Hats and Dormitories
The front doors opened in front of the nervous and excited first years and their first view of the interior of Hogwarts left them awestruck.
They were standing at the entrance to a great hall, where hundreds of glowing candles lit the sides of the large room. Inside the hall, there were four long tables, each filled with older students who were surveying the group with interest.
As they filed in in an orderly line, James nudged Sirius and pointed at Lucius Malfoy, who was the only one of the group who took a seat at the table in the far left corner. "He's not even a first year, looks like someone got left behind on the train and had to ride in the boats with us," He snorted. Sirius grinned as McGonagall turned to face them once more.
"When I call each student's name, please come have a seat on this stool and place the sorting hat on your head," She said crisply. She unrolled an extremely long piece of parchment and cleared her throat.
"Abbot, Daniel."
A nervous looking boy walked up to the school and tentatively placed the hat on his head. It drooped so low that his mouth was the highest part of his face that could be seen. After a few tense moments, the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"
The crowd cheered loudly as the boy, looking immensely relieved, handed the hat back to McGonagall and ran to the Hufflepuff table. McGonagall cleared her throat again.
"Black, Sirius."
James clapped Sirius on the back and whispered in his ear, "Remember, the sorting hat takes your wish into account." Sirius nodded rather grimly and made his way slowly to the stool with his fists clenched at his sides. He sat there with the hat on far longer than Abbot had, but after many tense minutes had passed, the hat seemed to reach a decision.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
James roared with delight but suddenly realized that he was one of few to do so. He glanced around indignantly and took in the shocked faces of nearly every person in the room. However, these looks of surprise were nothing compared to the intense loathing emanating from the Slytherin table in the back. "How is it possible?" James heard someone mutter. "Yeah, a Black in Gryffindor? Must be some kind of mistake…"
He felt his insides burn with anger, but just then, the entire Gryffindor table stood up and began cheering for Sirius, who looked incredibly surprised then relieved. James shot him a toothy grin as the latter made his way to the Gryffindor table and sat at the end.
The sorting continued like this for a while and then McGonagall called out, "Evans, Lily."
Lily Evans walked forward when her name was called. James saw that she was trembling slightly and for some reason, part of him hoped that she wouldn't get put in Slytherin. He needn't have worried, for the moment the hat was placed on Lily's head, it screamed, "GRYFFINDOR!"
James turned around and tried not to laugh at the angry look on Snape's face. Not long after, James himself was called up.
When the hat was placed on his head, James immediately thought, "please Gryffindor, please Gryffindor, please…"
"James potter," said a voice in his head and he realized it was the sorting hat. "Let's see where would be the best place for you…"
"I want to be in Gryffindor," James thought firmly and he heard a low chuckle in his mind. "Gryffindor eh? You certainly have the bravery and the charisma, but I also see… a more ambitious side to you-perhaps Slyther-"
"NO!" James had said the last part out loud and he opened his eyes and flushed as he realized that everyone was laughing at him.
"Sorry," He said with a smile and closed his eyes again. However, the hat seemed to have already made its choice and yelled out, "GRYFFINDOR!" James was elated but he tried not to pump his fist. He handed the old hat back to McGonagall and raced to sit next to Sirius and across from Lily, who immediately looked the other way.
"Oh come off it," James said to her bracingly. "Your friend over there is going to end up in Slytherin, there's no use in hoping for the impossible." Lily had stood up and left while he was talking. She walked over to the other end of the table next to some other girls.
James turned to Sirius in confusion, and found that his friend was looking thoroughly amused, "Is that how you court a lady James?"
James looked at him in surprise, "Who said I was trying to court Evans? I was just telling her not to get her hopes up," He joined in the clapping as Remus Lupin was sorted into Gryffindor as well and joined them happily.
After what seemed like ages, the sorting finally ended and everyone jumped when Dumbledore announced the start of the feast. Out of nowhere, foods of all kinds appeared on the golden dishware in front of them. James bit his fist to avoid laughing out loud at Sirius' eyeballs, which were popping out of his head at all the meat and desserts in front of him.
