Title: Sept 1st, 1989 - The Sorting
Summary: The sorting takes place, and Tenten gets in a fight over candied beets.
Rating: K+
Author's Note: (spoiler alert: the beets aren't really a big deal)
Though he would never admit it, Neji was more than glad to be out of the boat and on dry ground. Next to him Tenten seemed in agreement, though Lee seemed too entranced by the school to really notice the change. Not that Neji blamed him it was huge, imposing in it's height. Banners flapped in the night wind from tall towers, and Neji stumbled as someone pushed him forward.
"Apologies Neji," Lee said, "I was distracted." He grinned at Neji as the large man named Hagrid called for everyone to keep up, the three new friends keeping pace as they approached the castle. To be honest, Neji did not mind Lee all that much despite his exuberance, and Tenten was tolerable. They'd gotten separated from Lee Jordan and the Weasley twins back when getting into the boats, and Neji was quite all right with that.
As they got closer to the castle, Neji picked up on Tenten and Lee's increasing nerves, and he tried to think of a way to calm them down. Hinata and Hanabi were easy, but he'd had years of practice, and so after a few moments of thinking he decided to just let it go. They could handle themselves.
Instead he watched their year mates, intrigued. Counting carefully he was surprised to find only 29 students total, a small group to be certain. He supposed the war had something to do with it, making it so people did not want to risk having children. Tokuma's year was certainly larger, almost double the amount if Tokuma was telling the truth. His musing were cut short by the arrival of the group at the large double doors into Hogwarts. The group watched in awe as the very large Hagrid pushed them open, revealing a candlelit indoors.
As one they entered, breaths held and eyes wide. Even Neji, who had not been raised to show an excess of emotion, was openly amazed. Hagrid chuckled at the looks on their faces, but made no move to follow them in. "You lot behave," he told them, "Professor McGonagall is dealin' with you now." Tenten and Lee, and one other girl a bit ahead of them, all waved as a tall, severe woman appeared, and she nodded regally to them.
"Welcome," she said, her accent similar to Tenten's, "to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now, in a few minutes you will join your classmates at the tables inside, but before you do this you will be sorted into house – Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Slytherin and Hufflepuff. Your house is there to support you and help you in your time here in Hogwarts. As such, houses are praised as one, and punished in one. Good behaviour will win you points, and bad behaviour will lose you points, understand?" There was a mumbled agreement, which appeared to be enough as the witch turned sharply on her heel.
"Now, I will call your name, you shall sit upon the stool, and once sorted you will sit with your house." She did not allow time for questions, as once she was done speaking the doors to the Great Hall swung open.
If Neji was impressed by the entrance hall, the Great Hall was nothing short of astounding. Tokuma had once tried to explain it to him, but the picture Neji had constructed from his ramblings had nothing on what was before him. Next to him, Lee's eyes were wide, jaw hanging open and Neji spared a moment to disapprove. "Close your mouth Lee," he said, "try not to look too out of place." Lee flashed him a smile at that, and the first years ventured into the hall.
The ceiling was what amazed Neji the most, it was a perfect replication of the slightly cloudy night sky outside. The stars shone without interference from city lights, and the moon hung high, barely a sliver in the sky. Students watched the new students, a sea of black clad in silly hats. Tenten tapped him on the shoulder, "which house is which?"
Neji pointed to the far left, "Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor," he said, but did not get to explain anything further to the two muggleborns as the hat at the far end of the hall promptly started to sing.
In ancient days of yesteryear
Four friends came from far and near
And made a school of magics old,
Which today still stands here.
It was to me the four left the job
Of sorting out the unruly mob,
who came into their hallowed halls,
bereft of knowledge in their knobs.
Sweet Helga asked of me,
To help her teach those who worked loyally.
Clever Rowena ever dear,
Taught those of visions smart and clear,
While Godric Gryffindor to himself took,
Those who would no cowardic brook.
And lastly sly Salazar,
Coached those who were most cunning by far.
Though now long gone down to the one
You stand before me as has always been done,
To be sorted by me, a simple hat,
Who has yet to be wrong in any fashion.
With that the hat went silent again, and the first years started to clap a moment behind the teachers and the upperclassmen. McGonagall allowed the applause for a few long moments, before she cleared her throat and silence reigned.
