Chapter 712: The Start of School - (2) |
"Are you satisfied with the surprise our new male and female student body presidents have brought us?" Snape asked softly, his tone as if someone had intruded into his private storage room and rearranged the familiar rows of potion bottles.
"I am indeed satisfied, Severus. I am glad to see such changes happening during my tenure," Professor McGonagall said cheerfully, then her expression turned peculiar as she looked at Felix, "But Felix—I must remind you, you have an important duty today, so don't act as if it's just another day."
Felix, who was discussing the progress of potion formula improvements with Slughorn, turned around, looking at her somewhat innocently.
"Sorting, Felix, sorting," Professor McGonagall reminded him.
"Oh, I almost forgot I'm hosting the Sorting Ceremony—thanks, Minerva." Felix stood up cheerfully, reached into thin air to grab a dirty old hat, shook it vigorously, then strode towards the entrance hall.
Waiting at the door for Hagrid to bring in the new students, he ran into Firenze.
"Hello, Firenze," he said to the centaur, aware of the effort Firenze had put into persuading centaurs to join the Pan-Magic Alliance.
"Ah, I hadn't planned on showing up," the centaur said gloomily, "I can't stomach human food."
"Don't worry, the house-elves have prepared fresh vegetables, all natural," Felix assured him. He watched as the centaur entered, Firenze's tail swishing back and forth, whether from irritation or nervousness, and a few minutes later, he heard heavy footsteps.
"Is everything alright, Hagrid?"
Hagrid paused, clearly having forgotten about the night's Sorting Ceremony host just like Felix had. "Oh...all good..." He turned to shout back at the new students, "No pushing, line up and come in one by one! Felix, I've brought you the new students, not one missing," he said to Felix.
"By the way, I've placed the little house by the edge of the Forbidden Forest, little Grawp's quite happy about it."
Hagrid was referring to Grawp's temporary residence for Bill and Fleur's wedding. After the wedding, Felix turned it back into a painting, which Hagrid took back with him.
"That's good," Felix blinked and said.
After Hagrid left, he led the first-year students to a separate room, where he introduced them to the sorting rules and the basics of the four houses. Under the soft white light of the magic lamps, their excitement and anticipation were clearly visible. Felix smiled warmly.
"Sir?" a new student asked with a tremulous voice, "Are you Felix Harp? I've read your name in the newspaper."
"You can call me Professor Harp," Felix said gently, "Even though you can't attend my classes yet, you can still call me that. As for your question, I think it's likely, as there hasn't been another Felix Harp appearing in the newspapers more than me recently. And your name?"
"Lock," the student hurriedly said, "Lock Irwin."
"…Oh, oh, alright, Mr. Irwin. You've caught me by surprise; your name happens to be the same as a friend of mine," Felix said, "I wish you to be sorted into the house you desire—what I mean is—have a happy time."
"There's still a bit of time before the sorting begins, you can get to know each other. If everything goes as expected, you'll be together for seven years."
As the new students sized each other up and introduced themselves, the hall's students were kept busy by the continuous arrival of new faces.
First, a centaur—"Hey, it's Firenze!" Ron shouted from the Ravenclaw table. A few minutes later, the castle's caretaker, Filch, led two people in, and all the students were stunned by the tall, thin old man in the lead, wearing a grey robe, with strands of metallic grey hair and beard, and glasses.
Only when he got closer did some students recognize him as the host of the Hog's Head Inn, thus overlooking the dignified, elegant, and serious witch in a dark green shawl behind him. But Harry would never miss her, as he, Neville, and Ron and Hermione standing at the next table all widened their eyes simultaneously.
"It's Auntie Emmeline Vance," Neville whispered.
Albus Dumbledore and Emmeline Vance picked a spot to sit, and the professors welcomed them. Albus chose to sit at the edge, expressionless, casually tapping a fork twice on the table, while the centaur Firenze beside him scratched the ground with his hooves irritably.
"Am I bothering you?" Albus
asked gruffly.
"No," Firenze replied politely but distantly, his keen nose detecting a faint scent of sheep's musk.
Then, the students below began to buzz with excitement. Many felt that if one had to choose a Transfiguration professor from among the three, they'd prefer the elegantly behaved witch—not many knew Albus's identity. They suspected they had seen wrong. But Harry knew more; Albus could not possibly teach Transfiguration, as it is a rigorous magical subject, and as far as he knew, Albus wasn't particularly good at academic subjects. Conversely, Emmeline Vance was a talented witch, a few years older than Sirius and Amelia, and like the Longbottoms, she survived two wars.
Felix led the new students into the hall and stopped in front of the professors' seats. He conjured a small stool and placed the Sorting Hat on it, then the hat began to sing. The older students were familiar with the routine, except—
"Why does the Sorting Hat sound so lackluster this year?" Ron muttered. Of course, he was just saying it, as the magically enchanted ceiling above showed mystical star trails—Firenze looked up in admiration—Felix pulled out a parchment and read the first name.
"Lock Irwin."
A new student stumbled out from the crowd, put on the Sorting Hat, and after a moment—
"Ravenclaw!" the hat shouted.
Applause thundered through the hall. The new student took off the hat, hesitated, and stepped down from the stool, Felix gently saying, "Pick any empty seat. Your house only affects your class schedule." So Irwin ran to the Slytherin table, where the house prefect, Draco Malfoy, stood up to shake his hand.
The sorting proceeded smoothly, with no surprises. When it ended, Professor McGonagall, as the headmistress, welcomed the students with a speech and briskly announced several new appointments for the year:
"Professor Emmeline Vance will be the Transfiguration professor... Professor Firenze, who has just returned from his travels and has done extensive research on stargazing and flame divination, will teach a branch of Divination for students who pass the O.W.L.s... And, this year's Ancient Runes classes will be held in Classroom Seven. Classroom Seven and the underground playground will also be reopened to students, managed by Mr. Albus Dumbledore..."
Professor McGonagall's stern gaze swept over the hall, then she smiled.
"Welcome back, everyone. In the current situation, I am very pleased to see everyone united, without distinction, which is our strongest weapon. That's all I have to say, let's start the meal."
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