Chapter 76: Loony

Arthur noticed that Astoria was not comfortable in this situation, so he waved at her.

"Astoria, come over here," Arthur called out.

Astoria breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Arthur call her name. She got away from the other girls and hid behind Arthur.

At that moment, the door opened, and Professor Flitwick approached, asking Arthur about the situation.

"Arthur, how are things here? The Sorting Ceremony will start soon," Professor Flitwick asked.

Professor McGonagall encountered Professor Flitwick on the way and was concerned that Arthur might have trouble managing the young wizards, so she asked Professor Flitwick to come and help.

But seeing that the group of new students was behaving well, Professor Flitwick felt reassured.

"Everything is fine, Professor. Is the Sorting Ceremony about to begin?" Arthur replied and asked when the Sorting would take place.

He was starting to feel annoyed and upset by the young wizards' noise.

Professor Flitwick shook his head, saying that they still had some time.

Seeing that Arthur was handling the new students well, he entrusted everything to him and left.

After all, Professor Flitwick's height was not suitable for assisting the young wizards with the Sorting Hat, so having Arthur's help was a good thing.

Seeing the head of his own house show up and then sneak away, Arthur couldn't help but twitch his lips.

"You have many Nargles around you," a soft voice sounded, and Arthur looked over to see a young witch with lazy eyes looking around his surroundings, murmuring to herself.

This girl had a pair of rare silver eyes, with messy dark blonde hair falling loosely behind, and some of it braided.

She wore a pair of radish-shaped earrings on her ears and a necklace made of butterbeer corks around her neck. The whole figure had a slightly weird beauty.

"What are you talking about? What are Nargles?" Arthur was a bit confused, as he had never heard of this magical creature before.

"Can't you see them? Well, many people don't believe in their existence, so they can't see the Nargles,"

She said, her expression somewhat thoughtful, her softly murmuring giving Arthur a fake feeling as she continued.

"Nargles float into people's ears and confuse their brains, causing trouble."

Arthur found it a bit puzzling, but this young witch seemed familiar to him, probably a character from the original story.

Interested, Arthur asked.

"What's your name?"

"Luna, Luna Lovegood,"

Arthur suddenly realized. Indeed, this girl's popularity in the original world was no less than Hermione's.

With her soft character, thin appearance, and unique charm, it was no wonder that a group of fans in the past would always announce her as their wife in the comment section.

"Heh," Arthur chuckled, understanding her comments now.

It wasn't a big surprise since this girl had always been a little weird. Later, some people at school even called her the "Loony" girl.

"Well, can you help me get rid of these Nargles?" Arthur asked in response, wanting to see how this young witch would react.

Astoria, who was hiding behind him, couldn't hold back her annoyance.

Although she didn't know why, she didn't appreciate this girl approaching Arthur, whom she didn't even know, and bringing up Nargles, a creature she had never heard of, just to get Arthur's attention.

"There is no such creature that exists at all. Newt Scamander's 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' doesn't mention anything about Nargles,"

Astoria retorted, but Luna didn't react to her response. She quietly pondered as if trying to find a way to keep away the Nargles.

This made Astoria even more unhappy.

After a moment, Luna shook her head. "I'm sorry, I can't do it."

Before Astoria could say anything else, Arthur interrupted, "Well, then we have no choice. We'll have to let the Nargles leave on their own."

"All right, gentlemen and ladies! Line up, we're getting ready to attend the Sorting Ceremony!" Arthur shouted out.

Seeing Professor Flitwick wave at him from the door, Arthur stopped the conversation and led the young wizards into the Great Hall.

As Arthur entered the Great Hall with a group of young wizards, all eyes were suddenly on them.

No one had expected that it would be Arthur, a second-year student, leading the newcomers in the Sorting Ceremony instead of Professor McGonagall.

The sound of discussions filled the room.

Arthur glanced at the professors' table and noticed that neither Dumbledore nor Professor McGonagall were in their seats.

Even Professor Snape was missing. The professors' table seemed somewhat empty.

...

After the Sorting Hat finished its yearly lousy song, the Sorting Ceremony began. Arthur called out the names of the young wizards one by one, performing the Sorting Ceremony for them.

On the stage, Gilderoy Lockhart watched Arthur with envy.

Why hadn't he thought of this way to steal the stage?

...

Turning his head to look at Professor Flitwick, Gilderoy asked who the young wizard was.

Then Professor Flitwick replied, "This is Mr. Arthur Gaunt, the most talented student Hogwarts has seen in fifty years. He is the pride of Ravenclaw."

Hearing that Professor Flitwick held a high opinion of a second-year student, Gilderoy couldn't help but look at Arthur and make a mental note of his name.

Perhaps in the future, he could get this young wizard to share his adventurous experiences.

Midway through the Sorting Ceremony, Arthurus saw the entrance doors open, and Harry and Ron sneaked in, looking dirty and messy.

But Arthur had no time to pay attention to them. He glanced at them briefly and continued with the Sorting for the next young wizard.

Finally, after successfully sorting the last young wizard into Hufflepuff, Arthur completed his task and returned to the Ravenclaw table.

The Ravenclaw students beside him greeted him and asked why Arthur led today's Sorting Ceremony.

Arthur shrugged off the questions and didn't answer them directly. He was looking forward to tonight's meal.

Cho tugged at his sleeve and whispered, "Potter and Weasley won't be expelled, right?"

"Don't worry, Headmaster Dumbledore won't allow that to happen," Arthur replied confidently.

At that moment, Professor Snape entered through a side door.

...

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