The ke, the massive and enting castle, and the distant shadows of the trees hidden far from sight...Scarlet felt a flicker nition, deemed it a famous se from the movie.

  She ehe view, but she wasn’t as amazed as the other students seemed to be. Duriime as a caster, she had witnessed far more extraordinary sight, and the hidden realm of the Isle of Skye was infinitely more magical and breathtaking pared to this...Well, seeihs and ghost crowding that shadowy realm wasn’t something you’d find in ordinary pces. In fact, that realm was more terrifying and thrilling than anything else - ly the kind of pce a living mortal would choose to linger, no matter how beautiful the view might be.

  The lighting’s pretty dim here. Maybe I should suggest the school install some dles or mps for the first-years. Quite a hazard if anyone slips and falls into the ke because they ’t see in the dark, Scarlet thought to herself while she blindly followed the person in her front until they reached the gate.

  The gate swung opened, revealing Professonagall - the same professor who had sehe letter and taken her shopping in Diagon Alley. In Scarlet’s opinion, she seemed like a responsible lecturer, and she was actually looking forward to attending her csses.

  The students followed Professonagall to a small chamber off the hall, where she briefed them about the S Ceremony. Scarlet was initially fused, but when she saw the old hat, battered hat, she remembered the se where the hat talked.

  It must be an iient if I recall it so well, Scarlet mused.

  Her gaze wao the long tables and the dles floating above them, w if the wax ever dripped onto the food. And the ptes and utensils, which seemed to be made of gold or silver, made her worry about heavy metal poisoning. Well, it’s magic, so probably safe to use? I’m not very good with chemistry...Or is it physics?

  The S Ceremony began after the hat fis song. One by one, each student tried o, which then shouted out their respective houses.

  Scarlet waited her turn with little , though she noticed Harry and Ron, and even Hermione and Neville gathered arouheir nervousness evident. Hermione articurly jittery, mumbling something rapidly under her breath – probably spells or something simir. Scarlet patted each of them on the shoulder, a subtle fort. “You’ll be fine, no worries.”

  They all nodded quietly, still looking anxious but perhaps slightly reassured.

  “Granger, Hermione!”

  The bunh girl went up and promptly sorted into Gryffindor, which made Ron groan in disappoi. It seemed they still hadn’t quite warmed to each other, despite Scarlet’s earlier intervention ioryline.

  Then, to Scarlet’s surprise, her name was called.

  “Hong, Scarlet Smith!”

  Looks like they updated my er Professonagall’s visit. Scarlet thought, recalled that her name on the acceptater hadn’t included “Hong” as her st name.

  She strolled to the stool, pced the hat on her head, and waited to be sorted.

  “Well, you certainly have an iing past,” whispered a small voi her ear, “Not one for wilfully showing off, not particurly ambitions, and your wisdom seems to have accumuted over time...Hmm...”

  I’d prefer a pear the kit, Scarlet thought, knowing the hat would pick up on it. Gryffindor, with its bravery front are? Not really my style. Ravencw sounds like a house that loves to learn, but holy, I’m not that eager for it. Slytherin, ing as you sang? I’m not, though I wish I were – might’ve made life easier. So... I guess Hufflepuff?

  “You know yourself quite well, and Hufflepuff’s on room is indeed he kit. HUFFLEPUFF!”

  Scarlet removed the hat after hearing the shout, left it oool, and walked toward the long table that cheered for her arrival.

  Neville, to her surprise, was sorted to Gryffindor, the house of the brave...Well, Hermione surprised her as well - she had expected her to be pced in Ravencw. But upon refle, it made sehat the trio onist would all end up in Gryffindor. After all, red is always the colour associated with main characters in shonen anime, symbolizing bravery and willio veo the unknown – qualities that drive the story forward...Great, I love yellow, Scarlet thought with satisfa, a colour rarely chosen by main characters in bat anime, far from trouble and drama.

  Malfoy was sorted into Slytherin, and only then did she notice that the Slytherin table seemed full of “nobles”...ht, purebloods. Well, it wasn’t surprising; after all, the wealthy often had to be ing and ambitious to secure their best is.

  Then came Harry’s turn. The hat shouted his house after a moment of silence, and the Gryffindor table erupted into loud cheers. She could hear the Weasley twins yelling “We got Potter! We got Potter!”

  Finally, Ron was sorted into Gryffindor, just as she had expected.

  Ron sat beside Harry and gnced over at Scarlet, seeming to hope that she would join them in Gryffindor as well.

  Nope, I prefer it here - somewhere he kit, Scarlet thought to herself as she raised her cup in a distant toast to Ron, who responded with a toast of his own.

  The students fell silent as Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster, got to his feet, beaming at them with his arms wide open.

