The doors of the Great Hall opened to reveal a jaw-dropping sight for the new students.

Thousands of candles floated above four long dining tables with gilded tableware. What should have been a high-ceilinged roof inside the Great Hall was now a velvet-smooth starry sky, with a hazy moon hanging in the night sky, silver light streaming through it, and the evening breeze faintly coming through.

At the end of the long dining table was a raised platform on which the high table at which the Masters and Commanders dined was set. In front of the high table was a gold podium elaborately carved to look like a fiery eagle spreading its wings.

"This place is enchanted so it looks like the sky outside!" A young girl with frizzy curls said, "I read that in Hogwarts: a school history!"

Draco couldn't help but turn around and give the teenage girl a closer look. The freshmen stopped in their tracks and watched as Professor McGonagall waved his wand and an antique wooden chair with a patchy wizard's hat floated in front of the podium. Then the wizard's hat suddenly sang loudly.

I'll eat myself if you can find A smarter hat than me.

The song was raspy and the lyrics seemed a little cheesy, causing Draco to raise her eyebrows.

Pansy covered her mouth and snickered, and Daphne couldn't help pursing her lips. Draco looked over at Harry, who, like Ron beside her, was looking a little pale, and obviously unsure of what he was thinking.

Draco smiled slightly.

The song continued and the lyrics began to sing the praises of different houses.

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are ture

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!

Sorting Hat had just finished singing when Professor McGonagall lifted the parchment out of his hand. Draco quietly moved back half a step and nudged Harry, who was looking pale, slightly.

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"Got it, right? Just put the hat on. Would you still rather trust Weasley?"

Without waiting for Harry to respond, Draco turned back to Pansy and Daphne.

"Ron is my friend, Malfoy."

Hearing Harry's reply, Draco huffed again and turned back to the cold stare.

"Whatever, Potter."

Between whispered arguments, Professor McGonagall announced aloud again, "Whoever's the name I call will come and put on the Sorting Hat, sit in the chair, and wait for the Sorting Hat."

"Hannah."

As Professor McGonagall called, Hannah gently jumped to her feet and waved at her friends around her as well as Draco, Pansy, and Daphne. Great Hall fell silent as she briskly stepped forward and put on her Sorting Hat.

"Hufflepuff!"

Sorting Hat announced loudly, and Hannah happily jumped off the edge of her wooden chair. The long table of Hufflepuffs erupted in joy, excited to have gained a powerful new member.

However, watching Hannah in the freshman group, Draco stole a glance at Pansy and Daphne and noticed that their faces were also slightly pale.

"Is it true ...... really going to be sorted into Hufflepuff ......?"

The three were preoccupied, except for Draco, whose heart was racing.

In a trance, she seemed to see herself standing in the center of the hall, listening to Sorting Hat shouting out "Hufflepuff". She clenched her lower lip and decided that if she really wasn't in Slytherin, she would have to leave school to return to Malfoy Manor and turn to Beauxbatons to study abroad, as her mother had once thought.

"Daphne-Greengrass."

"Slytherin!"

As Draco and Pansy leaped for joy watching Daphne gracefully make her way to the long Slytherin table, Draco was reinforced in her worst intentions - to transfer to Beauxbatons.

Sorting Hat's decisions come and go. After a few minutes of silence over a girl with curly brown hair named Hermione-Granger, it finally called out the name "Gryffindor".

After a few more minutes, Professor McGonagall finally said aloud, "Draco-Malfoy."

The hall fell silent.

The students at Slytherin's long table turned in a unanimous swish, focusing their attention on a young girl with long blonde hair, a face as delicate as porcelain, and a childlike yet heroic appearance at the high table.

Draco took a slow, deep breath, exchanged a determined look with Pansy in her eyes, and stepped forward. Taking the Sorting Hat from Professor McGonagall, she glanced out of the corner of her eye to see Snape sitting up straight with a puzzled look in his eyes.

Immediately after, the brim of the hat covered her eyes, and in the darkness of the Sorting Hat, she heard a soft wisp of a voice.

"Ah, the pride buried deep in the bloodline, combining the blood of the Malfoy and Black families. Welcome to Hogwarts, Draco-Malfoy."

(It's an honor to meet you, Sorting Hat.) Draco thought to herself, but Sorting Hat seemed to ignore her thoughts.

"It was easy and it was difficult. You have wit and talent, but you also have an unknown courage. A long time ago, I met a descendant of the Black family who was similar to you. He had no less talent than his brother, but no outward bravery like his brother. I assigned the two brothers to different houses, but - to this day - I'm still not sure that the right decision was made."

Listening to Sorting Hat speak words seemingly unrelated to her own, Draco waited in slight confusion.

"Gryffindor, or Slytherin? Perhaps, I should change my decision from last time?"

At the first sound of "Gryffindor", Draco's heart nearly went cold.

(Slytherin, I just have to go to Slytherin.)

"Are you sure? That's what the last Black family said."

"That's all. But I think maybe you and Gryffindor have a strong bond, too."

"Then-"

Sorting Hat paused, then spoke aloud, "Slytherin!"

Hat held up gently, Draco opened her eyes and gazed triumphantly out over the boiling hall full of people. Despite her petite stature, she stood on a high wooden chair with an air of condescending arrogance.

She met Daphne with a genuine smile and the excited cheers of Slytherin's long table. It was as if the HOUSE CUP had been won.

As Draco stepped off the raised platform, the Slytherin students, led by Prefect Farley, stood up, bowed, and welcomed Malfoy's heir and sat down at the long table.

Draco walked over to Daphne and took Daphne's hand firmly, seeing Pansy's nervous and excited look as the two took their seats. Fortunately, it wasn't long before Pansy joined Slytherin.

Slytherin's morale was high with three successive heirs to Twenty-Eight families, but when Professor McGonagall read out the name "Harry-Potter", the room fell silent.

"Harry Potter?" "That Harry Potter?"

The Sorting Hat hesitated over Harry's head for a long time amidst the chatter. When it finally shouted "Gryffindor", the mood at the long tables on both sides of the house changed immediately.

"We've got Potter!" The clamor rose, taking away the luster from the entrance of the Malfoy's heir.

Even when dinner appeared out of nowhere, Draco could eat no more than a few bites of the appetizer.

Throughout the dinner, Draco just frowned and pinched the handle of her folding fan hard under the dining table.

It wasn't until near the end of the dinner that Professor Dumbledore, who was the headmaster, stood up.

"Now that everyone has eaten and drunk their fill, I have a few final words of advice for you. The Forbidden Forest in school is absolutely off-limits to any student. The caretaker, Mr Filch, has asked me to remind you all to please refrain from casting spells in the corridors during class time. Finally, I must tell you all that during the year - if you do not want to die in agony from bleeding from all seven orifices - you should never set foot in the corridor on the right-hand side of the fourth floor of the castle."

Dumbledore's final words left the students with a few giggles and a few cringes.

Fortunately, the school song that followed restored the students to a lively atmosphere.

Afterward, the freshmen returned to the common room with Prefect and went to their respective dorm rooms. The freshmen were exhausted by the time they returned to their dormitories after days of traveling.

Even Pansy, upon realizing that she had been assigned to a different room from Daphne and Draco, only grumbled a few times in exhaustion and went dutifully to bed.

In Slytherin's bedroom, Draco and Daphne had freshened up and were each curled up in bed.

"Don't be mad, Draco. people just think Harry Potter is famous." Daphne said softly and comfortingly with a sleepy voice.

Draco just buried her face deep in her pillow and hated it.

"Tomorrow in class, this young lady will show him who is the best wizard in this grade."