Chapter 404 "The New Students Sorting Ceremonies"

The hall was quiet for a while before applause broke out, but the whispers of the students could not be stopped, and several students were whispering everywhere. Sean also applauded. Hermione and Daisy beside him had weird expressions on their faces.

"The Sorting Hat is acting weird now?"

"Because the start time of school is wrong this time, plus the time incident was not long ago."

"Probably, it hasn't been normal recently."

Sean could hear voices of other students talking at the table, and Hermione was also frowning and muttering in a low voice, "In this year..."

Sean shook his head and laughed lowly, "In previous years, even if the Sorting Hat had new songs, this was not the case. The focus of the songs was still on the descriptions of the four founders and the quality and requirements of the four houses. It is indeed different."

Daisy also interjected, "Is the Sorting Hat warning us? This doesn't seem to be what a hat should do."

Hermione replied, "The Sorting Hat is a part of Hogwarts, while the current situation is indeed bad, and it is understandable to warn them. Don't forget, it comes from Godric Gryffindor and the magic of the other three founders."

"He even stayed in Hogwarts. Natural for the hat to stay like this for hundreds of years." Sean added.

"The most important thing is that it is still in the principal's office." A faint voice came from the side.

Sean turned his head, and it was Helena, the ghost of Ravenclaw, "Oh, good evening, ma'am. I haven't seen you for a long time."

A smile appeared on Helena's face, "Sean, thank you for that photo."

"You're welcome. By the way, has the Sorting Hat ever created a new song like this before?" Sean asked.

Helena recalled, "I don't pay much attention to these, but I know that if Hogwarts is in danger, the Sorting Hat will indeed warn them of something. My mother once told me that the Sorting Hat somehow can be regarded as a part of the Hogwarts consciousness. This is not the magic bestowed by the four founders, but the magical characteristics created by the Sorting Hat itself."

To a certain extent, the Sorting Hat can be regarded as a part of Hogwarts' consciousness. Sean rested his chin and pondered this sentence.

Professor McGonagall coughed lightly while holding a thick stack of parchment and stood beside the Sorting Hat. The rustling voice in the hall suddenly calmed down.

"As the sorting begins. The new students whose names I read will walk forward and put the Sorting Hat on their head."

"Campbell Axton."

A black and skinny boy stumbled, ran up, and put his hat on.

"Ravenclaw!" The Sorting Hat didn't take long to call out the house's name.

Campbell breathed a sigh of relief and ran towards Ravenclaw's table. Sean and the other students applauded enthusiastically. During the period, Campbell nodded gratefully to Sean. The kid was so nervous when he was teleported by the Portkey before, so Sean comforted him with a few words.

Daisy glanced at the new students and whispered, "There are so many people, much more than my year."

"There are a total of 246 new students, to be exact." Sean explained.

"Wow, that's nearly a hundred more than our year." Daisy exclaimed.

Hermione said while looking around, "However, it seems that many of the new students are from other countries. Look at those two; they are speaking English, right? But judging by the way they speak, are they French?"

Sean looked over and nodded after hearing the words, "It is indeed French. Although they are not the same, they are twins."

Hermione turned her head and looked at Sean suspiciously, "What happened?"

Sean shrugged, "We snatched some students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang."

"Huh?"

At this time, in a manor in the Pyrenees. Madame Maxime was frowning in the principal's office, listening to the person in front of her.

"... that's pretty much the situation, ma'am."

"Most of the students from Muggle families were snatched away by Hogwarts..." Madam Maxime closed her eyes, "I knew that I shouldn't do such small tricks in front of Dumbledore."

"Madam, should we communicate with Hogwarts?"

"Communicate what? To exchange the students from both sides? Do you treat the children as items that can be traded?" Madam Maxime's voice was filled with displeasure, "Just pretend that no students were missed this year. Prepare for the dinner party."

"Yes, ma'am."

The same situation also happened in Durmstrang, except that Igor Karkarov was not as calm as Madam Maxime.

He lost his temper in the office and asked the subordinate in front of him angrily, "How could Hogwarts know that we don't have any recruits in the local area?! Didn't the news over there say that Dumbledore isn't even in school?! Can he see everything?!"

The subordinate's lips were silenced, and he dared not speak.

"Durmstrang has already all of those efforts to recruit those Mudbloods!" Karkaroff smashed a vase, his chest heaving violently, "You tell me that this year's students are not even fifty?!"

"Are you turning to make Durmstrang into a preschool?!"

"Are there as many people in our school as there are in one grade in Hogwarts?!"

Faced with Karkaroff's anger, the subordinate had no choice but to lower his head. He wanted to say that this was none of his business. Durmstrang has been in decline for a long time. Even though they recruited new students born in Muggle families this year, the number of students they got isn't the same.

The main reason is that Nurmengard's robbing of students is too ruthless. Even in Germany, many famous pure-blood families no longer choose Durmstrang. Of course, he could only think about these words in his heart.

