Hermione led her carefully, holding her hand so tightly that she had no mind to spare for the magical sights of Hogwarts on the way to the Great Hall.
"Don't be angry. That guy just speaks without using his brain," she whispered, comforting the person beside her, though the hand she gripped so firmly felt cold to the touch.
Kate gave a faint smile. "I'm not angry."
Although Ron exposing her scars in public was annoying, she wasn't about to get angry with a child.
There would be plenty of time in the future; she would always find a way to deal with that kid.
Hermione finally breathed a sigh of relief. Turning her head, she saw a row of teachers sitting behind the High Table at the front of the Great Hall. Opposite them sat all the senior students, who had already taken their seats.
For no apparent reason, Hermione gulped, starting to feel nervous. She still didn't know exactly what the Sorting Hat was.
Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool gently in front of the new students and set a pointed wizard's hat upon it. The hat was patched, worn, and extremely dirty.
Then, the hat twitched. A wide rip near the brim opened like a mouth, and it actually began to sing like a human.
Hermione tried to distinguish what it was singing, but she felt Kate's hand tighten even more around hers.
It made sense. Compared to her, Kate—who was enrolling a year late and had always disliked meeting strangers—must be even more nervous right now, right?
She gently patted Kate's hand. The older girl, who had been silent since earlier, turned her head to look at her in surprise.
"Don't be nervous," Hermione mouthed, making her movements exaggerated to convey the message.
Kate looked at her silently. It wasn't until the Sorting Hat finished its song and the entire hall erupted in applause that she slowly released Hermione's hand.
At this moment, Professor McGonagall stepped forward a few paces, holding a roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted."
She looked at the first name and read, "Hannah Abbott!"
As constant as the tides, Hannah went up, and as constant as ever, she went down, running toward the Hufflepuff table.
Kate remained silent throughout, waiting quietly. Finally, Hermione's name was called. The girl rushed to the stool and jammed the hat onto her head.
"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted.
She watched Hermione go to the Gryffindor table, then turn back with a look of delight to gaze at her. It was as if she were saying: Hurry up and come join me.
Before leaving home, Kate had asked the old butler about the number of ancestors who had entered each House.
The old butler had said that nearly seventy percent of the Shafiqs went to Slytherin, twenty percent to Ravenclaw, and only ten percent to Gryffindor.
"Then, which Houses were my parents in?" she had asked at the time.
The old butler was silent for a moment before replying, "Young Master Elphias went to Gryffindor, and Young Mistress Grace went to Slytherin."
Kate had been stunned.
If she remembered correctly, her mother was a "half-blood wizard" born from a union between a Muggle and a wizard. Although there were precedents like Snape, before this, she had always assumed her parents' Houses would be the other way around.
But the facts were exactly the opposite.
Kate waited with composure. Even when a celebrity like Harry Potter was sorted into Gryffindor, it didn't merit her attention.
Finally, only she and another new student remained.
Professor McGonagall finally called her name: "Kate Shafiq!"
She moved her somewhat stiff legs forward, feeling the gazes of everyone in the Great Hall converging upon her. Mixed in were whispers, voices discussing her family background.
Kate sat on the stool and put on the hat. A tiny voice immediately sounded in her ear.
"Oh, it has been a long time since I've seen a Shafiq. Pure-blood, a heart that isn't bad, a love for knowledge, and holding ambitions not easily known to others..."
She lifted the brim of the hat slightly and saw Hermione gazing at her with shining eyes from the Gryffindor table.
"Can I not go to Gryffindor?" she asked in a whisper.
The Sorting Hat hesitated. "Hmm, Gryffindor isn't bad, but Slytherin would make it easier to realize the ambitions in your heart. If you are certain—"
"No," she suddenly interrupted the Sorting Hat. "Since Slytherin suits me better, then let it be there."
"Better be... Slytherin!"
The Sorting Hat shouted the final House name loudly to the entire hall. Kate gently took it off and placed it back on the small stool.
She looked toward the Slytherin table. Applause had already broken out there, and Malfoy's expression, in particular, looked exceptionally happy.
She turned her head to look at the Gryffindor table on the other side. Amidst a patch of little heads, that brown-haired figure squeezed among the senior students was looking at her with disbelief. There was a faint glimmer of tears in her eyes.
Kate lowered her head and hurriedly took a seat at the Slytherin table. The person sitting next to her happened to be Pansy.
"I didn't expect you to be in Slytherin too." Pansy's attitude had become friendly now, and she took the initiative to reach out and greet her.
Kate pressed her lips together in a smile. "I am a pure-blood, after all."
Slytherin traditions: ambition, shrewdness, and self-preservation. Which of these did she not possess?
After exchanging pleasantries with those around her, the Sorting Ceremony essentially came to an end.
She raised her head and looked at Dumbledore, who was sitting on the high platform. The ever-wise old man happened to shift his gaze from the Gryffindor table to her at that moment, meeting her eyes.
Kate curved her eyes, revealing the same gentle and quiet expression she usually wore, and smiled timidly at him.
She knew that the person Dumbledore was most concerned with right now was Harry Potter. She had always presented herself as gentle and harmless. Even the 'White Dark Lord', in these few meetings, likely wouldn't pay her too much mind.
Who would suspect a little girl with mild social anxiety and a harmless demeanor of having issues?
Sure enough, Dumbledore only focused on her for less than a few seconds before slowly standing up and beaming at the students.
"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"
"Thank you!"
The moment he sat down, all sorts of delicacies appeared on the dining tables.
Kate had just picked up a pork chop when she remembered something and looked back toward Hermione. She saw that Hermione only ate a tiny bit of food before stopping completely.
The child was in a bad mood.
If she had told Hermione beforehand that she might go to Slytherin, would Hermione still have gone to Gryffindor?
Kate didn't know.
But since Hermione's determination to come to the magical world was because of her, she had worried that saying it in advance would create variables.
It was better to find a time later to apologize to her.
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