Malfoy was like tripe in a hotpot, bobbing up and down in the water, and every time he tried to call for help, lake water would pour into his mouth.
Compared to Malfoy, his two companions, Goyle and Crabbe, were much better off; although they also fell into the lake, they quickly climbed back onto the boat.
Strangely, ever since Malfoy fell in, the boat stopped rocking.
Aside from being completely soaked, they weren't harmed.
A thought simultaneously arose in Goyle and Crabbe's minds — the 'monster' in the lake seemed to be targeting Malfoy alone!
Thinking of this, Goyle and Crabbe simultaneously looked towards Chu Yang and Hermione, who had just had a conflict with Malfoy.
As a result, they met Chu Yang's cold gaze.
Both of them shivered at the same time, quickly lowered their heads, and dared not look a second time.
Malfoy, terrified of being eaten by the 'monster' in the lake, immediately wailed, "Save me, quickly come and save me! I don't want to be eaten by a monster, anyone who can save me will do."
"Goyle! Crabbe!"
A desperate Malfoy shouted his companions' names.
Goyle subconsciously moved towards Malfoy, bent down close to the side of the boat, and prepared to pull him up.
As a result, the boat rocked wildly again, Goyle screamed, and fell back into the lake!
Crabbe, beside him, was so frightened that he quickly moved away from Malfoy, making it seem as if it had nothing to do with him, thus escaping.
He was already certain that the 'monster' was targeting Malfoy.
After Goyle climbed back onto the small boat for the second time, having learned his lesson, he also started to imitate Crabbe, pretending not to hear Malfoy's cries for help.
Poor Malfoy was almost full from drinking water...
When Hermione first saw Malfoy fall into the water, she felt incredibly satisfied, as if all the resentment in her heart had been expelled.
However, after a while, she also started to worry that he might be in danger; after all, she was just an 11-year-old girl, innocent and kind.
Hermione asked anxiously, "Why aren't his companions saving him? Both of them are so strong; either one could pull him onto the boat."
Chu Yang glanced at her with surprise, "He just cursed so horribly, and you're still worried about him? In such a short time, aren't you angry anymore?"
"Of course I'm angry!" Hermione said as a matter of course, "But I don't want to resent a dead person; only if he's alive can I find a chance to get revenge!"
Chu Yang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. The old saying was absolutely right: the prettier the girl, the more vengeful she is; don't provoke them easily.
Chapter 29 Arrival
Harry, ahead, also noticed something amiss and whispered to Hagrid on the boat next to him, "That blonde first-year doesn't seem to be in mortal danger; it feels like he's being played with by something."
After Harry's reminder, Hagrid also felt something was off. Everyone else on the boat had climbed back, so why was he the only one still bobbing up and down in the water?
Hagrid looked around, observed for a long time, but couldn't see who was casting spells, and could only say in puzzlement, "There's no trace of magical fluctuations anywhere; that kid probably provoked a magical creature in the Black Lake."
After tormenting Malfoy for a while, Chu Yang had vented his anger enough, so he released the power of Wood Release, allowing Malfoy to escape.
Malfoy immediately felt the force gripping his legs disappear and swam towards the small boat with all his might.
Seeing the branches and vines Entanglement on the boat recede, Goyle and Crabbe cautiously pulled the exhausted Malfoy back onto the boat.
"Ugh!"
Malfoy, who had just laid down, began to vomit water heartbreakingly. Who knew what was in this lake? He had drunk a lot of things just now, so the scene was quite miserable.
"I think his first stop after school starts will be the infirmary; I hope the medical staff there can help him." Hermione's expression carried three parts sympathy and the rest was disdain.
Chu Yang nodded, smiling happily.
Hogwarts stood on a cliff, surrounded by water on three sides. The grotto directly below was the school's waterway entrance, dark and looking like the ferocious mouth of a monster.
The young wizards looked up at the towering school on the cliff from a close distance, unable to help but gasp in admiration.
Only now did they have an objective understanding of the school they were about to attend, rather than just the textual legends on paper.
The young wizards truly felt that Hogwarts was the most magnificent and spectacular school in the history of magic, and there was no other!
The small boat drifted all the way into the grotto. After a brief period of darkness, the surroundings gradually lit up, and Chu Yang then saw that there was a pier deep within the grotto beneath the castle.
The first-years disembarked in an orderly fashion at Hagrid's reminder, then stood together in groups.
Malfoy was vomiting like a puddle of mud, unable to stand up at all, and was propped up by Goyle and Crabbe, looking dazed.
"He looks like he'll have a hard time attending the sorting ceremony tonight..."
Hagrid mumbled, then walked ahead, leading the students up a winding stone staircase.
The end of the stone staircase was a flat garden, and further ahead was the main entrance of Hogwarts.
At this time, the main door was open, as if it had just welcomed a group of people inside.
"Your upperclassmen should have already arrived. Go up the stairs and you'll see Professor McGonagall. Remember, be respectful." After reminding the first-years, Hagrid walked directly in front of Malfoy, picked him up, and hoisted him onto his shoulder.
Malfoy, who had just started to feel a little better after throwing up most of what he had, suddenly smelled Hagrid's strong body odor and animal smell, and immediately began to vomit profusely again.
Chu Yang vaguely saw his green bile and began to reflect on whether he had gone too far.
"You poor child, I must take you to the infirmary immediately." Hagrid shook his head sympathetically and strode away.
The remaining young wizards looked at each other, then followed Hagrid's instructions and walked up the stairs. Before long, they saw a tall, elderly, stern-faced witch.
"Hello, first-years, welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, who will be teaching you Transfiguration, and I am also the Head of Gryffindor House, and the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Professor McGonagall wore a dark green robe, which made her indifferent expression appear even more stern. The first-years stood before her, not daring to breathe loudly.