  Scarlet recalled the information about him from the cards she had seen orain with Harry and Rohey were enjoying their Chocote Frog. She had no i in colleg the cards, nor in the Chocote Frogs they loved - her tastes leaned more towards Asian desserts, where the highest pliment was “not too sweet”. But she appreciated the packaging and the idea of distributing the cards; she could always borrow someone’s colle if she needed more information about the wizards and witches.

  The best wizard in the world, huh? Scarlet mused, still debating whether she should approach him or Professonagall about the rat...Or perhaps she should first meet with the professor in charge for Hufflepuff?

  “Wele,” Professor Dumbledore began. “Wele to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our ba, I would like to say a few words. Ahey are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!”

  He sat back down, and Scarlet remaiunned for a few moments while everyone else cpped and cheered. But soon, she came to her senses, and found herself rather liking this old man. She had experienced many speeches from directors, principles, headmasters etc., on the first day of school or at various events, and they always sted at least fifteen minutes - a hypnotic mumble to most people’s ears – despite g, “I would like to say a few words”. This was the first time she’d actually seen a headmaster keep his promise of “say a few words”!

  Not sure if he’s a reliable guy, but at least he’s witty, Scarlet mused as she noticed the table was now full of food...Well, typical British fare. Scarlet sighed silently. Oh dear, I o figure out how to get in touch with the kit - I need Eastern Asian food!

  It’s not that she disliked British food; it was o have it occasionally, and British dishes could be delicious too. But she preferred food with less salt, sugar and spices, and only certai Asian cuisi her preferences.

  Her housemates around her began chatting about their families while mung on their portions. Some were pureblood, some were half-blood, and some were from Muggle families.

  “I was supposed to atteon before I received my Hogwarts letter.” said the boy sittio her. He looked at Scarlet early, “Hi, I’m Justin Finch-Fletchley.”

  It was only then that Scarlet noticed his unon st name. Based on his mention of Eton...a wealthy boy from two families with heritage? Probably not too deeply rooted, though, since he seemed i and naive. Or perhaps he was the sed son of the family? Scarlet mused as she picked up her cup and offered a toast; her hands weren’t particurly after holding a few slices of bread to apany the roasted meat, which was den with spices that were to for her taste, “Hi, I’m Scarlet Smith.”

  Justin asked tentatively, “Are you...are you the Scarlet Smith? The one who wrote that book?”

  Scarlet blinked. “You mean...Akahime’s Diary?”

  “Yes, it’s you! It is you!” Justin grinned broadly, “I’m a huge fan! My mum is too! Could you sign an autograph for me? Oh, I must send my mum an owl - I meet Scarlet Smith in real life!”

  Scarlet hought she’d meet a fan at Hogwarts, but she didn’t mind, “Sure! Do you wao sign the book, or that a piece of paper do?”

  “ I have both?” His eagerness was written all over his face.

  “Of course. Meet me whe to our dorm, and I’ll sign it for you.”

  Their versation attracted attention from others, and soon the whole long table discovered they had a famous among them as more of her fans approached her for autographs as well. It wouldn’t be long before the entire Hogwarts knew about it, and possibly even the professors.

  Hope they won’t mind. I promise the book writing won’t interfere my school performance, Scarlet thought to herself as they fiheir dinner and the headmaster began giving the start-of-term notices:

  - First years should hat the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all students.

  - No magic should be used between csses in the corridors. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, will be in charge of enf this rule.

  - Quidditch trials will be held in the sed week of the term. Aerested in pying for their house teams should tact Madam Hooch.

  - The third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.

  The first few notices sounded normal, but that st one...Scarlet thought for a moment. Telling someohat a pce is forbidden without giving a reason could provoke them to explore it just to see what’s there. So...a bait fryffindors? Or specifically, a bait for Harry and his two best friends? Is this how the adventure begins?

  “And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!” annouhe headmaster, which Scarlet found bizarre. Why do we o sing the school song befoing to bed? Isn’t it supposed to be on the Monday m as the start of the week?

  “Everyone picks their favourite tune,” said the headmaster, “and off we go!”

  ...What? There’s no melody for it? And...is this karaoke?

  Scarlet stood stunned, watg the golden words float above them...then joined in, singing in a low pitd fast pace. Luckily, she wasn’t the only one who did that; others did the same. But the Weasley twins...Scarlet remembered hoerated Mrs. Weasley had looked when she mentioned her twins. Okay, she got the idea now.

  The headmaster gave the loudest and most merry the hall when the Weasley twins finally finished. “Ah, music,” he said, wiping his eyes. “A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!”

  Finally! Go go go! I anize my notes before sending them to Ron for answers! When will we receive our schedule? Plenty of tasks swirled in Scarlet’s mind, slowly arranging themselves acc to y and urgency. Of course, the first thing tomorrow must be sending dad my letter. Hope he’s doing fine...