Chapter 23: Chapter 20: The Sorting (I)

As Adrien saw the figure that the shout emanated from, he couldn't help but gawk, with his mouth slightly open. Who could blame him?

Hagrid was...absolutely ginormous.

He knew the half-giant was big, but now that he was seeing him in the flesh, he felt that 'big' was a severe understatement of his humongous frame.

"Bloody hell, he's huge!" To his right, Aurelius exclaimed loudly with an incredulous expression.

Evelyn's mouth was agape as well, but her attention was caught by Aurelius's exclamation, which caused her to laugh.

Hagrid flashed a smile at all the first years once he reached them. He raised his lantern to get a better view of all the students,

"Everyone here? Right then! This way te the boats, follow me!"

Saying that, he led the first years over to the lakeshore, where he instructed them to get into the docked boats in groups no greater than four per boat.

Since Adrien, Aurelius, and Evelyn were at the back of the crowd, they got onto their boats last. No one else had entered the boat so it was just them.

"This is amazing!" Evelyn couldn't help but exclaim as the boat took off. She was incomparably excited. The view of Hogwarts from the Black Lake was excellent; the castle stood gloriously under the enthralling starry night sky.

"Yeah, you can say that again," Aurelius mumbled in agreement, grinning from ear to ear. Like Evelyn, he was excited about everything. He wondered what sort of adventures awaited him.

Unlike the two, Adrien was peering curiously into the Black Lake.

Over the years, the power of his Truth Eyes never stopped growing. Now, he could make out a pin dropped nearly 130m away from him.

The degree of magical energy control his eyes allowed him had deepened as well, reaching an even more frightening degree.

Now, he could manipulate magical energy 100m away from him, albeit a bit poorly. For magical energy particles close to him, he could manipulate them in large amounts with extreme precision.

He used his enhanced vision to survey the lake, trying to see what mystical creatures lay within it. He wondered if he could spot the giant squid rumored to live in these waters.

He didn't come across any creatures in the epilimnion of the lake. So, he extended the depth of his vision and consequently reached the lake's hypolimnion.

There, he came across small, horned, and pale-green-skinned creatures.

'Grindylows... They look just as ugly as they did in the Goblet of Fire Movie.'

He grimaced slightly at the sight of them. They were unsightly and grimy-looking beasts.

He tried to peer deeper, still in search of the giant squid, but he was unable to go reach the deepest parts of the lakes hypolimnion. His vision range was not deep enough.

Sighing softly, he stopped looking at the lake and raised his head, only to meet a concerned looking Aurelius.

"You alright, mate?" Aurelius raised his eyebrows. Adrien looked as if he was just staring blankly into the water.

Adrien chuckled, "Yeah, I am. I was just peering into the lake to see what lives in there...lots of Grindylows, apparently.

Aurelius hummed, "With your enhanced vision?"

"Yep."

"I see. I still think it's pretty sick...your vision, I mean." Aurelius responded.

"Enhanced Vision?" Evelyn lifted her eyebrows curiously, eyeing the two of them.

"Yeah, my vision is sharper than normal. I'll tell you more about it later. Look, we're about to reach the docks."

Adrien spoke, gesturing his head in the direction of the pier opposite them.

Evelyn just hummed, and before long, they reached the pier and disembarked the boat.

Hagrid led all of them through the pier and towards the castle, only stopping once he was in front of a large wooden door, which he gently knocked on.

A few moments later, the door opened to reveal an old-looking witch wearing a pointy hat and dressed in an emerald robe. She had grey hair and wore a serious expression on her face.

"Professor McGonagall." with a slight nod of his head, Hagrid greeted cordially.

"The firs' years," He then added, gesturing his right hand to the group of students behind him. Except for two, they all looked nervous and a bit tense when they saw Professor McGonagall's serious face.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take it from here." Professor McGonagall nodded and replied.

Next, she gestured for the first years to follow her and led them through the door to the enormous entrance hall adorned with flaming torches. Its ceiling was extremely high, and it had a magnificent marble staircase - that led to the upper floors- facing them.

The first years were chatting nervously as they walked. Adrien simply took in the sights of the castle and looked for anything of interest.

Professor McGonagall led them to a small chamber on the side of the hall and gestured for the first years to huddle together so she could address them.

Once everyone huddled in front of her and quieted down, she coughed lightly and smiled,

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she started, eyeing all the first years.

"The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Now, your house will be like your family while you're here. Your triumphs will earn you house points. Any rule-breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup."

As Professor McGonagall spoke, Adrien was staring at all the first years, curious about the students who started attending the school in the 1988-1989 school year.

He didn't really care about the house cup. In his opinion, it was a brilliant two-faced scheme concocted by the school; on the one hand, it was fun and competitive for the students, and on the other, it served as a check to keep them from misbehaving due to pressure from peers.

He couldn't recognize anybody, which was expected since there wasn't anyone shown in this year in the canon. Though, one student, in particular, caught his eye.

It was a tall boy with straight, silky chestnut hair and striking emerald eyes. His face looked symmetrical, and he had light freckles across his nose.

The boy caught his attention not because of his height or dashing appearance but because of his countenance. It was as calm as stagnant water and not the slightest bit nervous. His facial expression was blank, and he looked apathetic, almost as if he already knew what she was going to say.

It was unusual for an 11-year-old boy.

‘I wonder who that guy is. He looks a little too calm for a first-year about to get sorted. I’m curious to see what house he’d get sorted into..’

