13 Banquet
"It's difficult, very difficult!"
A sharp voice sounded in Jon's ear:
"I can see that you have a lot of courage, a good heart, and decent talent..."
"I want to go to Hufflepuff!" Jon silently said in his mind.
"What?" The Sorting Hat's sharp voice seemed somewhat incredulous.
"I want to go to Hufflepuff!"
"No doubt, you meet all the requirements to be a Hufflepuff student, but I don't think that's a very good choice..."
"I want to go to Hufflepuff!"
"Have you made up your mind? If you go to Gryffindor, it undoubtedly will lead you to glory..."
"I want to go to Hufflepuff!"
"Don't you have any other thoughts?" The Sorting Hat growled impatiently.
"I want to go to Hufflepuff!"
When Jon repeated this sentence for the sixth time, the Sorting Hat couldn't take it anymore. It wanted to shout out that name to the entire Great Hall:
"Hufflepuff!"
The crowd at the table on his right began clapping and cheering, and Fat Friar waved at him.
But at the farthest table on the right, for some reason, Astoria let out a faint sigh upon hearing that voice.
Jon breathed a sigh of relief. He wouldn't have to go to Gryffindor and anxiously accompany those main characters.
"To be honest, you're the second student in this century to actively request Hufflepuff!" The Sorting Hat's voice echoed in Jon's ear again.
"Oh, who was the first?"
"Newt Scamander. I hope you'll be as outstanding as him!" The Sorting Hat offered its good wishes. "Mr. Scamander was expelled from Hogwarts in his fifth year..."
Before Jon could continue the conversation with the Sorting Hat, Professor McGonagall approached and rudely pulled the hat off his head.
"Luna Lovegood!" Professor McGonagall shouted loudly.
The strange girl who had been rowing the boat with Jon hurriedly ran over.
Jon had now reached the table near his right side, and a tall boy walked over. "Welcome to Hufflepuff, Jon... I'm Gabriel Truman, the prefect for Hufflepuff!"
"Hello, Gabriel!"
"Come, Jon, sit here!"
A rosy-cheeked girl with two braided golden locks pulled Jon to the seat in front of her.
The Sorting Ceremony continued.
Luna Lovegood was sorted into Ravenclaw... Steven Lucas, like Jon, became a Hufflepuff first-year...
Applause rang out in the Great Hall again and again as one new member after another joined each of the Houses.
The last two, Ginny Weasley went to Gryffindor, and Madelina Yaxley ended up in Slytherin.
The Sorting Ceremony came to an end.
Professor McGonagall picked up the Sorting Hat, ready to put it away... The doors of the Great Hall opened, and Professor Snape and Professor Flitwick returned together. Daphne Greengrass followed behind them, with her head down and tears on her face.
Professor Snape ordered his students back to the Slytherin table while he leaned over to whisper something to Professor McGonagall.
At this moment, Professor McGonagall seemed to have a complex expression on her face. She didn't even have time to put away the Sorting Hat before hastily following Professor Snape out of the hall.
Professor Flitwick walked to the top of the dais and said something to Dumbledore in a low voice.
Dumbledore's face suddenly changed, and he quickly left the hall, not even having time to say his classic catchphrase "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"
Neither the headmaster nor the deputy headmaster was present, and in the end, it was the Head of Ravenclaw, Professor Flitwick, who stood on Dumbledore's platter, welcoming the new students to the campus, introducing the new Dark Arts Defense Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, and reminding everyone not to enter the Forbidden Forest and to check the Quidditch player's schedules.
...
...
The feast began!
"Do you want some steak?" The girl with two golden braids warmly recommended to Jon: "The steak at Hogwarts is great!"
"Thank you..." Jon quickly cut a piece of steak, "By the way, I don't know your name yet!"
"Hannah, Hannah Abbott... I'm a second-year student!"
"Wow!" Jon put down his knife and fork solemnly and shook hands with Hannah, "It's an honor to meet you, Hannah, oh no, Miss Abbott!"
Hannah rambled on about Hogwarts, such as the fact that the school was very safe, Dumbledore was the most powerful wizard in the world, the students at Hufflepuff were very united, and Professor Pomona Sprout was very good to them. She also mentioned that they should not wander around the school at night, as last year three idiots from Gryffindor were caught wandering and cost them 150 points...
"By the way, do you know Harry Potter?" Hannah suddenly said mysteriously.
"Harry Potter, the boy who lived?" Jon still cooperated by looking surprised.
"Yes!" Hannah was very satisfied with Jon's reaction and said proudly, "Harry Potter is our classmate, he is in Gryffindor... my grandfather always wanted me to go to Gryffindor. He graduated from Gryffindor, but unfortunately, the Sorting Hat thought I wasn't courageous enough..."
As she spoke, Hannah's tone became somewhat disappointed. She began to look at the Gryffindor table, looking for Harry's whereabouts and pointing it out to Jon.
Unfortunately, Hannah did not know that Harry Potter was now in Professor McGonagall's office with Ron Weasley, having just caused a big trouble. McGonagall, Dumbledore, and even Snape had rushed over to clean up their mess.
"By the way, there's something you might not know about Hogwarts..." After searching for a while with no success, Hannah continued, "Towards the end of last semester, Harry once again successfully thwarted a plot by a mysterious person. Professor Dumbledore specially awarded Harry and his companions 160 points, helping Gryffindor snatch the House Cup from Slytherin!"
"Wow..." Jon nodded repeatedly.
It was the first time Jon learned that the legendary Hannah Abbott was actually a little fangirl of Harry's.
However, he didn't find the House Cup impressive. It was the kind of trophy that was predetermined a year in advance, with Dumbledore adding or deducting points based on how many were needed at the end of the semester. How could others enjoy it?
"By the way, how long has it been since Hufflepuff won the House Cup?" Jon curiously asked.
"Well..." Hannah seemed a bit uneasy.
"Seventy-nine years!" A tall and handsome boy turned around and said seriously, "The last time Hufflepuff won the House Cup was in 1913!"
"Uh..." That time was even longer than Jon had imagined.
In that moment, Jon suddenly had the idea of helping Hufflepuff win the House Cup... But the difficulty of that idea surpassed even the unrealistic notion of defeating Voldemort in a hand-to-hand battle, so he quickly dismissed it.
"Jon Hart, right? I remembered your name during the Sorting Ceremony!" The handsome boy smiled and said, "I'm Cedric, Cedric Diggory!"
"Cedric is the captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team... the only fourth-year to hold that position this century!" Hannah, who was behind them, had an expression of admiration and whispered, "He's always been at the top of the fourth-year rankings."
It seemed Jon had misjudged Hannah. She wasn't just a fangirl of the chosen one, Harry.
"Hello, Cedric!" Jon smiled and shook hands with Cedric.
They exchanged a few more words, and the dinner gradually came to an end... Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape had also returned!
Dumbledore introduced Gilderoy Lockhart once again and then directed everyone to sing the school song:
Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald,
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling,
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.
