Sword and Magic and Taxi

Hurry up, hurry up, new classmates are coming today! Barbara dragged her good friend Suzy Quill, who is also a Ravenclaw, and ran quickly into the auditorium. The place has been newly decorated, and the long tables in the four colleges are filled with flowers, golden plates and goblets. Now the cups and plates are empty, but when the party begins they will pop with food and drink.

Countless lit candles floated in the sky above the hall, lighting up the place brightly. The flags of the four houses are hung on the walls on both sides. The champion house last semester was Slytherin, so Slytherin's green serpentine flag is decorated with a golden wreath on the edge.

The senior students sat near the door, leaving the table at the other end close to the rostrum free. There will be a place for new students, which will also represent new family members for each college. On the rostrum, the principal, professors, teachers and staff sat respectively, looking at the students with smiles. In front of them stood a tall pedestal, on which stood a greasy, tattered pointed hat. This is the famous Sorting Hat, a treasure left by Gryffindor, one of the founders of Hogwarts. This is a wise hat that can judge a person's character and potential and then assign them to one of four houses.

The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

Newly admitted students have to take a boat from the big lake outside Hogwarts Castle, climb the steps, enter the hall, put on the sorting hat, enter a certain house, receive a warm welcome, and then eat. This has been done every year in the past. But there is something different this year. There are two more tables on both sides of the rostrum, and the tutoring students who have passed the exam sit here. They will also participate in the sorting ceremony, but they will not need to take the boat.

Barbara, why are you running to the front? There will be new students here, and it will be noisy. Susie was out of breath running all the way, and her fair face turned crimson, looking very playful and cute. She pulled Barbara to sit down, and reached out to help her friend straighten her rolled-up collar. Why don't you pay attention to your image? Do you remember what happened when you were sorted?

Remember, remember, I spilled the syrup and turned your hair into sugar cubes. Barbara smiled and said: Hey, I'm not here to see the new students, but the tutors. You see that Do you have an oriental face, the one next to the big guy Hodor?

Who doesn't know that that's Mike Longhou, a prodigy who passed all the exams in less than four months, the first eighth grader in history. Susie stroked her chest to calm her breathing. He is indeed just like the rumors, he looks so weird!

It's time for you to exercise. You're out of breath after just running for so long. What if you are really in danger? Barbara looked at her good friend and felt that what Mike said was not wrong at all. Most wizards are too physically fit. Worse. After the experience of being in danger in the Forbidden Forest and being released from a balloon, she began to consciously strengthen her running exercises. In addition to better cardiopulmonary function, she found that her magic power had also increased. This unexpected joy made her begin to pay attention to every word he said, and even found a notebook to record Zhao Mai's words and deeds in the Forbidden Forest. Of course, she promised to keep it secret, so there was no name in the book, just him.

We haven't won the branch championship for eight consecutive years, and the last four years have been Slytherin. Don't you think it's a little boring? Barbara breathed softly into Susie's ear: As long as Mike joins us, we The college will definitely win!”

Ah? Is he that good? Susie gently pushed Barbara's face away so that she could turn her head to face her and talk: He is very good in the exam, but that doesn't mean he can do it for me. The house gets more points. Is he a good Quidditch player?

No, although the Quidditch player is very handsome, that's not his style. Barbara found that she couldn't share the story of what happened in the Forbidden Forest with others, otherwise it would be a violation of her oath. So she could only shake her head and say forcefully: Ah! I can't say, but in any case, he is very powerful!

Susie looked at Barbara suspiciously, then at Zhao Mai, and reached out to touch Barbara's forehead. You don't have a fever?

Of course, I'm very conscious. Barbara grabbed Susie and shook her back and forth vigorously and said, You have to believe me, the only possible way to win the branch championship is to let Mike come to our college!

Okay, I believe you. An eighth grader is always good. Susie said quickly, reaching out to hold her glasses that were about to fall off. As long as you study hard, is the branch champion that important?

Of course, if I don't win a house championship in seven years at Hogwarts, I will be sad. Suzy, you won't make me sad, right? Barbara said confidently: So let us Let’s pray together and let the Sorting Hat sort Mike into Ravenclaw.”

While they were praying, the person involved, Zhao Mai, was unaware of it. He sat next to the nervous and excited Ado and closed his eyes. He didn't open his eyes until the first-year students lined up to enter the hall. After Principal Dippet gave a brief speech, Professor Dumbledore put on the sorting hat for each student, and then the wrinkled hat called out the name of the house and assigned the new students.

The colleges are not evenly distributed, but each college has a capacity cap. Hogwarts' dormitories and classrooms can accommodate up to one thousand students, but the current teachers and teaching resources can only maintain the maximum number of four hundred students. This is why not all tutoring students can stay, and some need to continue learning until Next year the next class of students will join the first grade.

Of course, there are also some tutoring students who will join the first grade this year. They joke with themselves and say that they are the last lucky ones. Following closely behind the eleven or twelve-year-old children, these people also started the sorting ceremony.

Some of them are already seventeen or eighteen years old, and some of the older ones are in their early twenties. They were tall and looked out of place among the children, which resulted in some laughter. Zhao Mai looked around, poked Ado with his elbow, and then started clapping rhythmically. Soon, all the tutors joined in, and the applause like drum beats overwhelmed the laughter. All tutoring students are a whole. No matter which college they are assigned to, they all share the time of studying together and will always bear the title of tutoring students.

The tallest of them all was Hodor, and Professor Dumbledore stood on tiptoes before throwing the Sorting Hat on his head. The hat hesitated for a moment, then suddenly shouted: Hodor! Er, I mean Hufflepuff!

Hodor. Amid applause, Hodor made his way to the Hufflepuff table. Hufflepuff is unknown among the four houses and looks the most ordinary, but in fact it provides the most pillars and bricks for the wizarding world.

Tolkien was assigned to Gryffindor, which satisfied him quite a bit. Tolkien said more than once that he wished he could enter Gryffindor, and that the brave lion—actually the griffin—was his favorite animal. Considering the British love for lions, this choice is understandable.