The doors swung inwards to reveal a tall, emerald-robed witch with glasses and a stern expression.
'The firs' years Professor McGonagall,' said the giant.
'Thank you Hagrid, I shall take them from here,' the witch had a Scottish accent. Charlie remembered Bill talking with Mum and Dad about Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher and Head of Gryffindor House.
Hagrid made his way past the professor and through another set of double doors on the other side of the Entrance Hall where Charlie assumed that the rest of the school was already seated, waiting for them. His stomach turned at the thought. With a loud thud the doors closed behind Hagrid and the noisy chatter beyond was reduced to a dull murmur.
Professor McGonagall, in the meantime, had been eyeing the crowd of first years carefully.
'Follow me,' she ordered, turning on her heel and striding across the worn stone floor to an empty side-chamber. As ordered, the first years nervously filed in after her. The chamber was lit by flaming torches that gave the stone walls an orange glow, it made Charlie think that they were standing in the belly of a dragon. McGonagall scrutinised the stragglers as they entered and, once they were all in, she began to speak.
'Welcome to Hogwarts. The start of term banquet will begin in the Great Hall soon, but first you need to be sorted into your Houses. These are: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. The Sorting Ceremony is very important. While at Hogwarts, your house will be like your family - you will learn in class with the rest of your house, sleep with the rest of your house in the dormitories, and spend your free-time with the rest of your house in your common-room.' She cast a look over their anxious faces.
'Each house has its own great history and has produced several witches and wizards of note. While at Hogwarts your triumphs will earn you house points, while rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of each year, the house with the most points wins the House Cup; this is a great honour for the house. I hope that each of you do your house proud and help to win the cup.
'The Sorting Ceremony will take place shortly in front of the rest of the school. I advise that you all make yourselves as presentable as possible while you wait.' She shot a glare at Tonks' currently lime green hair. 'I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly.' With another turn on her heel she swept out of the room and left the first years on their own.
'So, um, when she says "The Sorting Ceremony" she, uh, what does she mean?' Don's voice trembled as he sought an answer from either Charlie or Tonks.
'It's just trying on a hat, I think,' Charlie tried to sound reassuring, but was actually feeling as green as Tonks' hair.
'You think?'
'Uh, my brother sort of joked about having to duel a Sphinx, but I'm pretty sure he was joking,' He smiled weakly at Don who only whimpered in return. A tall, lanky boy with mousy hair retched loudly in the corner.
'How you doing Tonks?' Charlie asked, she hadn't said anything since they had reached the castle.
'Mmm doin' alright,' she managed. Her eyes were closed and she looked like she was in pain. Her hair was shifting between a chocolate brown and a shocking fuchsia. 'Just trying to relax and stop my hair morphing.
Charlie nodded, silently thankful that the bright shade of orange hair he was born with stayed that colour.
Professor McGonagall returned soon after and led them into the Great Hall. Charlie could feel his pulse in his throat as he walked behind a stocky black-haired boy.
McGonagall led them past the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables to a three-legged stool with a rag on top, in the middle of the Hall in front of the Headmaster's chair. Professor Dumbledore was smiling serenely at the first years, his silver beard and hair shining in the candlelight. Charlie managed to spot Bill on the Gryffindor table and felt better for the thumbs up he received. Kirley was sitting next to him gazing up at the ceiling.
Charlie followed his gaze and gasped. The ceiling didn't exist, or so it seemed. It just opened up to the currently clear, dark and starry heavens. Charlie nudged Tonks and Don, and pointed.
'Woah,' they both murmured in amazement.
Professor McGonagall stopped them in front of the stool where they saw that what Charlie had taken to be a rag was, in fact, a patched and frayed Wizard's hat. The entire Hall fell silent and stared in anticipation at the hat.
'What are we meant to be looking at?' whispered Don, not understanding the significance of the ancient headgear.
Charlie shushed him and a moment later a rip near the brim of the hat opened like a mouth and proceeded to recite in a reedy voice:
'Another year has come around,
Another Year to sort.
So here I am, duty bound,
To root around your thoughts.
There was a time
When Founders Four,
Had to draw a line.
"Who should we let within our walls?"
Bold Gryffindor, he asked.
Only the best, inside these halls,
Would Ravenclaw let past.
The ambitious and the pure of blood,
Sly Slytherin would greet.
The conscientious and the good,
Dear Hufflepuff would meet.
But how to decide
They could not agree
No matter how they tried.
'Till Gryffindor, from off his head,
Swept no other but me!
"This hat shall Sort, in our stead"
He shouted out in glee.
The other three
At once agreed
And so I came to be!
I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat,
Since then and still today.
Upon this stool you will be sat,
Until I do but say.
The House I choose,
To win, or lose,
It is the House for you!'
