Minerva McGonagall.
The person who welcomed the new students was a stern-looking witch wearing square-rimmed glasses. She was also the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts...
After a brief introduction, she said,
"Now then, all first-years, follow me."
To the nervous young witches and wizards, Professor McGonagall came across as strict and unapproachable. As she turned and began walking deeper into the castle, they hurried after her.
Naturally, her serious demeanor quickly silenced their chatter.
They followed her across a stone-paved floor, and soon, the faint hum of hundreds of voices could be heard coming from somewhere nearby.
But instead of heading toward the noise, Professor McGonagall led them into an empty chamber.
Once everyone was inside, she turned to explain the next part of their arrival.
"Welcome to Hogwarts."
"The Welcome Feast is about to begin, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you must first be sorted into your houses."
"The four houses are: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."
"In just a few minutes, the Sorting Ceremony will begin in front of the entire school."
"I suggest you use this time to tidy yourselves up and stay sharp."
"I'll return to collect you once everything is ready."
With that, she pushed open the door and walked out, leaving them with a lot to take in.
"Oh, and please—keep quiet."
She glanced back with a final reminder before disappearing beyond the door...
...
Although Professor McGonagall had specifically told them to stay quiet before she left, it clearly didn't do much to calm the excitement of some of the young wizards...
"Harry, Fred said the Sorting involves some kind of test."
"What... there's a test!?"
"I mean, Fred's always joking around, but would he really make something like that up?"
Even though the boy didn't sound too sure himself, his words instantly stirred up a wave of nervous chatter among the first-years.
Apparently, even wizards get anxious about exams.
It only took that one comment to set off a ripple of panic...
"Do you know what kind of test it is?"
"We're doomed! What if we fail? Will we get expelled?"
"What if it's something like... fighting a dragon?!"
Draco didn't know the details of the Sorting Ceremony either, but he was fairly certain—if there was a test, it couldn't be that hard.
As for getting expelled or fighting dragons... that was pure nonsense.
Most of the kids here probably couldn't even cast the simplest spell yet.
Still, that didn't stop the others from imagining the worst.
And especially not Hermione, who had only just realized Draco's identity.
At the moment, she wasn't standing near him anymore. Instead, she was off among the other students, muttering to herself.
If you got close enough, you'd hear her reciting passages from the first-year textbooks.
Clearly, she was reviewing.
Draco didn't bother correcting the out-of-control rumors.
After all, he had noticed something just before McGonagall left—the faintest upward curve at the corner of her mouth.
Was it intentional?
It was obvious.
If she wasn't being mischievous on purpose, then the entire thing had been deliberately staged.
It also explained the strange expression on his mother's face before he boarded the train, like she'd wanted to say something but stopped herself...
Draco shook his head.
He didn't want to think too much about the adults' twisted sense of humor—or whether there was some deeper meaning behind it all.
Instead, his gaze shifted to the boy who had started this whole "test" rumor.
"Hm... Weasley, is it? Then the one next to him must be Harry Potter—the one Goyle and the others were talking about."
That unmistakable red hair left no doubt he was a Weasley.
But never mind that.
Draco was still a bit curious about the legendary Chosen One.
Even though the boy was trying to hide it with his hair, the faint outline of a lightning-shaped scar was still visible.
It looked exactly like the stories said...
Still, curiosity aside, Draco had no intention of going over to introduce himself.
He could tell—when Weasley and Harry glanced his way, their eyes were anything but friendly.
To be precise, they seemed to see him as some kind of villain.
"They're not even trying to hide it," he muttered.
As for the reason, it probably had something to do with whatever Goyle and Crabbe had done earlier.
Though Draco had no idea what exactly had gone down between them...
And just then—
A sudden scream rang out from the crowd.
Of course, it wasn't because a dragon had actually shown up, or because someone pulled a super rare card from a Chocolate Frog.
It was because a ghost had suddenly floated out of the wall, scaring the daylights out of the first-years...