11: Sorting Ceremony

[3rd Pov]

The little boats carried the first years through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. Each boat could hold up to four students, while Hagrid got a boat to himself.

Under the shimmering moonlight, the Black Lake reflected a distorted image of the self-propelled boats and gave off an eerie glow.

In the boat of the Grindelwald twins, the awkward tone was no more. While Daphne and Alaric were each in their own world, Lysandra and Tracey were immersed in their chat.

"So Daphne is your best friend?" Lysandra asked, with some doubt in her voice. From the aura around Daphne, one would label her as cold and unapproachable, the moment they set their eyes on her.

That was further proved by the fact that she didn't say a single word apart from greetings since the beginning of the boat journey. With her chin resting on her head, Daphne's gaze was fixed on the Hogwarts castle, and probably wouldn't move until they reach their destination.

"She is," said Tracey, "We've known each other since we were little. My mother is a great friend of Daphne's mother, so we ended up meeting a lot of times,"

"And was she always like this?" questioned Lysandra. The two chatting girls turned their heads to the blonde, who was still seemingly uninterested in their conversation.

Tracey pursed her lips, "Growing up in a family like hers, you always meet people with a hidden agenda. Not knowing who you can trust made her wear this cold personality, my Mom says.", Tracey looked back at Lysandra with a small smile, "But I promise she's a good friend, once you get to know her,"

Lysandra chuckled, "Don't worry, I'm quite good with difficult cases like this," she said, lifting her chest in pride, "Growing up with my brother, I got used to eccentric people,"

The two girls looked at Alaric and laughed.

The boy, on the other hand, continued to look at the serene waters of the lake, looking for the rumored giant squid that helped students, were they to fall into the lake.

'I wonder', he thought, 'If I jump, how long will it take for the squid to catch me?'

While Alaric was lost in his mind, the boats neared the cliff where the castle rested upon. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto the rocks.

One by one, the students disembarked the boats and made their way upstairs behind Hagrid. Walking through narrow corridors and flights of stairs, while most first-years appeared nervous, one silver-haired boy frantically looked around him. While the architect had done a good job, what amazed Alaric were the thousands upon thousands of magic whispers around him, signaling the numerous enchantments integrated into the architecture of the school.

Soon, the first-years and the half-giant stood in front of an imposing door. Hagrid raised his gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door. The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes and a very stern face stood there.

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

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

The students followed the Professor across the smooth stone floor. She 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."

After explaining the four houses and the points system, Professor McGonagall left the chamber.

The students began to talk to each other, trying to shake off the nervous feeling most of them had.

"How exactly do they sort us into the houses," asked Hermione.

"Some sort of test, I think." Ron answered, "Fred and George said that you would have to fight a Troll, N-NAKED!"

Hermione's heart gave a horrible jolt. The books didn't mention any spells to fight a Troll!

"Don't listen to that dumbass, Hermione," said Hope, "My mother said that it was some sort of artifact that sorted us," she reassured the girl, who had paled after hearing the supposed test.

"I knew you were somewhat mentally challenged, Weasley, but not as much as this," joked Alaric, who was standing far away from the group analyzing the Great Hall door, making the surrounding students laugh, and distracting them from the impending ceremony.

Ron gasped, offended, but before he could retort, a not-so-pleasant familiar voice came from behind them.

"Couldn't agree more!" said the high-pitched voice, "A Weasley will always be a Weasley,"

From behind the group, a short and thin boy, with slicked-back blonde hair, appeared, followed by two plain-looking, chubby students.

""Malfoy,"" Harry and Ron simultaneously said, with a tone of contempt. The boy named Malfoy flashed them a grin, before passing them and walking to Alaric, who was still studying the door's enchantments.

Coughing to get his attention, the Malfoy child introduced himself.

"I'm glad to see someone with the same ideals in this decaying school," he said, extending his hand, "Draco Malfoy,"

Alaric, who had just turned around, stared coldly at the boy. He didn't really care about the animosity between him and the Potter and Weasley kids, so he thought about being polite, a reciprocate his greeting.

However, hearing the name Malfoy caused Alaric to look daggers at the boy. One of the topics the Grindelwald twins were educated on the most was the reign of terror caused by Voldemort. And to them, the deceased Dark Lord's name was always accompanied by other two names. Lestrange and Malfoy.

