Sorting

Chapter 42:

Sorting

Night had fallen not too long ago and a quiet atmosphere had settled in at the train station in Hogsmeade. This did not last for long as lights were coming closer from the distance and a train came to a standstill.

Student after students were getting out of it and the older students went on their way to the castle. First-year students were wandering aimlessly around the station until they heard a loud shout. "Firs years to me. Blimey, this darkness. Firs years, gather around me."

A giant of a man was shouting loudly and waved at the little first-year students with a lantern in his hands. Kids were grouping around Hagrid and were waiting for a few minutes till all the new students were around them.

Hagrid frowned a bit, as few new students were attending this year too. It was just like this for the last few years. Only so few new students came to Hogwarts for the past years. Shaking his head to free himself from thinking about the bad times that were the reasons for this.

A few of the new students were intimidated by this giant of a man and were looking at him in slight fear.

Following him through the woods on a sidewalk that was well maintained, the group soon arrived at a bay where many lit boats were anchored.

Holding his lantern up in the air in front of the boats, they were somehow moving towards them from their anchored place. "Only 4 to each boat." He said to the kids and was helping the first ones aboard.

Standing a little beside the gathered children stood 5 people who looked at everything with interest in their eyes. Two boys of them were standing out a bit more than everyone else. The reason for this was that they looked more muscular than all the other kids. Both of them had black short hair. The one to the right was a bit taller and his skin was looking very whitish.

It just looked like this kid had never seen the sun. His most prominent feature was his eyes, they were colored in a bright red tone and looked quite mysterious.

The youth beside him was more normal-looking.

It was Richard and Kyle, along with their friends. All of them were waiting for the other kids to get into a boat, and it took them a few minutes of waiting. One slightly smaller boy with brown short hair almost fell down into the lake and only Hagrid's fast reaction was saving him from this.

Some snickering was heard when people witnessed this, but the boy did not notice this and was much more concerned by the burly hand which shoved him onto the boat. Thanking the groundskeeper for his help, he then sat next to the other three occupants.

The only people who were not on the boats now were Richards' group and another two redheads. Studying these two identical-looking boys, Richard concluded these two would be the Weasley twins. He pointed to the two mischievous-looking guys and nodded to Kyle with a grin. After that, he said to the girls. "Girls, we have to let you alone for this romantic boat ride. Have fun."

He bowed himself dramatically, which let the girls let out some giggles and smiles. Walking forward with Kyle in tow, they then went up to the twins and spoke.

"Hello there. Mind if we get a boat together?" Both of them had nothing against this and the four boarded the boat. Sniffys group was the last one to get onto their boat and all the boats then started moving.

After introducing themselves to each other, Richard then asked them with a spark in his eyes. "Did you two know that in this lake should live a gigantic octopus? It is said that his tentacles go throughout the entire lake."

Both of the redheads were surprised when they heard this and answered. "Really? That is something," said the one on the left. "To investigate." Ended the other one.

"Yeah, this should be quite the sight to see. I hope you two don´t hate water." Richard said with a smile on his face when he looked over at Kyle, who also had an amusing smile on his face.

"What do you" Fred wanted to ask, but before he could end his sentence, Kyle and Richard flipped the boat with a bit of magic.

The two redheads were completely stumped at this moment, and all four of them fell straight into the water. The coldness hit them in an instant. Both Weasleys needed a moment to adjust themselves to this sudden change and flailed uselessly with their arms.

This lasted only moments, and they regained their mindset and regulated their bodies to swim up to the surface. Not seeing anything in the pitch-black darkness, the redheaded duo followed the light of the lanterns that shone down from the boats.

Meanwhile, Richard and Kyle were also thrown into the water but were much calmer. Both of them looked around and channeled magic into their eyes to get a better view of the place. Richard had found out that he could enhance his eyesight with magic long ago, but in the last couple of months, he learned he could change the flow of magic in his eyes so that he could also see in the darkness.

He had told that to his two friends in elation, but Kyle just shrugged him off by saying that he learned that much earlier. Sniffy could also see the surrounding magic and could see in darkness, albeit differently. Richard sulked for a few days at the unfairness of things, but he got over it.

Anyway, now being able to see everything, he had a good look at his surroundings. The seabed was beautiful. Green plants could be found everywhere, dancing in the water. Fishes were swimming all around.

