CHAPTER 2
"Good Evening Hagrid. I hope they are all alright." The witch said.
"Got everyone alright, I checked the boats, nothing missing or lost." Hagrid said.
"Very well Hagrid, you should get yourself to the feast, I shall take over now." She replied and Hagrid nodded his head and walked right past her.
"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor McGonagall and I teach transfiguration. I am about to take you into the Great Hall to be sorted. There are four houses which you could align yourself with; first is Slytherin, a house for the cunning and ambitious; next is Ravenclaw, for the smart and curious; then there is Hufflepuff, a house for Loyalty; and finally is Gryffindor, a house for the chivalrous and brave. Whilst you are in Hogwarts, these houses will be something like your families. We also have a House Point scheme, win points if you answer a question, or lose points if you are doing something you should not be. At the end of the year, the points are tallied and the house with the most points wins the House Cup. I am now going to invite you inside and you will wait in the entrance hall whilst I go tell the hall. Good luck." And with that the witch turned and left and the group nervously waited in the front entrance.
They tried to catch up amongst themselves but it was no use, soon, people were stating that they would have to fight trolls to determine what houses they were in. Harry thought that this seemed ridiculous, fighting trolls at eleven years old. The group of four friends stayed huddled together and talked quietly, all hoping that they would be in a house with their three new friends.
Within time, Professor McGonagall came back. "They are ready for you now." She said and led them into the Great Hall. They were all amazed by the ceiling, floating candle lights before what looked like the night sky, but as Hermione pointed out, it was only bewitched. They nervously made a group at the front of the hall facing a wooden stool and a very old, musty hat. Every person in the hall seemed to look at the hat in excitement and before long, it started to sing.
After it had finished, they were to be called in alphabetical order and try on the hat. Professor McGonagall called the first person, "Bones, Susan." She called a girl with fiery red hair stepped to the stool. Every first year tuned out, thinking about what house they would be in. Harry had no idea, he didn't think he fit any of the houses, he wasn't brave or noble, or cunning, or loyal, or smart, he just didn't know where he could go. Finally Professor McGonagall called out the first of their group. "Granger, Hermione." She called and Hermione trembled her way up to the stairs and let Professor McGonagall put the hat on her.
"Mm, I see, very intelligent, very intelligent. Brave also. Also very ambitious. Ah, I see something, you were blessed by the Lady herself, you are going to be very powerful. Oh, I see, friends, you want to be with them, you've never had friends before, and you were very brave in that situation. I don't think you truly belong in Gryffindor, any person can be brave. But, it is the house that the two young men that you befriended will surely be in. You are a Gryffindor, and yet you are not. Mm, which to choose, which to choose. Do you have a choice, my dear?" The hat said.
"Um," Hermione thought. "Well, I know that I can be smart without Ravenclaw, but I don't think I'll make friends there, I'd rather go with my friends, even if any idiot can be brave."
"Well put, my dear. Yes, you will need those friends in the coming months and years, no doubt. Listen to what they say, for they love you. You will be friends for the rest of your lives. And you need those friends, so now that is decided, better be GRYFFINDOR." The hat yelled the last word and Hermione skipped to the appropriate table.
"Longbottom, Neville" Professor McGonagall called next and Neville slowly walked to the chair, he was visibly shaking and Ron was laughing about his last name.
"Ah, the next of the friends, Neville, yes. You have been very brave in your lifetime, very brave to face what you have faced. Many people don't believe that, but you have been. Now, I have something I want to say to you, the wand chooses the wizard. Your wand is your father's, it is not an accurate fit for you, you need to buy a new wand and you will find that magic will come a lot easier. You are not a squib, Neville, its time you stopped believing that, you were blessed by the Lady herself, you will be a very powerful wizard. Now, you would fit well in Hufflepuff, you are a very loyal person, but I think you would do best in Gryffindor, your friends are there, but you will meet more friends in Hufflepuff, in the coming years, do not forget that. I think what is best for you, is to be placed into GRYFFINDOR" the Hat said and Neville took his time placing the hat back on the stool and walking to the table to sit next to Hermione.
"Lovegood, Luna" Professor McGonagall said and Luna walked to the stool and placed the hat on her head.
"Ah, Miss Lovegood, another of the friends. Keep those friends, Luna, you will need them, you can confide in them, they have experienced what you have, you have people that understand. Now, you are very smart, and can see what no one else can, this makes you much smarter than the average Ravenclaw, in fact, I'd place you at the top of the list. But, I don't think Ravenclaw would be a good match for you, not at all. People are trivial children there, you would be bullied and tormented viciously, more vicious than any Slytherin. The best fit for you would be with your friends, they will protect you and it may surprise you to learn that more friends are on the way, friends from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, and even Slithering. Miss Lovegood, you were also personally blessed by the Lady, you are a powerful witch. I think the best fit for you would be GRYFFINDOR." The Hat called and Luna ran to sit next to Hermione.
"Potter, Harry." Professor McGonagall said and the hall erupted into whispers, Harry hated this, ever since he came to the Wizarding world, whispers and rumours followed him everywhere, he had grown up invisible, and he liked it that way. He quickly got up to the stool and Professor McGonagall laced the hat on him.
