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Chapter 564: Returning to School and the New Term
Chapter 564: Returning to School and the New Term
Harry opened his mouth to argue, thinking that Sirius Black wouldn't be taken down by a mere Curse. But then he remembered what had happened to Quirrell and Lockhart in their first and second years, and Lupin's mysterious resignation at the end of the third year, so he closed his mouth again.
By the time he had reconsidered, the Sorting Ceremony had already begun. Professor McGonagall led a long line of first-year students to the top of the Great Hall, placed a three-legged stool on the ground in front of them, and set a tattered, dirty, and patched Sorting Hat on the stool.
The first-year students stared at the peculiar hat, and everyone else in the hall turned to look at it as well.
For a moment, the Great Hall was completely silent.
Then, a crack near the brim of the hat opened like a mouth, and the hat began to sing:
"A thousand years ago, I was newly woven,
By four great Wizards, whose names are well known:
Brave Gryffindor, from the wild moor,
Beautiful Ravenclaw, from the tranquil river,
Kind Hufflepuff, from the open valley,
Cunning Slytherin, from the muddy swamp."
The Sorting Hat's peculiar song echoed throughout the Great Hall.
When the hat sang, "The four founders imbued me with their thoughts, and now I shall select and judge!" Ivan's mind stirred.
According to Nicolas Flamel, infusing one's thoughts and will into a magic item was a highly advanced alchemy technique, which was also the current bottleneck in his alchemy studies.
While Ivan was lost in thought, the Sorting Hat finished its song, and the Great Hall erupted into applause.
Professor McGonagall unrolled a large parchment and began calling out names. The first-years who were called stepped forward, put on the Sorting Hat, and sat on the stool, waiting for the hat to make its decision.
Ivan glanced a few times but then looked away, regretting that he wasn't a first-year and couldn't get close to the Sorting Hat. Otherwise, he could have used the System's appraisal function to examine the hat's true nature.
Harry, on the other hand, wasn't as relaxed as Ivan. He was being constantly pestered by his first-year fan, Colin, who kept asking him questions. Despite his impatience, Harry managed to give a few half-hearted responses.
About ten minutes later, with the sorting of Kevin Whitby into Hufflepuff, the Sorting Ceremony finally concluded. Professor McGonagall gathered up the Sorting Hat and the stool and carried them away.
At the teachers' table, Professor Dumbledore slowly stood up. He smiled warmly at all the students, opened his arms in a welcoming gesture, and said in a deep, resonant voice, waving his wand in the air:
"I have only two words for you."
"Eat!"
As Dumbledore spoke, the empty plates on the long tables magically filled with a variety of delicious foods.
"Finally, it's time to eat!" Ron hastily grabbed a spoon, scooped up a mouthful of mashed potatoes, and stuffed it into his mouth. After sitting on the train for the whole afternoon, his stomach was growling with hunger.
Ivan also set aside his complicated thoughts and focused on enjoying the feast, savoring a juicy piece of steak.
Nearly Headless Nick floated around them, watching them eat with envy. As a ghost, he couldn't partake in human food, so he could only watch.
"You guys are lucky tonight. The feast almost didn't happen," Nearly Headless Nick said with a tinge of bitterness.
"What happened? What went wrong?" Ivan glanced at the ghost, swallowed his steak, and asked.
"Earlier, there was a commotion in the Kitchen. Peeves was causing trouble again, arguing about the same old thing. You know, Peeves always wants to join the feast!"
Nearly Headless Nick shook his head and sighed. His loosely attached neck looked precarious, and it almost dislodged his head, making Ivan and the others quite worried.
Fortunately, his head didn't fall off, and after a pause, Nearly Headless Nick continued.
"You should know what Peeves is like. He has no manners at all and throws food around whenever he sees it. We held a ghost meeting to discuss this matter. The Fat Friar suggested giving him another chance, but the Baron strongly disagreed. I think his decision was very wise."
"No wonder Peeves was causing a ruckus at the door," Ron muttered. Normally, Peeves wouldn't dare to block the entrance to the Great Hall at the start of the school year and play tricks on them.
"What happened next, Nick? What did Peeves do in the Kitchen?" Harry asked curiously.
"The same old thing," Nick shrugged. "He caused a lot of chaos. He threw pots and pans everywhere, and the entire Kitchen was flooded with soup. The poor House-Elves were terrified. They all worked together to drive Peeves away and had to start preparing Dinner all over again. We almost missed the feast today!"
"That's terrible! Thank goodness Peeves was driven out," Ron said in relief. If Peeves had succeeded, everyone would have gone hungry all night!
Clang
Hermione, listening to Nick and Ron's conversation, accidentally knocked over the golden goblet in front of her. Pumpkin juice spilled onto the tablecloth, staining the white linen with a large patch of orange-yellow, but Hermione didn't even notice.
Harry and Ron looked at Hermione in surprise, and Ivan turned his head, remembering something and inwardly cursing.
"You said there are House-Elves here too?" Hermione, without looking at Ivan and the others, stared at Nick, her voice rising.
"Of course! Did you expect anything different?" Nearly Headless Nick looked at Hermione strangely, not understanding her strong reaction, but he replied honestly, his voice tinged with pride.
"There are more House-Elves here than in any other residence in Britain. Hogwarts has over a hundred House-Elves!"
"Why haven't I seen them before?" Hermione frowned. In previous years, she had only seen one House-Elf at Hogwarts—Dobby.
"Cough, cough." Before Nearly Headless Nick could respond, Ivan cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. He then explained.
"Hermione, House-Elves are the best 'helpers' for Wizards. They are excellent at household chores. With so many young Wizards at Hogwarts, we need some House-Elves around."
"Do they get paid? Do they have holidays?" Hermione didn't let Ivan off the hook and continued seriously. "What about sick leave and allowances? Do they have those?"
When she first met Dobby, Hermione hadn't realized the lowly status of House-Elves, thinking they were similar to butlers. But after meeting Winky and Kreacher over the summer, she understood that these poor little creatures lived lives even harder than slaves!
"Sick leave and allowances? Ha ha ha!" The floating ghost seemed to find this hilarious, nearly laughing until his head fell off. His ruffled collar tilted, and his head dangled by a few inches of dead skin and muscle, swaying in the air.
"They don't need that, Granger!" Nick steadied his head and fixed it back in place with his ruffled collar. "House-Elves don't need sick leave or allowances!"
"So they have nothing and must work their hearts out every day? Isn't that slave labor?" Hermione said indignantly, then turned to Ivan for more answers.
"What about Dobby?"
"Of course! Dobby gets paid every month," Ivan quickly nodded, interrupting Hermione. "I even gave him a holiday last year so he could rest for a few days!"
(End of Chapter)
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