa Turpin asked curiously.
"Just a feeling. I heard a new student on the train say that they wanted to be sorted into Gryffindor because Professor Dumbledore was from Gryffindor," Bell answered.
Bell couldn't say that Dumbledore was manipulating things behind the scenes, could he? Besides, he really didn't know if Dumbledore had instructed the Sorting Hat before the Sorting ceremony.
The other new students nodded in agreement with Bell's words, apparently also having similar thoughts to Hermione.
After dinner, Professor Dumbledore stood up again and said, "Now that everyone has eaten their fill, let me remind you of a few things. First, entering the Forbidden Forest is prohibited; second, Mr. Filch, the caretaker, wants me to remind you that casting spells in the corridors between classes is prohibited; third, Quidditch player auditions will be held in the second week; finally, for those who don't want to encounter accidents and die a painful death, please stay away from the fourth-floor corridor on the right."
"Now, at the end of the feast, let's all sing the school song together!"
Dumbledore waved his wand, and golden ribbons flew out from the tip of his wand, twisting and turning in the air to form the lyrics of the school song.
Bell stood up with everyone else, looked at the lyrics in the air, and began to sing:
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts,
Give us everything you've got,
...
We will strive to learn until we turn to dust."
Perhaps it was because of the different cultural environment? Anyway, Bell couldn't help feeling that the lyrics were quite awkward. Moreover, everyone was singing their own tune, and the mixture of various tones was more powerful than the noise attack from the Sorting Hat. Looking at Dumbledore's excited and tearful expression, Bell really didn't know how to comment.
After singing the school song, the young wizards from each house returned to their respective common rooms under the guidance of the prefects. At the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room, the prefects explained to the new students how to enter.
"To enter the Ravenclaw common room, you must answer the question asked by the door knocker. Just like this, tap the door knocker lightly."
As the prefect spoke, he gently tapped the door knocker in the middle of the common room door.
The door knocker's mouth opened.
"In the forest there is a serpent, but it never bites people. Why is that?"