"Your upperclassmen, as well as the professors of various courses, and Headmaster Dumbledore are waiting for you inside, but before the start of the Welcome Feast, you need to undergo the sorting ceremony."
"You will be sorted into different houses, where you will spend your seven years of study."
"The names of the four houses are: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own glorious history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards."
"During your time at school, you will attend classes with other students in your house, live in your house dormitory, and spend your free time in your house common room."
"Your excellent performance will earn points for your house, while any misconduct will result in points being deducted from your house. At the end of the year, the house with the highest points will win the House Cup, which is a great honor. I hope that no matter which house you are sorted into, you will bring glory to your house."
Chu Yang listened to this familiar orientation, a playful smile on his lips.
Chu Yang believed that no matter how many points Harry deducted from Gryffindor in the early stages, Dumbledore would eventually add them back for various reasons.
While there was certainly Dumbledore's intention to cultivate Harry Potter into a savior, regardless of the motive, such behavior itself was unfair to the other houses.
However, fortunately, Chu Yang had no interest in the so-called House Cup; he didn't care who won it, as long as it didn't hinder his study of magic.
After the orientation was completed, Professor McGonagall was about to lead the students into the Great Hall, but her peripheral vision caught sight of the water stains on Goyle and Crabbe.
Professor McGonagall frowned and walked in front of the two. Goyle and Crabbe were so scared that they were at a loss, as if they would hear Professor McGonagall scolding them the next second.
Professor McGonagall, who appeared stern, asked in a gentle tone, "What happened to you two? Did you perhaps fall into the lake on the way here?"
Professor McGonagall, who had intended it as a joke, saw Goyle and Crabbe nodding cautiously.
"You fell in there?" Professor McGonagall's face was full of disbelief. She had cast a spell on every boat, which not only allowed the boats to automatically travel to the pier in the grotto but also protected the students from falling into the lake.
"We met a monster!" Goyle first glanced fearfully at Chu Yang, then explained, "There was a monster in the lake attacking our boat, and it kept pulling us into the water until it stopped."
"A monster?" Professor McGonagall said in surprise, "That's impossible. The route you took is not within the activity range of the magical creatures in the Black Lake."
"It's true, Professor! Goyle and I are fine, but Malfoy couldn't get back on the boat at all. He was trapped in the water by that monster and drank a lot of lake water. He was just sent to the hospital wing." Crabbe shouted from the side, afraid that Professor McGonagall wouldn't believe them.
Chapter 30 The Sorting Ceremony
The other students immediately started to express their thoughts, all talking at once.
Some said there were water monsters in the lake, others said there were vengeful spirits in the Black Lake, and still others said that Malfoy and the others simply couldn't swim and fabricated the monster story to cover their embarrassment.
Professor McGonagall was displeased with this clamor and immediately spoke to stop them, "Silence!"
Once the stern Professor McGonagall got angry, her deterrent power was considerable, and all the first-years almost simultaneously closed their mouths.
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and asked, "Where is Hagrid?"
Harry in the crowd replied loudly, "He took that boy to the infirmary!"
"The infirmary..." A deep furrow appeared on Professor McGonagall's forehead. She mused, "I must go there and see how that student is doing. You wait for me here."
After Professor McGonagall left, the group of first-years became noisy again, and everyone started sharing their rumors about the sorting ceremony.
First was Ron, who confidently stated, "I have five older brothers studying at Hogwarts, and they told me that the sorting ceremony is very strict. If you don't meet the standards, you might even be expelled from school tonight!"
Someone in the crowd immediately exclaimed, "Haven't we already been admitted? How can we still be expelled? Wouldn't all the things on the list have been bought for nothing? That was a lot of money."
Ron, who had boasted too much, awkwardly rubbed his nose and said, "I heard it from Fred and George; they always like to tease me, so it's possible they were lying to me."
At this time, another student said, "I feel like they weren't lying to you. I heard that the sorting ceremony is about fighting a Giant, and you're sorted based on the outcome of the battle. Many first-years have died because of it in previous years!"
Gasps of surprise came from the crowd again, "No wonder people always say that Hogwarts has a certain death quota, and students die every year!"
And some timid girls, hearing their discussion, began to hide in corners, trembling.
Hermione impatiently interrupted the boys' fantasies and logically stated, "How could a wizard's sorting ceremony be so barbaric? We are wizards, not warriors! How could we be made to fight creatures like Giants right at the start of school?"
"True wizards rely on their minds and knowledge! So, I think the sorting ceremony is actually an exam, and the houses are assigned based on the exam scores!"
"Otherwise, why would the school remind us to buy textbooks a month in advance? Isn't it just to let us prepare for the exam early?"
Many first-years nodded in agreement with Hermione's explanation; this theory was much more reliable than fighting a Giant.
But many others looked distressed, sighing. They had never looked at any textbooks, and some didn't even know what books they had bought.
"It's over, it's over! I'm definitely going to get a zero!"
"My books are still on the train. Can I go back and get them?"
"Too late, that luggage has already been sent to the dormitories!"
Listening to the groans from all directions, Chu Yang shook his head helplessly, thinking that these little kids were quite good at scaring themselves. They would never have guessed that the sorting ceremony only required putting the sorting hat on their heads.
Ron tremblingly pulled Harry's sleeve and asked, "Have you read those textbooks?"
Harry shook his head and said, "My aunt and uncle didn't want me to attend Hogwarts; they tried everything to stop me from getting that admission letter. It wasn't until a few days ago that I got the chance to go to school with Hagrid's help. Do you think I've read them?"
"Then it's fine. It looks like we'll definitely be sorted into the same house." Ron immediately felt relieved, and even had the presence of mind to wink at Harry.