CHAPTER 11 – Sorting Ceremony

Once the boats got inside the docks of Hogwarts, we were guided by Hagrid all the way towards the castle's main entrance, where we then had to go through a flight of stairs with steps made of stone. The stairs were long, and right in the middle of them, a witch dressed in emerald dark green robes and a pointy hat waited for us.

{That's too cliché, the pointy hat…}-I thought to myself while looking at Professor McGonagall.

As I was among the first students to get in front of her, I waved my hand towards her with a little smile.

"Welcome to-"-She started but stopped once she saw me. "May I ask, Mr. Taylor, why are you drenched from head to toes?"-She asked me while lifting an eyebrow.

I could hear a few muffled laughs from the rest of the kids, but I didn't care.

"I was curious about the Giant Squid that was said to live in the Black Lake, Professor McGonagall."-I truthfully said.

"And I'm curious about what does that have to do with you being completely drenched, Mr. Taylor."

"Well, I had to see it, so I jumped to the lake. It was great. Really makes honor to its name of Gian Squid."-I said while smiling.

"I see…"-She said a little surprised, before mumbling something. "Well… Better get you dried before getting in."-She finally said before taking out her wand, making a few movements of it towards me, and drying me completely.

{I got to admit, that was awesome.}-I thought.

"Thanks, professor."-I said.

"Now… *kuhum*"-She cleared her throat. "As I was saying before, I welcome all of you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am professor McGonagall, as you may just hear from your fellow student, and I'm the Head of the Transfiguration Department in the school, as well as the Deputy Headmistress of the school. In a few moments, we'll go through the doors behind me, towards the Great Hall, where you'll meet the rest of the student body of this school."-She said while pointing towards the big double doors behind her.

"But, before joining your fellow students, you must go through the sorting ceremony, where you will be sorted into one of the four houses that represent the founders of the school. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."-She said.

"Each one of them with a prestigious and long story, filled with glory and accomplishment from those that go out of them. And I expect you, young wizards and witches, to accomplish great things for your future houses, as, once you're sorted into your house, you'll represent them during your seven years here at Hogwarts. Do well, and you shall earn points to your houses, while mischief will, on the contrary, cost points to your houses. At the end of the year, points will be tallied, and the house with more points shall take the house cup."

{I never knew what was good about it… I mean, it's not like they give you a prize for winning the house cup, it's just like painting the Great Hall in your house colors for one day and that's it…}-I thought to myself.

"For those that end in Gryffindor, I shall expect great things from you, as I'm also the head of the house. With that said, let's go. It's time."-She finally ended her long speech and led us through the doors towards the Great Hall, where all the other students of Hogwarts were waiting.

We were lead through the hall, all the way to the end of the tables, where a few steps rest. At the end of the hall, a long horizontal table laid for the professors to sit, while in the middle of the students and the professors, there was a wooden table with a hat on it.

It started to sing, but I wasn't even paying attention to it, as I was looking all around the Great Hall.

First, it was the ceiling. Looking it in real life was literally something else. It wasn't like the movies, as it was truly magical. It was like looking all the way through the roof towards the night sky, with a lot of stars on it.

{It's totally different from my old world' sky. Where stars could barely be seen.}-I thought before looking towards the professors.

There, I could see everyone I knew from the movies. Like Snape, Madam Pomfrey, Madam Hooch, Professor Flitwick, and finally, Albus Dumbledore, the old wizard with a long beard and half-moon glasses.

{I'm sure I'll remember the rest of the professors once classes start. Except for Defense Against Dark Arts, as that one changes each year…}-I thought to myself.

"HUFFLEPUFF!!!"-A sudden scream woke me up. And I saw that one student was selected to go to Hufflepuff house. It was familiar to me.

{Oh, right! It's Cedric Digory.}-I finally recognized the student.

"Weasley, Fred!"-Shouted McGonagall. And one of the twins went towards the chair that was in front of the hat.

Once he sat. McGonagall put the hat over his head.