"This is fantastic," he yelled and began grabbing everything in sight. James followed suit but did not resemble a wild animal as much as Sirius did. Remus clearly had the best table manners of the group, as he had tied his napkin to his robes and neatly cut a steak with a fork and knife.
Everyone in the hall was chatting happily and even McGonagall, who James thought had a permanent frown on her face, was laughing at something Professor Sprout, the Herbology teacher, had said in her ear.
"I think I'm sick," Sirius mumbled nearly an hour later. He had leaned back in his seat and was rubbing his stomach. James and Remus laughed at him. "You ate half the table's food Sirius, I wouldn't be surprised if you threw up later," said James helpfully.
"Don't say it," Sirius grumbled and it was a welcome relief when the Head Boy stood up and told them to follow him upstairs to Gryffindor tower.
When they arrived at the portrait of the famous "Fat Lady," the head boy turned around. "Remember, the password is shrivelfig root," he said looking around at the gathered first years. "It would do you well to remember it." James noted with amusement that Lily Evans was copying that down in a small notebook.
On that note, the head boy then stepped aside and allowed them into their home for the next seven years. There was a collective gasp as they entered the common room. There were plush armchairs and couches all around and a warm, cozy fireplace in the corner of the large room. There were two staircases leading up to the dormitories.
James turned to Sirius and Remus with a grin, "Last one up there sleeps on the floor tonight," He said before turning tail and sprinting ahead. "Hey you got a head start!" Sirius yelled but him and Remus followed suit and soon they were the first ones in the boy's first year dormitories.
"Re-Remus was last," Sirius said as he gasped for breath. Remus leaned against a comfy looking four-poster bed and sighed.
"Well, I guess I'm sleeping on the floor tonight then," He said looking rather glum. "Oh come off it mate, we were just playing," said James. He walked over a bed in the center of the room. "I'll take this one then, right next to the window." He said as he jumped happily onto the bed.
When Sirius and Remus had finished claiming their beds as well, the door swung open and two other first years came in.
One was a short, blonde haired boy with watery eyes. He looked rather terrified of them. The other boy had brown hair and an extremely cheerful expression on his face, "Hello there," he said, shaking all of their hands. "I'm Frank Longbottom," he said. They turned to the short boy who seemed to melt under their gazes.
"P-p-Peter Pettigrew," He stammered, before running to a bed in the corner of the room and diving under the covers. Sirius snickered at him but didn't say anything.
James motioned for Frank to sit down and then leaned back on his bed. "I guess I'll be in your care for the next seven years Longbottom," he yawned.
The boys stayed up until nearly midnight talking about Quidditch teams, classes and their families. Sirius didn't join the last conversation, but they managed to get Peter to crawl out from under his covers to talk about himself a little as well.
Frank came from a family of purebloods, but as he told them firmly, they were not one of the pureblood supremacists like the Malfoys were. Peter was also pureblooded, but no one seemed to recognize the name "Pettigrew" from anywhere, which caused him to flush in embarrassment.
Frank turned to James and grinned heartily, "I never would have imagined I'd see a fellow Chudley Cannon fan here," he said. James winked at him. "This year is their year, I've been saying it all summer," He agreed.
"Are you trying out for the team next year?" He asked Frank eagerly. Frank looked thoughtful, "I think I might," he said with a faraway look on his face. "I've been dreaming of it since I was young, but you know…" he looked embarrassed. "I don't know if I've got the confidence to tell you the truth," he said bashfully.
James clapped him on the back, "Just follow my lead and you'll be good to go all season mate," he said cheerfully.
Frank smiled, "guess that's not something you lack is it?" He laughed good-naturedly. "It's getting rather late and Remus over there's struggling not to fall asleep sitting," he said while standing up. "Good night boys, see you tomorrow bright and early!" And the lights were out.
James stayed in bed lying awake for a minute. After all of the years he had dreamed of seeing the castle for himself and becoming the hero of the Quidditch team, he was finally here at Hogwarts. With a contented sigh James rolled over, and in seconds was asleep with a huge smile on his face.