The Hall erupted in cheers and the hat bowed to each of the four tables before becoming still again.
'What the bloody hell was that?' Don hissed as Professor McGonagall unfurled a scroll of parchment.
'When I call your name, you will be seated, put on the hat, and wait to be Sorted,' Professor McGonagall told the first years. 'Almeidus, Rosalind!'
A small, auburn-haired girl stepped forward and placed the hat on her head. It fell right over her eyes.
'GRYFFINDOR!' The hat roared and the table on the far left cheered loudly.
'Oh no,' said Tonks' voice by Charlie's ear as Amerinus, Martin approached the stool, 'they're going to say my first name in front of everyone.'
'C'mon, it can't be that bad,' Charlie reasoned as Martin headed off to the Ravenclaw table.
'You haven't heard it yet.' Tonks grumbled as they clapped politely along with everyone else.
'Anders, Violetta' went to Slytherin and the table on the far right applauded. 'Carneirus, Matthew' joined Hufflepuff a minute later. Charlie spotted Myron whooping as Matthew sat down. 'Cattermole, Reginald', 'Cooper, Buckley', 'Elkins, Elveira' and 'Finnegan, Fergus' all went to Gryffindor, with 'Fenetre, Alice' breaking the streak to go to Ravenclaw.
'Gibbon' and 'Gumboil' went to Slytherin and Ravenclaw respectively, with 'Hicks' heading to Hufflepuff. 'Ishmael, Julia', a blonde girl behind Tonks, went to Gryffindor, followed by twins Robin and Oliver James going to Hufflepuff. 'Kruz, Anna' barged past to get to Slytherin.
There were just over ten left to be Sorted by the time 'Limus', 'Lynch', 'Philpott' and 'Pye' left the line to join their tables, with Charlie, Tonks and Don still waiting.
The broad-shouldered blond 'Rowle, Thorfinn' stepped confidently up to the stool and was proclaimed 'SLYTHERIN!' almost immediately. 'Scabior, William', a dark haired boy also followed Rowle to Slytherin. 'Shunpike, Stanley,' sat for nearly a whole minute on the stool before being finally pronounced Slytherin too.
Annie Stark, the girl Charlie had shared a boat with, went to Gryffindor, greeted by yet another round of applause. 'Storm' and 'Tarrick' went to Ravenclaw, then finally –
'Tonks, Nymphadora!' Tonks' hair flared red and so did her cheeks as a few sniggers broke out among the nearest spectators. Charlie could see the intense concentration on her face as she struggled to both keep her balance and stop her hair going crazy. She reached the stool and jammed the hat on her head. She remained there for a moment before the hat bellowed 'HUFFLEPUFF!' and her hair turned bright pink.
As Tonks beamed at him from the Hufflepuff table, oblivious to the shocked stares attracted by her violently coloured hair, Charlie considered for the first time the possibility of not being in Gryffindor.
'Tremlett, Donaghan', McGonagall called. Charlie whispered a quick 'good luck' to Don as he stepped from the crowd of five remaining first years and approached the stool. He looked positively ghostly as the hat fell past his eyes. 'HUFFLEPUFF!' The hat declared, and Charlie watched with a hint of envy as Don received a welcome hug from Tonks and a pat on the back from some older Hufflepuffs. Myron was doing an odd celebratory jig.
At last McGonagall called, 'Weasley, Charles!' and the next thing he knew, the darkness of the inside of the hat was all Charlie could see.
'Ahh,' said a small voice in his ear, 'another Weasley. Well, I know exactly where to put you. But you don't know where to put yourself, do you? Let me tell you, Hufflepuff is not where you belong. The only place for you is GRYFFINDOR!' The hat roared the last word to the rest of the hall.
Somewhat relieved that the choice was made Charlie headed to the Gryffindor table, passing Tonks and Don who cheered loudly, eventually settling into a space beside Fergus Finnegan.
Once 'Williamson' and 'Zolinski' were both Sorted McGonagall rolled up her parchment and took the Sorting Hat away.
Charlie's stomach grumbled loudly and he realised he hadn't eaten the corned beef sandwiches his Mum had made for him earlier.
The Hall fell into a respectful silence as Albus Dumbledore, the famed Headmaster of Hogwarts, stood up and smiled happily out at his students.
'Welcome to another year,' he said, 'and welcome to a new year at Hogwarts. There are some notices that need to be given, but now is not the time. Now is the time for eating. So, without further ado, dig in!' With a flourish, Dumbledore spread his arms wide and the golden plates across the Hall were suddenly filled with delicious foods. Charlie's mouth watered as he piled chicken, bacon, sausages and potatoes onto his plate.
'I love this place,' he murmured, obeying Dumbledore's orders to dig in.
Sat down at the Gryffindor table, Charlie felt utterly at home. He ploughed through his favourite foods and talked with his fellow first years.