"GRYFFINDOR!!!"-The sorting hat shouted after a little while. Calling for even more shouts from those in the Gryffindor's table.

Fred went walking towards the table to sit with the rest of the new years that were sorted inside that house.

One by one, all the freshmen were called towards the sorting hat. As in the movie, Roger Davies was put in Ravenclaw, George, like his brother, went to Gryffindor and Lisandra was kind of a surprise, as she was sorted into Slytherin.

{Wow, look at that, I thought only those with the pure-blood and whatnot were sorted there. Well, maybe her family has something like that, after all, she didn't tell us her mother's name.}-I thought to myself.

"Taylor, Logan!"-Professor McGonagall shouted. And I immediately went towards the chair. Once there, the professor put the hat on my head.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Let me look deep in your mind…"-Said the sorting hat. "You… You are a confusing one little child. You have the courage, but also the smarts and curiosity, and deep inside of you, scheming is present… Even then… You're loyal, even when said loyalty has to be earned, and you also hope for a family…"

{I want to be in Ravenclaw.}-I thought.

"Yes… You do have the thirst for knowledge… But… It doesn't come alone… It comes with a deep curiosity, and also… As a weapon to scheme and to fulfill your own ambition… While, at the same time, you're not afraid to go against adversity if it's for getting it… Such a hard choice…"

{Send me to Ravenclaw! Could you? Please?}

"Why so anxious to be in Ravenclaw… Little one?"

{That's the house that better represents me.}

"Ohh… I wouldn't be so sure about that, child…"

{I trust in my instincts.}

"Instincts… You say… That's not so Ravenclaw of you… Mm… Such a hard decision…"

{Then… Just go with Ravenclaw. It's not like I'm not fitting, right?}

"Indeed… You're fitting… But… Oh well… I was thinking about Hufflepuff. But if you're so sure about your choice… Maybe it's the Slytherin inside you that's calling for that decision…"

{No! Ravenclaw! Forget Slytherin!}

"Hahaha… Don't be so anxious… You would do great in Slytherin."

{Come on… Just send me to Ravenclaw…}

"Very well, I hope you don't regret your choice."-Said the sorting hat. "RAVENCLAW!!!"-before sending me to my desired house.

The Ravenclaw table shouted out after getting a new freshman student, while I stood up fast enough for the sorting hat not to suddenly change its decision

{I was saved! I almost got sent to that nest of lunatics with a resemblance to Hitler's followers…}-I thought before sitting down on the table, saying hi to Roger and the rest of first-years that got sorted here, along with a few upperclassmen.

To be honest. Most of Ravenclaw had that air of being the self-sufficient ones, they seemed like they wouldn't talk too much. Though, maybe that was just my imagination.

After everyone was sorted. Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

He went with his classic dialogue, though he did say a few weird words at the start that I didn't understand at all. After this, we had a great banquet, where I could basically eat as I haven't done in all eleven years since coming here. I would lie if I said I kept my decorum.

After the banquet ended, the Headmaster once again stood up, and he still continued with the "Don't get close to the Forbidden Forest.", which I, of course, wanted to visit, and a few other warnings and normal stuff.

We then stood up, and our prefects led us towards our respective houses.

I'm not going to lie, walking through the castle was confusing. With all those moving stairs, passage, corridors, halls, and whatnot, it was a miracle if no one got lost in the first week… I gladly had a great memory, so it wasn't that much of a problem to remember the way towards my house common room and dorms.

Now, from what I know from the fanfics. To enter these dormitories, you don't have to say any keyword. But just answer to a riddle.

{Being honest… I don't know if that's actually secure… I mean, it's not like only the ones from Ravenclaw knows how to answer riddles… But well, maybe it has a way to actually know if you're from the house or not…}-I thought while getting to a door with nothing else but a bronze knocker in the form of an eagle.

"Here, in Ravenclaw, to enter our house dormitories, we must answer a riddle."-Stated one of the prefects. "If you aren't able to answer it. You must wait for one of your classmates to answer it so you can enter. Now, anyone wants to give it a try?"-He finally asked while getting close to the door and using the knocking to knock on the door.