It would have been quite the serene picture, would there not be these long tentacles coming in their direction.

4 of them were on them in a second and grabbed the four boys. Fred and George were terrified beyond belief by this and tried to shake them off somehow, but were unsuccessful. Richard and Kyle were just enjoying their ride and were out of the waters in the blink of an eye. The boat had steadied itself with magic and the tentacles placed them safely back on it.

Kyle and Richard were enjoying the sight in front of them when they looked at both Weasleys and started laughing after saying. "If you could just see your faces right now, hahahaha."

That let them look at each other and both of them joined the duo in their laughter after seeing the disheveled face of their counterpart.

The surrounding kids could only look at them and shake their heads at these antics, but smiles were seen on almost all of them. Sniffy, Mia, and Alex were glad that they sat in a different boat and had not gone through this.

Sniffy assured them they would never dare to do this to them, as she would give them hell for it. Seeing her face, which looked very menacing as she said this, they were sure that no one would mess with her or they would have a terrible time.

"Alright there?" Hagrid asked from the middle of the boats and when all the four nodded he explained a bit about this octopus. It was more of a guardian of the lake than a monster. It helped students in times of need and was often seen playing with them near the shore.

All new students were relieved when they heard this. Coming down from their laughter, Fred said. "That was amazing. How did you know it would help us?" Both dripping wet brothers looked at Kyle and Richard and asked.

Kyle just smiled and said. "We didn´t." While he was grinning from ear to ear. George and Fred were both stunned when they heard his answer and said while grinning. "That's brilliant, but we will have our revenge." Both brothers had loved this, but such a game could be played by them, too.

The young vampire just smiled and answered. "You can try, but don´t be afraid to hurt yourself."

"You two are so on, but how come you two are not wet?" George stated and asked.

"Ahh, you know. Because of magic." Richard told them and took out his "wand" that he had transfigured out of a random wooden block. With a dramatic whoosh, he then cast a drying spell on both of them.

Feeling the water on their bodies dry up, both of them practically shouted. "You have to teach us how you did that." Seeing the glittering stars in both their eyes, he quickly agreed to it.

The boats continued forward, and it took them out of the bay.

In front of them appeared the castle in all its glory. The moon was accentuating it in the background and it just looked out of this world.

All students were stunned to see this beautiful-looking castle with all of its towers and walls in full glory. It stood high on the ground above the lake. Lights were shining out of the windows all over it and it was a picture out of a fantasy book.

All the students were captivated by this view and only got out of their reverie when Hagrid warned them about their heads when they were about to come into a cave. Although, only Hagrid was too big for the entrance and it was no concern for any of the students.

Richard was smiling the entire time after he viewed the castle and loved every second of it. It was a dream come true and he couldn´t believe that he was really coming to this school.

The boats were going on the shore and all of them disembarked from them and followed the groundskeeper up the stone steps leading to the castle. Richards' group met up again with Sniffy and Co, and they each introduced themselves to each other. Now, having two more people to speak with, they chatted among themselves on the way to the castle.

Getting inside it through its massive doors. They then walked for a few more minutes and entered a hall where an old witch was waiting for them. She wore dark green robes and looked very strictly at the newcomers.

Thanking Hagrid, she then introduced herself to the newcomers and told them about the four houses in Hogwarts and what each of them represented. Not a peep was said from any of the new students, since they felt it would be a bad idea to get onto the witch's bad side.

After she was done introducing the four houses, she went away to figure out when all would be ready. Many voices could be heard as soon as she opened the door and went through it.

Richard had gotten a good look at his new teacher and was truly surprised when he saw her. She did not look any older than in her forties. That was quite the difference to the books and movies. In there, she was described to be an old lady in her late fifties or even sixties. This quite stumped him and he looked forward to seeing all the other teachers.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh"

A few shrieks were heard when ghosts came into the room through the walls and the ground. Most of the muggle-born were scared out of their skin and looked with fear at the see-through existences.

Sniffy was soothing Alex and Mia as they were both shivering. It was quite a shock to most of the muggleborn. However, the ghosts were so nice and introduced themselves, which calmed down most of them, albeit they were still shivering.

It was also the first time for Richard, Kyle, and Sniffy to see them and they were quite curious about them. It was a mystery to all of them how such beings could exist.

Touching one of them, or better letting his hand go through it. Richard could feel coldness emanating from it. It did not feel bad. It was just a surprising feeling of coldness, like you were immediately placed in a chilly place.

