Chapter 439 Banquet
That was more than a thousand years ago,
I have just been woven into shape,
There are four famous wizards,
Their names survive to this day:
Brave Gryffindor, from the barren swamp,
Beautiful Ravenclaw, from the peaceful riverside,
Merciful Hufflepuff, from the open valley,
The shrewd Slytherin comes from that quagmire.
They share a dream and a wish...
On the triangular stool, the dirty and patched Sorting Hat shook its brim, and a strange singing voice came from the crack like a mouth.
When the song ended, Principal Dumbledore's eyes flashed with tears, and the auditorium burst into warm applause.
Professor McGonagall unfolded a large roll of parchment and said to the first-year students: "Whoever's name I call will sit on the stool and put the hat on his head... When the hat announces the house, he will sit at the corresponding table. beside."
She cleared her throat: "Stuart Ackley!"
…
At the long Gryffindor table, Loren and the others faced the guest of honor and watched the sorting ceremony intently, but their ears were raised high to listen to the whispers behind them.
"Hello, Harry!"
Colin Creevey, who had already entered the third grade, touched the spot next to Harry at some point. His suppressed voice was filled with excitement: "Harry, guess what? Guess what, Harry? My brother is also enrolled in school. Yes! My brother Dennis!"
"Oh... great." Harry said dryly.
"He's so excited! I really hope he gets sorted into Gryffindor! Will you pray for him, Harry?"
"Uh... ok, ok."
"..."
Listening to the Boy Who Lived communicating with fans, Loren and Hermione next to them did not dare to say a word, silently weakening their sense of presence.
They quickly found Dennis, the smallest boy among the freshmen standing in a row.
While other freshmen were anxiously waiting for sorting, he was the only one looking around restlessly. He had gray-brown hair and was wrapped in Hagrid's moleskin coat. His little face stuck out from his collar, looking excited. Deadly.
When he met Colin's eyes, he gave two thumbs up and shouted: "I fell into the lake! I fell into the lake!"
"..."
Loren didn't have a third eye and couldn't predict, but he didn't have to guess. This Dennis Creevey would definitely be assigned to Gryffindor.
"Owen Caldwell!"
"Hufflepuff!"
"Dennis Creevey!"
"Gryffindor!"
Dennis Creevey's face glowed with joy. He took off his hat and slapped it on the stool. He couldn't wait to run towards his brother and shouted in a high voice: "Colin! I fell into the lake! It's so wonderful." ! Something in the water grabbed me and pushed me back into the boat!"
"That's probably a giant squid, Dennis, that's so cool!"
Colin hugged his brother and cheered for a long time: "Dennis Dennis! Do you see that boy? The one with black hair and glasses, do you see it? Do you know who he is, Dennis?"
Listening to Colin's eager introduction, the shoulders of the little wizards around him couldn't help shaking. Only Harry silently turned his eyes away and stared at the Sorting Hat with unprecedented concentration.
Loren turned around and asked softly: "Why don't you smile? Are you born not to laugh?"
The corners of Harry's mouth twitched and his face turned a little dark.
…
Cups and plates were interlaced, porcelain and silverware collided with each other, and the banquet was at its most wonderful moment.
Listening to the noise coming from the Gryffindor long table, Theodore Nott chuckled and nudged the person next to him with his elbow: "Draco, help me get the marmalade."
Draco glanced at him lazily, put down his knife and fork silently, and moved the marmalade beside him.
Theodore Nott didn't care about his indifference. He spread the marmalade on the bread slices slowly and asked in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "I'm sorry to ask, during the Quidditch World Cup." Are your family present?”
"Yes." Draco replied calmly, "The most luxurious tent in the middle of the camp belongs to the Malfoy family."
"Did anyone in your family participate in the parade?"
Theodore Nott paused for a moment, probably feeling that this question was really offensive, so he confided first, "My father participated in the parade, and he was just unpetrified from St. Mungo's a few days ago, because of the mark of the dark devil on his body. , paid a fine of five hundred galleons.”
"For your family, this money should be nothing."
"It's nothing now, but..." Theodore Nott pursed his lips together, looked at Draco, and suddenly changed the subject, "Have you heard about what happened in New York?"
"A werewolf or the International Confederation of Wizards?"
"It's the werewolf inferi." Theodore Nott put a small piece of steak into his mouth, chewing and sorting out the words, "The turmoil in Hogwarts in recent years, the chaos in Diagon Alley, the werewolves in New York Incidents, the Dark Mark of the World Cup...don’t you think it’s getting weirder and weirder in recent years?”
Draco looked at him with a strange look: "Do you believe Dumbledore's warning?"
"I don't know..." Theodore Nott shook his head, "But I know if this continues, it might not just be a matter of five hundred galleons."
He looked directly at Draco: "So I want to know if anyone in your family participated in the parade."
Draco didn't understand why he was obsessed with this topic, but he still replied: "No, we will leave after the game."
Theodore Nott suddenly laughed: "We can be friends, right, Draco?"
"friend?"
"Friends like you and Loren Morgan."
Boom!
Forked lightning split the black and purple clouds, and thunder exploded simultaneously inside and outside the castle, instantly silencing the auditorium.
The door of the auditorium was slammed open, and a man on crutches walked in. His gray hair fell on his black traveling cloak. With every step he took, a hollow voice echoed in the auditorium.
The little wizards who saw his face clearly took a breath. Every inch of the skin on his face was scarred, his mouth was like a big crooked hole, his nose seemed to have been cut open, and the place where the bulge should have been disappeared. , and what’s even more frightening is that one of his eyes is normal, but the other is a bright blue ball protruding out, moving up, down, left, and right.
The lame man spoke a few words to Dumbledore and then sat down. He shook his head and shook his long gray hair away from his face. Then he pulled a plate of sausages, raised it to his incomplete nose and smelled it. He took a knife from his pocket, poked the sausage and ate it.
His normal eye was focused on the sausage, but his blue eye was still moving around in its socket, looking at the auditorium and his classmates.
Every little wizard who was stared at by that eye felt a sense of fear in his heart.
"Mad-Eye Moody," Hermione whispered under her breath.
Dumbledore stood up and said in a cheerful tone: "Please allow me to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher - Professor Moody!"
"..."
Only Dumbledore and Hagrid gave sporadic applause. The little wizards were all attracted by Moody's strange appearance. They were frightened and curious. They stared at him intently, and quickly lowered their heads when the eye glanced at him.
Dumbledore was not surprised and looked at everyone with a smile:
“Now that we are all fed and drunk, I must again ask for your attention that I have a few announcements to make.
"Mr. Filch, the administrator, would like me to tell you that this year, several more items are prohibited in the castle...
"I would also like to inform you with great regret that the House Cup Quidditch Tournament will not be held this year. A large-scale event will begin in October and continue throughout the school year, taking up a lot of teachers' time and energy, but I believe that You'll all have a lot of fun doing it.
"I am very pleased to announce that the Quad Tournament will be held at Hogwarts this year!"