[What question can you never answer yes to?]-Asked the bronze knocker in the form of an eagle.

The prefects stayed to look at us from first-year, and seeing that nobody actually went forward, I raised my hand and answered.

"Are you asleep yet?"-I answered, and the door actually opened.

{Well, this is a pain… Having to answer a riddle each time… I hope they're not that hard…}-I thought to myself.

"Well done, now, everyone, come in."-Said the prefect before guiding us towards our common room.

It was beautiful. One of the reasons that I chose Ravenclaw was, without a doubt, the colors. Blue and bronze were really great colors, of which, I truly loved blue. And the common room was decorated in both colors, which made it a space for my liking.

"Now, this is your common room. You must be here before 9 PM. While everyone must be on their bed before 10 when all lights go out. Understood?"-Said the prefects while presenting the room. To which we all nodded.

It was big, with windows around it, a library, a few couches and tables, and even a chimney.

In the movies, the Gryffindor's common room seems kind of small, but this one was fairly big. I don't know if it has something to do with it being from Ravenclaw, or if it's just the movies that depicted the common rooms smaller than what they truly were, which has more sense.

"Everyone, come here."-The prefect called for us. He was standing in front of a door and beside him, stood a tall statue of Rowena Ravenclaw. "This door leads towards our dormitories. Boys go on the sixth floor, while girls go on the seventh floor. "-He said while pointing towards the door beside Rowena Ravenclaw's statue. "A thing to notice is, that Ravenclaw is different from the other houses, we don't actually share our dorms, as each student will have their own room. You just have to go to your floor and look for your room inside the areas for first-years. Understood?"-He asked and everyone nodded. "Then, go up, your things should already be in your rooms."

Once on the sixth floor, I went towards the first-year dorms, and there, to a door that had my name written on it. Once I entered, the first thing I saw was a four-poster bed decorated with sky-blue eiderdowns made of silk that looked really soft to the touch. Apart from it, there was also a blue coach with bronze decorations, some bookshelves a night-table, and a few more things, like a chest to put my things.

The place had nice big windows everywhere, letting the whistling and relaxing sound of wind cover the room, and that would probably give a great view during the day.

I also found my stuff, including Muninn. So, I went there.

"Hey buddy, how are you?"-I said to him.

"CAW!!!"-The raven answered with an annoyed face.

"Fine, fine…"-I said, opening his cage and letting it free.

Being with him for a couple of months, I know that he prefers his freedom, making it hard for him to be inside a cage for a long time.

After going out, it actually went towards my shoulder and rubbed itself on my cheek, while I petted it back.

"It's okay buddy… We're already here… And, well, for what the letter said, you're not going to be sent towards the owlery with the owls, as long as you don't do anything too bad inhere…"-I said to him while petting it. "So, well, you know the deal, you'll have windows open, so you can go whenever you want and come whenever you want, though, I'm not going to be here all day."

"CAW!"-It answered my words.

"I'll be using a place inside the castle. It's hidden from those that don't know about it. I'll go there constantly to train my magic and my spells. I need to grow stronger without anyone suspecting that I'm slightly different from them..."-I said to him. Thinking about everything that could go wrong.

{I must not get inside the paranoic old man that acts as headmaster here… Depending on the grade of his paranoia, he could probably try to get me out of the game… Oh well, I could probably try to befriend him, he's not the kind to kill me just for having a few things that are different, at least not if I don't show any kind of 'mort' spell, I will probably be good, though, just to be sure, let's learn as much magic from this world as I can, that will help me increase my ML faster.}-After a little thinking, I went to bed, and as our prefects said, at 10:00 PM, the lights went out.

Tomorrow, I'll go to classes, learn a few new magics from the professors here at Hogwarts, and then, after classes are finished, go directly towards the RoR, to start practicing my magic without any worries!

"Soon… I'll soon get strong enough… For no one to do anything to me… Then, well, I won't become any kind of Dark Lord. So, it's ok."-I said before closing my eyes.