Amidst Hagrid's reminder, "No more than four people per boat!" Will, Sylvia, Hermione, and Neville sat in the same boat.
No matter how many times one had seen it in movies and books, it was never as real as experiencing it firsthand; the surroundings were pitch black, the Black Lake below reflected the stars above, and the majestic Hogwarts Castle was also mirrored in the lake, countless windows glowing, interweaving with the stars in the water.
This scene made Hogwarts appear exceptionally grand and mysterious.
Twenty minutes later, in front of the enormous oak doors, Hagrid handed the first-years over to Professor McGonagall, who was dressed in emerald robes and had a stern expression.
"Welcome to Hogwarts."
... The Sorting Ceremony was about to begin.
This made the surrounding young Wizards a bit nervous; Hermione had already started reciting things from her book, but soon, she turned her head and stared at Will: "Have you ever read a description of the Sorting Ceremony in a book?"
Sylvia and Neville also stared at him, pressing, "Yeah, you've clearly read a lot of books, haven't you seen it?"
The others pestered Will with questions. Will thought for a moment and said, "Alright, actually, we're going to have a battle in turns with the animals representing the four Houses, and finally, the Professor will determine which animal we resemble most, and we'll enter the corresponding House."
Will continued, "Although I don't know why, books these days no longer record these things, but it's described in detail in the 19th-century book 'Hogwarts: A Guide to Its Dangers.' You can look for that book later."
The surroundings fell silent... A few minutes later, the Sorting Ceremony began.
As everyone knows, Hogwarts has four Houses, namely Azkaban, Nurmengard... Ahem, as everyone knows, Hogwarts has four Houses, namely Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff; students are sorted into the four Houses by the Sorting Hat according to their characteristics.
Before this, the young Wizards had no idea how the sorting worked; it was a topic kept secret in the Wizarding world, not even mentioned in books, for example, "Hogwarts, A History" concealed the sorting process; however, Will believed that such a practice, to some extent, was full of interesting humanistic care.
Students began to line up, waiting for Professor McGonagall to call their names.
Hermione and Neville both sighed in relief, Neville even patted his chest and let out a big breath; while Sylvia, standing next to Will, glared fiercely at Will.
The surrounding young Wizards also stared at Will, either relieved or resentful.
"Hannah Abbott!"
Sure enough, Hogwarts flowed like water, but Hannah Abbott, the Iron-Hat King, was steadfast.
"Hufflepuff!"
"Terry Boot!"
"Ravenclaw!"
Will's surname was "Berens," and Hogwarts' list was sorted alphabetically by surname, so he was quite early.
"Will Berens!"
Will slowly walked towards the Sorting Hat.
He didn't notice that on the faculty table, Professor Flitwick was watching him; also watching was Dumbledore, with his full white beard.
Will somewhat reluctantly placed the dirty Sorting Hat on his head.
"Hmm, you think I'm not very clean?" The Sorting Hat's voice sounded in Will's ear.
"It's not that I think so, you really aren't clean."
"Dumbledore never cleans me, you know, I haven't had a cleaning service in many years."
Will felt his face twitch.
"Let's not talk about that, let's talk about your sorting, hmm, difficult, very difficult..." The Sorting Hat's tone seemed to be in deep thought.
"I think Hufflepuff is good." Will really wanted to interact with the badgers.
"Hufflepuff is certainly good, they are upright and loyal, tenacious and honest; oh, they are also quite tolerant, but you clearly don't belong to Hufflepuff."
"Are you rejecting a young Wizard's request?"
"Reject? Of course not, my job is to choose the most suitable House for you, to send you to the place that best matches your characteristics." The Sorting Hat's voice rustled, "Gryffindor created me to do just that."
"Child, you have talent, a lot of talent, you love knowledge, suitable for Ravenclaw; no no no, that's not right, you are pursuing knowledge, oh dear, you must be careful not to end up in Azkaban in the future, you Wizards who pursue knowledge are extremely dangerous; hmm, Slytherin is very suitable for you, your great career will begin there; oh, I'm a bit conflicted, Ravenclaw is very suitable for you; no no no, Slytherin is more suitable for you."
