Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Chapter 1: The Sorting begins
"Now, form a line," The stern Professor told the first-years, "and follow me."
Harry swallowed nervously and his legs felt like they were covered in lead. Harry got into the line behind a boy with sandy hair and Ron, the boy Harry had met on the train, took the place behind him. The line began to move and they walked out of the chamber, across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.
Harry blinked rapidly. He'd never seen such a strange yet wonderful place. It was lit by several thousands candles which were floating over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. The tables were laid with golden plates and goblets but Harry saw no food or drinks on the tables. Harry focused on the top of the Hall where there was another long table. That table was filled by what Harry assumed was the staff of Hogwarts. The stern Professor, McGonagall, led Harry and the rest of the first-years up there, and turned them around so that the faced all the students and had the Professors behind their backs.
It was first now that Harry noticed the ceiling. The ceiling was enchanted to look like the weather outside and he smiled widely for the first time since entering the Great Hall. "I love magic," he muttered and apparently many agreed with him considering the many "aww" and "ooh" he heard from both behind and in front of him.
Harry looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of them. She then placed a rather patched and dirty hat on the stool. Aunt Petunia would never let that hat into the house even if someone would point a gun at her Harry fought back a snort at his sudden thought.
Harry glanced around the Hall and noticed that most, if not all, of the students were staring at the as if it would make a magic trick or burst into a song. There was complete silent for a few seconds before the hat suddenly twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide just like a mouth, and then, to Harry's great shock and amusement, began to sing. Wonder if I'm a seer. Harry had to bit his lower lip to stop a laugh from escaping.
Oh you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You may belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry
set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hand (though I have none)
For I'm a thinking cap!
The whole Hall burst into a hell of an applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed gracefully to each of the four tables and then became still again.
"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Harry heard Ron whisper to him. "I'll kill Fred, he was raving about the test being about wrestling an adult troll," Harry snorted. Did Ron really believe the staff would let eleven years old children wrestling a troll?
Harry grimaced as it felt as if he had thousands of butterflies in his stomach. He wasn't brave nor smart. And did he have an ounce of cunning inside him? Harry wondered if the hat would sort him in Hufflepuff or maybe even send him back to Privet Drive.
Harry's uneasy thoughts stopped when 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 loudly and called out the first name. "Abbott, Hannah!"
A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of the line, put on the hat and sat down. A few seconds later and the rip opened again on the hat.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat shouted and the table on the right cheered and clapped as the girl happily sat down at the Hufflepuff table. The Hufflepuff ghost waved merrily at her.
"Bones, Susan!" A red-haired girl tried to appear confident but you could still see in her eyes that she was quite nervous. The hat needed only a few seconds to make its decision once again.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" The red-headed smiled timidly and sat down next to Hannah.
"Boot, Terry!" Was the first to join the House of wit and learning. The table second from the left clapped this time. Several students stood up to shake hands with the brown-haired pre-teen.
A girl named Mandy Brocklehurst also went to the Claws. And then it time for the home of the Brave to finally get their first member. A cute blonde-haired girl named Lavender Brown was sorted into Gryffindor and the table on the far left exploded with cheers. Harry heard Ron sigh when his twin brothers began to catcall. Harry also heard Professor McGonagall sigh heavily.
"Bullstode, Milicent!" A huge girl became a Slytherin member. Harry thought back to what both Hagrid and Ron had said about Slytherin and he couldn't help but think that they looked an unpleasant lot.
Vincent Crabbe, a rather unpleasant boy Harry met in the train, was quickly sorted into the House of the snakes.
Harry was beginning to feel sick now. He remembered being picked for teams during sport lessons at his old school. He had always been last to be chosen. Not because of his short length, or that he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked Harry.
"Granger, Hermione!" Harry startled awake. He had missed quiet a few sorting because of his negative remembrance. The bushy-haired girl that had irritated Harry with her know-it-all attitude in the train ran to the stool. She jammed the hat onto her head eagerly. The hat spent nearly four minutes trying to sort her into a house. Ron groaned out loudly when the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" at last.
