The Prisoners of Hogwarts

Chapter 37 Sorting Ceremony

Outside the door stood a little girl with thick brown hair and a pair of large front teeth.

Beside her stood a round-faced little boy with tears in his eyes.

"My name is Hermione Granger," the girl introduced herself, then pointed to the round-faced boy next to her, "This is Neville Longbottom. Has anyone seen a toad? Neville can't find his toad."

The girl's tone was somewhat condescending and arrogant.

Ron scrunched up his face, looked the girl up and down, and didn't want to talk to her.

Harry responded without hesitation, "I am Harry Potter, and this is Ron Weasley."

Having grown up in the Dursleys' household, with Dudley Dursley as his cousin, Harry didn't think Hermione's tone and demeanor were a big problem.

"Is it really you? Harry Potter?" Hermione seemed surprised, staring at Harry from head to toe. "I've seen your name in so many books."

"What book?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"Lots of books! I can lend them to you when we get to school. Right now, I still need to help Neville find toads. If you see a toad, be sure to let us know."

Harry looked down at the chocolate frog still hopping around on the box floor: "I'm sorry, there are many frogs here, but we haven't seen any toads."

"Okay, if you see it, just remember to help Neville catch it," the girl reminded her again.

She then glanced at the messy private room, tossed her head, and prepared to leave with Neville.

But as if remembering something, she stopped after taking just one step.

After a moment's hesitation, she turned to Harry and said, "I know this has nothing to do with me, but I read in a book called 'The Most Stylish Game in Wizarding Worlds' that the card you have is very valuable. You should keep it safe so you don't end up like Neville's toad, unable to find it."

Then she looked at Ron, pointed to her nose and said to him, "There's a speck of dust on your nose, you should wipe it off."

After saying those two sentences, she turned and left, closing the door to the private room behind her.

"By Merlin, who does she think she is? Just swaggering in and giving orders like that."

Ron rolled his eyes. "She's practically a female version of Percy..."

"She just wanted to help that boy named Neville find his toad..." Harry said sheepishly, trying to defend Hermione.

Ron turned around and pushed Harry's hand, which was holding the card, back to his chest: "But she's right about one thing, you should put this card away first, it's really too precious."

Seeing Ron's serious expression, Harry obediently put the cards into the inside pocket of his clothes.

"You all say this card is very valuable. Is it worth a lot of money?" Harry asked as he stuffed the dark gold card into his inner pocket.

"A year ago, I saw in the Daily Prophet that someone bought this Mist Hangman card for a thousand Galleons," Ron said with a sigh.

Harry's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but reach out and touch the card in his pocket through his clothes.

This can be considered the biggest prize I've ever won in my life.

Although he had never participated in any lottery before, that didn't stop Harry from being happy about his good luck.

"Can you teach me how to play Wizarding Battle Cards?" Harry looked at Ron with bright eyes. "I've never played before."

"Of course!" Ron replied happily, then pulled out his stack of cards from his pocket. "Let's start with a beginner's battle using my cards!"

The two pushed the pastries and snacks on the table aside, each holding a stack of cards, and Ron enthusiastically began explaining the rules of the Wizards vs. Wizards card game to Harry.

The train rumbled forward.

While Harry and Ron were engrossed in the game.

The door to the private room was opened once again.

Harry and Ron turned to look and saw three boys standing outside the door.

The boy in the middle was thinner than the two on either side; he was pale and had light gold hair.

The pale-faced boy walked into the private room with his two henchmen. He glanced at the two boys in the room, and his gaze quickly settled on Harry.

"Everyone on the train is talking about it, saying that Harry Potter is in this compartment, it must be you."

He looked at Harry, his eyes filled with intense curiosity and interest.

"My name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," he said.

Upon hearing the name, Ron coughed lightly, trying to suppress a laugh.

Malfoy glanced sideways at Ron's red hair: "Insolent Weasley."

