"Oh…oh…oh…"
Jon woke up from his sleep as the alarm clock screamed.
It was now 7:10 pm Greenwich time and the sky had almost completely darkened.
Jon quickly took out the black robes of Hogwarts from the suitcase and put them on.
"The train will arrive at Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train and we will take it to school for you." A voice replied on the train.
This is good news. I don't need to carry such heavy luggage to school.
The train slowed down and finally stopped.
Jon squeezed to the exit, and the passengers pushed and shoved, rushing to the door and squeezed onto a small, dark platform.
"First-year students! First-year students, come here!" A loud voice came from the front.
Jon saw a burly man standing out in the crowd. His face was almost completely hidden by his long, unkempt hair and tangled, thick beard, but his black beetle-like eyes could still be seen, gleaming under his hair.
...
...
"I'm Hagrid, Rubeus Hagrid, the key keeper and gamekeeper of Hogwarts!" Above the crowd of people, the burly man with a big beard smiled and said, "Come on, follow me. Are there any first-year students?
"Watch where you step. All right! First-year students, follow me!"
Although most of the first-year students followed Hagrid, they kept a certain distance from him because of Hagrid's huge body and fierce face.
Jon followed Hagrid without hesitation. He knew very well that although Hagrid looked a little fierce, but he was actually a good man.
Next to Jon was a very strange girl with messy, waist-length white hair, very pale eyebrows and bulging eyes.
"What a wonderful journey, isn't it?" she exclaimed with an intoxicated look on her face.
"Yeah!" Jon nodded, although he didn't know what the strange thing was.
They slipped and stumbled after Hagrid as he followed what seemed to be a steep, narrow path downhill.
"Turn this corner and you'll soon see Hogwarts for the first time," Hagrid called over his shoulder.
At the end of the narrow path, a black lake suddenly appeared, which made almost everyone exclaim in surprise, even Jon, who was mentally prepared.
"There, that's Hogwarts!" Hagrid shouted, pointing across the lake.
On the high hillside across the lake stood a towering castle with spires everywhere and windows twinkling under the starry sky.
"No more than four people per boat!" Hagrid shouted, pointing to a fleet of small boats moored to the shore.
Jon boards one of the boats, as does the weird girl with white hair, and two strange little boys.
"Everyone aboard?" called Hagrid, who was in a boat all by himself. "Then let's go!" A fleet of boats immediately set off across the smooth lake.
This was probably a ritual for freshmen at Hogwarts, Jon thought to himself as the boat rowed itself.
The four founders of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin came to Hogwarts by driving small boats; so every new student at Hogwarts has to walk this path again.
The boat carried them through the ivy curtain that covered the cliff and came to the hidden open entrance.
They followed a dark tunnel that seemed to lead them to the basement of the castle, and finally reached a place similar to an underground dock, and then climbed onto a ground of gravel and pebbles.
In the light of Hagrid's lantern, they climbed a flight of stone steps and gathered in front of a huge oak door.
Hagrid raised a tattered pink umbrella and knocked three times on the castle door.
…
The door was opened quickly.
"Welcome to Hogwarts!" Hagrid smiled and winked at the little wizards behind him, and then he continued to lead the way.
In front of them was a stone wall with blazing torches all around it; the ceiling was so high that the top was almost invisible; in front of them was a magnificent marble staircase leading directly to the upper floor.
"Jon!" A small hand pulled Jon's robes behind him.
"What's the matter?" Hearing this familiar voice, Jon turned around and said calmly, "Miss Greengrass!"
In the light of the torch, Astoria Greengrass's face looked even paler than it did during the day.
Hearing that blunt name, her hands seemed to tremble slightly.
Astoria whispered, "Daphne...she really is...she definitely didn't mean to call you a mudblood, she just..."
"It just slipped out?" Jon's voice was devoid of sympathy. "Perhaps you call us that every day at home, and you just slipped out in anger today?"
"No… that's not it…"
Astoria was trying to figure out something.
Hagrid shouted from the front, interrupting their conversation:
"Professor Snape, why are you here?"
A middle-aged man with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin came over from a small house on the slope.
Jon suddenly felt Professor Severus Snape's gaze fixed on him, and he quickly lowered his head.
He had just come from a door very close to his position and might have even heard the conversation between him and Astoria.
Severus Snape stopped less than a yard away from Jon and said slowly, "I heard from Barrow that an extremely precious Whomping Willow seemed to have been injured by something. I was just about to go over and take a look!"
"Okay!" Hagrid nodded: "I'm taking the first-year students to the sorting ceremony!"
With that, Hagrid continued walking, and Jon quickly followed with his head down.
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt Snape's eyes were fixed on the back of his head until he was out of his sight.
Hagrid took them to a small empty room. The young wizards rushed in, rubbing shoulders with each other, and stared at everything around them nervously.
Professor Minerva McGonagall, dressed in emerald green robes, was waiting for them here.
"First years, Professor McGonagall!" said Hagrid.
"Thank you, Hagrid. Now leave it to me."
...
...
...
"Welcome to Hogwarts!" Unlike Hagrid, when Professor Minerva McGonagall said this, her expression was extremely serious and there was no smile on her face.