"When I call your name, you will come up, sit on the stool and I will place the sorting hat on your head." She opened her scroll with a snap, "Appleby, Begonia," she called. A tiny golden haired girl bustled forward, looking nervous, and hauled herself onto the stool. McGonagall placed the hat on her head, watching as it fell down only to be stopped by her nose. The hat sat where it was only a few brief moments before it called out.
"Ravenclaw!" The table second closet to the left broke into applause, more polite claps issuing from other tables, and young Begonia was given a seat at the end of the table next to a thin red haired boy.
"Axton, Vance."
This time a bulky brown haired boy stepped up, and the hat barely touched his head before the it yelled out, "Hufflepuff!" much to the pleasure of the most populated table. Somewhere around 'Diggory, Cedric' Neji stopped paying real attention to the names and more on the people. Slytherin had taken only one student to far, a boy named Bletchly while Hufflepuff had three and two had gone to Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor none. Neither the Gryffindors nor the Slytherins seemed entirely happy about it either, and Hufflepuff table looked to him a little crowded.
It was, admittedly, a bit of a shock to him when his name was called, as he'd been studying the unhappy Gryffindor table at the time. "Hyūga Neji," the professor called, and Neji schooled his face into something smooth and calm. Tenten smiled at him as he walked past, and he almost rolled his eyes at Lee's thumbs up. He didn't hesitate at all when sitting down, not blinking as the floppy hat slid slightly over his eyes.
Ah, a dry, male voice sounded in his head. Another Hyūga. Such a varied lot you are, I see here many things. Stubborn pride, cunning ambition, a great intellect. You're interested in Ravenclaw, are you?
Neji thought about it for a moment. I enjoy knowledge, he said finally and the hat chuckled.
A mind like yours, yes, but I rather think you would benefit from being in the house of your father. Neji flinched at the idea of close quarters with Hoshu, even if just for a year, but did not argue. At least it wasn't trying to put him in Gryffindor. No, you're not a Gryffindor boy. Brave, yes, but you lack a certain something the house goes for. Perhaps a bit too much discretion to offset your valour. Yes, I see it now, it is definitely:
"Slytherin!"
Hearing the name aloud so suddenly after the strange conversation, Neji almost forgot it was talking about him, and was surprised by how pleased Slytherin house looked. Of course, no one was clapping louder than Tokuma and Neji shot him a fondly exasperated look before he took the seat offered to him across from Bletchly and next to a tall dark skinned boy.
"Welcome to Slytherin," the boy said, voice deep. "I'm Isaiah Selwyn, your fifth year prefect." He offered a hand, and Neji took it, barely letting go before Bletchly offered his own.
"Miles Cletchly. Call me Miles please. I thought I was going to be the only one," he told Neji, "though Warrington will probably join us, Pucey too. Not sure about girls though," he scratched his straw blond hair, stopping to clap once when Johnston, Angelina, was sorted into Gryffindor.
Selwyn, who was watching the sorting, seemed surprised by the speed with which the next person – Lee Jordan – was also sorted into Gryffindor. "He'll be pleased," Neji noted softly, and Selwyn turned a questioning gaze on him. "We sat together on the train," Neji said.
"Was he the alright sort?" Selwyn asked, "you know, for a Gryffindor." Neji considered it.
"He got along well with the Weasley twins," he said and a few nearby people groaned at the information that yet two more Weasleys would be joining the hoard. "But other than that he wasn't intolerable." A gorgeous dark haired girl sitting two down from Bletchly leaned toward him, dark eyes shrewd.
"Were you stuck with the three of them the entire time?" she asked, and Neji nodded. "Alone?"
Neji's answer was delayed by Montague joining them as the Slytherins clapped and hooted. He sat down heavily next to Bletchly, and the blond boy clapped him heavily on the back. The older years greeted him with clipped introductions before people were back on Neji, looking expectant.
"No," he said finally remembering the girl's question. "I was with two much more civilized people as well." The Slytherins seemed to pick up on his unwillingness to share and pulled back, hooting as the petite Grace Moon joined them. She sat next to Neji, smiling shyly and tucking copper curls behind her ear.
"Hello," she said, "I'm Grace," she offered a hand and Neji sighed, taking it and hoping he didn't have to do this with every new housemate. He would tire of it quickly, to say the least.
