The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 11 Ada and the Sorting Hat
Fred gently pushed the distracted Ada, "It's your turn, Ada."

Ada came to her senses, walked forward and sat on the stool. The dirty sorting hat was on her head. The hat was a bit big and blocked most of Ada's vision. Professor McGonagall looked at Ada and she hoped that Ada could be sorted into her own house. Even Dumbledore was paying attention to Ada's sorting results.

"Well, there are some troubles..." A subtle voice sounded in Ada's ears. The Sorting Hat led Ada's head to the direction of Gryffindor. "You have great courage in your heart. Your courage and spirit are very suitable for Gryffindor. This seems to be a good choice!"

Before Ada could say anything, the Sorting Hat turned her head towards the Ravenclaw table. "You are smart and talented. You are eager to explore the world and acquire more knowledge. You seem to be suitable for Ravenclaw."

Then it was the direction of Hufflepuff, "This place is not bad either. Hufflepuff is very inclusive. You will meet many friends here, and they will tolerate your characteristics."

Is it time to be a Slytherin? Ada thought to herself.

"That's right, the next Slytherin!" Turning naturally to the direction of Slytherin, Ada had given up resistance. "Disdain dogma, not satisfied with the status quo, and can do whatever it takes to achieve the goal. Well, here Slytherin will help you to achieve glory..."

"Well? Have you thought about it?" said the Sorting Hat.

"It's all right. I don't really care about it." Ada replied. In fact, Ada really didn't care which college she went to. In her opinion, it didn't matter which college she went to. How could it be worse than an orphanage?

"How about Slytherin? There you will meet some like-minded people who will work with you towards glory, create honor, and satisfy all your ambitions..." The Sorting Hat whispered to Ada.

Ada's head was still facing the Slytherin table under the control of the Sorting Hat, and the Sorting Hat seemed to want her to accept this recommendation. Ada thought silently in her heart: Slytherin is Slytherin, but my background is a little embarrassing. I hope there will be no conflict with everyone!

"Then Slytherin... The choice is yours, isn't it?" Ada responded in a low voice.

"Oh, is that so... Then I'll announce it!" The Sorting Hat said with interest, "Gryffindor!"

The Sorting Hat suddenly turned Ada's head towards the Gryffindor table on the other side. This was so sudden that it almost twisted Ada's neck!
Applause and cheers rang out from the Gryffindor table. Ada put down the Sorting Hat and walked towards the table while rubbing her neck.

Compared to Slytherin, Gryffindor is obviously a better choice in Ada's heart, and it should be easier to get along with the little lions.

"Well, it's best to put you in Gryffindor, Dumbledore, I have helped you a lot." Ada did not hear the Sorting Hat's whisper, and even Professor McGonagall did not hear it clearly.

Ada walked to the Gryffindor table, and the seniors were all welcoming her. Angelina Johnson waved at Ada, and Ada walked towards her. After sitting next to Angelina, she greeted Alicia Spinnet.

After Ada, Fred and George were also sorted into Gryffindor. Percy was introducing his twin brothers to the people around him, while Charlie stood up and said to the twins, "Well done, Fred and George, that's how it should be!"

The twin brothers were the last two students, and with them being sorted into Gryffindor, the sorting ceremony officially ended.

Albus Dumbledore stood up, looked at the students with a smile on his face, and stretched out his arms to them, as if nothing made him happier than to see the students gathered together.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome everyone to the new school year at Hogwarts! Firstly, I am delighted to welcome a new teacher to our teaching staff this term. Please welcome Professor Benedict Foley, who has kindly agreed to fill the vacant Defence Against the Dark Arts class."

There was sparse applause in the auditorium. It was not that people did not welcome the well-dressed Professor Foley, but that he had delayed everyone's meal.

The applause, which was not very good to begin with, soon died down. Dumbledore continued, "Before the banquet begins, I would like to say a few words. That is: "Enjoy the food!"

Dumbledore's words were concise and to the point. The applause and cheers did not stop until Dumbledore sat down for a while. Compared with the previous moment, it was a world of difference.

Food suddenly appeared on the empty plate on the table. It was very rich. Ada had not eaten such a rich meal for a long time, and it was a meal without looking up at the stars.

The Weasley brothers around them had already started to enjoy their meal, and the hungry Ada also began to eat heartily, without any sign of the loss of appetite that Mrs. Mary had described.

