Hogwarts: A little lion in the skin of the Eagle School

"Look, that's the Sorting Hat. It decides which college we freshmen will be assigned to."

Titus spoke quietly to John in the crowd.

"It? Can this hat talk?"

"Of course, this is a magic hat, it has a long history at Hogwarts."

After hearing Titus's explanation, John understood a little better; this academy truly was filled with a magical atmosphere.

John looked curiously at the people on the row of professors' desks.

The person seated at the head of the table was an elderly man with a long, white beard and wearing half-moon glasses. If I'm not mistaken, he should be Albus Dumbledore, the current headmaster of Hogwarts, who is hailed as the greatest white wizard of this century.

On the right side of the table, John also found two people he recognized: Professor Snape, who had delivered a letter to his house, and Professor Lupin, who had saved him on the train.

Once everyone was present, Professor McGonagall stood on the platform, took out a piece of parchment in one hand and picked up the Sorting Hat in the other, and said, "The Sorting Ceremony will now begin. Those whose names I call, please come up."

After several students took turns going up on stage to participate in the Sorting Ceremony, John finally understood the ceremony.

The folds on the hat really did resemble mouths and eyes, and Professor McGonagall would put the Sorting Hat on a student's head whenever the student went up to sit down.

The Sorting Hat seems to be able to understand students' thoughts and engage in dialogue.

After getting to know them for a while, the students will be assigned to a relatively suitable college.

Finally, I met someone I knew.

"Titus Crow".

When his name was called, the chubby boy instinctively flinched before pretending to be calm and walking onto the stage.

After Titus took his seat on the high stool, Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on his head.

The Sorting Hat was babbling incoherently when it suddenly shouted, "Hufflepuff!"

Upon hearing the results of Hufflepuff, Titus's face immediately lit up with joy. After giving John a wink, he scurried off to the Hufflepuff table amidst applause.

"John Merrick."

Professor McGonagall called out John's name next, and Titus immediately turned his gaze towards him, hoping to be in the same college as John.

After John took the stage and put on the Sorting Hat, he finally heard the Sorting Hat babbling away.

"Hmm... Hufflepuff and Slytherin are out of the question first. You don't look honest or clever at all."

"?"

I admit I'm dishonest. Where have I been lacking in skill?

The moment John entertained this rebuttal, the Sorting Hat retorted, "You can't even bargain when you buy things, what makes you so clever?"

"I!...."

John was speechless.

"Hmm... a bit of courage, but not much..."

Just kidding, I'm super brave, okay!

"Courage is doing something you know is impossible. What you did was reckless and impulsive. It's somewhat related, but not much."

John had barely uttered a rebuttal in his mind when the Sorting Hat read his thoughts and replied directly, leaving John speechless.

"Hmm, all you have to praise is your thirst for knowledge... In that case..."

"Ravenclaw!"

With the Sorting Hat's shout, John was officially assigned to Ravenclaw.

But John wasn't happy at all.

What does it mean to say "all that's left to praise is that little bit of curiosity"?

The password is wrong; this hat must have been used for too long and is now malfunctioning.

John had no choice but to obediently walk towards Ravenclaw's table.

The first-year students are seated right next to the second-year students.

Luna happened to be a second-year student in Ravenclaw, and because no one liked sitting with her, she was pushed to the very edge.

Upon seeing Luna, John naturally sat down next to his acquaintance.

"It's nice to see you again, Senior Luna."

"Yes, it's nice to see you again. I'm glad you've been assigned to Ravenclaw."

Luna maintained her smile, seemingly unbothered that John was sitting next to her.

"Can you imagine that the Sorting Hat actually uses the process of elimination to assign students? I'm speechless."

John, looking disgruntled, complained to Luna about his dissatisfaction with the Sorting Hat.

"Looking at it another way, doesn't that prove Ravenclaw is the best house for you?"

"That way you won't feel regretful because you can't choose other colleges."

Luna's perspective on things is truly unique.

It's something that clearly didn't offer any choice, but it's being portrayed as if it were a divine intervention.

"...That makes sense."

John didn't particularly want to go to any particular college; they were all the same to him.

I just couldn't help but complain about being sorted out by the Sorting Hat using the process of elimination.

Soon their freshman orientation ceremony ended, and eight more freshmen were assigned to Eagle College. They simply greeted them and got to know each other.

After the sorting ceremony, it was time for a large chorus. The choir students, led by a short choir conductor, each held a toad and sang together.

According to Luna, the choir conductor was none other than their Ravenclaw headmaster, Felix Flitwick, who was also the Charms professor.

(I know it wasn't him in the original story, but let's assume it was him anyway, since it would be too much trouble to explain later.)

Despite being only a little over a meter tall, his skills are second to none, and he is well-liked by both students and other professors.

Under Professor Flitwick's direction, the choir sang beautiful music.

Although John couldn't understand, he clapped enthusiastically.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts for the new school year."

After the choir finished singing, Headmaster Dumbledore stepped forward and went to the owl lecture hall, speaking loudly.

"I have a few words to say before the dinner begins."

"First of all, freshmen, you must remember that the forbidden forest behind the academy is off-limits."

"And then, I am happy to tell you all that Professor RJ Lupin has agreed to become our Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

Professor Lu Ping, who was sitting at the professor's desk, stood up and gave the students a slight bow, making himself known to them.

Although everyone was applauding, John felt it was a bit sparse.

Little did they know that the previous two Defense Against the Dark Arts professors had greatly disappointed everyone, to the point that they now had little expectation for the course.

"There's another thing, our professor of macaque conservation has decided to retire due to health issues."

"Fortunately, our Forbidden Forest Guardian, Rupert Hagrid, will take over the job."

This time, the students applauded even more enthusiastically, indicating that Professor Hagrid was quite popular among them.

Seeing that the applause had lasted so long, Dumbledore raised his hand to quiet it down, and the young wizards finally fell silent again.

"Finally, at the request of the Ministry of Magic, there is one more disturbing piece of news."

"This year, Hogwarts will have a special group of guests: Dementors from Azkaban."

"They will guard every entrance and exit of Hogwarts until Sirius Black is captured."

"Although the Ministry of Magic has made every effort to assure us that Dementors will not affect our normal lives."

"But I still want to remind everyone that Dementors are extremely evil creatures. They do not know what mercy and forgiveness are, and they cannot distinguish between prey and those who stand in their way."

"So I'm warning everyone, don't give Dementors a chance to harm you."

Dumbledore addressed everyone with a serious expression, and the atmosphere in the hall suddenly became oppressive.

"Of course, happiness is everywhere, no matter how dark it is, as long as we light the lamp in our hearts."

Dumbledore's tone suddenly became cheerful again, dispelling everyone's gloom.

"Now, the banquet begins!"