'Aye, both me Mam and me Dad have magic,' Fergus Finnegan, the green-eyed Irishman was telling them, 'and me Mam's Muggle-born. But me cousin Seamus, his Mam didn't tell his Dad she was a witch till after they'd married and had young Seamus. He was a proper Muggle, see? I'll tell you now; he was more than a wee bit surprised. What about you?'
Charlie gulped down some pumpkin juice before replying. 'Both my parents and all my grandparents have magic; I think everyone in my family is magic actually. Well, except Mum's cousin, she's a Muggle accountant or something.'
'So've you got any brothers or sisters?' asked Buckley Cooper, a stocky blond boy.
'Yeah, I've got five brothers and one sister, my older brother, Bill, is over there,' said Charlie, pointing at Bill with some roast beef speared on the end of his fork. Bill was talking to Kirley and a black haired fifth year.
'It must be so cool to have a whole Wizarding family,' said Annie wistfully. 'I'm Muggle-born so I'd never even heard of Hogwarts until I got my letter.'
The conversation moved from topic to topic as the pupils of Hogwarts stuffed themselves with delicious morsels from the mountains of food in front of them. By the time dessert appeared Charlie barely had room for a second serving of trifle.
When every stomach in the Great Hall was fit to burst, Albus Dumbledore once again stood up.
'Now that we are all fed and watered, it is time for those notices I spoke of, then we can all get off to our lovely warm beds.
'Firstly, first years are to know that the dark forest in the grounds is strictly forbidden to all students, and some other students would do well to remember that as well.' Professor Dumbledore's eyes settled on certain guilty faces around the hall. 'Mr Filch wishes to remind everyone that magic is not to be used between classes, and stresses that it took two months to remove all traces of the salamander guts from the Transfiguration corridor last March.' A lank-haired man with bulging eyes grimaced in the corner of the room, angrily stroking a scrawny yellow-eyed cat.
'I would also like to introduce our newest member of staff: Professor Kelly who will be taking over the teaching of Defence Against the Dark Arts after Professor Waring's unfortunate incident with a hinkypunk over the summer.' A tall, thin man with black hair, streaked with white despite his seemingly young age, stood up to a round of applause. A number of students around the hall whispered among each other about Professor Waring.
'And finally, Quidditch try outs will be held next weekend. Anyone interested in playing for their house team should see Madam Hooch before Friday.' Dumbledore clapped his hands together to signal the end of the announcements.
'Now let us sing the School Song!'
A sixth year groaned loudly.
After the song, the Gryffindor first years followed a fifth year prefect through the rabble of students out of the Great Hall and up the marble Grand Staircase. The prefect introduced himself as Timothy Savage, telling the first years some interesting facts about the School's architecture and history as they made their way higher and higher, through hidden doors and hanging tapestries.
'Rowena Ravenclaw was the one to implement Hogwarts' ever changing floor-plan, did you know that? She was also the one who bewitched the ceiling in the Great Hall to make it look like the sky outside. For more details you can pick up a copy of Hogwarts: A History by Garius Tomkink from the Library.'
At last, when Charlie's legs were ready to collapse beneath him, they stopped in front of the portrait of a rather large woman in a pink silk dress.
'Password?' she asked.
'Tessera,' replied Savage, and the portrait swung forward like a door to reveal a round hole in the wall with a knee-high step. They clambered over it and emerged into the Gryffindor common-room. The cosy round room filled with plush squashy armchairs was a welcome sight to Charlie's tired eyes.
'Welcome to the Gryffindor common-room,' said Savage, spreading his arms wide. 'Right now we are on the seventh floor. This is where you will spend your free time relaxing. As it is Sunday tomorrow there aren't any classes, so you can spend the day exploring the castle at your pleasure. Breakfast is served until 11am, followed by lunch. If you have any questions or would like a tour of the castle I would be willing to help you out. You can of course ask any of the other Gryffindor prefects, though I wouldn't try and bother my female counter-part Gwenog Jones, she's Quidditch Captain too, so she'll be a bit stressed out for a while until the team is sorted. Now then, dormitories are up these stairs,' he pointed to a spiral staircase at the back of the common-room. 'Boys' are on the left, girls' on the right. Your year's dormitory is on the seventh level, right at the top. Goodnight!'
Charlie, Fergus, Buckley and Reg were desperate for their beds when they reached their dormitory, and the four four-poster beds lining the walls like the points of a compass were heaven. Their trunks had already been brought up and were placed at the foot of each bed.
They were all too tired to talk so they stripped off their robes, changed into their pyjamas and collapsed onto their beds, not even bothering to draw the velvet crimson curtains around them.
Charlie remembered Fergus calling a sleepy 'night,' before snoring almost immediately. Charlie himself was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, and he dreamed peacefully all night long.