He glanced again at the cards haphazardly scattered on the table between Harry and Ron, his gaze settling on Harry's hand holding the cards.

"My father is a director of the Stone Tower Merchant Guild, which publishes Wizarding Battle cards. If you also like this game, you can come to my private room. I have a lot of rare cards, and we can play together."

As he extended an invitation to Harry, Malfoy reached out and flipped through the cards on the table: "My cards are far superior to this junk."

Ron's face turned red with anger.

Malfoy, a haughty smile on his face, extended his hand to Harry: "So, wanna come?"

Harry looked at the boy in front of him. The boy had suddenly barged into the box and insulted his new friend. At this moment, Harry hated him almost as much as Dudley did.

Harry replied coldly, "No need. I think I'm more comfortable here."

Malfoy's smile froze, his face quickly falling, a faint blush rising on his pale cheeks: "Potter, you're just as ungrateful as your parents. You should learn to be smarter."

Harry and Ron stood up abruptly. Ron's face was redder than his hair, while Harry's face was even redder than Ron's.

This was the first time Harry had heard anyone outside the Dursleys insult his parents, especially after he had just learned that they hadn't died in a car accident, but had been murdered.

He was so angry he felt like his lungs were about to explode.

He was almost ready to rush up and punch Malfoy hard in the face.

A loud scream interrupted him.

It was Malfoy's henchman, Ron's Scabbers, hanging from his finger.

Sharp teeth dug deep into his flesh.

The henchman yelled and frantically shook his hands, trying to get rid of the rat.

He eventually flung the rat out and it hit the car window.

Ron rushed over to check on his pet, which also distracted Harry.

When he turned around again, Malfoy and his two companions had already slipped away.

Harry and Ron checked on Scabbers, the great hero, and after confirming that he was miraculously asleep, they sat down again.

Harry was still seething with anger and had no desire to continue playing Wizards vs. Wizards cards.

Ron held Banban in his arms, checking on him every now and then.

Before Harry could calm down, the door opened again. Hermione came to inform them that they were almost at their stop and reminded them to change into their robes.

Harry changed into his robes, stuffed some candy into his pockets, and then he and Ron squeezed off the train amidst the shoving crowd.

Soon, he heard a familiar voice shouting for first-year students to assemble.

He saw a tall figure—it was Hagrid.

Hagrid led all the first-year students down a steep, narrow path, winding their way to the edge of a dark lake.

On the opposite shore of the lake, atop a high hillside, stands a magnificent castle.

After crossing the lake in a small boat, we climbed a long stone tunnel.

They finally arrived at a huge oak door.

The door opened wide, and a tall, black-haired witch in a bright green robe stepped out.

Harry heard Hagrid call her Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall introduced them to the four houses of Hogwarts, and then he saw the ghost for the first time.

He was so frightened he dared not breathe, as were the people around him.

Ultimately, all the first-year students were led into a magical place that Harry had never imagined.

The enormous double doors opened before them, revealing a magnificent Great Hall that made Harry gasp in astonishment.

The high dome resembles a deep night sky, adorned with flickering candlelight. Thousands of candles float in mid-air, illuminating the vast space as if it were daytime, yet adding a warm and mysterious golden glow that surpasses even sunlight.

Four extremely long college tables stretched from the entrance of the auditorium all the way to the high platform at the very back, and were already filled with students from all grades. Their young faces were filled with excitement and anticipation in the candlelight.

Their eyes were all focused on the line of first-year students entering the auditorium.

On the high platform at the far end of the auditorium, there was a long table, which was the teachers' seat.

Professor McGonagall led the new students across the long table and stopped in front of the platform.

Harry looked up and could see many figures dressed in various wizard robes sitting around the table.

In the very center of the long table, the silver-haired, silver-bearded Headmaster Dumbledore was smiling at them.

Harry's heart pounded as the magical world unfolded before him, leaving him mesmerized.

