16 Sorting ceremony pt.3

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moments pause

--

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Miles saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!"

Susan nodded at Hermione then at Miles as she went over to the stool.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah waving at them.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

" Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers, Miles could hear a pair of twin catcalling, who he immediately recognized as the Weasley twins.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Sometimes, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others, it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus," the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat.

Hermione smiled happily as she nodded at Miles and went towards the Ravenclaw table, who were cheering for her.

Daphne was called next and went to Slytherin as she casually went over and sat there furthest from other students.

Then Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to McGonagall

"Malfoy, Draco."

Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called not even looking at them and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"

Malfoy went to join his bodyguards Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.

There weren't many people left now. "Moon" "Nott" "Parkinson" went to Slytherin without anyone's surprise, then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil" then "Perks, Sally-Anne" and then, at last, what everyone had been waiting for -- "Potter, Harry!"

As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

The Harry Potter?"

The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.

Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, A my goodness, yes -- and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting... So where shall I put you?"

Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, Not Slytherin, not Slytherin.

"Not Slytherin, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that. I see you are in a midst of confusion due to that boy."

"Will I be powerful in Slytherin?" Harry thought to himself again as he realized the Hat seemed to be able to hear his thoughts.

"Of course you will." The hat said, "It's much suitable for you and your future."

Harry was thinking, confused about what he should do, should he go to Gryffindor where he feels like he belongs or should he go to Slytherin the place that brought out the dark lord but will make him strong, maybe he could even fulfill the expectations of one of those storybooks Miles talked about. While he was still in the midst of his confusion the Hat made the decision for him as out of nowhere the Hat announced, "SLYTHERIN!"

The whole hall was silent for a while even the Slytherins at first, but they soon started clapping as hard as they could cheer him on. Harry stood up unknowingly as he walked towards the Slytherin table still not sure what was going on. Sitting next to Draco who also looked just as he did, he looked around everyone's face.

He could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest sat Hagrid, who caught his eye seem to have his mouth wide open. And there, in the center of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Harry recognized him at once from the card he'd gotten out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. Dumbledore glanced at him, his expressions more than just normal. Harry then spotted Professor Quirrell, too, the nervous young man from the Leaky Cauldron. He was looking very peculiar in a large purple turban and was giving him an awkward smile.

He looked towards Ron who looked pale and surprised and then at Miles who was the only person other than the Slytherins who smiled and nodded at him.

It took a while for the cheers to die down on the Slytherins table. As Professor McGonagall snapped out of her daze, as she continued the ceremony. And now there were only four people left to be sorted. "Rakepick, Miles."

As if the initial shock wasn't enough, the teachers sitting at the High table looked extremely uncomfortable with the name Rakepick, even McGonagall let out a small sigh wondering what the coming years were going to be like.

First, Harry Potter, the one who was said to be destined to go to Gryffindor had gone to Slytherin and now another Rakepick. As if just the surname wasn't enough the way he walked confidently towards the stool not a movement slow or quick was enough for the Professors to know that he was the spitting image of his mother. Some of the professors even started remembering the first day, the storm name Patricia Rakepick had entered the school as they prayed to Merlin hoping he would be different than his mother.

Some of the students who had heard the name before started looking at him with their eyes wide open. As most of the students who recognized him were girls, he was even being sent a wink here and there.

Miles shook his head as he saw the expressions of the teachers. 'I guess mom won this bet!' He thought to himself as Patricia had guessed the reaction of the teachers, and it was exactly spot on.

McGonagall looked normal but you could tell she was tired from her eyes, Flitwick was smiling a little along with Dumbledore whose expression seemed a bit happy. Professor Hooch looked lost while Snape gave a disgusted look towards him.

McGonagall put the hat on top of his head and the moment she did, the hat announced,