As the scenery outside the window grew darker, the train slowed down and finally stopped at the platform.
"First-year students, come here. Watch your step," a large figure called out, maintaining order among the crowd.
He would lead the first-year students onto the boat to imitate the scene of the four great wizards who originally built the school arriving at Hogwarts.
All first-year students had to cross the lake in groups of four to reach Hogwarts Castle.
The students of other grades took carriages back to the castle.
"Goodbye," Luna waved goodbye to Malfoy.
"It's best if we don't see each other again," Malfoy muttered, waving goodbye to her politely.
Of course, this was highly unlikely.
Malfoy joined the flow of people and found a carriage to board.
As the carriage filled with students, it began to move slowly, then gradually accelerated.
Even though this was likely due to magic, some students were still surprised and began discussing the principles and magic behind it.
"If the little girl saw this, she wouldn't think so," Malfoy thought of Luna, who could probably see Thestrak pulling the carriage.
"She's actually quite pitiful," he thought, feeling like he had been "tortured" throughout the journey.
The students walked through the gates and into the hall, except for the first-year students who were almost there.
Countless candles hanging in the air shone on the four long tables full of people and the golden plates and stemware on them.
The stars on the ceiling shone brightly, as the ceiling was enchanted to always reflect the sky outside.
Malfoy fiddled with the food in his bowl, looking around boredly.
He saw Hermione looking around anxiously, clearly worried about Harry and Ron, who were late.
"The French are so hospitable that they're reluctant to leave," Malfoy thought of Pansy, who was stuck in France again.
She was also late, but someone could make it lively.
The doors on the side of the hall slowly opened, and a row of first-year students walked in slowly.
Most of them were very nervous, like Ginny, who had a pale and worried expression on her face as she looked around for support.
"Your boyfriend and brother should be talking with Snape now," Malfoy said.
As for Luna, she seemed to be at the other extreme. She seemed to be at home.
Although she was also looking around, Malfoy could see a curious light in her eyes.
He guessed she was looking for those fantasy creatures again.Their eyes met, and Luna even beckoned to him.
Professor McGonagall called the new students one by one.
It had to be said that, after a year, the Sorting Hat had become even more tattered, and several huge puddings had been placed on it.
It looked like it was about to fall apart at any moment.
"Colin Crive." Professor McGonagall called out.
A thin boy trembled as he walked up to the stage and slowly put on the sorting hat.
Without much effort, the sorting hat shouted, "Gryffindor!" The boy blushed with excitement and, after a brief moment of tension, jumped happily towards the Gryffindor table.
However, his excited expression quickly faded when he didn't see his "idol" present.
"Ginny Weasley."
The little girl approached the worn hat step by step. She looked like a prisoner waiting for trial, pressing her lips tightly and shaking with fear as she picked up the hat and put it on.
She worried that the hat would call out Slytherin. But, as expected, this concern was unnecessary.
"I haven't seen the Weasleys go anywhere else, Gryffindor!" When Ginny put on her hat, the sorting hat called out, and Ginny let out a heavy sigh of relief.
She happily walked to the Gryffindor table, where her two twin brothers extended their hands to welcome her.
"I said your worry is superfluous, Ginny." The two brothers said in unison.
Several more students took the stage, and the sorting hat quickly assigned them to their respective houses.
However, they soon welcomed an uninvited guest.
"Luna Lovegood."
The girl was different from the previous nervous students.
She had a faint smile on her mouth, like a crescent moon, and seemed to not care about the ritual that would determine her life for the next seven years.
She even observed it before putting on her hat. After a while, the sorting hat urged her on.
A few strands of pale blonde hair protruded from the broken brim, making her look even weirder.
"Well, let me think about it." The sorting hat tilted its corner, thinking.
The girl in front of it was overwhelming, as it didn't know what she was thinking or couldn't keep up with her thoughts. "Weird girl."
The sorting hat remained silent for a while before coming to this conclusion. "Perhaps Ravenclaw will suit you."
It hesitantly judged that it was the first time in so many years.
"Superior ingenuity is the greatest wealth of mankind." Taking off her hat, Luna repeated this sentence again in an aria-like tone, then moved to the Ravenclaw table.
Some students stood up to welcome her.
After several more students had their sorting, the ceremony officially ended.
"Close your ears and listen!"
Malfoy changed the spell so that the target became himself.
Some meaningless buzzing sounds were always better than the various magical reform songs sung by the Weasley twins.
While others hummed in various strange tones, he lowered his head and thought about how to spend this year.
"There are two possible situations now. First: the diary was taken by someone outside the school, and its whereabouts are now unknown, so there will always be a Horcrux that cannot be destroyed." Malfoy shook his head.
"Of course, this possibility is very small. The biggest possibility is that it was taken by a student, after all, it was in a bookstore." Malfoy thought of the ring with unusually powerful charm, which seemed to spontaneously exude temptation to those around it.
"Maybe the materials are different?" Malfoy thought that he didn't feel any special feeling when he got the diary, and there was no voice calling in his ear.
"Did I already have a mental disorder?" Malfoy smiled self-deprecatingly.
He continued his reasoning, "That's the second possibility. The student was taken away and brought to school. The final owner could be any student. Even students who were not present at that time could have obtained it through other means." Malfoy couldn't help but think of this.
The Basilisk is easy to defeat, even a professor-level character should be able to win against it.
For example, Professor McGonagall could just activate some castle soldiers a little, and the tactical heap of people would also kill it.
This trick could draw a lot of money at the bottom of the kettle, but it would also kill the snake and increase the difficulty of finding the Horcrux.
What's more, Malfoy couldn't just tell them stupidly: "Professor, there's a secret room under the girl's bathroom, and there's a basilisk in it." He couldn't explain this himself first.
"I can only take things one step at a time." Malfoy thought helplessly.
"But there are always more ways to prevent it." He remembered his plan again.
Suddenly, he felt the table in front of him shaking violently. He looked up and saw a face that he couldn't recognize anymore. He looked at it vigorously.
"Welcome back to school." He said with a smile, lifting the spell and feeling his head hurt again.