Chapter 17: The Sorting Hat

A few minutes later, more and more ghosts began to appear in this small room. They were tall, short, fat, and thin, and they came in all shapes and sizes, which really gave the new students a surprise.

The little wizards were really scared at first, but they soon discovered that these ghosts were not scary, but were very friendly and would greet everyone enthusiastically.

In order to relieve their nervousness, a ghost even performed special tricks for them, such as holding their heads with both hands, a small talent exclusive to ghosts.

"Cool..."

Looking at the head flying up and down, someone couldn't help but exclaim.

"Thank you for the compliment, but I have something even cooler."

The ghost seemed to be interested as well. After he finished speaking, he immediately threw his head out, followed by a gorgeous front somersault, then spun three and a half times in the air, and finally landed on the ground and stretched out his hand, catching his head steadily.

The movements were smooth, the postures were elegant, and every landing point was precise.

Unsurprisingly, this set of actions won immediate applause from everyone, including Kyle.

This kind of talent was rarely seen.

Wonderful, indeed wonderful.

"Thank you, thank you all." The ghost circled the crowd, bowed slightly to everyone, and said proudly: "Oh, did I forget to mention that I joined the Headless Hunters Club because of this set of moves? Of course, I'm not showing off, I mean you all have great taste."

After that, the place became completely heated.

The little wizards all gathered around and cheered for him to do another one.

The ghost was not stingy either. Although he did not perform the difficult moves like before, his continuous little tricks still made everyone laugh.

"Ha."

But at this moment, a sinister sneer suddenly came from the side: "What's there to be proud of?"

Everyone turned their heads and looked over subconsciously, only to realize that the speaker was also a ghost.

"I'm sorry, Sir Nicholas Porpington." The headless ghost also recognized this colleague wearing a wheel-shaped ruff collar, and said quickly: "I just want to make the children happy, and have no other intentions."

"That better be the case."

"Of course, and I sincerely hope that Sir can join the Headless Hunters Club this year."

Nearly headless Nick glanced at the other party expressionlessly, then walked away through the wall.

Interrupted by him, the headless ghost stopped performing. He shrugged and said, "Okay everyone, you should also be starting the sorting ceremony. Get ready now. See you later." After that, he passed through the walls and went to the great hall.

Although everyone felt it was a pity, they had no choice but to watch the headless ghost leave.

However, the atmosphere in the room did not drop much.

After watching the ghost show, everyone was very happy and looked forward to the sorting ceremony.

...Except Kanna.

She was the only person in the room who wasn't paying attention to the ghost's performance just now.

Until Professor McGonagall came back, the little girl was cowering in the corner, her entire body had almost turned gray and was exuding an aura of despair.

Unfortunately, Professor McGonagall didn't notice this.

"I just left for a while, and you are already in such a mess!"

She pursed her lips, looked at the group of freshmen below with a serious face, and said: "The entire great hall can hear your laughter. Is it that funny, or do you think the sorting is a very funny thing?"

Professor McGonagall's voice was not loud, but everyone remained silent, lowering their heads, not even daring to breathe.

This went on for more than a minute before Professor McGonagall continued: "Remember, the sorting ceremony is a very serious matter. Please keep quiet. Now, line up in a single row and follow me."

As soon as the words fell, everyone began to move, lining up in less than a minute, and followed closely behind Professor McGonagall.

Kanna was among them, being pulled by Kyle, and moving forward like a zombie.

...

They walked out of the room, through the foyer, passed through double doors, and finally entered the luxurious great hall.

Compared with the main hall, the great hall was more magnificent.

The entire great hall was jaw-droppingly big, and even though there were four long tables filled with students, it didn't feel crowded at all.

Luxurious gold plates and goblets were placed on the table, and thousands of candles floating in the air illuminated the place.

Further up, the velvet-black ceiling was dotted with stars, and clouds were surging, making those who looked at it dumbfounded.

Someone whispered to his companions: "The ceiling has been enchanted with magic to look like the sky outside. I read about it in "Hogwarts: A History."

Kyle looked in the direction of the voice and lost interest when he realized it was a boy who was talking.

What a pity. If he had enrolled in school a year later, he would have become good friends with Hermione.

Everyone reached the front of the great hall before stopping.

Further up was the teacher's table.

Dumbledore, wearing a purple robe, sat in the middle, with his silver-white hair and beard neatly trimmed. At this time, he was wearing his iconic half-moon glasses and looking at each new student gently.

Sitting next to him was the four deans.

The dean of Slytherin with shiny hair, Severus Snape.

The short dean of Ravenclaw, Filius Flitwick.

Pomona Sprout, the kind-looking dean of Hufflepuff.

As for Professor McGonagall, the dean of Gryffindor, her position was temporarily vacant because she had to preside over the sorting ceremony.

Including them, there were about twenty professors who came to attend the opening banquet today. However, Kyle could only recognize less than ten of them without guessing as for the rest, he had no impression at all.

But this was normal. Hogwarts was so big, and if there were only a few professors as in his memory, it would not be enough no matter how he thought about it.

Moreover, half of the professors he knew were fired every year, and this reduction would make them even less.

...

Kyle looked away.

At this time, Professor McGonagall happened to put a square stool in front of the freshmen and then placed a patched, brown pointed wizard hat on the stool.

Well, it can be considered brown.

Because the hat was so dirty, even though Professor McGonagall's movements were very gentle, a lot of dust was still stirred up the moment it fell.

Also, under the candlelight, there was a reflection on the hat. Obviously, it was covered with grease and it was basically impossible to see its original color under such circumstances.

Kyle dared to guarantee that if this hat was not the sorting hat and appeared in his home, either he or Chris would definitely die.

Maybe both of them would be beaten to death by Diana.

(End of chapter)