BEING SORTED

The line in front of Neville was steadily getting shorter and shorter. He knew exactly where he was headed - Hufflepuff. It hurt somewhat - both his parents had been Gryffindors. Gran was expecting him to get sorted into Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!" the tall woman with greying hair said sharply. Hermione looked very eager to be sorted, Neville thought, she couldn't get herself to that stool fast enough. Hermione seemed quite nice; she had been the only one who had cared he had lost Trevor.

He looked down into his robes pocket where Trevor was sitting, looking quite unconcerned.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Hermione strode proudly over to the Gryffindor table.

Three more were sorted, and as Lauren King made her way to the Ravenclaw table, Neville braced himself.

"Longbottom, Neville!"

This was it. The last few seconds of being ambiguous, not bound to any house.

Neville walked slowly up to the stool. There it was, waiting for him.

His foot suddenly jarred against an uneven stone tile, and his face hit the hard floor. Perfect. Any hopes of going to Gryffindor quickly evaporated.

He picked himself up, red faced, and walked, head down, to the hat, and lowered it down over his head.

It was almost completely black inside the hat.

"Neville." the hat said, its voice inside his head. "Neville Longbottom." it sounded as if it was trying to sort him from his name alone.

Neville waited.

"It's going to be very difficult to place you, yes it is. You think you're so worthless, but you're not. You have a large amount of courage, just waiting to be tapped into."

Neville trembled slightly, half from fear, half from hope. Courage was Gryffindor, wasn't it?

"You're very reliable, that's plain. No tricks with you, so Slytherin's out of the question."

At least he was safe from Slytherin.

"You're minds OK, but not up to Ravenclaw standards, so that's out. Between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor."

Well, now it was obvious where he was going.

"You would do very well in Hufflepuff, but then you would be just as good in Gryffindor. This is very difficult, oh yes. Gryffindor would help you discover your courage, but I think you'd feel more comfortable in Hufflepuff."

Neville swallowed nervously. "Gryffindor." he thought to the hat quietly.

"You want Gryffindor? I see you do, if only not to let down your family. Still, the choice is so tight, you may as well have your wish and go in GRYFFINDOR!"

Neville felt dizzy with relief. He stood up and ran away from the stool, wanting to savour it.

"Longbottom!" he heard the woman say, angrily. Neville realised, too late that he was still wearing the hat. He took it off shamefully and quickly went back to the stool to give it to the next one, amid peals of laughter, primarily from Slytherin.

He sat down opposite Hermione at the Gryffindor table, felt Trevor's reassuringly warty back and allowed himself to relax, watching the others be sorted into their various houses. Gran would be so proud. He would tell his parents on his next visit, even though they wouldn't understand.

For the first time in ages, Neville had something to be genuinely happy about.