"Hufflepuff"

"Hufflepuff"

"Gryffindor"

"Ravenclaw"

"Slytherin, avoid that one."

I continue to look through my telescope, going through the boats and singling out one person at a time.

"It's cold! Why couldn't we take our thicker robes?" whined Illah.

"Well what did you expect when coming up here?" responded my friend Denver.

I tuned them out once they started another fight, they often do so. I would rather be doing this alone, but as per tradition, I have to invite them. Ever since my second year, I've had the grandest idea to create a game of the first year's sorting ceremony! I'm a Ravenclaw myself, and took the liberty into studying psychology from both the wizarding and muggle world. It started out as a way to pass the time with my new friends, but then grew to become a silent ceremony that we have kept up thus far.

It is rather quite simple really; all you have to do is to guess which house a first year is going to be placed into. We decide by looking closely at their looks, clothing, gestures, and on how they interact with the other wizards on the boats.

I have kept the record of having the most correct for four years straight, Denver as a close second, and Illah resting in third place. It really is too easy for me to read a person, this bunch in particular.

In a forest of brown, blonde, and blacks, the kid in front is the easiest to spot. A girl not from here, if her hair alone was anything to go by. It was Weasly red, but curly. Not short either, it practically floated around her head, shoulders, and back. Her robes weren't too tidy, and she used strong, wide gestures when talking to her other classmates. She was obviously a Gryffindor, even representing the lion that hangs on the banners.

"Check on frizzy there, the prime specimen of a Gryffindor she is." I called out.

"What? Come on, your better than this! Leave the easy pickings to Illah! She needs to learn not you!" said Denver.

"Hey! Don't act as if I was muggle born! You know I don't specialize in mind reading!"

Ignoring them once more, I scoped out more newbies. Another girl I missed was a small blonde. With hair seeming to reach her ankles even when in a braid! That's a first! She seemed to be perching on her seat, leaning over this way and that to try to see everything at once. Hopping on her seat, with eyes glistening with never-ending questions, I quickly worked out that she was a Ravenclaw. Most were noted for their wandering eyes, and their habit of neatness.

"From frizzy, look two boats towards the northwest. You can't miss her!" My yell broke the scuffle once again, both rapidly holding their telescopes to spot the blonde.

"Look at that hair!" Both exclaimed.

"Her hair is so well kept! How does she do it? My hair isn't that long but still ends up frayed with spit ends!"

"May not just be her hair, could be a fault of yours!"

"Why you little toad wart!"

Sighing, I tuned them out. Honestly, they represent the Ravenclaw mass. But they act on the instinct of holding their pride, causing them to act like children most of the time.

Ravenclaw

Slytherin

Slytherin

Gryffindor

Slytherin

Oh, two boats with Gryffindors upon them. One had a set of tumbling twins and another had only two people on board. The twins were identical, I wasn't able to tell if both were the same gender or not. Their partner was a boy with a smug face, looking like proud show pig. The second boat had a boy and a girl, both looking like a very odd pair. The girl was a blonde that clearly showed confidence and maturity. The boy, however, was a fidgety mess. He was a grand behemoth, towering over the other kids by his girth and height. Odd, this was another show of diversity.

"What do you make of the swarm of Gryffindors north of Rapunzel?"

"Looks like a savage bunch, the girls here are much more 'prim and proper' than the ones there." snorted Denver.

"They remind me of the people in stories that my parents used to read to me." answered Illah.

"Who?"

"Vikings."

Ahh, that explains it. It now seemed obvious once spoken aloud. I could see the Norse resemblance upon them, and I could imagine the young men with thick beards as well.

I saw the lighting change from the corner of the scope. I swept my line of sight towards the disturbance, and see a boy holding an extinguished lantern. He was a small fellow, with the same Norse-look on him as the other gang. He curled in on himself when his shipmates complained about the sudden loss of light. He turned his eyes downcast, but still looked at his fellow Norsemen.

Physical weakness, signs of longing, a look of worry, an aura of dejection.

"There is a boy not too far east of the Vikings, a Hufflepuff." I confidently stated.

"Dang it Reggie! Leave some faces for us!" said Denver.

"Once you two stop bickering and start following tradition, then I'll leave you some." I snapped back.

"There is a cute Slytherin down there." Illah casually commented.

"What?" we said in sync.

"Where?" I said, looking through the group I haven't graded through.

"Excuse me, what? What do you mean by a 'cute' Slytherin?!"

"The boy is down there, near the back of the fleet. He has the snake's smirk." Illah smoothly replied, not ashamed of what she said.

I couldn't exactly find a, ahem, "cute" guy in the crowd. But I did spot a lad with the dubbed, "snake's smirk." A smile that set hairs standing in anxiety, one that emitted smug cockiness, usually accompanied with shifty eyes. A boy with very plain features came into view, brown hair and eyes matching. Nothing special from looks alone, but he lounged across the bench as if he owned the boat. He already seemed to have a sort of posse surrounding him already.

"Again, what? Did I, or did I not, just hear you say that a Slytherin was cute?!" cried Denver for the umpteenth time thus far.

"Well, he is. Call them what you want, but some wizard pure-breeds really know how to make good eye-candy."

"… I think I threw up in my mouth just then…"

With the greenhorns reaching up to shore, we were forced to pack up. I glanced over my notes on the last four wizards. One for each house: two females and two males. One will be proud of her house regardless; one would wish he would have had a choice; one would be exited about all the possible opportunities; and one who will wish to be somewhere he thinks he diserves to be.

Conclusions made, I strutted my way back to the hall where the sorting ceremony was being held. There, I would witness my winnings on the bet we made earlier, my winning streak stretching on to five years in a row, and where the four new kids would disappear from my mind.

Turns out, things didn't quite go as planned.

How to Train Your Dragon and Rise of the Guardians belong to Dreamworks,

Tangled and Brave belong to Disney,

The wizarding world of Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.