Chapter 17: Sorting Hat
A few minutes later, more and more ghosts began to appear in the small room, each one with a different shape and size—some tall, others short, some thin, and others rather rotund. The sight of so many ghosts took the new students by surprise. At first, many of the young witches and wizards were frightened, but they soon realized that the ghosts were quite friendly, greeting everyone with cheerful enthusiasm.
One ghost, eager to ease the students' nervousness, decided to put on a little show, performing a "ghostly" talent—removing his head and holding it above his body as it dangled in the air.
"Cool..." someone whispered, watching the ghost's head bob up and down.
"Thank you," the ghost replied, clearly in the mood for more. "But I can do something even cooler."
With a grin, the ghost tossed his head high into the air. What followed was an impressive acrobatic display: a front somersault followed by a triple-and-a-half aerial spin. The ghost's body reached up just in time to catch his head smoothly, reattaching it without a hitch.
The performance was flawless. The crowd, including Kyle, erupted into applause. It was truly impressive—after all, a talent like that wasn't something you saw every day.
"Thank you, thank you!" the ghost beamed as he took a bow, circling the group of students with pride. "Oh, and did I mention? It was with this very routine that I joined the Headless Hunt. Not to brag or anything, of course—just letting you know you've got good taste!"
His smug air only made the students laugh harder, and soon the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement. Everyone urged him to perform more tricks, which he happily obliged, though none quite as difficult as his first routine. Even so, the continuous tricks had the first-years laughing and cheering.
"Hmph," came a sneering voice from the side. "What's so impressive about that?"