Adrien thought interestedly as his iridescent blue eyes scrutinized the boy in detail. He noted the boy mentally and looked back at Professor McGonagall as she finished talking to the first years.

You are reading story HP: The Legendary Arithmancer at novel35.com

Professor McGonagall looked at the first years intently before concluding, “Stay here; I will be back shortly.”

Having said those instructions, she left the chamber and caused the first years to erupt into murmurs, making the place rather noisy.

Thankfully, Adrien didn't have to wait too long because McGonagall returned after a few minutes.

"Follow me." She stoically said, whirled around, and led the first-years towards the Great Hall.

Once there, McGonagall slowly opened its large, foreboding doors and revealed the iconic hall. It was gigantic, to say the least.

Its ceiling had a projection of the starry night sky. Multiple candles floated above the four long tables that stretched up to the front of the hall.

Adrien effortlessly felt the immense amounts of magical energy wafting through the air; the hall was rich in it.

Students of different colored robes filled the four long tables, and most were looking at the new first-years. Some were whispering among themselves, while others were discussing jubilantly.

Overall, the hall had a vibrant atmosphere and was quivering with ebullience.

A long table lay at the end of the hall, on which all the Hogwarts Professors sat, alongside the Headmaster and Godfather to a certain someone, Albus Dumbledore.

"I'm really nervous," Evelyn mumbled discreetly as she walked toward the front of the hall with Adrien and Aurelius. She was fiddling with her fingers and avoiding the gaze of the students staring at them.

"Me too," Aurelius gulped, looking anxious and on edge.

Adrien chuckled as he looked at the two of them.

"I have a trick that may help you guys." he eyed them, smirking. "When people look at you, try to imagine their faces eating a vomit-flavored jelly bean."

Hearing that, Evelyn and Aurelius fought the urge to laugh out loud and put their hands over their mouths.

They had eased up considerably after hearing it, thus turning their anxiety into anticipation.

Upon reaching the front of the hall, McGonagall placed a four-legged stool carrying a ragged, old-looking pointy hat in front of them.

'Looks about as filthy as I imagined.'

Adrien chortled, mentally seeing the dirty hat. Honestly, it baffled him that the venerable hat was murky. Couldn't they clean it? A simple 'Scourgify!' was all it took.

'Maybe it's tradition? Hah...I'll ask the hat when it's my turn.'

As Adrien thought these words, a crack opened on the hat, and it began to sing a melodious song that he noted to be different from the ones he heard in the Harry Potter movies.

Following the song, sonorous applause rang through the Great Hall. Students cheered and clapped loudly, exhilarated by the sorting hat's 1988 jingle.

Adrien was starting to feel excited seeing the hall's atmosphere; it sent shivers down his body.

McGonagall then opened a scroll and faced the students, "When I call your name, step forward and sit on the stool." she said, eyeing all of them.

"Bole, Lucian!" she shouted, after which a hazel-eyed brown-haired student stepped forward and sat on the stool.

McGonagall placed the hat on his head and waited for a few moments.

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat shouted, earning the cheers and applause of the Slytherin long table.

Lucian smiled and quickly made his way over to the table.

Like that, the sorting ceremony continued, with quite a few wizards with last names starting with the letter C being sorted.

Eventually, McGonagall reached the letter D,

"Dumbledore, Aurelius!"

The entire hall became momentarily silent upon hearing that name. The students were shocked and immediately erupted into loud murmurs.

"Dumbledore's got a son? since when?"

"I'm as surprised as you are. Never knew the old man had it in him."

"You absolute dunderheads. Look at their faces; they're nothing alike. He can't be his son. Maybe he's a distant relative of some sort."

"Yeah, I'm thinking along those lines. Not much about the Dumbledore family is publicized, so we don't know if the Headmaster has any direct relatives."

Murmurs like these reached Aurelius's ears as he stepped towards the stool. He chuckled inwardly, hearing them. Some of their comments were quite comical.

His eyes darted to the Professors' long table. They were all looking at him, some with surprised expressions, some nonchalantly, and some warmly.

He shifted his sights to his uncle, the Headmaster, who flashed him a warm smile. He nodded and smiled back, feeling his nerves mollified by the loving gaze of his uncle's twinkling blue eyes.

He took a deep breath and sat on the stool. As he did, he looked at his brother and new friend, who both gave him smiles.

"Hmm? It's been quite some time since I sorted a Dumbledore."

His attention was captured by the archaic voice of the sorting hat.

"Just get it over with."

He replied curtly. Being in the spotlight wasn't as easy and glamorous as he thought. Feeling the eyes of everyone glued to him was nerve-wracking and made him feel as if he was on tenterhooks; it was uncomfortable.

He wanted it to be over quickly. He already knew where he was going to be placed anyways. It was inevitable. He was a Dumbledore, after all; bravery was in his blood, and he was destined to be a Gryffindor.

"Interesting. Like nearly all Dumbledores, your intellect and aptitude for magic are exceptional. Should I put you in Ravenclaw? Nah, you possess too formidable of a will to be placed there. Hufflepuff's out of the question as well; you're too talented for there...

Hmm? Oh, now that I've seen this, I know just where to put you..."

"SLYTHERIN!"

You can find story with these keywords: HP: The Legendary Arithmancer, Read HP: The Legendary Arithmancer, HP: The Legendary Arithmancer novel, HP: The Legendary Arithmancer book, HP: The Legendary Arithmancer story, HP: The Legendary Arithmancer full, HP: The Legendary Arithmancer Latest Chapter