Chapter 432: Hermione has a big lead (Edited)

Harry and Ron entered Hogwarts in the pouring rain as they talked about "something" Malfoy had mentioned and, after shaking the water off their bodies, were led into the Great Hall by Professor McGonagall.

In addition to the familiar professors, they saw Fish and Hermione sitting side by side at the long Gryffindor table.

"No wonder we didn't run into Hermione on the train..." said Harry enviously, "She must have come straight from Hogsmeade with Fish."

They had long known that Hermione had been spending the summer with Fish, but they hadn't thought that, even to come to school, Hermione wouldn't have to ride the Hogwarts Express.

Harry had no problem with the Hogwarts Express, of course, only now he was a fourth year and had lost the novelty of his first trip on the Hogwarts Express.

And it was rather boring to spend most of the day on a train to begin with, with the possibility of an annoying Malfoy and bad rain like today.

So it would have been nice to have waited at school as early as Fish did.

If Harry and the other boys are just envious of Hermione, then most girls are filled with jealousy when they look at Hermione.

The fact that Hermione and Fish had spent the summer together, and that she had somehow managed to become Fish's girlfriend, had been spread around the school on the train by students who had watched the Quidditch World Cup.

The little witches, who were already jealous of Hermione, now saw her and Fish sitting in the Great Hall early, and their jealousy flared even more; If eyes could kill, Hermione would have been dead long ago....

Unfortunately, there was no spell to do so, so Hermione not only sat comfortably next to Fish, but also provocatively took Fish's arm and leaned her whole body against him affectionately.

After a summer of kissing games with Fish, the girl was now quite saucy.

In fact, most of the girls who had seen Hermione and Fish's intimate relationship at the Quidditch World Cup, after a week's buffer, had accepted the fact that Fish had been "temporarily" stolen by Hermione.

The rest of the girls, though disgruntled, were not going to make a scene at the ceremony, and even if they had any other ideas, they would have to wait until afterwards, so after the initial fuss, the girls didn't do much more than look at Hermione.

The Gryffindor boys gave Hermione a thumbs up salute as they took their seats, while the girls ignored her gaze and continued to sit around the cat.

They sat, waved to each other and chatted, while drying off from the rain.

Just as everyone was getting tired of waiting, Professor McGonagall, who had returned, came in with the new first-years.

Harry and the other older students were soaked to the bone, but they were nothing compared to the new first years. They looked fresh out of the water, as if they had swum in the lake instead of the boats.

The new students shivering with cold and nervousness, except for the youngest boy.

He had grayish brown hair and was wrapped in Hagrid's moleskin coat. It was so big on him that it looked as if he had been buried in a black blanket, and only one head was poking out.

He stood in line with his terrified classmates, excitedly glancing back and forth across the long Gryffindor table, and soon crossed eyes with Harry's little fanboy, Colin Creevey.

The little boy gave two thumbs up and articulated, "I fell in the lake!" He looked like he was very happy about this.

Harry guessed that the boy would be Dennis Creevey, the brother Colin had mentioned earlier.

He must be a Gryffindor.

Harry thought so.

At that moment, Professor McGonagall, as in previous years, placed the Sorting Hat on the stool in front of the new students, and the Great Hall was silent for a moment as the older students stopped talking and waited for the new Sorting Hat song of the year.

The first-year students didn't know what was going to happen, they could only stare at the worn pointed hat on the stool.

An indentation near the rim opened like a mouth, and the Sorting Hat began its annual song.

After the song ended, everyone gave the Sorting Hat a warm round of applause, and then Professor McGonagall held out the large scroll of parchment in her hand.

"Whoever's name is called will put the hat on their head and sit on the stool," she said to the first years, "And when the Hat announces the House, go and sit at the appropriate table... Stuart Ackley!"

When the sorting ceremony began, everyone looked up and, each time a student was sorted into their House, they were greeted with much welcoming applause.

Of course, there were exceptions.

Fish's table, as in previous years, had early on a large spread of food, and Fish took a knife and fork and ate gracefully and quickly, occasionally forking a piece of food and handing it to Hermione at his side.

"Hermione, ah~"

(●ΦΦ●)つΨ

It was something he had learned from television, where men and women did it, and Hermione had always consented.

Fish's affectionate gesture toward Hermione made the girls around his stare.

"Fish, can I have a piece?" one girl tried to ask.

"Yes," Fish said, politely approaching a plate, "Help yourself, don't be shy!".

The girl pursed her lips, the value of food that wasn't handed out by Fish diminished considerably, but she was too embarrassed to ask Fish to feed her, so she merely picked a piece from the plate and dropped it into her mouth, as she looked at Hermione, who giggled dumbly, considered the food in her mouth the other part and began to chew viciously.

At the sight of her failed attempt, the little witches around her groaned, the cat's distinction was so obvious that they all sensed that it would be very difficult to pry Fish from Hermione's hands.

By the time Fish had finished the meal in front of his and the Sorting Ceremony was over, Professor McGonagall picked up the stool, the Sorting Hat and the parchment and exited the Great Hall with them.

As she re-entered the Great Hall and took a seat at the long teachers' table, Dumbledore stood up.

He swept the crowd with a smile, then narrowed his eyes in Fish's direction before opening his arms in a gesture of welcome.

"I have only two words for you," he said, his thick voice echoing through the auditorium, "Eat!"

The plate in front of Fish, which was already almost empty of food, was filled with food again, as were the golden plates that had been empty on the table.

Everyone clapped their hands, picked up their silverware and reached for their favorite food, tasting it with great delight.

Fish hadn't had enough before, so he kept eating, only this time Hermione had food in front of her, and the two of them fed each other, much to the chagrin of the little witches nearby.

Even the boys had a grumpy look on their faces, they looked away and didn't bother to watch these two show their affection.

"Burp!"

Harry was about to stuff a piece of steak into his mouth when he saw the scene and unconsciously burped....

Obviously, his stomach was still roaring with hunger.

He also wanted to feed each other and Cho Chang....

A depressed Harry glanced over at the long Ravenclaw table and found Cho Chang looking at Hermione enviously, and became even more depressed.