The Gryffindor ghost was chatting with the freshmen. Some called him Sir Porpington, and some called him Nearly Headless Nick. Seeing that some freshmen didn't understand what Nearly Headless Nick meant, Sir Porpington kindly showed them his head, which was only connected to the body with a little skin. How miserable it was!
However, all this had nothing to do with Ada, who kept eating. Her eating manner was not rude, on the contrary, it was quite beautiful, with the knife and fork constantly cooperating, like a mature assembly line, she chewed very quickly, so she ate a lot.

After everyone had eaten, the food was replaced with dessert, and everyone finally had time to chat. The twins were telling jokes, making Alia and Angelina laugh.

Finally, the dessert disappeared, Dumbledore stood up again, and the hall returned to peace.

"Now that everyone has had enough to eat and drink, I would like to say a few more words to everyone. At the beginning of the semester, I would like to give you a few reminders."

"First-year students, please note that the forested area on the school grounds is off-limits to any student. Some of our older classmates should also remember this."

Dumbledore paused for a moment, "Also, the administrator Mr. Filch also asked me to remind everyone not to perform magic in the corridors during class breaks. The review of Quidditch players will be held in the second week of this semester. Students who are interested in joining the college team, please contact Ms. Hooch." "Now, before everyone goes to bed, let's sing the school song together!" Dumbledore said enthusiastically. However, the expressions of the other professors were not very good, their faces were very stiff, and they did not buy the headmaster's account.

Dumbledore waved his wand lightly, and a long golden ribbon flew out from the wand, twisting and coiling like a snake high above the dining table, forming lines of text.

"Everyone chooses the tune he likes." Dumbledore said, "Get ready and sing!"

Then all the teachers and students sang loudly:

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts,
Please give us knowledge,
No matter we are bald old people
Or the child who injured his knee in a fall,
our minds can accept

Something interesting.

Because now our brains are empty and full of air,

Dead flies and trifles,

Teach us some valuable knowledge,

Give us back what we have forgotten,

Just do your best and leave the rest to us.
We will study hard until we turn to dust.

Everyone's singing was scattered and chaotic. Ada chose to sing the school song with the rhythm of "Steel Torrent", which made her blood boil.

The twin brothers chose the "Funeral March". The slow melody made everyone finish singing, but the Weasley brothers had not finished yet. Dumbledore used his wand to conduct the last few bars for them, and when they finished singing, his applause was the loudest.

Ada, who was clapping, always felt that without the sound of the suona, the "Funeral March" lacked its flavor.

"Music," he said, wiping his eyes, "is more charming than anything we do here! It's time to go to bed. Everyone, go back to the dormitory."

As soon as he finished speaking, the students in the auditorium stood up and prepared to leave, and the auditorium became noisy.

The Gryffindor freshmen followed Charlie Weasley through the noisy crowd, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble stairs. After walking through the corridor full of portraits, passing through two doors hidden behind sliding panels and hanging curtains, and passing several stairs and the last corridor, Charlie and them stopped. At the end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very plump woman in a pink dress.

Ada had been silently memorizing the way from the Great Hall restaurant to the common room.

"Password?" asked the woman in the portrait.

"Lionheart," said Charlie.

The portrait that received the correct answer moved forward unsteadily, revealing a circular hole in the wall. Passing through the hole, Ada finally came to the Gryffindor common room, a comfortable circular room filled with soft armchairs, and the fire burning in the fireplace looked warm.

Under Charlie's guidance, Ada, Angelina and Alia entered a door and were assigned to the same dormitory. It was quite a coincidence that there were five four-poster beds in the dormitory, with crimson velvet curtains hanging on them. The beds looked much more comfortable than the hard bed Ada had in the orphanage.

Although there are five beds, there are only three of them living there. This is good, because fewer people means less trouble.

The boxes had already been delivered. Angelina and Alia, exhausted, didn't say anything more. They changed into pajamas and fell asleep.

Ada changed into pajamas and lay on the soft bed, feeling very comfortable. She was also very tired, running all the way from London to Scotland, how could she not be tired, but for some reason Ada didn't feel sleepy at all.

Ada turned sideways and could just see outside through the window of the tower. She just stared at the small piece of sky in a daze. After an unknown amount of time, Ada finally fell into a deep sleep on the soft bed.

The website gave a recommendation for this week. Although I don’t know what happened, I’m still very grateful. Today, a friend also left a message in the comment section, and I’m also very grateful, so I updated one more chapter tonight.



(End of this chapter)