Hogwarts Is Our Destiny 1.8
Ro watched the castle doors groan open, and through them appeared a black-haired witch in emerald green robes. The woman had a stern face with wrinkles like crisp lines across her face, but she had a certain regal beauty to her. She looked at Hagrid expectantly.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall,” he offered.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." The woman opened the doors wider and ushered the students inside. Everyone filed in, one after the other. Ro found herself still staring at the professor, as Hagrid had addressed her. Inside, the stone walls were lit with flaming torches, and the ceiling was so high that Ro couldn't even see it in the dim lighting.
As they followed Professor McGonagall, they passed by a grand marble staircase that led to the upper floors of the castle, and then past a closed doorway on their right with hundreds of voices that could be heard coming from the other side.
Despite that seeming like their destination, Professor McGonagall didn't lead them through those doors. She instead brought the first years into a small, empty chamber that appeared to connect to the main hall. They were all crowded inside, their collective nervousness so thick it practically hung in the air between them.
Ro looked around at the other students, and everyone seemed to be just as anxious as she was--some were even more so. The boy with the pet toad was looking particularly worried and uncomfortable.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," the woman in green robes began, addressing them all. "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 here at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking 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." She studied them for a moment and then went on. "I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly."
She left the chamber, after finishing her exceptionally long-winded speech. Now on their own, the first years began speculating what was to come next.
"I wonder how we get sorted?" A girl with long brunette hair asked from nearby.
"Maybe it's a test?" another girl with auburn hair suggested, though it came out as more of a question than a confident answer.
Ro knew that it was in fact a talking hat that did the sorting, for the Weasley Twins had told her while she was still back on the train. She had since been left to her own intuition when she left with the other first years for the boats and the Weasley Twins went with the other upper class students to wherever it was they went.
"Maybe they make us--" a ginger-haired boy started, but didn't get to finish, because at least a dozen ghostly figures had suddenly entered the room through the back wall. They were pearly white and slightly transparent. Ro blinked a few times, wondering if she was hallucinating...but many of the others around her seemed just as startled by their presence.
But the ghosts simply glided across the floor, ignoring the first years, as they seemed to be arguing. One that looked like a short, fat 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?" The ghost wearing a ruff and tights finally noticed the first years. Everyone was still so shocked that nobody said a word.
"New students!" said the Fat Friar. "About to be sorted, I suppose?"
Ro saw a few students beside her nod.
"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" the Friar continued. "My old house, you know."
"Move along now," Professor McGonagall's voice rang sharp, announcing her return. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to start." She didn’t seem at all fazed by the ghosts now disappearing though the opposite wall since her interruption.
"Now, form a line," the professor told them, "and follow me."
Everyone promptly obeyed her order, and Professor McGonagall lead them out of the chamber and through a pair of double doors that opened into the Great Hall. Above them, the room was lit by thousands upon thousands of candles that floated in midair over the long tables filled with older students. Ro had never seen anything like it before. At the top of the hall was a separate table, where a bunch of older individuals, namely the other professors, were seated.
Professor McGonagall led the first years up toward the professors’ table, so that the entire room had a clear view of them. They all came to a halt in a line that faced the other students.
Ro glanced up at the ceiling, and saw that instead of there being a roof it actually looked like the night sky--stars and all. It was simply amazing. Of the many stories her father, Cecil, had told her about Hogwarts, her time her was already shaping up to her imagination. Though clearly old, the castle was breathtaking. Ro wondered what other secrets it might hold.
Professor McGonagall placed a stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she placed a pointed hat that was patched, frayed, and dirty. It seemed almost too tattered to be of any use. Ro was not prepared for what would come next, for the largest tear opened wide and it began to sing!
Ro stared at it in wide-eyed shock.
“Oh you may not think I’m pretty,
But don’t judge on what you see,
I’ll eat myself if you can find
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
There’s nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can’t see,
So try me on and I will tell you,
You may belong to Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring nerve, and chivalry
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
You’ll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
So put me on! Don’t be afraid!
You’re in safe hands (though I have none)
The hall burst into rambunctious applause and whoops of approval, as the older students cheered for the performance. Ro watched, as the hat bowed to each of the four tables, and then it went still again.
Well, that was a surprise... Ro thought.
Professor McGonagall stepped forward carrying a long scroll of parchment. “When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted.”
She waited for silence before calling the first name.
A girl with blonde pigtails stepped forward to put on the hat. She sat down, and a moment later the hat roared, “HUFFLEPUFF!”
The table on the right cheered and clapped, as Hannah went to join the other members of her new house. Ro wondered how the hat was able to make such a fast decision, especially one that seemed so important, but it was likely just magic. Powerful and inexplicable magic.
Ro found herself unable to focus on whose names were being called, as her thoughts quickly turned to panic. What if she didn’t belong here? What if she put the hat on her head and it didn’t sort her--couldn’t sort her, because she didn’t have magic...or at least she wasn’t convinced that she had magic. Her father, Cecil, had voiced her concerns to the wandmaker Ollivander when they had visited Diagon Alley, and Ollivander had assured her that wands only chose those who had the gift, and Ro’s wand had surely chosen her. Ro wasn’t entirely sure whether to trust the advice of a man who did nothing but make fancy sticks for a living, but her father agreed with the man, so she tried to believe it for his sake. Ro reached into the pocket of her new robe and grasped her wand for good luck.
You chose me, so you seem to think I can do this. Maybe I can... Ro thought to herself, and then considered her situation. Great. Now I’m talking to a stick. A magical stick, but still a stick. I’m really losing it, aren’t I?
Ro was pulled from her spiraling thoughts, as she recognized the raven-haired boy step forward when his name was called. Ro’s knee still hurt and had already formed a pretty nasty bruise, and so she glared at the boy while he tried on the Sorting Hat.
“SLYTHERIN!” It cried out a moment after touching his head. Ro wasn’t surprised that he was joining the house that was known for having a bad reputation. Or at least her father had said it had a bad reputation. He had been a Ravenclaw during his school days, but had told Ro that he would be happy with whichever house she was sorted into...well, as long as it wasn’t Slytherin. As usual, her father was full of contradictions.
My turn, Ro thought, but still found herself unable to step forward. At least, until she heard the encouraging cheering and clapping coming from two boys who were standing beside her. One had ginger hair and bright blue eyes, while the other had unkempt dark locks and deep green eyes. The others standing nearby gave the two boys odd looks, but it was enough for Ro to snap out of her anxiety and gather the courage to step forward.
Sitting on the stool, she placed the hat upon her head. She closed her eyes, and silently wished the hat would quickly place her in a house and that this whole ordeal could be over with as fast as possible.
You aren’t at all curious as to where I might place you, girl? an ancient-sounding voice croaked in her ears. Ro looked around, but nobody else seemed to have heard it speak.
Um...sure? She thought, wondering if it was only talking in her mind.
Hm...well, have it your way then, the hat answered, and then its voice was suddenly audible to the entire room. “HUFFLEPUFF!”
The table beneath the black and yellow banner with a badger began to cheer. Leaving behind the hat, Ro stood from the stool and went to join her newfound house at Hogwarts. They welcomed her with smiles and immediately made room for her at the table.
Maybe this won’t be so bad, after all, Ro thought, finding herself returning their smiles.
