Chapter 7: Sorting

As the Hogwarts Express came to a stop, the students quickly started to file out. While the second to seventh years started to head towards the carriages, the first years all stood next to one another. As Mihal looked towards where all the older students were walking to, he saw the thestrals.

"So, the schools got a herd of thestrals it looks like, " said Mihal

"You can see thestrals?" said Ron

"What are thestrals? asked Harry

"They're creatures that you can only see once you see death, " said Ron

Soon a bellowing voice reached out to the crowd of first years before Mihal could say anything.

"Firs' years, Firs' years over here,"

As Mihal looked up, a giant man towered over him. The man had bushy hair that almost covered his face. When the giant looked down, his eyes reached Harry's.

"Alright there Harry?" asked the giant man

"C'mon follow me, any more first years?" the man bellowed out.

"Alright now, follow me everyone!!!" said the giant man

As the man got into a boat by himself, he said, "Okay now four to a boat."

As the three boys stepped into a boat, a third stepped in also. A small unknown girl also got into the boat. Once the boat had four people, it lurches forward towards the castle.

"Wicked, "

"Right, " said Mihal

Harry just remained silent due to the mesmerizing sight of the castle.

While everyone was enjoying the view of the castle suddenly a voice could be heard.

"Watch your heads, " yelled the giant man

As the fleet of boats arrived at the shore. The giant man walked towards the castle steps. Quickly the crowd of students followed him.

" 'Ello professor, brought the first years."

"Thank you Hagrid, "said the witch

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Dursleys' house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Mihal could hear the murmurs of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right. 'The rest of the school must already be here,' thought Milah. But Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber. Harry swallowed.

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked Ron.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."

"I hope they were joking, " said Milah

As the kids were all standing together in a tight crowd, the tension could be felt. Everyone was nervous. Harry had look on his face as if he ate the vomit flavored bean, while Ron turned even paler than he usually was. While Milah started to fidget with his robe. When Milah looked to his right he could see Hermione. Hermione was standing frozen with who looked as if she was petrified.

creamed.

"What the -- ?"

He gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance--"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost -- I say, what are you all doing here?"

A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.

Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, Milah got into line behind a boy with sandy hair, with Ron behind him and Harry in front. Once everyone got into a line, they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Milah had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Milah looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History."

It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens.

Milah quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.

As Milah stood next to Harry, he heard "Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it", Harry whispered, noticing that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, he stared at it, too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth -- and the hat began 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!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"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. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!"

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

"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; Harry could see Ron's twin brothers catcalling.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. Perhaps it was Harry's imagination, after all he'd heard about Slytherin, but he thought they looked like an unpleasant lot.

He was starting to feel definitely sick now. He remembered being picked for teams during gym at his old school. He had always been last to be chosen, not because he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked him.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Sometimes, Harry noticed, 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.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Ron groaned.

"Gregorovitch, Milah!"

Once Milah heard his name, he slowly walked towards the hat. He picked the hat up slowly and put it in his head.

"Hhhhmmmm quite interesting you are," a voice whispered

"Can be cunning, but not much ambition. Full of learning, but not much wisdom."

"However, wisdom can be built," than the hat became silent as if he was thinking.

"No, no, no full of loyalty you are, yes, yes quite loyal. You would do anything to protect the people you call family and friends." said the hat.

"Yes, but too far it seems, not quite just and fair" whispered the hat.

"Hmmmmm no other choice than, Grynffindor!!!!!!!" bellowed the hat

Milah quickly took off the hat and sat it down. Once he was sorted the Gryffindor table burst into cheers. He sat down in the empty seat next to Hermione.

Once he was sorted, the names started to blur by until the sorting reached Harry. While the hat was on Harry's head for quite a while. It bellowed, "Gryffindor!!!!!!" Milah clapped and cheered for he was now in the same house as his friend. Quickly Harry made his way to Milah and sat right in front of him.

After Harry was Draco who was sorted into Slytherin. Once again the names started to blur by until the sorting reached his other friend, Ron. He was pale green by now. Harry and Milah crossed their fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

"Thank you!"

He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered.

"Is he -- a bit mad?"

"Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

On MIlah's other side, Percy Weasley and Hermione were talking about lessons ("I do hope they start right away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult -- "; "You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing -- ").

It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight into Harry's eyes -- and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead.

"Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head.

"What is it?" asked Milah.

"N-nothing."

The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harder to shake off was the feeling Harry had gotten from the teacher's look -- a feeling that he didn't like Harry at all.