*SLAP* Alaric slapped his hand away, before glaring at Draco with a scowl, while the Malfoy boy was stunned, unable to properly form phrases. Being the tallest among the first years, Draco's goons didn't approach Alaric, being intimidated by him.

All of the students in the chamber didn't dare to utter a single word, surprised by the turn of events. Some of the children that formerly knew Draco rejoiced at his humiliation, while those who didn't know him were as confused as the blonde boy.

Finally composing himself, Draco looked at Alaric, who was still looking down at him with an expression of disgust. Not understanding where his hatred came from, Draco gritted his teeth and finally spoke back.

"M-my f-f-father w-will hear a-about this!" he shouted.

Before the situation could escalate, something happened that made the first years jump back.

About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to each other 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.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" he continued, "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."

Every student joined the line, following the Professor, and walked through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

The Great Hall was lit by thousands and thousands of candles which were floating in mid-air 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.

With hundreds of faces staring at them, The Vice-Headmistress led the students near the professor's table, where a simple wooden chair stood, with a ragged brown wizarding hat rested.

'That must be the artifact' thought Alaric, observing the magic whispers exuded by the hat.

When all the students were gathered before the stool, the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth -- and the hat began to sing the most horrific song that the first years ever had the displeasure to hear. 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.

After everyone had calmed down, Professor McGonagall 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"

__________

After Hermione's name was called, she rushed to the sorting hat, which didn't take long to announce her house.

"GRYFFINDOR!" it shouted, causing a loud cheer from the house's table.

Minerva smiled a bit. She was always happy to see new budding wizards sorted into her house, thinking of them as her own grandsons and granddaughters.

She straightened the scroll in her hand and read silently the next name. For a few seconds, she thought that her eyes were playing tricks on her. She cleaned her glasses, before putting them back on, but the name didn't disappear from the scroll.

The professor paled. She hurriedly looked at the long table where the professors were, and saw a calm Dumbledore, stroking his beard. The headmaster nodded for the witch to continue as if he already knew of the two students present with them in the Great Hall.

McGonagall, trembling, opened the scroll again.

"G-G-Grindelwald, Alaric" she called.

From the group of kids who were waiting to be sorted, a tall handsome boy, with silver-blonde hair and white-blueish eyes, calmly walked to the stool.

The Great Hall had fallen into a deep silence. Those who knew of the name were shell-shocked, while those who didn't were on edge with the sudden stop of the chattering.

The sound of Alaric's boots hitting the ground echoed to everyone's ears. The boy, who was expecting no less than this reaction, calmly sat in the chair, 'Wait until they realize there's two' he thought.

Carefully putting the hat over his head, Alaric instantly felt legilimency probes brushing against his mental defenses, which, after understanding that it was how students were sorted, he let enter his mind.

"Hmm," a voice sounded in his head, "A natural legilimens and occulumens? Very interesting... Monstruous talent, Animagus at the age of 11, and you even have some Qilin's blood in you... Very adept at dark magic, but also talented in charms and transfiguration... Brave, but not foolish. Wise, but not arrogant. Loyal, but to those who only deserve it. But your ambition... To be the most powerful wizard? And you're cunning too, always manipulating those around you to get what you want... I see no other house than... SLYTHERIN!"

Alaric heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He took off the hat and walked confidently to the Slytherin table, while his robes magically changed in color, gaining some green details, with a snake emblem on its right side.

He sat beside his boat companions, who were ogling at him, their eyes wide, and hands trembling as if they were afraid.

However, a Slytherin prefect got up and started clapping. Some students followed suit, and suddenly almost all of the table was clapping and cheering for him, shouting his name. "Grindelwald, Grindelwald, Grindelwald!"

Even a certain depressed grease-haired professor flashed a small smile, not because of the boy's heritage, but because of the sudden union the house had welcoming its new member.

The other tables, on the contrary, remained silent, their students trying to the new information.

His good looks, confident posture, and aura around him already gave the feeling Alaric was not someone you could mess with. Coupled with his family name, some of the students in the Great Hall already developed some fear of him.

"*Cough**Cough*" Minerva interrupted, stopping the festivities at the Slytherin table.

Seeing all the students settled, she looked again at the scroll in her hands. She read the next name, and her jaw dropped, before yelling.

"THERE'S TWO OF THEM?!"