"Neji," was all he said in return, and opted to pointedly watch the rest of the sorting in hopes people would leave him alone. Just in time, too because a thin brown haired boy was declared Slytherin just as Neji turned to watch, and he found himself clapping with a notable lack of enthusiasm.
"See Adrian!" Bletchly's voice carried as the boy came up to them, dark eyes blank. "I told you there was nothing to worry about," he grinned to the table, "Pucey here was worried he'd end up in Ravenclaw."
Selwyn shrugged. "Nothing wrong with Ravenclaw," he said, "better than Hufflepuff." Neji rolled his eyes at the common and stereotypical sentiment, perking up when Lee was called forward. Grace seemed to notice his interest because she too watch the boy bounce up to the stool.
"You know him?" she asked and Neji shrugged.
"We met on the train," he told her. "He's alright. Rather loud -" anything else he may have said was cut off by a roar when the hat called Gryffindor, coming from the aforementioned table.
Grace hummed at that and glanced at him slyly, "I hope you weren't betting on friendship," she said simply, and Neji didn't deign to respond.
Other than Lee there were no other R names, but there were three S names. Silverstein, Stella, went to Hufflepuff while Spinnet, Alicia and Stimpson, Patricia joined Gryffindor. Then it was Tenten, and the muggleborn girl approached the stool with grace befitting someone much less nervous than she had been.
"Who's she?" Montague asked, notably interested, and Moon rolled her eyes.
"Ting Teng," she said, "weren't you paying attention?"
"Obviously not," Pucey muttered, "I don't recognize the name."
The others murmured agreements and Neji opted to nip that speculation at the bud. "Well she's muggleborn," he said, "I'd be impressed if you'd bothered to learn about any of them at all." Pucey cocked an eyebrow at the tone, but Miles and Montague grumbled in disgust at the assertion. Moon didn't seem phased.
Neji clapped when the hat, after a minute, decided on Ravenclaw, and suppressed a smile when he saw Tokuma seat the girl next to himself. As he wasn't interested in any of the other people, Neji turned his attention to the teachers.
Right away he caught the eye of his own head of house, Professor Snape, who raised an eyebrow as their gazes met. Neji also recognized Professors Sprout and Fltiwick as the heads of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, as well as the herbology and charms teachers. There was, of course, Professor Dumbledore, seated in the middle watching the sorting with seemingly rapt attention. Neji did not recognize anyone else, however, though a rather ragged looking man with only one arm was likely to be Professor Kettleburn.
The sorting finished with a Zettesberg, Anna joining Slytherin table. She'd barely sat down when the headmaster stood, smiling down at his students.
"And so," he said, voice ringing clear, "another year is started here in Hogwarts, and another promising batch of students joins us. We'll have much to talk about before the night is over," he said, "but before that food! So, here's supper and as the French say, bon appétit!"
With those two words, the food appeared on the previously empty tables, and the first years jumped slightly before several grinned widely. Neji waited patiently as Montague and Thibault argued over some garlic mashed potatoes, accepting a plate of chicken from Pucey.
Across the table and facing him Tenten and Tokuma were in a heated battle over what looked to be candied beets. When Tenten caught Neji's bemused gaze both Tokuma and herself they paused only long enough to wave before they went back to heaping the purple vegetables onto their plates.
"Hyūga?" Neji jerked as Pucey looked at him expectantly.
"I'm sorry Pucey," he said, "my cousin caught my eye is all." Pucey shrugged.
"It's fine, and call me Adrian please. I was asking though, if you want to come with us tomorrow and get to know the school." Next to him Moon nodded.
"It's got to be good luck, getting here on a Friday, we should know where out classes are by Monday," the other first years nodded, though a few of the older years shared rather suspicious glances with one another, smirking. Neji let the chatter wash over him, nodded when appropriate and focusing on his chicken more than anything. By chance the bowl of beets passed under his nose, and he took the chance to spear one onto his fork, popping it into his mouth and chewing slowly.
Not bad, he thought, not bad at all.
I apologize for the pure shite that is the sorting song. There are no excuses - I'm just bad at rhyming. Luckily, next year's narrator won't pay attention and I won't be forced to write another full one~
I should note - the following characters' houses are not yet set in stone, if you have a suggestion do tell:
Kiba (currently Hufflepuff)
Shino (currently Hufflepuff)
Kankuro (currently Slytherin)
