Chapter 6
Chapter 6
As soon as that awful song ended, the entire room unanimously applauded. The hat bowed appreciatively, to the best of her ability, to all four tables. Her mouth disappeared, she fell silent and froze.
Relieved smiles spread across the faces of all the freshmen, for it turned out that all they had to do was put on the hat, and not take the test, as the red-haired twin brothers had said before.
At that moment, Professor McGonagall stepped forward, holding a long scroll of parchment.
- When I call your name, you will put on your hat and sit on the stool. - She said in her stern voice.
- Let's begin. Agnes Monkley!
A girl with red pigtails and a face pink with embarrassment or fright stumbled out of the line, stumbled to the stool, picked up her hat and sat down. The hat was apparently very large, for once it was on Agnes's head it covered not only her forehead but also her eyes. And a moment later...
- SLIZERIN! - shouted the hat loudly.
Those seated at the extreme right-hand table broke into applause. Agnes got up, went to that table, and seated herself at the vacant seat.
- Alicia Spinnet! - another girl came out of the crowd and repeated Agnes' actions.
- GRIFFINDOR! - the hat shouted again, and the girl hurried to her table.
- Angelina Johnson!
- GRIFFINDOR!
- Jeffrey Hooper!
- GRIFFINDOR!
- George Weasley!
- GRIFFINDOR!
- Draco Malfoy!" my name finally rang out.
Stepping out of the crowd with a calm stride, I made my way to a stool and put my hat on like everyone else.
- SLIZERIN! - came the voice of the hat at the same moment.
- Phew. - I sighed freely, having gotten to the right faculty, whose students were already applauding.
Quickly finding a free seat, I sat down and began to further observe the distribution.
- Kenneth Towler!
- GRIFFINDOR!
-Lee Jordan!
- GRIFFINDOR!
They continued naming and assigning freshmen for another five minutes. Until only Fred Weasley was left, who, like his twin brother, had gotten into Gryffindor.
- Hmm, quite a few freshmen this year. I counted seventeen. - said the guy sitting next to me to his friend.
- Don't tell me, there were four last year. - Albus Dumbledore rose from his chair and spread his arms wide. He had a beaming smile on his face. He looked as if nothing in the world could please him more than the students of his school sitting before him.
- Welcome! Welcome to Hogwarts! - he said.
- Before we begin the banquet, I'd like to say a few words: First, I am pleased to welcome you dear freshmen. From this day until the end of the school year, Hogwarts will be your home. So I hope that you will be able to quickly fit into our staff and make many wonderful friends. And secondly, I welcome everyone else, and I hope you've had a good rest over the summer and missed your friends and school! And now I declare the banquet open!
As soon as those words were out of his mouth, an incredible variety of dishes appeared on the table: roast beef, fried chicken, pork and lamb ribs, sausages, bacon and steaks, boiled and fried potatoes, puddings, meat gravy, various side dishes and sauces. There was so much food, and it looked so appetizing, that my stomach rumbled, reminding me that a snack would be nice.
Without further ado, I quickly piled a variety of dishes onto my plate and began to eat them quickly.
When everyone had eaten as much as they could eat, the plates suddenly emptied, becoming perfectly clean again and glistening so brightly in the candle flames as if there had been no food on them. But just a moment later they were filled with sweets. Ice cream of every imaginable kind, apple pies, fruit cakes, chocolate eclairs and jam doughnuts, sponge cakes, strawberries, jellies, rice puddings....
I quickly began to pile the goodies onto my plate while listening to the conversations of the people around me. Unfortunately, there was nothing interesting about them. Everyone was just bragging to each other about silly things. Like how they spent a lot of money on a new broom and stuff like that.
When everyone had had enough of dessert, the sweets disappeared from their plates, and Headmaster Dumbledore rose from his chair again, causing everyone to fall instantly silent.
- Ahem, ahem!" Dumbledore coughed a little and finally began his speech.
- Now that we've all had enough, I'd like to say a few more words. Before the semester begins, there are a few things you must learn. Freshmen must remember that all students are forbidden to enter the forest on the school grounds. Some upperclassmen, for their own good, should remember this as well.
- At the request of Mr. Filch, our school custodian, I remind you not to perform miracles during recess. And now for Quidditch practice, it starts in a week. Anyone who would like to play for their faculty teams should contact Madame Trick.
- And now, before we go to bed, let's sing our school anthem! - shouted Dumbledore.
This is when I noticed that all the teachers had incomprehensible smiles frozen on their faces.
Dumbledore shook his wand, as if chasing away a fly that had landed on the end of it. A long golden ribbon emerged from his wand and began to rise above the tables, then scattered into words hanging in the air.
- Everyone sings to their favorite tune! - Dumbledore announced.
- Well, here we go! - As soon as he said it, the whole hall erupted into cheers:
Hogwarts, Hogwarts, our beloved Hogwarts,
Teach us something.
Young and old, bald and shaggy,
Age is not important, it's the essence that counts.
Our heads are in the wind now
They're empty and dull and full of dead flies,
♪ But there's always room for knowledge ♪
So teach us something
If we forget something, you'll remind us,
¶ And if we don't know, you explain it to us ¶
Do your best, our beloved Hogwarts,
And we'll try not to let you down.
Everyone sang as they wished: quiet, loud, happy, sad, slow, fast. And of course, everyone finished singing at different times. And all this caused contradictory emotions in me, for some reason I felt ashamed of it.