Chapter Nine

In the amazement of nearly twenty first-years they arrived at the foot of the huge castle. The students climbed out one by one onto the stone ladder and saw Professor McGonagall standing there in a rather serious manner. The professor who just led them here whispered to Professor McGonagall for a while and left them in her charge.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. You will enter the room just behind me after a while, and you will be sorted into one of the School Houses there. Hogwarts has four Houses. They're Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin…. Now follow me please. The new term feast is waiting for you."

Virginia had been absent-minded when Professor McGonagall was talking, and so she skipped the parts when she was talking about honors and House points. She kept looking at the door behind Professor McGonagall as though there was something exciting happening behind the door. Then the door opened, and they walked in behind Professor McGonagall. It was slightly different from Virginia's imagination: the castle was still lit with thousands of candles, but she couldn't feel any warmness. She saw the ancient sorting hat sitting on the wooden tool and frowned a little. She had read in the books that the hat could judge a person by "looking into his or her heads", but she didn't reckon the hat could perform Legitimancy, and every individual is a complicated being. She couldn't understand how the hat could judge a person. From personality, emotion, or memory? She got slightly worried out of no reason and even forgot to look for familiar faces on the professor table. She didn't even care about which House she will be in. The only worry that occupies his entire mind now is whether the hat will see something it shouldn't.

As other students' names are called, Virginia kept her mind busy thinking about her past. She waited silently for the calling of her name, as though waiting for the result of a crime investigation.

"Virginia Winchester!" Professor McGonagall called her name at last and nodded slightly.

She pretended to be calm and sat down on the wooden tool. "Aah! Another student!" A voice rang in her head, "My little girl, you seem to be brave, but only relatively…. And you're not that righteous, and loves not working, so Hufflepuff won't be your destination. And…. You seems to be rather shrewd and clever, so maybe Ravenclaw is most suitable for you… But let me see… Yeah, maybe… Yeah… Ravenclaw!" The hat shouted its decision out aloud, and Virginia took it off and went to the Ravenclaw House table under the applause of the students.

"Welcome to Ravenclaw!" A rather familiar voice came from opposite her. She looked up and saw Ollivia Hill. She is probably her most acquainted student at Hogwarts now. "Thanks, I'm glad I ended up here as well," she replied.

And then a man in a totally black set of robes stood up from the professor's tables and started his speech in his characteristically emotionless voice. The voice made Virginia chill, "Before the start of the feast, I'd like to introduce two new professors. On my left hand is Alecto Carrow, your Muggle Studies teacher this semester!" The woman knodded at the introduction and the applause had been rather sparse.

He continued, "On her left is her brother Amycus, who will take over the Defense of the Dark Arts post." Sparse applause rang again and diappeared quickly as before.

"And now, let the feast begin." There's no welcoming message, no benediction, no notices for first-year students, nothing at all. This is Professor Severus Snape, no, headmaster, no, representative headmaster. That cold voice made Virginia chill again. She shuddered a little but was quickly attracted to the large variety of food that appeared out of nowhere in front of her. Such rich food was enough to make the stomach of a ravenous girl full. Then she scrubbed her mouth and looked up at the professor's table.

She spotted Professor McGonagall, who sat next to the headmaster, and she began to notice Professor Snape, who clearly had hooked nose and thin pale face. Virginia suddenly felt sorry for him but quickly dispelled her sensation. It's not her business, she told herself repeatedly.

Severus Snape looked up at the Ravenclaw table at the instant Virginia lowered her head. He felt a student was just staring at him and was surprised to find a student daring to stare at him in this way, especially in such situation. He stared at the new students each for a while and looked away.

Virginia felt a bit cold. She now wished to be in the dormitory lying on her bed. Ollivia seemed to have noticed her uneasiness and asked worriedly, "Are you OK? The feast's gonna stop really soon." She smiled.

Just as she said, Representative Headmaster Severus Snape led the school to sing the school song and pronounced the ending of the feast. Then he glanced at the Gryffindor table and said in a loud voice, "Better not let me catch you wondering around at night after curfew, anyone!"

A fifth-year student led them through the doors and ladders and came up at the Ravenclaw common room. He pointed at the eagle-shaped loop at the door and said, "Our Ravenclaw differs from the other Houses in that we don't need specific order to open the door. You just need to answer the question raised by the eagle loop. But be careful, because there's no standard answer to each question, so please show your wisdom." Then he turned around, and the loop asked, "Could the past be altered?" The fifth-year student thought for a moment and replied, "Nobody could twice step into the same river." The door opened. All new students found themselves in a circular room. Dark blue carpet shows star-like pattern, which emits a sense of low-profiled luxury. Many books lie on the high bookshelves and looks ancient. If you look up, you'll see a high vault directly above, which, although not as vivid as that in the Great Hall, is nevertheless beautiful.

Comfortable chairs lie on the floor and desks that hold approximately ten people stands in the room. Virginia stared around at everything.

"I think you're all very tired now. On the stairs the boys' dormitories are on the left while the girls' are on the right. You can find your names written on the door."

Thanks God really! Virginia could help thinking. She lies on her soft bed and had no energy left even to take out her luggage. Maybe she could get up early tomorrow, she thought, and felt asleep almost instantaneously after that.