"Greengrass, Daphne!" A blonde-haired girl walked confidently to the stool. Harry noticed that she was the first new student to not show any emotions, neither good or bad, on the way to the hat. She was sorted into Slytherin but didn't even allow a small smile on her way to her new friends. Harry wondered how she could be so cool when he was a nervous wreck.
"Longbottom, Neville!" beat Hermione's record with nearly thirty seconds before he was sorted into Gryffindor. Harry laughed, and released some of his tension, when Neville ran of with the hat still on his head. The boy blushed heavily when he had to run back to the stool.
"MacDougal, Morag!" was quickly sorted into Ravenclaw and now it was time for Draco Malfoy. The blonde tosser, that reminded Harry of his cousin, walked arrogantly to the stool while loudly proclaimed that he would be sorted into Slytherin, the greatest house of all. Three of four tables began to boo loudly while the fourth merely basked in silence.
But the sorting was not something Malfoy would remember with pride. Malfoy spent nearly five minutes of arguing with the hat before he was allowed to join Slytherin. He was sporting a fine purple colour, something uncle Vernon would be proud of, when he finally slid down onto the wooden bench.
There wasn't many people left now. "Moon!" … "Nott!" … "Parkinson!" was quickly sorted before it was time for a twin pair. "Patil, Padma!" was sorted into Ravenclaw while her twin Parvati happily skipped of to join Lavender in Gryffindor. "Perks, Sally-Anne!" joined Hufflepuff and then, at last –
"Potter, Harry!" Time for showdown.
Harry stepped forward and ignored the furious whisper and gossip that spread through the Hall.
"Potter, did she say?"
"The Harry Potter?"
"The Boy-who-lived?"
The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the Hall full of people craning to get a good look at him.
"Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "First, thank your for you compliment. I worked nearly a year on that song and you are the first one to think that I've a nice song voice. But now time for your sorting. It's difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, even if you don't see it. Not a bad mind either. But not enough to sort into Ravenclaw, I'm afraid. But you're hard-working and you've a nice thirst to prove yourself. So... Gryffindor, Ravenclaw or Slytherin... what you say, young Harry?"
"I'm allowed to choose?" Harry was stunned. No one had said anything about being allowed to choose. "In that case, no Slytherin, please and thank you!"
"Not Slytherin, eh? And what's your reason for that?" The hat asked.
"Seven years with that blonde Ponce as a house mate? I'll go insane before the first year is even over!"
The hat was silent for a few seconds before breaking out in a huge laughter.
"Yes...yes, I understand. So...no Slytherin and no Ravenclaw. Hmm... it's difficult even with only two houses left to choose...but your boldness is slightly overpowering your sense of loyalty. I've made my choice. GRYFFINDOR!" Harry would later find out that he was the third Hat stall in modern Hogwarts history, after Professor McGonagall and a certain rat named Peter Pettigrew, because the sorting lasted over five minutes.
He walked shakily to the house of the Brave and sat down beside George- or was it Fred?- Weasley. He was finally free from Privet Drive for at least nine months!
A/N: Whoa...a new story, you think? But no, it's The Headmaster's Apprentice 2.0. You'll recognise some feature from my old story but much will be new content.
This story will have some Harry and Ginny romance.
An eventual sequel that will cover year 4-6 will (probably) add two new girls. But not in this story that will cover Harry's 1-3 year.
As always looking for a beta reader for my story. And now a bonus feature!
Omake:
The Sorting Hat covered Draco Malfoy's eyes and the torture...sorting began.
"Gryffindor"
"You stupid hat! How dare you think of sorting a Malfoy, the the purest of the purest Pure-Blood into Gryffindork!-" And the hat suffered through a minute of tirade.
"If not Gryffindor... there is only a place for you in Hufflepuff," Draco completely missed the amused tone in its voice.
"...Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff!," The young Malfoy began to sound wilder and wilder. The hat began to worry that the young Malfoy would suffer a heart attack. But the worry turned to annoyance when Draco began a two minutes tirade of why Hufflepuff was home to "the weak and the nearly squibs and the blood-traitors and so on and so one.
The hat showed mercy only when the Malfoy scion nearly began to cry under it.