The first-year wizards could obviously sense that this old professor was not easy to deal with, so they all became quiet and dared not whisper to each other.
"The opening banquet is about to begin, but before you take your seats in the restaurant, you all will be placed in the Hogwarts' Houses..." Professor McGonagall briefly introduced the sorting ceremony and the college cup!
"I'll come back to pick you up when I'm ready!" Professor McGonagall was about to leave, and asked casually, "Please keep quiet while you're waiting... Any other questions?"
Jon raised his hand.
"What's the matter, Mr. Hart?" Professor McGonagall obviously still had some impression of the little wizard who had kicked her.
"Uh, Professor!" Jon softened his throat. He was sure that Professor McGonagall was fair and would not vent her anger on him because of an unintentional mistake he made a month ago.
"Just now on the train, I met a second-year Hogwarts student. She called me a 'mudblood'... To be honest, I don't quite understand what this word means, but from her expression at the time, it doesn't seem to be a friendly word!"
Jon's expression was calm, as if he really didn't know what "Mudblood" meant.
...
...
"Who is it? How dare she..." Professor McGonagall's face suddenly changed. "How dare she say such an insulting word in Hogwarts? For the past thousand years, Hogwarts has been committed to eliminating the prejudice between pure-blood wizards and Muggle-born wizards..."
"She seemed to have said her name...it seemed to be...Greengrass!"
"Greengrass?" Professor McGonagall regained her composure. "Mr. Hart, that was a vicious curse. Forget what she said."
As she spoke, she glanced at the crowd with a sharp look.
Then she left the room.
Jon vaguely heard Professor McGonagall's roar coming from the hall:
"Daphne Greengrass, you go to my office NOW."
"Filius, could you please go and call Severus over for me?"
…
However, Jon did not attract too much attention from these first-year students.
Because their attention is mainly focused on the upcoming "Sorting Ceremony".
After all, Hogwarts' "House Sorting Intimidation" for first-year students is a fine tradition passed down from generation to generation.
Originally, Astoria should have been discussing with this group of first-year wizards whether the "Sorting Ceremony" was to defeat a troll or to cast ten spells... But now, she was standing there in a trance.
"Why would you do that, sister... Daphne... She'll be expelled..."
"She asked for it," Jon said calmly, "and I don't think Hogwarts would expel a student just because of a curse word."
"She really means no harm..."
"I think you should explain this to Professor McGonagall."
"You..."
Astoria decided to turn away, deciding to ignore him.
Jon saw about twenty ghosts suddenly jump out from a wall in front of him. These pearly white, translucent ghosts slid across the room, whispering to each other.
"Ah..." Several timid girls screamed in fright.
"Another freshman!" A plump monk ghost smiled at them and said, "I think you are probably ready to take the test?"
Haven't gotten their answer yet...
"Now move forward." A shrill voice came from the walls around us. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin."
"Single file!" said Professor McGonagall, returning.
There was a little noise among the crowd, but under the guidance of Professor McGonagall, they finally lined up in a row.
In front of Jon was Astoria...but Astoria was determined not to look back, and they kept a distance of two or three yards between them.
The little wizards walked out of the room one by one, passed through a narrow corridor, and came to the hall of Hogwarts.
Such a magnificent hall, with a long table on the podium, where teachers of all kinds sat...
They were sitting in front of the long table on the podium, with their backs to the teachers as instructed by Professor McGonagall.
In front of them were four long tables placed horizontally, and hundreds of Hogwarts senior students were applauding them enthusiastically.
The "ceiling" above his head was twinkling with stars and extremely realistic... Even though he was mentally prepared, Jon couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool in front of them... and then placed a pointed wizard's hat on top of the stool.
This should be the hat of Godric Gryffindor in the past, the Sorting Hat now!
The Sorting Hat spoke, and began to sing a song of its own in its hoarse voice.
The singing voice like that of a soul singer really makes people want to cover their ears.
After several minutes of agony, the Sorting Hat finally finished its performance...
Professor McGonagall stepped forward, holding a roll of parchment in her hand.
"Whoever I call now will put on his hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said.
"Sean Avery!"
A tall boy with freckles all over his face stumbled out of the crowd and put on a hat.
"Slytherin!"
The table on the far right suddenly erupted into loud cheers, while the table on the far left was met with faint boos.
The tall boy trotted over as if relieved.
The name Avery seems a little familiar... It seems to be the name of a Death Eater, and it seems like he is another second-generation Death Eater?
"Theresa Baker!"
"Ravenclaw!"
This time the second table from the left was clapping, and several Ravenclaw students were shaking hands with Theresa.
Colin Creevey became the first freshman of Gryffindor. The table farthest to the left immediately erupted in cheers, and Jon saw the Weasley brothers celebrating there.
…
"Astoria Greengrass!"
Astoria walked over and put the hat on his head.
"Slytherin!" the hat shouted, barely touching her hair.
Maybe it was because of her sister, judging from her expression, she didn't seem very happy.
When Jon saw Draco Malfoy giving up his seat to Astoria, he couldn't help but snort.
"Jon Hart!" the Sorting Hat called out his name.
Jon stood up, feeling as if all eyes in the hall were on him.
Lowering his head slightly, he walked over and put on the Sorting Hat.