When it was Neville's turn, he made a huge fool of himself—on his way to the Sorting Hat, Neville suddenly stumbled and tripped in front of the entire school.
Neville, who was already nervous to death, felt his embarrassment reach its peak; he quickly scrambled up, sat on the stool, and tremblingly put on the Sorting Hat.
The Sorting Hat remained silent on his head for quite a while before shouting "Gryffindor," and Neville ran off in a panic as if he had received a grand pardon.
A burst of laughter erupted in the Great Hall, and Neville's face turned beet red in an instant as he realized he seemed to have forgotten to put the hat back on the stool—he had to run back and awkwardly return the Sorting Hat under everyone's gaze.
Adelaide watched the Weasley Twins by the Gryffindor table with their long, miserable faces, mischievously thinking about blocking their door at Gryffindor Tower first thing tomorrow morning to get those thirty Galleons back, and incidentally taking Hermione along to familiarize her with the stairs in Hogwarts Castle, lest this Miss Overachiever collapse from being late to class due to getting lost.
Malfoy, Parkinson, and other descendants of pure-blood families were sorted into Slytherin one after another, which was within everyone's expectations and didn't cause much of a stir.
The Sorting Ceremony was halfway through when it was finally The Chosen One's turn to appear.
"Harry Potter!"
Everyone's eyes were fixed on the thin boy, and people were whispering and murmuring to each other.
"Is that the Harry Potter?"
"Merlin's false eyelashes! Am I going to school with The Chosen One?"
Harry took a deep breath and walked slowly toward the Sorting Hat, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it was about to jump out of his throat.
The moment he put on the hat, the entire Great Hall fell silent; everyone craned their necks, trying to see what this legendary figure actually looked like.
After a moment, the Sorting Hat shouted, "Gryffindor!"
The Weasley Twins stood up on the bench as if they were starting a revolution, their voices high and passionate as if they were going to burst through the roof: "We got Potter! We got Potter!"
This shout was like a fuse, instantly igniting the passion of the entire Gryffindor House; the ceiling of the Great Hall was nearly blown off by the ecstatic Gryffindors.
Harry tried his best to control his trembling legs and walked toward the Gryffindor table with a smile.
His arrival made the Gryffindor students even more enthusiastic; they stood up one after another to give Harry a warm welcome.
Harry Potter was a bit overwhelmed by this sudden enthusiasm; a shy smile appeared on his face, but he still politely extended his hand to every student who wanted to shake it.
Just as the chaotic situation was about to spiral out of control, Professor McGonagall's death stare flashed across the entire Gryffindor House like lightning, her lips twitching slightly as if she were constantly mouthing point deductions.
Wherever that gaze passed, the noise vanished instantly as if by magic.
The Gryffindors all sat rigidly in their seats like they had been hit by a Body-Bind Curse, not daring to make another sound.
With Ron also sorted into Gryffindor House and the last one, Blaise Zabini, sorted into Slytherin House, the Sorting Ceremony finally came to a close.
Professor McGonagall rolled up the parchment, picked up the Sorting Hat, and left the Great Hall.
Dumbledore stood up with a beaming smile, his eyes sparkling with joy as if he were very satisfied with the results of this sorting.
He spread his arms wide to welcome the students, his voice loud and hearty: "Welcome! Welcome everyone to Hogwarts to start the new school year! Before the feast begins, I would like to say a few words."
"Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"
"Thank you!"
Dumbledore sat down again; most students were confused by his last nonsensical remark, but that didn't stop them from cheering and applauding—how could any student not like a Principal whose start-of-term speech only took two minutes!
As the Principal's speech ended, a wide variety of food appeared on the five long tables, filling the entire table as if by Magic.
There was fragrant roast beef, whole roast chickens, steaming boiled potatoes, green pea shoots, golden Yorkshire pudding, and even some odd items—like potato chips and peppermint humbugs.
Although the food was laid out somewhat haphazardly, it gave a sense of abundance and festivity.
The students, who had been hungry all afternoon, couldn't wait to pick up their knives and forks and began to feast; for a while, the Great Hall was filled with the sounds of chewing and cheerful chatter.
Adelaide elegantly picked up her fork and scanned the plates in front of her, feeling a hint of helplessness in her heart.
During the summer break, Adelaide had grown accustomed to eating chinese food and hot pot; she really couldn't muster much interest in these mediocre British dishes.
Especially those boiled potatoes—could that really be considered a dish?
However, since she was already at the table, Adelaide politely tasted some of the food.
She found the roast beef tasted okay, just a bit dry; the roast chicken was plain but acceptable; as for the pea shoots and the niche Stargazy pie, she tried some out of curiosity—Adelaide could only say that one shouldn't be too curious.
Once the students had filled their bellies, the food scraps on the long tables vanished instantly as if by magic, followed by various exquisite desserts being served.
Seeing these colorful desserts, Adelaide's eyes immediately lit up; she took the opportunity to stuff herself with various flavors of ice cream and pudding to compensate for the taste damage caused by that piece of Stargazy pie.
After everyone had their fill, Dumbledore stood up again to address them; he first went through several old warnings that few students followed, such as forbidding students from exploring the Forbidden Forest, not casting magic in the corridors between classes, and not fighting between Gryffindor and Slytherin students.
He then announced that Quidditch trials would be held in the second week of this term, and students wishing to join the house teams should contact Madam Hooch—Adelaide and Cho Chang exchanged a look; both were determined to make the team this year, and for this reason, Adelaide had specially spent money to order a Nimbus 2000 for Cho Chang before the term started, which would be delivered to Hogwarts this Friday.
After all, with The Chosen One in Gryffindor this term, relying solely on Snape's efforts to deduct points from Gryffindor clearly wouldn't be enough to compensate for Dumbledore's favoritism toward Harry; Adelaide had to find a way to shore up Ravenclaw's weakness in Quidditch to be fully prepared for Ravenclaw to retain the house cup again this year.
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