Hearing another scream from ahead, Maka stood on tiptoes and looked ahead.
I saw about twenty pearl-white, translucent humanoid shadows suddenly appeared on one side of the wall. Maka took a closer look and realized that they were probably a group of ghosts.
They were talking to each other, and as they glided lightly over the room, Maka vaguely heard the word "Peeves."
"...I said, what are you doing here?" A ghost wearing a wheel-shaped ruffled tights seemed to have just discovered the first-year students below.
"New students!" Another chubby monk smiled at them and said, "I think you are probably preparing to take the test?"
Some students nodded silently, but no one spoke.
"I hope you can be sorted into Hufflepuff!" the monk said, "I used to study in that house."
"Move forward now," said a high-pitched voice next to the monk, "the sorting ceremony will begin soon."
Professor McGonagall was back, and the ghosts floated through the opposite wall one by one, disappearing one by one from everyone's eyes.
"Now, stand in single file," Professor McGonagall said to the first years, "and follow me."
Maka lined up at the back of the queue, and after a while, she followed the students in front of her and left the room - there was no way, who asked him to be at the back in the first place
This is the dining room of Hogwarts. Students from other grades are sitting around four long tables. Thousands of candles float above the tables, lighting up the entire dining room.
There were gleaming gold plates and goblets on the four tables. The seniors looked at them, the new students, and whispered about which ones would go to their college and which ones might not.
There is another long table on the table at the top of the restaurant, which is where the teachers sit. Professor McGonagall led them there and asked them to line up in a row facing all the senior students, while the teachers stood quietly behind them.
The candlelight in mid-air danced and flickered slightly, making the faces of the seniors pale. The ghosts they had just seen were also mixed with a faint silver light among them. Everyone focused their attention here. .
Maka stared boredly at the enchanted ceiling above his head. The pitch-black background was dotted with countless twinkling stars, which seemed illusory and real in the faint magic smoke - he even found a few on it. A relatively familiar constellation.
"There was magic there, and it looks like the sky outside. I read about it in "Hogwarts: A History of the School."" Maka vaguely heard a slight voice coming from not far away, which sounded like It's Hermione.
Professor Ge gently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first-year students. Maka looked away from the ceiling and fell in front of her eyes. He saw Professor McGonagall put another pointed wizard hat on the stool. The hat was patched, worn, and extremely dirty. To be honest, he felt uncomfortable just thinking about putting this hat on his head later.
Seeing that the sorting hat was put down, the faint voices in the restaurant immediately became silent. They all knew that the main event was coming.
Sure enough, the hat twisted a few times, a crease opened and closed like a mouth, and it began to sing.
"You may not think I'm beautiful, but don't judge a book by its appearance. If you can find a more beautiful hat than me, I can eat myself."
Hearing this, the corners of Maka's mouth twitched.
"You can make your bowler hat black and shiny, and your top silk hat smooth and crisp. I am the magic hat used for testing at Hogwarts, so naturally I am more high-end than your hat..."
The Sorting Hat kept singing in an unpleasant tune, but Maka had already turned her attention to the ceiling again, which was much more interesting.
It wasn't until everyone started clapping that Maka came back to her senses and clapped a few times. Several familiar freshmen were already discussing with the classmates around her.
"Maybe I can go to Gryffindor," a little boy with long black hair next to Maka lowered his voice and said to him, "My father said that I have always been courageous. When I was a child, I swallowed a whole A Flobber caterpillar!"
"Is your name Bear Grylls?" Maka swallowed hard after hearing this.
"Who is that? My last name is Kona, Michael Kona, you can call me Mike." The little boy Michael tilted his head.
While they were chatting, they saw Professor McGonagall taking two steps forward and gently unfolding a roll of parchment in her hand.
"Whoever's name I call now will put on his hat, sit on the stool, and wait for the sorting." She said, "Hannah Abbott!"
A little girl with red cheeks and two golden braids stumbled out of the queue and put on the sorting hat. The hat was obviously too big for her, and it suddenly covered her eyes.
Maka looked at this reckless little girl and found it really interesting.
She sat down, and soon she heard the Sorting Hat drawl, "Hufflepuff!"
The people at the table on the right applauded Hannah and welcomed her to their table, and the ghost of the fat monk at the long table waved happily to her.
"Susan Burns."
"Hufflepuff!" Hat shouted again, changing his tune. Susan quickly ran over to Hannah and sat down.
The sorting continued, and the hat skillfully changed into one strange accent after another, as if every semester he was thinking about these boring things to pass the time.
