The sickly, iron-fisted beauty in Harry Potter

Hermione nodded in agreement.

Dolly's words might be hard to believe, but since the professor said them, their credibility immediately increases several times over.

Just as the group was whispering amongst themselves, the doors to the banquet hall opened again.

Malfoy shuddered, and the rest of the men stiffened.

However, a warm female voice came from inside; the person was Vice Principal Minerva McGonagall.

"I've already heard what happened from Headmaster Snape. He got a little carried away. It was just a conflict between young wizards who hadn't even started school yet."

"Of course, this is on the premise that you have already forgiven each other."

Seeing that everyone remained silent, McGonagall smiled with satisfaction.

She knew that everyone might be dissatisfied, but this was the Sorting Ceremony, and she couldn't afford to make any more mistakes.

“Mr. Malfoy, could you please fix your hair? ...If necessary, I can provide a bottle of hair-lubricating lotion.”

Malfoy hurriedly straightened his hair, preferring to spit in it rather than use the Potters' shampoo.

“Miss Dolly, it’s a very nice color-changing spell, but now it has to be changed back.”

Dolly quickly lowered her head and asked Hermione to help her break the spell, otherwise she might have ended up with all sorts of colors on her own.

"Once you're ready, line up in two rows. Your classmates will be here soon."

After McGonagall finished speaking, a commotion arose outside the gate.

Hagrid knocked loudly on the door, and McGonagall opened it with a spell.

Hagrid quickly looked into the room and breathed a sigh of relief when he found Harry safe and sound.

“Every single first-year student, Professor McGonagall.”

"Very good, thank you for your hard work, Hagrid. Leave the rest to me."

After McGonagall and everyone else entered the hall, she announced loudly, "Welcome to Hogwarts! The opening banquet is about to begin."

"However, before you enter the restaurant, you will need to undergo a very important Sorting Ceremony to decide which house you will join next."

"During your years at Hogwarts, the house will be your home. You will attend classes with the other students, live in the house dormitories, and spend your free time together in the house common rooms."

"The names of the four houses are: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."

“Each college has its own glorious history and has produced outstanding wizards and witches.”

“During your time at Hogwarts, your excellent performance will earn you points for your house, while any violation will deduct points from your house.”

"At the end of the year, the college with the highest score will receive the College Cup, which is a great honor. I hope that no matter which college you are assigned to, you will bring glory to your college."

"Now, there are still a few minutes before the division ceremony begins. I suggest you take a good look at yourselves and make yourselves more energetic."

48 The fourth, more officially appointed feeling, Ravenclaw

A few minutes felt like years to these young wizards.

Dolly and her group were doing fairly well, having already spent the entire afternoon discussing things on the train.

Even so, Hermione was frantically memorizing every spell she knew, Ron was praying for Merlin's protection, and Neville seemed to be suffocating.

The remaining people were also in a state of fear, and everyone was waiting for their fate to be judged.

Then, just like in the original story, a vast army of ghosts appeared.

These pearly white, translucent ghosts glided across the room, whispering amongst themselves, paying little attention to the first-year students.

Only occasionally would a few elves strike up a conversation with the students, because for them, this scene was something they had seen hundreds of times and found utterly uninteresting.

However, for the students, seeing the ghosts appear up close, and even feeling the chilling sensation of the ghosts passing through their bodies, is enough to confirm that they are indeed at Hogwarts.

Dolly longed to reach out and touch the ghost's body, but unfortunately, the ghosts didn't pass through her area.

Hermione glanced at Dolly, a rare moment of distraction, and gained a deeper understanding of Dolly's supposed personality change.

“Now, line up in a single file,” McGonagall finally spoke, ending the agonizing psychological battle. “Follow me.”

A group of people formed a straight line haphazardly, but Dolly and four others insisted on standing together.

Although they knew there was no point in getting close to each other at this time, they did it instinctively.

They stepped out of the room, through the porch, and then a double-doored gate opened, revealing a magnificent dining room before them.

Students from other classes in the college were already seated around four long tables, with thousands of candles floating in the air above illuminating the dining room.

Four tables were set with gleaming gold platters and wine glasses, while another long table at the head of the table was for the teachers.

Professor McGonagall led the first-year students over there and had them line up facing all the senior students, with the teachers behind them.

The candlelight flickered, and hundreds of faces watching them resembled pale lanterns, while ghosts mingled among the students, shimmering with a hazy silver light.