"Ah, Harry Potter, destined for a livelihood of brave acts, but any idiot can be brave and heroic, as your friend, Miss Granger, put it. You would do well in several houses. Slytherin, most definitely, you have cunning about you, and you are ambitious, but not sure in what yet. You are very loyal, to your friends and superiors, be cautious, not all superiors are worth the loyalty you show, you may be surprised who you can trust. You are also very smart, you would do well as a Ravenclaw, you need to start showing that smartness, and I know that you had to hide it, but people will ask questions now, you are very much like both your parents, very smart. However, I think you need to be with the friends you made. Remember this, the Headmaster has no interest of your best interest. There is a prophecy that he will use to manipulate you, he plans to kill you and make himself the hero. He is foolhardy and is not seeing the whole picture. Other people you can trust, Minerva, I mean Professor McGonagall is very trust worthy. You are also blessed by the Lady, this means you are much more powerful than the average witch or wizard, use this to your advantage. Learn what your father learnt, this will be a great advantage when the war begins again. Get private tutors for defence and potions, start arithmancy and runes earlier than third year, and get some lessons in etiquette, you will need it. Also, look into emancipation, it will become very useful. But, enough with the chat, I decided what house you would be as soon as you put me on your head. GRYFFINDOR." The Hat said. Harry sighed with relief and joined his three friends at the Gryffindor table with a much louder applause from the table than the other first-year Gryffindor's.
The feast was amazing, the food just appeared on the table and then disappeared when they were all done. Harry found himself to be very hungry, the pumpkin pasty and handful of frogs was hours ago, he knew his other three friends were as well. Ron's mum had packed him four sandwiches, he had four chocolate frogs and tried to get more and had more food than anyone else and he still heaped food onto his plate. Watching him eat was disgusting. He chewed with his mouth open and spat particles of food everywhere, everyone subconsciously moved away from him whilst he was eating, no one wanted to see or hear that. He also tried to talk to people while he was eating, he would turn to that person and shower them with food. His brother, Percy looked disgusted by his table manners, and Fred and George didn't look so happy with it either.
When the dessert menu had been cleared away, Professor Dumbledore said a few words. "Welcome, welcome to another year at the majestic, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I welcome new members to our wondrous school and say 'hello old friends' to the returning students. I know that we are all excited at the start of a new school year, tremendously so. However, we have to remember the rules, for there are severe punishments if these rules are not followed. Firstly, The Forbidden Forest is FORBIDDEN, like its name suggests, returning students, please do not set foot on the grounds of the Forbidden Forest, it is very dangerous. New students, also please note that the Forbidden Forest is full of creatures that not many wizards can control, in fact not any wizards can control some of them. Please see reason and do not step into that place. Next, Mr Filch would like me to tell you that some 934 items are forbidden from this school, these include Fanged Frisbees and items from Zonko's Joke shop, if you would like to see the full list, please consult Mr Filch in his office, thank you very much. On a much darker note, the third floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds for any who do not wish to die a very painful death." Even though Dumbledore said a darker note, his voice was still bright and cheerful, Harry thought the hat was right about him and would be very cautious. "Now, first years and years above, your timetables will be delivered tomorrow morning at breakfast. Now, off to bed for all of you, you all have a very large day ahead of you. Goodnight and sleep tight."
Harry and his friends got up and followed Percy the Prefect to their common room where a very large portrait of a large lady with a pink dress.
"Password?" she asked.
"Caput Draconis." Percy said and the portrait swung open to reveal a small hole where they had to crawl to get through. Once they all had crawled through they entered the Common Room and Percy showed them around.
"Right, boy's dormitories to the right and girls to the left. Have a nice night." Percy said and then walked up the stairs to his own dorm.
"Wait, what if we have questions." Hermione called after him.
"What questions would we have, he showed us where our dorms are." Ron said in a feisty tone.
"What about when breakfast is, when our classes start? All of that stuff, we need to know from someone." Hermione hit back but Ron just rolled his eyes and went to claim his bed.
"We need to talk." Harry whispered when Seamus, Dean, Lavender and Parvati wanted to go to bed also.
"What about?" Neville asked.
"The hat, it said some things to me, and I think it said some things to you as well." Harry replied and Neville nodded.
"Harry, I know that you need to talk about this. I think we all do, I know the hat said some things to me as well. But, can we do this in the morning? I'm very tired and we have lessons tomorrow. We'll have to get up early because we don't know what time breakfast is, we need to ask one of the older kids. If we get up earlier than expected, can we talk about it then?" Hermione replied.
"Good idea, Hermione, my head is fuzzy anyway, tomorrow then. I'll see you all then." They hugged goodbye and headed to their own dormitories where their luggage was. The elves had determined from friendships who would like to sleep near the other. Harry and Neville had one side of the room, Dean and Seamus had the other and Ron's bed stuck on the end wall by itself.
Hermione and Luna's room was similar, their two beds were together and so was Parvati's and Lavender's, there was also a spare bed on the lone wall. They quickly unpacked their clothes and changes into their pyjamas and crept under the warm covers and snuggled close to the hot water bottle.
