For a moment, Harry felt as if Hagrid was on the verge of welcoming his own springtime.
In fact, it was so; Harry turned his head to look at Hagrid and indeed found him staring intently at the tall lady.
Principal Dumbledore walked down from the main guest seat and approached the woman.
The woman's face relaxed, breaking into an elegant smile as she extended a hand and walked toward Dumbledore. Harry noticed that Dumbledore didn't need to bend down at all to perform the hand-kissing ceremony.
It's not that Dumbledore was short, but that the woman was simply too tall.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, dear Mrs. Maxim," Dumbledore released Mrs. Maxim's hand.
"Mr. Dumbledore," Mrs. Maxim said in a deep, thick voice, "I hope everything is well with you."
After the pleasantries, Mrs. Maxim walked up to the main guest seat and sat beside Hagrid.
Hagrid suddenly became very reserved, awkwardly and uncomfortably twisting his body as if something was biting him.
Soon after, a group of male students entered the hall—there wasn't a single girl among them.
They looked sturdy, like smaller versions of Giants—Harry didn't know why, but the term suddenly popped into his mind.
However, upon closer inspection, they weren't actually that sturdy; it was because they were wearing fur capes that made them appear large.
The leader's cape was different from the others, his was silver-white, looking smooth and shining, presumably made of the fur from some rare Magical Creature.
"Dumbledore!" the man called out enthusiastically as he walked halfway, "My dear old friend, how are you?"
"Excellent, thank you, Professor Kakaroff," Dumbledore replied.
Kakaroff's voice was smooth and sweet, and as he approached, they saw he was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his short white hair and the tiny curls at the tip of his goatee barely concealed his sharp chin.
He walked up to Dumbledore and shook his hands with both of his.
"Dear old friend Hogwarts," he said, raising his head to look at the castle and smiling—his teeth were very yellow, with black stains.
Though he smiled, his eyes showed no sign of mirth, remaining cold and sharp, "It's great to be here, really great... Victor, come over here and warm up... you don't mind, Dumbledore? Victor's caught a bit of a cold..."
Kakaroff gestured for one of his students to come forward.
As the boy walked by, Harry caught sight of a prominent hooked nose and two thick, black eyebrows.
"Harry—that's Krum!"
Ron said excitedly beside him.
Victor Krum, the Seeker from Bulgaria who caught the Golden Snitch in the World Cup Finals, also Ron's idol.
"I saw that," Harry said somewhat indifferently, not having much interest in idolizing.
Dumbledore, who had long returned to his seat, was chatting with the two headmasters.
After a while, he stood up.
"So," Dumbledore said, "welcome Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students to Hogwarts. On behalf of all the teachers and students of Hogwarts, I extend a warm welcome to you."
With that, he began to clap.
The students saw Dumbledore start clapping, and they joined in.
After a while, Dumbledore gestured for them to quiet down with his hands.
"In the following days," he looked around and continued, "students from the two schools can freely choose from the four Hogwarts houses, sitting at your chosen house's high table to dine together—of course, you may also join them in the house dormitory to rest, each house's Class Prefect will arrange everything."
"Hogwarts' four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin—each house has its own characteristics: Gryffindor is brave, Hufflepuff is loyal, Ravenclaw is wise, Slytherin is shrewd—but this is not absolute, I'm sure you've already learned about the four houses before arriving at Hogwarts, so... you may choose now."
When Dumbledore finished, members of the two schools began choosing and seating at the houses' high tables.
Most of the Beauxbatons went to sit at the Ravenclaw table, with a few choosing Hufflepuff, none opting for Gryffindor or Slytherin.
Meanwhile, all the Durmstrang chose Slytherin.
After they were seated, Dumbledore said, "Alright then—I won't say anything that dampens your spirits. Now I announce, let the feast begin!"
Suddenly, their tables were piled high with heaps of food, and Ron cheered, murmuring, "Looks like Dumbledore remembered we still need to replenish food."
"He won't forget that; actually, I'm also starving."
Harry said, reaching for a hefty steak from the table and putting it on his plate.
He must savor a few bites.
After they had eaten for a few minutes, Nearly Headless Nick suddenly popped up from the other end of the freshers' table.
The wizard-family kids weren't startled, but the Muggle-born kids were a little spooked.
However, Dennis Creevey clearly wasn't; he recognized Nearly Headless Nick at a glance.
"You're Nearly Headless Nick!" Dennis pointed at Nick and exclaimed, "I know you, my brother often tells me, oh, he says every freshman welcome, Nearly Headless Nick will bring the ghosts to welcome the new students; it seems he wasn't lying—haha, how are you."
"Hello," Nearly Headless Nick removed half his head and said to him, "but I still prefer to be called Sir Nicholas."
"Okay, Nearly Headless Nick," Dennis nodded repeatedly, still clutching a slice of pizza.
Nick: ...
"You must be one of the Creevey family, right?" Nick confirmed immediately, "Besides the Creevey boys, I can't think of anyone else so bold."
"That's so cool!" Dennis exclaimed excitedly, "You can even recognize who I am, oh my gosh..."
"We don't say 'oh my gosh' here," Nick carefully explained to him, "we say Merlin—if you want to express such exclamations, try using Merlin instead, what do you think?"
"When in Rome, do as the Romans do," Dennis shrugged, accepting Sir Nicholas's advice.
The appearance of the ghosts aroused amazement, including from students of the other two schools.
Durmstrang and Beauxbatons indeed had ghosts, but not such quirky ones—like Sir Nicholas and Bloodman Barrow, each had their eccentricities.
But clearly, the era of eccentricity is over.
Heavy rain continued to pound the dark windows, and another clap of thunder boomed, shaking the glass panes which creaked and rattled. A flash of lightning streaked across the gloomy ceiling, lighting up the golden plates.
The remaining first-course dishes in the plates vanished, only to be refilled with desserts in a blink.
"I must praise the efficiency of the House-Elves," Ron said, grabbing a plate of caramel pudding, and turned back, "it's amazing how they can serve food onto the table without revealing themselves..."
"Silly boy," Nearly Headless Nick shook his head, saying, "a hallmark of a good House-Elf is that you never even know they exist."
Hermione raised her head and glanced at Nick, but ultimately didn't say anything.
After all, what Kreacher taught her left too much of an impression, so much so that the shadow still lingers in her mind.
How did that saying go?
More useful than Hogwarts' education.jpg.
She has now learned to respect others' destinies and has grown out of her savior complex.
"I still prefer syrup pies," Ron grabbed several plates, "and chocolate cake, ah... indeed sweets are the only food in this world that can save me..."
"What about chicken legs?" Hermione suddenly asked.
"Oh, chicken legs, chicken legs..." Ron was momentarily torn but soon resolved his inner conflict, "That's different, chicken legs are part of the main course, while sweets are dessert, not part of the main course; they're for after the meal..."
"Alright!" Dumbledore looked at everyone with a smile and said, "Now that we are well-fed and have drunk enough, I must again ask you to pay attention as I announce a few notices."
"Caretaker Mr. Fitch wants me to inform you all that this year, several new items have been added to the list of prohibited items inside the castle, including Screaming Yo-Yos, Toothed Flying Discs, and Continuous Attack Boomerangs. The entire list is about four hundred and thirty-seven items long and can be found in Mr. Fitch's office; anyone interested can cross-check it."
"Additionally," Dumbledore said again, "we will conduct the Warrior selection event next week, and everyone is encouraged to actively participate."
(Today's first 6000, getting used to the pace)