Not surprisingly, the three Harrys were assigned to Gryffindor House, which represents courage and courage; Anthony and Lisa, whom they met on the train, were assigned to Ravenclaw, and of course Ernie was assigned to Ravenclaw. Hufflepuff.
Michael, who ate the Flobber caterpillar alive next to Maka, did not go to Gryffindor as he thought, but was also sorted into Ravenclaw House. It can be seen that he is actually a little unwilling.
"Maka McClain."
It was finally her turn. After hearing the words, Maka immediately stepped forward and picked up the Sorting Hat. After a moment of hesitation, she put it on her head as if resigned to her fate.
"Hmm... It looks like you're very reluctant?" the Sorting Hat twisted its body and said dissatisfiedly.
"Actually, I hope you can take a bath for yourself." Maka did not deny it. He estimated that this hat could roughly read his thoughts, so it was best to tell the truth.
"Well, I think so, but I can't crawl to the bathroom by myself, right?" The sorting hat twisted again, and the upright tip of the hat drooped in frustration, "But every principal can't think of such a thing, they too busy."
After complaining for a while, it regained its original vitality and started muttering to itself.
"Well -, ah - this is difficult, very difficult," said the Sorting Hat. "It stands to reason that you have to go to Ravenclaw, where the atmosphere can allow you to more fully absorb the essence of knowledge; but your cleverness and overall perspective Only in Slytherin can you get more thorough training..."
"Where are Gryffindor and Hufflepuff?" Maka asked curiously.
"Ah? Gryffindor! Do you think it's possible?" the Sorting Hat asked directly in a strange tone.
"Okay, actually I think so too..." Maka curled her lips and said helplessly.
At this time, the Sorting Hat suddenly turned around, rubbed the broad brim with the tip of the hat, and then said while thinking about it, "Well, Hufflepuff, yes, yes, yes, yes... you have to go. There, this should be the right choice.”
After that, without waiting for Maka to speak, it shouted at the top of its voice: "Hufflepuff!"
Maka put her hat back on the four-legged stool with a puzzled look on her face, walked towards the Hufflepuff table with doubts in her mind, and took her seat amidst the applause of the seniors.
"Welcome! Welcome everyone to Hogwarts to start the new school year! Before the banquet begins, I want to say a few words. That is - idiot! Cry! Residue! Screw it!" Maka stopped talking to someone after hearing the sound. A tall senior student was talking and looked up at Dumbledore who was talking, "Thank you everyone!"
After Dumbledore sat down again, everyone began to applaud.
"What do you mean?" Maka turned her head and asked the senior next to her.
"I don't know. Maybe the professor is just showing off his sense of humor." The senior shrugged, saying that he didn't understand either. "Just have fun and don't pay too much attention."
At this time, a large amount of food suddenly appeared on the empty gold plate on the long table. Roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, lamb chops, sausages, steaks, boiled potatoes, baked potatoes, potato chips, Yorkshire puddings, pea shoots, carrots, gravy, tomato paste soup, everything is dazzling.
"What is this?" Maka reached out and grabbed a plate, "Peppermint hard candy?"
"Professor Dumbledore likes this recently." The senior explained in a vague voice as he gnawed off the meat from the mutton chops. "He always shares his favorite sweets and drinks with everyone."
Maka shrugged after hearing this, and then pushed the plate with mints far away.
"Maka, aren't you hungry?" Not far away, Ernie watched curiously as Maka put the roast beef into her mouth in small bites and couldn't help but ask.
"Oh, actually I didn't eat a lot." Maka smiled. It was obvious that while ensuring that the meal was not so ugly, he had bet his efficiency on speed.
"Look at Ernie, he's trying to maintain his grace!" A senior student who looked a little careless joked about Maka with a smile.
"Aha! Senior sister saw through it," Maka was not annoyed at all. Instead, she joked, "Otherwise, how could I get senior sister to talk to me? I mean, a beauty as beautiful as senior sister .”
The senior didn't expect that she would be teased by Maka. She was caught off guard and her cheeks turned red, but she still said bravely: "Oh, that's not bad. I've booked you, my little boyfriend, senior!"
"Hey! Charlotte, you are finally ready to get married!" Another girl next to her teased her with a smile. She seemed to be her good friend.
Amidst the cheers from the students around her, Charlotte could no longer resist. She quickly lowered her head and took a piece of baked potato from her plate and put it into her mouth. Her pretty face became even redder.