The Sorting

The door swung open at once. And Professor McGonagall stood there with a very stern face.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall as Harry had seen earlier with his magic sense, was quite big. 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. Even though Harry had already seen it with his magic sense, he still was amazed by the place.

All of them followed Professor McGonagall across the entrance hall. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right, where the Great Hall was. Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber across the hall. Everyone crowded in, standing rather close to each other, much to Harry's dislike.

"Welcome to Hogwarts", 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."

Harry had learned of this when Sirius had droned him on and on about Hogwarts during their car ride to the station. The sorting hat will sort them into different houses, which would be like their family at Hogwarts.

"The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts...." Professor McGonagall went on. At this point Harry had stopped listening and was thinking about the wards at Hogwarts. They were pretty interesting as he had felt earlier. He didn't want to spread out his magic sense again as Dumbledore cut him off last time. So Harry thought about what house he would choose, should he go down the generic way and get placed in Gryffindor, or should he go to Slytherin this time. Thinking about all this, Harry just caught the last words of McGonagall before coming out of his thoughts.

"Please wait quietly." said Professor McGonagall as she left the chamber. Harry again let himself lost in his thoughts, he didn't even notice people gasping at the sight of the ghosts. He was still thinking about what he will be doing when, a voice shook him out of his thoughts,

"I say, what are you all doing here?"

A ghost wearing a ruff and tights asked the first years. Since everyone was too shocked to answer, Harry said, "Oh we are the first years waiting for the sorting ceremony to begin"

"Ah I see, its nice to see first years. I hope to see some of you in Hufflepuff. It's my old house, you know.

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

The ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

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

Harry formed the line, with Ron, Hermione and another sandy hair boy behind him and they walked out of the chamber, towards the Great Hall. They passed into the Great Hall through a pair of double doors.

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.

Harry looked upwards to see the black ceiling dotted with stars and that it showed the sky outside. Some interesting magic there, he smirked. He 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. For a few seconds there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched and a rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat began to sing. 

After the hat finished the song, the entire hall applauded. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Harry.

"I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."

Harry chuckled, it was quite expected of the Weasley twins to pull such a prank on Ron. 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 moment's pause —

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The Hufflepuff table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost they met earlier waving merrily at her. This went on for quite a while before Harry's name was called. McGonagall would call out the names, the hat would send them off to the tables.

"Potter, Harry!"

As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall. People craning their necks to get a look at him. Harry smiled, well people were as curious as ever about him.

As the hat lowered on to his head, it dropped over his eyes as it was too big for him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat.

"Hmm" a small voice in his ear. Then the voice gasped, "You shouldn't be here."

Harry thought, "Well, whatever do you mean by that?".

"You don't belong to this world boy."

"Oh you can tell?"

"Yes, its here. It's all in your head, you came from a different world. I can see your memories." Harry felt a bit of anger at this.

"Well I appreciate your comments but please do not pry into my memories. I don't appreciate that"

"Oh don't be angry boy, I wouldn't do anything to you. It's just that it's been quite a time since I have had such a case"

Harry got curious at that. "You mean to say that there had been such a case before?"

"Yes, there was. Only one such case and it happened nearly nine hundred years ago"

"But onto the much bigger question now, where should I put you. From what I have seen in your head, you don't even need to come to Hogwarts"

"Just put me in Gryffindor. I think it should do and I also think some of my friends would go there too"

"Well, if you're sure, GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He took off the hat and walked proudly towards the Gryffindor table. He was much taken by what the hat had told him earlier to notice that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy got up and shook his hand, while the Weasley twins were shouting, "We got Potter! We got Potter!". Both of them clapped his back. Harry sat down at the edge of the table, close to the teacher's table.

Harry could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest to him sat Hagrid. And there in the center of the High Table, in a large golden chair, sat Dumbledore, who caught his eyes and smiled, nodding at him. He spotted other professors but couldn't recognise them as he didn't let out his magic sense.

Ron, Hermione and Neville came to join him too. Draco went to Slytherin along with his gang. After the sorting was over, Dumbledore got 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. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not. Leave it to Dumbledore to always keep people guessing. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs. 

Harry smiled, now this is some interesting magic too. He then proceeded to fill his plate with everything he wanted to eat and sat down to eat. As Harry was cutting up his steak, a note flew in to him.

"I would like to have our pending discussion after the feast, Harry. If you don't mind please wait after the feast.

-Albus Dumbledore"