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The dumpy witch pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big Anita was pretty sure she could have fit her house and garden there. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.
They followed Professor Sprout across the flagged stone floor. The drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right could be heard as they walked, but Professor Sprout showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously, and excitedly whispering to each other. Anita was about to ask Purvi what they were supposed to do at the moment, when the witch cleared her throat significantly, thus rendering the group of children quiet.
"Welcome to Hogwarts!" said Professor Sprout with a warm and amiable smile. "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-"
"Exactly how does the sorting take place?" A voice called out from the center of the huddled group; it was the sneering boy from the train, the one whom Abhijeet had called Vardan.
"That's for you to find out, Mister…?"
"Vardan. Rocky Vardan."
"That's for you to find out Mr. Vardan. As I was saying, 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 at Hogwarts, your triumphs earn you house points and rule breaking results in loss of 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-"
SPLASH. Several people yelled as a dozen water balloons fell on them, effectively dousing them as well as the children standing next to them with ice cold water, possibly drawn from the lake. On hearing a cackle come from above them, everyone looked up to see a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth floating cross- legged in the air with a few brightly colored water balloons in both his arms. Professor Sprout, who had been hit with a particularly large green one, glowered at the man.
"FOR HEAVENS SAKE PEEVES!" She roared and reached for her wand, "THE BLOODY BARON WILL BE HEARING ABOUT THIS ONE!"
The man simply gave another loud cackle and vanished with a POP sound that reverberated through the room and the hall. Sprout simply drew out her wand and waved it around while muttering something under her breath. The water vanished and everybody was dry again.
"Well then," She arranged her frayed brown hat on her head, "I suppose there's no use delaying the ceremony any longer now, is there? Form a line and follow me. The Sorting ceremony ought to be beginning now."
Anita got into the line and stood in between Tarika and Purvi, feeling nervous and thrilled. The line of children walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.
To say that the Great Hall was huge would have been an understatement. The great hall was simply enormous and magnificent. It was lit by countless gleaming candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, (to Anita's astonishment) ghosts shone misty silver. Anita noted that there was a forlorn look on the older students' faces, as she studied each of the tables. The students sitting at the green decked table in particular, had a sort of sorrowful and uneasy looks on their faces as though they were expecting something terrible to occur after the sorting.
The line halted so abruptly, Anita bumped into Purvi rather painfully and mumbled a quick "Sorry," trying to find out what was going on at the front. Sprout seemed to have put a large old patched and frayed and extremely dirty hat that had burns on its top half on a short stool. For a moment there was silence. Then, a rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and the hat began to sing.
"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 might 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 Hufflepuffis 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 folk 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 hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.
"That's how we're going to be sorted?" Purvi gave an excited mutter to no one in particular.
Anita found that her legs were shaking a bit. She felt nervous. She didn't feel too brave, intelligent or cunning at the moment. Perhaps Hufflepuff would suit her better. She was ready to work, though she did tend to slack off at times.
Professor Sprout now 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. "Agrawal, Vineet!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat shouted, and the table on the right cheered and clapped as a dark haired boy went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table.
"Bishop, Kate!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
A blond haired girl walked to the table second from the left cheering for her with a smug smile on her round face as though she'd gotten the best of the best.
"Chheda, Shreya!"
"GRYFFINDOR!"
The table on the far left exploded with cheers as Shreya unabashedly fist pumped into the air and practically skipped to the Gryffindor table. Anita imagined herself among the Gryffindors as well at that point.
After a "Drew, Felicia" ("HUFFLEPUFF!") and "Hardy, Frank" ("GRYFFINDOR!"), "Khanna, Suraj," a tall black haired boy became the first Slytherin. He was met with BOOS from the other three houses and cheering from the table on the far right. To the booing houses, he coolly smiled at them and walked to the green table proudly.
"Kumar, Tasha!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Kumar, Rajat!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"They don't look related." Anita whispered to Purvi in confusion, as they watched a dark skinned boy join Tasha, a fair skinned, raven haired girl.
"I dunno, Kumar's a common surname." Purvi whispered back as "Lovelace, Regina" became a Slytherin.
When "Mashru, Vivek", a boy with a wide mouth, dark hair and mischievous eyes got sorted into Hufflepuff, he actually cheered loudly in front of everyone and ran to the Hufflepuff table in excitement after yelling at Tasha, "I told you I'd get sorted into Hufflepuff, didn't I?" Tasha promptly glared at him and yelled at him to shut up and get to his seat.
After Tarika joined the Ravenclaw table, the line seemed to get much shorter. Abhijeet and Daya were sorted into Gryffindor the second the hat touched their heads. Purvi got her wish after thirty seconds; the hat had waited before yelling, "SLYTHERIN!"
Nikhil and Sachin got into Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw respectively as well. The whole process seemed to pass in a blur; Anita was seriously starting to wonder when her turn was going to come. After "Phadnis, Freddy", "Vardan, Rocky" and "Varma, Muskaan"-
"Williams, Anita!" That shook her out of her reverie. Anita gulped and shakily made her way to the stool; the minute the hat was plopped onto her head, she was engulfed in darkness. The hat was too big for her.
