From time to time, rumbling thunder echoed through the sky, and rain pattered loudly against the windows. Aside from the terrible weather, nothing happened during the rest of the journey.
No one foolishly caused trouble, and no Dementors came aboard the train either. The train safely arrived at the end of its journey. In complete darkness, the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade Station.
The rain came down hard and fast, as though buckets of icy water were constantly being poured from the sky. At the far end of the platform stood a gigantic figure. It was Hagrid, loudly calling for the first-year students.
As usual, the first-years would be ferried across the lake by Hagrid before entering Hogwarts Castle. Crossing the lake in weather this terrible, Eda did not know whether the new students would be able to appreciate the feelings of the four founders back then, but she did know that the first-years would definitely be freezing.
After walking across the pitch-black platform, they found a hundred carriages pulled by Thestrals waiting outside the station. Eda and the twins quickly climbed into an empty carriage. Once Angelina, Alicia, and Lee Jordan got in, the door slammed shut with a bang.
A moment later, after a violent jolt, the long line of carriages rumbled off down the path leading to Hogwarts Castle, splashing water everywhere along the way.
Outside the carriage, fierce winds howled, shaking the carriage from side to side. The entire journey, Eda remained on edge, afraid the carriage might tip over.
Finally, the carriage creaked to a stop at the castle entrance. Like an arrow released from a bow, Eda shot out of the carriage and rushed into the Entrance Hall before she could be drenched into a drowned rat again.
Even though she was quite adept at magic to stop the water from touching anything around her, Miss Twist was a dramatic girl.
Warm torches burned in the Entrance Hall, but the students' disaster was not over yet. Peeves floated in midair, attacking passing students with water balloons.
Frowning, Eda flicked her wand and sent every water balloon Peeves had thrown flying back at him.
The small-statured Peeves was chased all over the place by the water balloons. If he slowed down even slightly, the balloons pursuing him would burst open. Left with no choice, Peeves could only curse under his breath and flee far away from Eda.
"Miss Twist, come here!" Professor McGonagall beckoned to Eda from the entrance to the Great Hall. The Hogwarts deputy headmistress spoke calmly and was not angry, but the form of address she used still made Eda shiver involuntarily.
"Professor, is something the matter?" Eda asked cautiously.
Professor McGonagall looked at Eda and said, "I am informing you, Miss Twist, that after school begins, you will receive one week of detention as punishment."
"Wait a second, Professor, what did I do wrong this time?" Eda asked in confusion. Even if the two of us get along well, you can't punish me without explanation!
"What did you do wrong? Miss Twist certainly has quite the temper, relying on her own abilities and acting recklessly and willfully as she pleases." Professor McGonagall snorted coldly. "I believe that after detention, you will understand where you went wrong. And if you still don't understand, then you can continue serving detention."
Judging from her attitude, if Eda spent her whole life unable to figure out what she had done wrong, Professor McGonagall was prepared to sentence her to "life imprisonment."
Eda decided to switch tactics and beg for mercy instead. Going head-on definitely would not work. She pointed at the badge pinned to her chest and said, "Professor, look here, look here!"
"Mhm, your badge is polished very cleanly," Professor McGonagall said.
Pretending to be confused while fully understanding, how could she not know what little schemes Eda had in mind? But this time, Professor McGonagall was determined to teach Eda some discipline, and these little tricks would not help at all.
Eda started getting anxious. She did not want to be put in detention right at the start of term. Just a few hours ago, Eda had still been on the train holding meetings with everyone. And now, the moment she arrived at school, she got detention. If word got out, how embarrassing would that be!
"Professor, I'm Head Girl! Have you ever seen a Head Girl get detention?" Eda said. "Could you please be merciful and let me off this once? There definitely won't be a next time, I promise!"
Watching Eda act shameless and coquettish in front of her, Professor McGonagall not only remained unmoved, she actually wanted to laugh.
Professor McGonagall did not change her decision. She said, "You're right, I really haven't seen a Head Girl get detention before. What a coincidence, today I've broadened my horizons."
"Professor, Professor, I already know I was wrong, and besides, wasn't that outside school grounds!" Eda said anxiously. She already knew why Professor McGonagall was angry.
Professor McGonagall completely ignored Eda and walked away directly. She still had to receive the first-years crossing the lake and preside over the Sorting Ceremony, she was very busy. Before leaving, Professor McGonagall tossed out one last sentence.
"And what if it was outside school grounds? Go reflect on your actions properly!"
"We heard all of that just now," Fred suddenly popped out and said gleefully.
"The Head Girl getting detention, does this count as unprecedented, with nobody before you and nobody after you?" George also did not comfort Eda at all. The two brothers were both very dissatisfied that Eda had become Head Girl.
