Hogwarts and Sorting - I

When the train stopped, I heard a booming voice and looked around and found the Half-giant Hagrid calling first years to him. He was taller than the Hagrid in the movies and was twice my height. I went through the crowd slowly without bumping into anyone and stood in front of him along with my fellow first years. We were told to board a small boat. I shared a boat with three other students while we crossed the black lake. I had my mage sight active all the time as I did not want to miss the magical sight of Hogwarts. When we crossed a bridge I saw that the trace was added to all our wands. This confirmed my hypothesis about the trace.

The first sight of Hogwarts was breath-taking and marvellous. It looked majestic and I could see the aura of large amount of ambient magic surrounding the castle. I felt that staying at this castle will make my magic stronger and stronger without much effort. No wonder Dumbledore refused the position of Minister of Magic and stayed here. In addition to guiding and manipulating young wizards, he also gets the added advantage of gaining magical strength every day.

Through my mage sight I could also see the castle wards which according to my observation were in bad condition. It looked like some of the wards were deactivated, some of the wards had low power and some newly added wards were connected in a haphazard way. I don't know warding yet so I am not able to fully identify the wards and the faults but I could tell that the Hogwarts wards were weakening slowly. This should have been the work of Dumbledore and the other Headmasters of Hogwarts who decided to play with the wards without any knowledge on the topic. There also was a dark ward among the other wards which I guessed was responsible for the DADA curse.

The castle felt as if it was alive. I think it is semi sentient and the elves are controlled by it and not the headmaster. That is why those rules were needed to be followed by Sherry when she came to Hogwarts. I need to read up more on the subject to know for sure.

Hagrid guided us to the entrance and knocked on a huge door. The door swung open and a tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes (Showing her true inner nature of being a Slytherin) stood there, looking sternly down at us. She glanced at me and I could see the hidden anger in her eyes. Guess she found out about my actions.

Hagrid "The firs' years, Professor McGonagall."

McGonagall "Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

McGonagall pulled the door wide and we followed her in. Then she stopped and turned to face us and said, "Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take you seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. While you are here your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. Now, form a line and follow me."

Arriving in the large hall, I noticed four tables with different banners overhead signifying the house in which they represent. At the end, middle chairs raised in height which seemed to overlook the whole hall belonged to the professors. I was about to look at the professors when the sorting sat placed on a stool in the centre of the hall started to sing.

'Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

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 true

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!'

I along with everyone else clapped for the song which the sorting hat had sung. Professor McGonagall was standing next to the stool and told us that she'd begin calling out our names and place the hat upon our heads to decide where we'd be sorted.

I looked at my year mates with my mage sight and found out that most of them had very poor magical strength. It was possible as my year mostly consisted of muggle borns and purebloods of Dark and Neutral families from what I can tell due to the war. The purebloods were weak due to the inbreeding and the muggle borns due to not having had any practice using magic and the less ambient magic in muggle world. Only two of my year mates had average magical strength for their age. One was the snob from the train and another was a girl who looked like she was an Heiress of a rich family. Her robes and actions have it away. She had an emotionless face and was silently observing everything around her. I guess I have will find more about them after their names are called.

Soon it was my turn. "Falken, Charles" she called.

She looked at me as if she was seeing me for the first time and did not show any anger or any expression. I guess she and Dumbledore had decided to ignore me for now. My name caused a lot of reactions in the crowd. The pureblood perked up slightly on hearing the name of a house they thought had become extinct. They started discussing this development with their friends.

The ones who started whispering and made the most noise were the muggleborns. I was slightly famous in the muggle world due to my achievements at a young age so it was not unexpected. My school wanted publicity so I was even interviewed for the newspaper a few times. Since I was studying there with a scholarship I could not deny the school's request. The interviews gained me some publicity. My genius identity would soon be spread throughout the school and therefore I would have to tone down my practical ability to lose some unwanted attention and jealousy.

I walked up calmly to the stool and sat down. Then McGonagall placed the sorting hat on my head. As soon as the hat was placed on my head it shouted "Ravenclaw". Happy that my plan worked flawlessly, I skipped over to the Ravenclaw table and sat down with other younger students. The people around me congratulated me and I thanked them. Then the sorting continued.