Just then, Harry felt a peculiar gaze sweep over him. The gaze did not come from the students at the long table, but from the head table on the high platform, though not from the kind-looking Headmaster Dumbledore in the center of the platform.

That gaze was like an invisible thread, carrying an indescribable focus, drawing his mind.

He subconsciously followed his senses and looked through the gaps between the excited students talking around him, his gaze landing on the very edge of the long table on the platform.

There sat a young male wizard who seemed somewhat out of place with his surroundings.

Instead of wearing traditional wizard robes, he wore a well-tailored dark suit vest, which made him stand out among the crowd of robes.

In the candlelight, his face appeared somewhat pale, as if he had not seen the sun for a long time, or had just recovered from a serious illness.

He sat upright, as quiet as a shadow, making no sound at the edge of the long table.

What caught Harry's eye most was a jet-black raven perched steadily on his right shoulder, its beak gleaming in the candlelight, its small head turning slightly, its sharp eyes seemingly scanning the entire Great Hall.

The pale-faced wizard himself, with his deep black eyes, was now staring intently at her, almost scrutinizingly focused, across the noisy hall.

Lynch stared at the little boy in the crowd wearing round-framed glasses. He was thin and shorter than the other children his age. His messy black hair stuck up on his head. His appearance was indeed very similar to James Potter in his memory.

No wonder Snape felt disgusted when he saw him; he was the kind of person who would immediately recall his wonderful childhood.

Lin Qi met those bright, emerald-green eyes.

But... those eyes really are... exactly like Lily's...

Lynch gave Harry a warm smile and nodded.

It's confirmed, this is a special weapon targeting Snape.

Harry saw the young wizard smile and nod at him, but before he could react, his view was cut off by the moving crowd around him.

Harry looked ahead and saw Professor McGonagall had placed a four-legged stool in front of the first-year students, and then placed a patched-up, dirty-looking pointed wizard's hat on the stool.

He found that the entire auditorium had fallen silent, and soon became completely quiet.

Suddenly, he saw the hat twist open, revealing a wide crack on it, like a mouth.

A sound actually came from that mouth, and the hat sang in the auditorium.

After the song ended, the entire audience erupted in thunderous applause.

The hat bowed in farewell, like an artist finishing their performance on stage.

Harry also understood from the hat's song that the sorting of new students into their houses was determined by this hat, and once he put it on, he would know which house he would be assigned to.

He was filled with trepidation and had completely forgotten about the young wizard who had been watching him.

Meanwhile, at the edge of the long table on the high platform.

Lynch's gaze also shifted from Harry, turning his attention to the Sorting Ceremony that was about to begin on the platform.

Looking at the Sorting Hat placed on the stool, his gaze gradually turned cold, and his thoughts drifted back to the scene when he first entered the school.

The Sorting Hat determines which house a student will be placed in based on their individual characteristics, and this decision is usually made very quickly.

However, occasionally, due to the characteristics of the students, the Sorting Hat will make a decision after a long period of deliberation.

When the Sorting Hat takes more than five minutes to think, the process becomes a rare occurrence in the wizarding world—the Sorting Problem.

Generally, the reason why students with sorting problems are born is that at least two of their traits are particularly outstanding.

For example, Professor Minerva McGonagall, who now presides over the Sorting Ceremony, was assigned to Gryffindor after a long deliberation of five minutes and thirty seconds by the Sorting Hat, because it ultimately believed that McGonagall's core trait was "courage".

Students who excel in the Sorting Problem generally become outstanding wizards—a conclusion proven by history.

Although there aren't many cases available for reference, this conclusion has stuck.

So when the Sorting Hat stayed on Lynch's head for more than fifteen minutes that day, everyone around him looked at him differently.

"A genius emerged from the mud."

Lynch closed his eyes, and the phrase that was once widely circulated among Slytherin students seemed to echo in his ears again.

On its shoulder, the crow turned its head slightly, its wide field of vision taking in a figure at the other end of the long table.

It was a young man with a purple scarf wrapped around his head.