Dolly and Harry looked up at the same time and saw twinkling stars on the velvety black ceiling.

Hermione then tiptoed, placed her hands on Dolly's shoulders, and whispered in Dolly's ear, "There's been a spell cast here. It looks just like the sky outside. I read about it in 'Hogwarts: A History of the School'."

A warm breeze brushed against Dolly's earlobe, giving her a slightly unnatural blush.

Fortunately, there were many people here, so no one could see it.

However, Dolly noticed that she had attracted a lot of attention.

The first-grade students are only 11 years old, and in reality, most of them, regardless of gender, are not yet good enough to be described as beautiful.

However, Dolly was an exception. Even though Dolly didn't deliberately groom herself, her emerald green eyes were as eye-catching as jewels.

Fortunately, Professor McGonagall made a move at this moment, which attracted everyone's attention.

She gently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first-year students, and then placed a dirty, worn-out, patched-up pointed wizard's hat on the stool.

This is the famous Sorting Hat.

Everyone stared at the hat, and the hat began to slowly twist.

A wide slit appeared in the brim of the hat, like a mouth, and began to sing a long, drawn-out ballad.

"You may not think I'm pretty, but don't judge a book by its cover. If you can find a more beautiful hat than me, I'll eat myself."

"..."

"Put me on! Don't be afraid! Don't panic! You're absolutely safe in my hands, because I'm a thinking magic hat!"

At this point, even without anyone explaining, everyone knew exactly what the Sorting Ceremony was all about.

It's actually very simple, just put on this hat.

The audience erupted in applause; the senior students, having gone through similar experiences, were delighted to watch the show.

Because they can see for themselves what kind of different characters have come to their academy.

Especially this year, a boy who miraculously survived a great calamity came to Hogwarts.

"When I call someone's name, that person should put on their hat, sit on the stool, and wait for sorting."

Professor McGonagall spoke slowly: "Hannah Abbott!"

Dolly swung her fist sharply. Hearing the name made her feel refreshed, as if much of the pressure from her battle with Snape had been released.

She had witnessed this scene countless times in movies and other novels, and this time it was finally her turn to witness it.

It's a pity her cheat isn't a famous scene sign-in system, otherwise seeing this scene would at least earn her an SSR reward.

Hermione looked at Dolly like she was some kind of weirdo, and Dolly didn't say much either; everything at the moment could be explained as excitement.

A rosy-cheeked little girl with two golden braids stumbled out of the line and put on a hat that just covered her eyes.

She sat down, and after a moment's pause, the hat gave the answer: "Hufflepuff!"

A burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted from the long table at Hufflepuff House. Even the usually laid-back Hufflepuffs, who loved to eat, didn't hold back their applause at this moment.

“Susan Burns!” “Hufflepuff!”

"Terribt!" "Ravenclaw!"

The Sorting Hat thus began its work, initially achieving very high efficiency in sorting houses.

For the Sorting Hat, which has the powerful ability to read minds, ordinary junior wizards don't need to communicate at all.

Dolly's surname is Dursley, which starts with the letter D, making her the first of the five.

Soon, McGonagall read out the name "Dolly Dursley".

All eyes turned to look at them, a stark contrast to before.

Especially when Snape and Dumbledore also turned their attention to him, the pressure from those gazes felt almost tangible.

Despite such pressure, Dolly remained calm and composed.

With cheerful little steps, she sat down in the chair and put on the Sorting Hat.

The reason she was so calm was that she had put the two remaining attribute points into willpower.

Dolly's willpower is now at 2 points.

This willpower likely doesn't refer to Dolly's self-discipline, otherwise Dolly, in her second life, would definitely have more than 2 points of willpower... uh, okay.

Considering Dolly's tendency to always want to give up, it's possible that her willpower is indeed only that high.

Dolly took a deep breath and slowly put on the Sorting Hat.

Countless thoughts popped into her mind, like a girl dazzled by the flowers in a flower shop, feeling a deep reluctance to leave each of the four colleges.

She wanted to have the opportunity to communicate with the Sorting Hat so that she could rely on her own preferences to gain admission to her desired college.

However, to Dolly's surprise, her protagonist template seemed to malfunction at this moment.

The Sorting Hat answered without hesitation: "Ravenclaw!"

Just like those young wizards who were instantly seen through by the Sorting Hat, there was no difference.