Eda slapped away George's hand from her shoulder and said listlessly, "Go away. I don't feel like talking to you two right now."
The Great Hall was as magnificent as ever, and it had been specially decorated again for the new term feast. The four long house tables gradually filled with chattering students, and the staff table at the top of the hall was also filled with professors.
Very soon, the Sorting Ceremony began. Professor McGonagall led a long line of first-year students to the front of the Great Hall. The first-years had suffered quite a bit today already. Cold and nervous, every single one of them was trembling.
Professor McGonagall placed a three-legged stool on the ground in front of the first-years, then set the shabby, filthy, patch-covered Sorting Hat on top of it. The Great Hall fell silent as the Sorting Hat slowly began to sing.
After the Sorting Hat finished singing, enthusiastic applause erupted throughout the hall. Professor McGonagall then called the name of the first new student, Stewart Ackerley, and the boy was sorted into Ravenclaw.
The long line of first-years gradually grew shorter, and everyone's stomachs had long since begun growling with hunger. Finally, after Kevin Whitby was sorted into Hufflepuff, the Sorting Ceremony at last came to an end.
"It's time," Ron said as he deftly grabbed his knife and fork. Truly worthy of being Hogwarts' king of eating, before the food had even appeared, His Majesty was already prepared for battle.
Dumbledore's popularity was not without reason. He stood up smiling warmly and said only two words:
"Dig in!"
The battle instantly began. The empty plates suddenly piled high with food through magic, and Ronald Weasley, king of eating, scooped up a huge spoonful of mashed potatoes and stuffed it straight into his mouth.
Eda, sitting beside him, was completely stunned. How was Ron's mouth still a mouth? It was practically an abyssal maw!
Nearly Headless Nick, who could not enjoy the food, was not idle either. He talked about an amusing incident that had happened in the kitchens that morning. Peeves had run into the kitchens to cause trouble, preventing the house-elves from working properly.
After learning that Hogwarts also had house-elves, and that the food she ate and the cleaning of the castle were all done by house-elves, Hermione felt terrible.
Hermione lowered her head and looked at the food on her plate that she had barely touched. Instantly, the steak on the plate no longer smelled appetizing to her. She set down her knife and fork and pushed the plate away. There was no way she could continue eating this meal!
After even the desserts had been completely wiped out, Dumbledore stood up again and brought up the school's rules and notices in the same old manner. None of Filch's rules were taken seriously by the students, but Dumbledore's next words immediately made everyone pay attention.
"I must also regretfully inform everyone that this year there will be no Inter-House Quidditch Cup."
The Great Hall instantly exploded into chaos. Even Dumbledore could not stop everyone's passion for Quidditch. But Dumbledore quickly announced another piece of news: the Triwizard Tournament.
At that moment, a deafening clap of thunder rang out, and the doors of the Great Hall were slammed open with a bang. A man leaning on a staff stood in the doorway. He removed his hood, shaking out a head of long gray-white hair, and began walking toward the staff table.
The man's face looked as though it had been carved from rotten wood. Every inch of skin on his face seemed covered in scars, his mouth was twisted with a chunk missing, and part of his nose was gone as well.
Most terrifying of all was the bright blue magical eye the man possessed. The eye moved constantly, as though searching for something.
"Please allow me to introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor," Dumbledore said cheerfully, breaking the silence. "Professor Moody."
If scars were a man's medals, then Alastor Moody was a walking collection of honors. Everyone was stunned by his appearance.
Aside from Dumbledore and Hagrid, not a single person in the Great Hall applauded. Moody was completely indifferent to everyone's cold reaction. He casually pulled a curved flask from inside his cloak and took a large gulp from it.
After introducing the new one-year professor, Dumbledore began explaining the Triwizard Tournament again. The Great Hall, which had fallen quiet because of Moody's appearance, was once more filled with the students' discussions.
"I'm entering!" Fred Weasley said in a lowered voice from across the table. "I don't care whether Eda signs up or not, I'm entering anyway!"
There were plenty of people dreaming of becoming champions just like Fred. At every house table, students stared fervently at Dumbledore. Supreme glory, plus a prize of one thousand Galleons, who wouldn't want it?
"I know all of you are eager to win the Triwizard Cup for Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, "however, the participating schools and the Ministry of Magic have jointly agreed to establish an age restriction for this year's competitors. Only those who are at least seventeen years old... in other words, only students over the age of seventeen, will be permitted to enter."
"Rubbish!" the twins roared loudly and crudely. "Bloody Ministry, bloody rules!"
The students in the Great Hall immediately became furious. Those who were not yet seventeen all vented their anger. Even though they knew there was nothing they could do about it, they could not exactly bottle up their frustration inside either.
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