All the kids were now asking the ghosts some questions. Professor McGonagall came back after a few minutes and led all of them into the great hall.

The great hall was also quite different, as it was described in the books and movies. It was really a "great" hall in the sense that it was massive. Four magnificent tables were standing next to each other, with enough space between them to go by easily. These tables were also split a few times apart to allow students to go to the other side of each table.

Candlelight was lighting up the whole place, which was floating all over the ceiling. On it could be seen the moon and the stars and a few clouds.

At the end of the hall stood the tables for the professors.

Richard was slowly walking forward while taking in all the scenery. The whole place was much bigger and there should easily be around 200 hundred students inside the hall.

He looked over at the teachers and could only recognize a few of them. Professor Flitwick was sitting atop a specially made chair to eat at the same table height. He was shorter than even the new first years, and Richard could see some resemblance to the goblins.

Professor Snape was also easily found as he had black hair that reached to his shoulders and his entire demeanor screamed "I hate kids".

The only other one Richard could recognize was the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. He looked exactly like your grandpa living next door, just with a white beard that went almost to the floor. He was wearing bright pink robes with stars placed all over them. The only difference to the books was that he was not wearing any glasses.

One sweep over the students, Richard concluded that an eyesight problem should not be apparent in the wizarding world, since no one was wearing anything close to glasses.

Getting in position in front of the tables, all new first years formed a line and stood in front of a 4-legged stool on which an old hat was placed. The Professor had explained to them earlier what they would need to do and was now reading a name of a parchment.

"Anna Allerforth"

The first one whose name was called was a girl who was quite unsure of what would happen to her. She was stepping forward with tiny steps and went up to the stool. Professor McGonagall had moved beside the stool and picked up the hat. The girl sat on the stool and after the hat was placed onto her head, it only took a few moments for it to shout out.

"Hufflepuff"

Applause sounded through the hall and the girl stood up and skipped to the table on the right side, right next to the Slytherin table.

A few more names were called and soon it came the time for Kyle.

"Kyle Night"

Kyle went up to the hat in a confident stride and sat down on the stool. The hat was placed on his head and he heard a voice inside his head.

After speaking to it for a few moments, the hat decided itself and shouted.

"Gryffindor"

Richard was stunned when he heard this. He had not expected such an outcome but was happy for his friend.

Kyle got up and looked at his friends and smiled at them while he went on to his new house table.

Another few names later. It was the turn for Richard.

"Richard Snow"

Walking forward similarly to Kyle's stride, he placed himself on the stool and waited for the hat. 'Hello there, hmmm, another one who I cannot see into. Would you care and drop your occlumency shields?' asked him the hat and Richard could only think back after thinking for a bit.

'I am quite sorry to decline, but I hate it when something wants to read my mind. Can you just put me into Gryffindor?'

Richards had planned to go to Ravenclaw before he found out that the hat could not read his memories. He was not too afraid of this artifact but it was better if it could not access his memories. He figured that was also the same for Kyle, and he had gone to Gryffindor instead to be with his friends.

'Do you want to rethink your decision again? I am very proud of my abilities to place people.'

'Sorry, but I hope you can send me to Gryffindor. My friends are going there anyway, so it would be a lot better to stay there.'

'So be it then...' "Gryffindor" the hat shouted out and Richard went to his new table and his clothes changed to Gryffindor-styled ones.

"Sophia Snow"

After his turn was over, his "sister" was the next, and she was also placed in Gryffindor. The last few students were placed in their houses and Mia and Alex got somehow both placed into Ravenclaw. It surprised all of them since Mia wanted to go to Gryffindor along with Alex, but it got turned somehow around.

Both Weasley twins got sorted last and went to Gryffindor. There were about 30 new students and 10 went to Gryffindor and Slytherin, while Ravenclaw got 6 and Hufflepuff only got 4 fresh faces this year.

Richard was sitting next to Kyle and Sniffy and the Weasly twins were sitting on the other side of the table alongside another red-haired boy. He introduced himself as Charlie Weasly and was now in his 5th year. All of them chatted for a bit before the feast was starting and meal after meal appeared on the table.

All three of them were now real foodies and tasted through most of the dishes to find out the best of them. The tables were full of food and it was a dream for everyone to eat so many delicious things.