The scenery outside the window began to darken. The train slowed down and finally stopped at the platform.
"Freshmen, come here. Watch your step." A large figure was maintaining order in the crowd as he led the freshmen onto the ship. To imitate the arrival of the four great wizards at Hogwarts, all the freshmen had to cross the lake in groups of four to reach Hogwarts Castle. As for the other years, they had to take a carriage back to the castle.
"Goodbye." Luna waved goodbye to Malfoy.
"It's best if we never meet again." Malfoy muttered and waved goodbye to her politely. Of course, that was impossible.
Following the flow of people, Malfoy found a carriage and boarded it.
When the carriage was filled with students, it began to move slowly and then gradually accelerated. Even if it was the effect of magic, some of the students still clicked their tongues in amazement and began to discuss the theory behind it and what kind of magic was used.
"If that little girl saw it, she probably wouldn't think so." Malfoy thought of the girl he had just broken up with. She must have seen Ye Qi pulling the carriage. "Actually, she's quite pitiful." When he thought of this, Malfoy felt that the "torture" he suffered during the entire journey was nothing.
The students passed through the gate and walked towards the hall. Other than the freshmen, almost all of them were present.
Countless candles stopped in mid-air and lit up the four long tables that were filled with people. The golden plates and goblets shone brightly.
The ceiling was filled with dazzling stars. The ceiling was enchanted so that it could always reflect the sky outside.
Malfoy fiddled with the food in his bowl and looked around in boredom. He saw that Hermione was also looking around with an anxious look on her face. She was obviously worried about Harry and Ron because they were too late.
"The French people are too hospitable. They don't want their guests to leave." Malfoy thought of Pansy who was trapped in France. He was also late, but someone could make a big scene.
The door on one side of the auditorium slowly opened, and the freshmen slowly walked in in a long line. Most of them were very nervous. For example, Jenny, whom Luke had met once before, was ghastly pale. She kept looking around, as if she wanted to find something to rely on.
"Your idol and brother should be being lectured by Snape right now." Malfoy thought to himself.
As for Luna, she seemed to be in her own home. Although she was also observing the surroundings, Malfoy could see that her eyes were filled with curiosity. He guessed that she was looking for the creatures that were created by her imagination. The two looked at each other, and Luna even took the initiative to wave at him.
Professor Mag called the freshmen forward one by one. It had to be said that after a year, the sorting hat had become even more tattered. There were even a few huge puddings on it, and it was almost unrecognizable from its original appearance.
"Colin Creevey," Professor McGonagall shouted.
A skinny boy walked to the front of the stage shakily and slowly put on the sorting hat. Without much effort, he called out, "Gryffindor!" The boy was so excited that his face turned red. Unlike his nervousness when he was on the stage, he skipped towards Gryffindor's territory happily. However, his excited expression soon dimmed because he did not see his "idol" around.
"Ginny Weasley."
Step by step, the little girl inched towards the old hat. She was like a prisoner waiting to be judged, pursing her lips tightly. Her little hand trembled as she picked up the hat and put it on, afraid that the hat would shout "Slytherin". However, it was obvious that her concern was unnecessary.
"I've never seen a Weasley go anywhere else, Gryffindor!" The moment Ginny put on the hat, the sorting hat called out. Ginny heaved a sigh of relief, and then walked towards Gryffindor's table happily. Her twin brothers also reached out their hands to her to welcome her.
"I told you that your worry was unnecessary, Ginny," the two brothers said in unison.
After that, a few more students came up to the stage. The sorting hat quickly assigned them to their schools. However, he soon received an unexpected guest.
"Luna Lovegood."
The girl was different from the previous nervous students. She had a faint smile on her face like a crescent moon. She did not seem to care about this ceremony that would determine her life for the next seven years. Before she put on the hat, she even took a good look at it, which made the sorting hat urge her to do it.
A few strands of light golden hair stuck out from the broken hat, making her look even weirder.
"Hmm, let me think." The sorting hat tilted up a corner as it pondered. The girl in front of it made it feel a little helpless because it did not know what she was thinking. Or rather, it could not keep up with her thoughts. "What a weird girl," the sorting hat concluded after a long silence. "Maybe Ravenclaw will suit you," it said hesitantly. This was the first time in many years.
"Extraordinary intelligence and wisdom are the greatest wealth of a human being." Luna took off the hat and repeated this sentence in a chanting tone. Then, she walked towards Ravenclaw's seat. A few students stood up to welcome her.
After settling the matters of the sorting of the students, the sorting ceremony officially ended.
"Close your ears and listen!" Malfoy changed the spell so that the target was himself. Some meaningless buzzing sounds were better than the Weasley twins singing all kinds of modified school songs. While the others were humming in all kinds of strange tones, he lowered his head and thought about how to spend the year.
"There are two possibilities now. First, the diary was taken by someone outside the school and then went missing. This means that there will always be a soul item that cannot be destroyed," Malfoy shook his head. "Of course, the possibility of this is very small. The biggest possibility is that it was taken by a student. After all, it was a bookstore." Malfoy thought of the ring that was abnormally powerful. It always spontaneously emitted a temptation to the people around it.
"Maybe the material is different?" Malfoy thought. When he took the diary, he did not feel anything special. There was also no voice calling in his ear.
"Could it be that I already have mental immunity?" Malfoy laughed self-deprecatingly.
Malfoy continued to think. "Then it's the second possibility. A student took it to the school, and the final owner could be any student. Even if a student was not present at the time, he could have obtained it through other means." Malfoy could not help but feel a headache.
The snake monster was easy to deal with. Any professor should be able to take it down. For example, Professor Mag only needed to activate some of the castle's soldiers and use the human wave tactic to kill it. This method could remove the firewood from under the cauldron, but it would also alert the enemy and increase the difficulty of finding the soul item. Besides, Malfoy could not be so stupid as to tell them directly, "Professor, there is a secret room under the girls' washroom. There is a snake monster inside." He would not be able to explain this in the first place.
"I can only take one step at a time," Malfoy thought helplessly. "But there are always ways to prevent it." He thought of his plan again.
Suddenly, he felt the table in front of him shaking violently. He looked up and saw a face that he couldn't be more familiar with. She was looking at him angrily. It seemed that she had called out to him many times.
"Welcome back," he said with a smile. He removed the spell and felt his head ache again.