"Are you cold?" Ethan Jones shivered in the night air and turned to ask Hermione behind him.
She crossed her arms and said, "I'm not cold."
Seeing through it but not saying it, Ethan Jones found the direction the wind was coming from and stood in front of Hermione, shielding her from the gusts of cool wind.
At the beckoning of Hagrid, a giant taller than Ethan Jones and Hermione combined, the first-year students followed him through a steep path to a black lake.
On the high hillside across the lake stood a magnificent castle, its spires towering and its windows, lit up, twinkling under the starry sky.
Hagrid pointed to a group of small boats moored on the shore and shouted, "No more than four people in each boat!"
The three of them were in one boat, and no one else was with them.
The unmanned boat sliced through the mirror-like surface of the lake and headed towards the castle.
"Duck!" Hagrid shouted as the small boat approached the cliff.
Everyone lowered their heads and passed through the ivy curtain covering the cliff to reach the hidden, open entrance.
"We don't actually need to bow our heads. The only one who needs to bow his head is himself." After crossing the cliff, Ethan Jones complained to his two friends, which earned him a light laugh from them.
They followed the dark tunnel to a place that resembled an underground dock, where they stepped onto a surface paved with gravel and pebbles.
After everyone disembarked, Hagrid found a toad while inspecting the empty boat.
"Neville, your toad!" Hermione screamed.
"Trevor!" Neville was overjoyed and thanked Hagrid profusely.
This elusive toad, who knows where it was hiding, had suddenly appeared on the boat.
Illuminated by lanterns, they climbed through tunnels, across grass, and up steps, finally arriving at a huge oak door.
"Everyone, check if all your fellow passengers have arrived."
After confirming that no one had been left behind, Hagrid raised his fist, which was as big as a casserole dish, and knocked on the door three times.
The door opened, revealing Professor McGonagall, dressed in a bright green robe.
Her expression was serious: "Thank you, Hagrid. Leave the rest to me."
She pulled the door open, revealing that the stone walls were lined with blazing torches that emitted light.
The ceiling was very high, almost invisible, and in front was a marble staircase leading straight upstairs.
Professor McGonagall led them to a small chamber at the other end of the hall and explained, "First of all, welcome to Hogwarts. Next, we will hold a very important Sorting Ceremony to determine your House, and also to determine who you will be studying with, living with, and spending your free time with in the common room for the next seven years."
"The four Houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."
Each House has its own history and has produced many outstanding wizards...
Your outstanding performance during your studies will add points to the House's score, while violations will deduct points.
At the end of the year, the House with the highest score will win the House Cup, which is a great honor. I hope you will all bring glory to your respective Houses.
After introducing the glorious history of the four Houses and the rules of the House Cup competition, she looked around and said, "Alright, the ceremony will be held in front of the entire school in a few minutes. I suggest you tidy yourselves up and look more presentable."
She left the room, and the young wizards erupted in discussion about how this important Sorting Ceremony would be held, and asked others which House they wanted to be sorted into.
Hermione was no exception; she nervously chatted with Ethan Jones to distract herself from her anxiety.
"Ah! Ghosts!" More than twenty ghosts streamed through the wall, startling everyone.
Fortunately, Professor McGonagall returned quickly, and the ghosts filed through the walls and disappeared.
Ethan Jones was initially startled, but soon became curious about how ghosts were created.
"Follow me, form a single file."
Ethan Jones stood behind Hermione, walked through the foyer, and entered the Great Hall.
The four long tables were already full, and the empty seats were clearly reserved for the new students.
Above the table were thousands of candles floating in the air, and on the table were gleaming gold plates and goblets.
At the top of the hall was another long table, where Dumbledore and the other teachers were seated.
"That's so cool. I wonder if they used a Levitation Charm to float the candles in the air," Hermione whispered to him.
"I wonder how powerful the wizard must be to cast a Levitation Spell! So many candles!"
They stood in a row with their backs to the teachers and facing all the students.
Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool in front of them and then put a pointed wizard's hat on it.
The hat was tattered, patched, and dirty, which sent a chill down Ethan Jones's spine.
A wide slit appeared on the hat, and a song was sung.
Soon, the song ended, and thunderous applause erupted. Although Ethan Jones thought the singing was just average, he still joined in the applause.
With a series of "clap, clap, clap," the Sorting Hat bowed its pointed top to each of the four long tables, completing its performance.
Professor McGonagall stepped forward, holding a roll of parchment in her hand: "Now, those whose names I call, come forward, put on the hat, and sit on the stool."
"Hannah Abbott!"
As soon as the words were spoken, a little girl with rosy cheeks and two blonde braids nervously stumbled out of the line and put on her hat.
She sat down, and after a moment's pause, the hat shouted, "Hufflepuff!"
The people at the long table on the right began to cheer and applaud. Hannah took off her hat, placed it on the stool, and went to sit at that table.
As the sorting process progressed, Ethan Jones also figured out which House was seated at each of those long tables.
The table furthest to the left was Gryffindor, the second one was Ravenclaw, the furthest to the right was Slytherin, the second one was Hufflepuff.
Hermione was so nervous she could hardly breathe: "Which House do you think I'll be sorted into?"
"Ravenclaw or Gryffindor? I guess." Ethan Jones shrugged. Of course he knew Hermione was one of the Gryffindor trio, but he still pretended not to know.
"Really?" Hermione was so nervous she almost threw up.
"Hermione Granger!" Professor McGonagall called out Hermione's name after Justin Finch-Fletchley of Hufflepuff.
"Go for it!" Ethan Jones whispered, encouraging her.
She took a deep breath, hurriedly ran to the stool, and put her hat on her head.
"Gryffindor!" The hat shouted after a long while.
Hermione gave Ethan Jones a bright smile before walking toward the cheering Gryffindor table.
Neville was called after Hermione, and he was so nervous that he tripped and fell on the way, and even forgot to take off his hat as he ran toward the Gryffindor table.
Ethan Jones was both amused and exasperated; Neville was far too forgetful.
When it was Harry Potter's turn, the entire room fell silent, and everyone's eyes were on him, eager to know where he would be assigned.
It was a long, long time before the Sorting Hat finally called out the name Gryffindor.
There weren't many people left. Ethan Jones looked around and saw that there were only four people left.
"Ethan Jones!"
When it was finally his turn, he got nervous, took a deep breath, and walked forward.
"What's his name? Ethan? Nice name, handsome boy!" Some older girls whispered teasingly, which made Hermione very unhappy. She felt like her beloved toy was about to be taken away.
Ethan Jones didn't care about anything else at that moment. He stepped forward, picked up the dirty Sorting Hat that he despised, and put it on his head.