My, my. A small voice said in her right ear suddenly, making her jump. Plenty of daring and courage. A good deal of recklessness is there, but you have some common sense to make up for that.
Excuse me? Anita felt indignant at that remark. I'm not too reckless.
The voice chuckled. There's no doubt about it. I know just where to put you. "GRYFFINDOR!" It yelled to the hall.
Cheers exploded from the Gryffindor table as Anita made her way there, shock and delight coursing through her. She sat next to Muskaan, a girl with short black hair who enthusiastically clapped her on her back so hard, she had to hold on to the table to prevent herself from falling.
"Careful now." A female voice said. Anita turned to face the owner, and gaped in shock. She was sitting next to a teenager with inquisitive brown eyes that looked like they had seen the worst of the worst mankind had ever offered them and bushy hair that was tied up in a ponytail. She wasn't the only one to do so. Several others were craning their heads to look at her, some staring open mouthed, others looking conflicted as though they wanted to talk to her, but were too shy to do so. Everyone knew who this student was.
Anita Williams was staring at Hermione Granger, war heroine and 'the smartest witch of her age' as the ministry and everybody else called her.
"For the love of god," Another voice said, and a red haired girl on the opposite side of the table shook her head, "She's not a show piece to be stared at! And neither am I!" She added, glaring at some of the students sitting on her left, including Shreya and Abhijeet.
"You're Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley!" Anita squeaked out in a high pitched voice that made its appearance whenever she was excited and blushed in embarrassment.
"Err, that we are." Hermione smiled a little nervously, scratching the back of her head uncomfortably. Ginny merely nodded in the same uncomfortable manner. They were spared from further conversation by the headmistress Professor McGonagall who stood up at that moment.
"Welcome," She said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! I have only a few words to say: Let the feast begin." Anita looked at table and gasped.
The dishes in front of her were now piled with food. There were so many dishes: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs. Anita piled her plate with some roast potatoes, fries, gravy and the humbugs and began to eat. It was all delicious.
"Welcome to Gryffindor!" A ghost wearing a ruff and tights beamed at the first years. "I don't think I've introduced myself. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower at your service."
"Aren't you Nearly Headless Nick?" Abhijeet suddenly asked. The ghost's smile was replaced with a miffed look.
"That's Sir Nicholas to you, my good lad." He stiffly said and floated off to the other end of the table.
"How can a ghost be nearly headless?" Someone asked, but his question was answered by a scream on the other side of the table. Nicholas' whole head had swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. "Oh yuck!" Muskaan gagged. Anita privately agreed with her as she tried shaking the image of silver blood and guts out of her mind. As she peered at the Ravenclaw table, she caught the eye of Sachin who waved at her a bit before talking to Kate.
When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding…the list was endless. Anita grabbed a couple of éclairs as everyone started eagerly talking.
"None of my parents are magical." Muskaan was telling Shreya. "They were so pleased when I got my letter-at least they were once their shock was gotten over with."
"I'm a half blood." Shreya said. "My dad's muggleborn and my mum's a half blood like me. But blood purity isn't important. I wonder what we'll be learning?"
"You'll be starting off with the basics of course." A girl with straight hair in a ponytail and fair skin answered. She had a silver badge with the letter P attached to the front of her robes. "In the beginning, it's mostly theory and a little bit of actual magic done. I'm Aditi, by the way." She said and shoveled tarts into her mouth. "Bot boi the-"
"Aditi!" The boy next to her sharply exclaimed. "Don't speak with your mouth full!"
"Surry Ajatasharoo." Aditi didn't sound particularly sorry as she swallowed her food. The boy too had the same silver badge pinned on the front of his robes. He shook his head as she continued shoveling more desserts into her mouth.
At last, the desserts too disappeared, and once again Professor McGonagall got to her feet. The hall fell silent.
"Ahem-just a few more words now that we all have eaten and drunk our fill. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.
"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.
"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.
"And now, I have something very serious to say." McGonagall's face sported a stern and concerned look. "A war has come and passed. Many losses have occurred. We all have lost fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins and close friends. I must remind you that each of you is to support one another and unite as one. House unity is of the utmost importance. Each house has produced witches and wizards, some who made good choices, and others, bad. No one house is to take the full blame. You must get along with each house other than your own. I hope you will not make unnecessary mistakes." Her eyes flashed to the Gryffindor table, which had booed on the Slytherins the most.
"And now, it is time all of you were off to bed. Good night!"
With that, everyone got up from their tables; Aditi and the other boy Ajatashatru (Anita guessed that was what Aditi must have been attempting to pronounce) were calling out to first years, "First years! Follow us please! We're prefects! Gryffindor first years, follow us!"
The Gryffindor first years followed the prefects through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. They were led through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and after climbing one more staircase, they came to a sudden halt. At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.
"Password?" she said.
"Honeysuckle," said Ajatashatru, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.
Aditi directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and Ajatashatru showed the boys through another. They found five four-poster beds hung with deep red, velvet curtains waiting for them. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pajamas and fell into bed. Soon, the silence was disturbed by a peaceful snore.
As soon as Anita's head touched her soft and fluffy pillow, she fell into a peaceful slumber. The last thought on her mind as she fell asleep was that of whether her cousin Kavin was missing her already.
Done! Is it good? Read and review!