After driving his subordinates away, Karkaroff stared gloomily out of the window, "Dumbledore...you sly fox..."

It never occurred to the two headmasters that the plan to steal the students didn't even come from Dumbledore. Of course, if they knew, they might be even angrier.

----

At Hogwarts.

In the hall, the speed of the new students' line shortened much slower than before, and waiting for the new students to be assigned to their houses today took a lot of time. Many students' stomachs were already rumbling.

Daisy glanced at the table and the new students for a while. She secretly lowered her head under the table and quickly stuffed a piece of candy into her mouth.

Hermione looked blankly at Sean, "She eats too much candy, and you keep bringing candy to her!"

Sean persuaded with a smile, "It's not a big problem. We've waited too long tonight, so we need to replenish some energy first somehow."

Daisy poked her head out from under the table, "Do you want some too?"

"Just your candy yourselves." Hermione tapped her on the head.

Just when everyone was starving, the last student finally put on the Sorting Hat. The Sorting Hat yelled out as soon as it touched the girl's head.

"Gryffindor!" The Gryffindors erupted with much warmer applause and cheers than before, and even students from other houses applauded.

The girl named Freya Zilmer was frightened and was finally brought to the table of Gryffindor by Fred and George. Everyone immediately looked helplessly at Dumbledore, who had been smiling and watching all this.

Dumbledore did not disappoint everyone; he stood up and said, "We welcome this new student in the school, but more words should be left behind. Let's enjoy the food first!"

The night's loudest applause resounded in the hall and was immediately replaced by the sound of knives, forks, cups, and plates clashing.

"There are so many dishes today." Hermione happily took a French foie gras.

"There will be as many in the future, and that's good news." Sean laughed.

Since there have been no wizarding wars in the past hundred years and no psychopathic individuals killing people everywhere, the population has grown considerably.

Although Nurmengard is still competing for the number of students, the number of students at Hogwarts is still increasing year by year. This year's new students arrived half a year late, there were a huge number of them, which made the whole hall even more lively.

The dinner was noisier than before. It lasted for a long time, and the noise in the hall subsided a little after everyone was full.

Dumbledore stood up from his chair, "As the dinner is finishing. I must say something while you are completely full of energy in your stomach, or I'm afraid you will forget it when you get up tomorrow."

"Although I shouldn't use the word new semester, I still have to talk about the things for the new semester," Dumbledore smiled, "New students should know that the Forbidden Forest is not for students to enter. Although we are currently suspending all outdoor classes, I still have to remind you, including some of the old students."

"There are still some dementors stationed on the border of Hogwarts," Dumbledore's voice became serious, "Although you will not have the chance to meet them under normal circumstances, I remind you not to mess with those creatures. Our prefects and the student council will watch you all about this."

Sean saw Percy's chest rise.

"Mr. Filch asked me, and he told me it was the four hundred and fourth time to remind everyone not to cast spells in the corridors between classes. There will be more rules, but it will be posted on the bulletin board later."

Dumbledore glanced around at everyone and smiled, "Let's hear some good news to change our situation. Considering everyone's entertainment needs, several professors are teaming up to create an indoor Quidditch in the castle later."

Before he finished, enthusiastic cheers erupted from the four houses, and many students even jumped up excitedly.

"Quiet, please. It must be said that the indoor Quidditch pitch is certainly not as spacious as the outdoor one, but it should be enough for a less wild Quidditch match. The captains can start the Quidditch selection, and you should be able to use the new pitch shortly."

"Before singing our school song, I have something for everyone. While the future has not yet arrived, let us travel together on the long road."

There was warm applause in the hall. When the school song was over, all the students started walking towards the dormitory, and everyone was drowsy because of the food.

The new students lined up awkwardly under the command of the prefects, and they were also tired. By the time Sean returned to his dorm and sank into his bed, his eyelids were already twitching.

He has been maintaining a tense and busy state recently. He is almost used to it. But he doesn't know why. Although today's workload is not heavy, Sean just feels that he is extremely sleepy. But this tiredness and sleepiness do not come from work or emotions but more like a feeling of relaxation.

The moment his eyes were about to close, Sean remembered the last words of the Sorting Hat and Dumbledore.

There are so many hidden meanings. Sean thought in a daze. After that, he fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, Sean, who had slept deeply all night, got up and went to the staff lounge. He's now a member of the Hogwarts faculty, too. Yesterday, Professor McGonagall told herself that she was going to hand over the first Transfiguration class to Sean for new students.

Sean couldn't say no about this and finally agreed. While he was preparing the lesson plans, there was a sudden noise outside the door.

Two people opened the door and walked in.

"I'm here to work, not to fight with you, Ms. Hawke. Please pay attention to your words."

"Sterling, just because you thought that you work with me, I will not look up to you with good views. This is Hogwarts, not Nurmengard."

Two young people, a man and a woman, appeared in front of him. Sean's face became weird.

How did these two enemies get together here?