The Silent Witch of Hogwarts

Chapter 48: The Auditorium

The tranquil moon cast a soft glow on the spire of Hogwarts, while the dim lights shimmered through the glass of the Great Hall under the starry sky.

Today is the first day of school at Hogwarts, and the Great Hall was bustling with activity early in the morning. Every student was happily chatting with their friends, telling them about the great adventures they had had during the summer vacation.

Even the professors were mostly chatting and laughing, creating a lively atmosphere under the floating candlelight.

Of course, this excitement did not belong to Miss Loila Hamilton.

She was sitting in the corner of the professor's desk, huddled up, as if afraid of being noticed by any student.

"You can add a signal to the magic circle to make a separate connection, or you can leave it unconnected..." Under the mask, Loila was reciting her favorite magic circle theory to relieve her stress.

"Miss Hamilton, are you settling in well?"

"Ah!" Loila shuddered and let out a soft cry when she was suddenly greeted by the person next to her.

She raised her head slightly and noticed that Dumbledore was standing beside her.

"Dumbledore... Dumbledore..." she said, pursing her lips. "He's... alright."

"That's good." Dumbledore smiled and nodded. He seemed to have his own things to do, and after greeting Loyra, he began to talk to the other professors.

The students in the audience lowered their voices slightly upon seeing Dumbledore, showing that they respected the headmaster of Hogwarts.

Then… Loira also noticed that everyone's eyes were mostly focused on the young man with the magnificent blond hair, Mr. Lockhart…

As a renowned wizard and adventurer, he seems to have many fans among the students.

They cast eager glances at Mr. Lockhart, who returned their gazes with smiles.

I don't know how Mr. Lockhart managed to... face so many people's eyes at once without fainting.

If it were me, I would have already been lost in thought... In fact, I should be considered lost in thought right now?

But where is Professor Snape? Loila glanced around the Hogwarts professors' seats and was surprised not to see any of the few people she recognized.

Was he late? Or did he run away because he didn't want to work here, just like me?

"Clatter".

The auditorium door was suddenly pushed open, and Loila flinched and turned her gaze there.

Then she saw Hagrid striding in, and it seemed he had already led the first-year students over... Loila was very glad that as a professor, she didn't have to take a boat or go with Hagrid.

Ah, it's not that I dislike Hagrid... Loila just doesn't really want to... Just as she was thinking this, Loila saw Hagrid walk up to her side.

Then he forcefully pulled out the chair and plopped down next to himself amidst a somewhat jarring sound.

"Hagrid... Hagrid..."

"Ha! We meet again, Miss Hamilton." Hagrid grinned, downed his mead in one gulp, and said, "There was a little mishap just now."

"What...what accident?" Loila asked after thinking for a moment.

That should make things less awkward...

"It's Harry and Ron." Hagrid shook his head helplessly and took another sip of mead, which had been refilled at some point. "They've gone somewhere and missed their train."

"Ah...no...did I catch the train...?" Loila felt like she must be a terrible conversationalist, basically just repeating what others had said.

"By the way, speaking of Harry," Hagrid said, as if remembering something, glancing at Loira. "Miss Hamilton, have you met Harry?"

"I...I've met you..." Loila nodded slightly and said softly.

"Is it in Knockout Alley?"

"Hmm." Loila stared wide-eyed at Hagrid, though Hagrid could only see the mask on her face.

Did Mr. Potter tell Hagrid this?

"Ah...yes...yes." It's just that something happened in Knockout Alley, it shouldn't be a big deal, right?

Loila smiled a little awkwardly.

"I heard from Harry that you encountered a dark wizard," Hagrid said, pursing his lips. "Are you alright?"

"No...no..." Loila was a little surprised by Hagrid's words. Was Hagrid concerned about her?

"That's good." Hagrid glanced around and then lowered his voice. "Harry said that dark wizard used the Unforgivable Curse."

Mr. Burke is indeed a bit irrational... Even Durmstrang's students don't have the habit of using the Killing Curse on sight.

"Fortunately, Miss Hamilton, you are a highly skilled wizard," Hagrid said, smiling again. He seemed to be a rather straightforward person.

Loila blushed slightly upon hearing this: "No...no..."

"And... thank you, Hagrid..."

Just saying those words took almost all of Loila's strength, and she felt she needed to recite her magic array notes again to recover.

Just as Royla was memorizing her magic circle notes, the Hogwarts opening ceremony seemed to begin.

A serious-looking female professor walked through the students, coughing as she did so, which gradually quieted the noisy students down.

"The Sorting Ceremony is just around the corner, something you've definitely never seen at Durmstrang," Hagrid said enthusiastically. "It's unique to Hogwarts."

Loila was no longer surprised that Hagrid knew which house he graduated from; she guessed that Dumbledore had probably told Hagrid everything about her.

However, the Sorting Ceremony... Durmstrang doesn't have such a ceremony, but Loila remembers that Iphamony in America seems to have one as well.

She wondered if the two colleges were exactly the same... She remembered reading about it in a book.

Hogwarts' Sorting House is determined by a hat... Could it be this hat?

Loila frowned slightly as she looked at the dirty hat with a hole in it.

You definitely need to wash your hair after putting something like that on your head...

This hat is said to have been passed down for a thousand years, which means it may have bacteria from a thousand years ago?

"What's wrong, Miss Hamilton?" Hagrid noticed that Loila hadn't spoken and instinctively assumed something had happened.

"Ah... I was just thinking about bacteria..."

"bacteria?"

"It's nothing! It's nothing!" Royla quickly shook her head: "The Sorting Ceremony... the Sorting Ceremony is about to begin..."

"..." Hagrid glanced at Loila in confusion, then turned his attention to the Sorting Ceremony.

To be honest, Loila didn't really like the Hogwarts Sorting Ceremony. Every time the seemingly serious professor called out a name, a new student would come up and sit in a chair.

Thankfully, Durmstrang wasn't in that format... otherwise, just sitting there would have been embarrassing enough.

"Next up, Luna Lovegood!"