Chapter 285: New Term Sorting Ceremony
As Sean lightly waved his wand, everyone felt a strong hurricane sweep through the entrance hall, making everyone's hair and robes flutter noisily. Peeves in the middle of the hall was like duckweed in a storm under this hurricane, tumbling about, unable to stabilise himself, and all the water balloons he threw ended up hitting himself.
Seeing Peeves shouting loudly, Sean knew it was about enough. He waved his wand again, and Peeves was directly blown away by Sean, crashing into the wall and disappearing from the entrance hall.
The effortless control Sean demonstrated shocked all the watching students.
Professor McGonagall looked at Sean with obvious approval, nodding: "Excellent magic. I think this spell is worth five points to Slytherin."
Sean inclined his head respectfully. "Thank you, Professor McGonagall."
He was indeed very grateful.
If the situation were reversed with Snape present and Harry performing the magic, Snape would likely have deducted ten points from Gryffindor for "excessive force against a school poltergeist".
Having dealt with Peeves, everyone tidied up their appearance in the entrance hall.
Just then, Harry, standing not far from Sean, was once again approached by Colin.
"Hello, Harry."
"Colin, hello."
Harry spoke carefully, afraid Colin might cause some trouble again.
Ever since second year, when Harry had blown up Colin's camera and, following Sean's suggestion, given Colin a better camera and letter, Colin had become Harry's loyal follower, strictly following rules and never doing anything that would embarrass or upset Harry. Only one thing remained. Colin loved pestering Harry, just like now, which left Harry helpless. He could hardly wave his wand and blow up Colin himself, could he?
"Harry, guess what! My brother has started school too! Dennis is also entering Hogwarts this year, and I really hope he gets into Gryffindor!"
"Wonderful," Harry managed, forcing a smile.
You could see Harry was trying hard to make himself seem happy.
Seeing Harry's reaction, Colin became even more excited: "He's absolutely thrilled! Even more excited than I was in first year! Do you think... could you maybe wish him luck with the Sorting? That he gets into Gryffindor with us?"
"Er... yes, of course," Harry replied awkwardly. "I hope the Sorting goes well for him."
Their conversation ended there. Under Professor McGonagall's guidance, everyone entered the Great Hall and went to sit at their respective house tables.
Sean and his three friends sat in their usual spots.
At this moment, Andy looked at the professors at the staff table: "Looks like our Defence Against the Dark Arts professor hasn't arrived yet. I wonder who this year's Defence Against the Dark Arts professor will be. Someone competent like Lupin, or a fraud like Lockhart."
Hearing this, Sean raised an eyebrow slightly.
"I thought all Slytherins rejected Professor Lupin."
Andy smiled: "It's not so much rejection as dislike. But dislike aside, we should acknowledge his teaching ability. Last year's Defence Against the Dark Arts grades far exceeded the previous two years. That's actually proof. Acknowledging facts isn't shameful."
Looking at Andy, Sean also smiled.
Now in his sixth year, Andy had matured considerably since taking over the mental restoration potion business last year. He no longer viewed the world through purely student eyes.
It was worth mentioning that originally, Andy wasn't particularly valued in his family. After successfully gaining control of the potion business from Sean, Andy found himself less dependent on family resources yet more valued by them. His father had begun subtly favouring him, and there were even rumours within the family that he would be the next family head.
However, some things were just that strange.
When the family all favoured Andy, the now-grown Andy no longer valued his family's resources as much.
At its core, a family was simply individuals united for mutual support and protection.
Once an individual's prospects exceeded what family membership offered, leaving became logical. At that point, only emotion remained to maintain the relationship between individual and family. But if the bond between family and individual consisted only of interests without emotion, then when the individual had capability, they would choose to leave the family, because this maximised their interests. Otherwise, the family would inevitably dilute the interests that should belong to the individual.
Andy's current situation was exactly like this.
Both Sean and Blaise understood this clearly, but neither would say anything about it, because this was Andy's own matter. Sean and Blaise couldn't and shouldn't interfere. Even the closest friends needed to remain silent when facing certain matters. They neither needed to nor could interfere.
The four chatted and laughed while this year's new students gradually entered under Professor McGonagall's guidance.
Sean had never paid much attention to the Sorting ceremony before, but this year, with Daisy and Duke waiting to be sorted, he watched intently.
The surname Byrne meant they would be among the first to be sorted.
So they were both near the front.
Sean didn't wait long before Daisy's turn came.
The contrast between the siblings was immediately apparent. While Duke remained cautious about the whole process, Daisy approached it with complete ease.
When Professor McGonagall called her name, Daisy strode forward without hesitation and settled into the chair. The Sorting Hat had barely touched her head before declaring, "Gryffindor!"
The moment she heard "Gryffindor," Daisy turned to Sean with a disappointed pout, obviously wishing she could have joined him in Slytherin instead.
Catching her disappointed look, Sean clapped softly and gave her an encouraging thumbs up.
The simple gesture worked like magic. Daisy's face lit up with a bright smile, her Slytherin disappointment suddenly seeming much less important.
If Daisy's sorting was swift and decisive, Duke's was somewhat drawn out.
The Sorting Hat perched silently on Duke's head, its brim furrowing in apparent concentration. Minutes passed as the Hat clearly engaged in internal debate, struggling to determine Duke's proper placement.