"Wait, I'm not going--" Will hadn't finished speaking when the Sorting Hat already shouted loudly.
"Slytherin!"
At the Slytherin long table, a sparse round of applause broke out.
This dirty, rigid hat!
"Are you cursing me?" The Sorting Hat, already halfway off Will's head, suddenly reacted, but Will ignored it and simply put it back in its place.
Will walked with a cold expression to the Slytherin long table, found a random seat, and quietly watched the Sorting Ceremony.
Among the people he knew, Hermione Granger was the first to be sorted, and as expected, she went to her longed-for Gryffindor; Neville was next, and surprisingly, this time the Sorting Hat stayed on Neville's head for several minutes.
Neville was almost "Hat-embarrassed," and Will guessed that the old hat was debating whether Neville should go to Gryffindor or Hufflepuff.
Neville was indeed exceptionally brave and upright and tenacious.
"Sylvia Lestrange!" Following Neville was Sylvia, and in just over ten seconds, the Sorting Hat shouted out.
"Slytherin!"
Sylvia came to the Slytherin long table, raised an eyebrow at Will, and finally sat next to Will, her expression as if to say, "How did a Ravenclaw-in-training end up in Slytherin?"
Will spread his hands, his expression somewhat helpless.
However, as the sorting ended and all sorts of delicacies appeared on the tables, Will began to enjoy the various foods; his gaze swept across the faculty table, the greatest Wizard of the century, with white hair and beard, a kind smile on his face, chatting happily with the Professors beside him.
The petite Professor Flitwick also happened to be looking at him, waving to him as a greeting, and Will waved back.
Professor McGonagall still had a stern expression, appearing very unapproachable.
Snape looked like a half-dead, gloomy, and terrifying old bat, his eyes occasionally sweeping over the Gryffindor long table.
Professor Sprout, with her gray curly hair, appeared very amiable, and she was also the Dean with the least presence, not to say she was inferior to the other Deans, but simply that the other Deans were too memorable.
Will's gaze continued to sweep across the faculty table; the turbaned eccentric Professor Quirrell, the Keeper of the Forbidden Forest Hagrid... In the coming years, Will would spend time with these teachers; of course, except for the one course with a Professor who changed every year.
And just as Will had buried his head to eat, the Professors at the faculty table also mentioned him.
"Professor Snape, Professor Snape."
"Hmm?" Called twice, Snape withdrew his gaze from the Gryffindor long table and looked at Professor Flitwick in confusion, not knowing what he wanted to say.
"I hope you can pay more attention to that boy named Will Berens." Professor Flitwick pointed at Will, "That boy right there."
"Will Berens?" Snape was slightly taken aback, not knowing what he meant. Could this boy be related to Professor Flitwick?
Seeing Snape's puzzled expression, Flitwick explained, "I hope you can pay more attention to him. This boy comes from a Muggle family, yet a few years ago, without any guidance, he found Diagon Alley himself and bought books to learn magic... Oh, don't look at me like that, this boy has no parental supervision, you know, for a child who knows nothing, the Wizarding world has too many dangers and temptations. He has already read a large number of books and even learned quite a bit of magic without supervision; I even thought the information was wrong at the time, I haven't seen any Muggle-born child enter the Wizarding world like this in all these years; I think, if there's no proper guidance, this child might go astray."
After Professor Flitwick's speech, all the Professors understood, and even Dumbledore turned his head, the smile he had worn all evening somewhat receding.
"With this boy's courage, why didn't he get into Gryffindor?" Professor McGonagall took a sip of eggnog.
"Not only that, his home is piled with hundreds of books. For a child at this age to explore knowledge so much, it's also very surprising to me that he didn't get into Ravenclaw." Professor Flitwick's tone carried some regret, "Professor Dumbledore, you don't know, he already has a certain understanding of Spells, and is delving deeper."
The smile on Dumbledore's face almost disappeared. He stared at the boy who was cutting his steak, and mused, "A thirst for knowledge... an orphan, then?"