Chapter 4 - The Sorting

The door briskly opened at once. A tall, moon-faced man in black scarlet-lined robes stood. The man had a very friendly looking face and Tom's thought was that he was a man who will be alright.

"It seems you are early, well done Hagrid you made great time," said the man.

"Cheers, Professor Longbottom, you better take 'em from 'ere.

The door opened wide. The entrance hall astounded Tom as it was bigger than he had expected off a school. It reminded Tom of a holiday he had taken with his brother, the entrance of the building where Mark had his business had nothing on this. The stone walls were decorated with flaming torches and the ceiling was too high for him to see. Ahead of him was a grand stone staircase leading upstairs. It seemed as more of a palace than a castle.

They all followed Professor Longbottom, Tom took the opportunity to glance at Jodie who looked mightily impressed. They walked into a small room where the buzz of the other students in the other room was audible.

"Alright everybody, welcome to Hogwarts School," said Professor Longbottom, "As you can already here, the other students are at the start-of-term feast, however before you shall join them, you shall be sorted into houses. These houses are Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Each house has it's own history, and each house has produced some outstanding students who no doubt some of you may be. While you stay in these houses, they will be like your family; you shall have classes in your house, sleep in the house dormitory and spend free time in each respective common room. Your triumphs shall earn you house points, while any misdemeaurs will lose House-Points. The house with the most points is awarded the house cup."

"The sorting ceremony shall begin in a few minutes in front of the whole school. I suggest for you all to brace yourselves up in the spare time you have."

Tom's heart started beating faster than usual; he felt an excited buzz, he breathed deeply and counted to ten. He looked at the other people who smiled nervously at each other.

"I shall return when everything is ready for your arrival," said the Professor, "please be quiet."

Tom turned around and faced Richard and Harry. "Oh right, Tom, if you're not in Gryffindor, we'll kill you, no pressure," said Harry. Tom grinned and asked, "how are we sorted is it a test or something?" Richard gave a knowing smile and said, "relax mate, apparently we will wear a hat on our heads which would say what House you shall be in by looking at your mind and seeing your attributes."

"Brave for Gryffindor, loyalty for Hufflepuff, knowledge for Ravenclaw and cunning for Slytherin." Harry finished. Tom sat there wondering what field he would be in, he didn't think he was knowledgeable or loyal, or even cunning or brave, he wondered if as soon as the hat would go on him the professor would go up and send him home because he wasn't what they had wanted. He moved his eyes to the door and wondered how long it will be before the professor will come back and open the door.

Then he was caught up in a conversation which made his hair prick up.

"Well, apparently the heir of Blaise Zabini will be in our year, and apparently he who she will have no idea about their parentage."

He recognised where the voice was coming from Nathaniel.

"Anyway my bet would be on them going to Slytherin, pretty much because they are a prominent Slytherin family, although maybe being illegitimate might come into it. So we'll wait and see."

Tom was worried at this point, he looked across at Jodie who seemed blissfully unaware of the revelations going on around her. Her focus was at the doors as he was. He wondered if he should tell her what he heard, after all, she was his mate. He wondered if he was more loyal than he actually realised.

The door opened, Professor Longbottom had returned.

"Alright guys form a neat line and follow me." Professor Longbottom told the first years.

Feeling a little courageous, he put himself by Nathaniel to see if he can hear anything else from him. However, Nathaniel kept himself in an icy silence. Richard followed behind him and they all walked out of the chamber, across the corridor and through into a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Tom was even more amazed at the great hall than he was with the Entrance Hall. He never imagined it would be such a brilliant place full of candles floating in mid-air. The four adjacent tables were all laden with shiny golden cutlery. Another table was at the end of the hall where the teachers were sitting. They all stood in a line in front of them. In order to avoid the stares from the other students Tom looked above at the ceiling that seemed like it was enchanted to mimic the sky. A stage rose out of the floor, he looked behind him and saw a small man sounding the words out of his mouth.

Professor Longbottom ceremonially placed a four-legged stool with an extremely patched and dirty wizard's hat on it. The hat looked extremely worn out. For a few seconds there was silence when suddenly the brim opened wide like a mouth – and began to sing:

Yet another year has passed,
With relative calm and peace,
However we all must be alert,
Of the day when it shall cease.
Oh, you all can keep your secrets,
Or tell your truths instead
However don't try to hide yourself
As I can see inside your head.
So try me on and I shall reveal
Where you all shall be
You might join wise Ravenclaw
Where knowledge is the key.
You might be among Hufflepuff
Where they shall be of good heart
These Hufflepuffs are welcoming
Where loyalty sets them apart.
Brave Gryffindor might be you.
Daring and chivalrous to the hilt
You shall start on an adventure
Where your courage shall be built.
Slytherin is where you might be at home,
Renowned for their ambition and cunning
Destined for a life with real friends,
Where your futures shall be stunning
So step up and embrace,
I am nothing you will laugh at,
I am not a mere piece of headwear,
For I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat!

The whole room burst into apprehensive applause as the hat finished. The hat bowed to all four tables and then became quite still again. Professor Longbottom stepped forward and after a couple of moments, the whole room fell silent.

Addressing the First Years the professor said, "when I shall call your name you shall step forward to be sorted."

"First of all, Richard Ashley!"

Richard stood up and walked confidently out of the line, he gave a smile to Jodie, Harry and Tom and said, "see you all at the Gryffindor table." He walked onto the stage, sat on the stool and as soon as the hat touched his head it cried out, "GRYFFINDOR."

The table Tom was facing clapped and cheered as Richard sat down at the Gryffindor table. He noticed several people reaching out their hands to shake.

"Glacie Braithwaite!"

"SLYTHERIN," shouted the hat, Tom watched as the girl he met on the train walked onto the Slytherin table.

"Simon Clay" then became a Hufflepuff, he looked at the table, they all looked happy. He felt a bit uneasy going there, as he didn't see himself that much as a happy person.

He noticed that the sorting hat could spend ages trying to place a person but it could place one in an instant. Like "Nathaniel Dolosus" where the hat exclaimed, "Slytherin" as soon as it touched his hair.

Several people passed through and were sorted, including Regina. The Slytherins looked like they were holding a majority.

"Harry Montana!"

Harry smiled and walked through past the stares of his fellow students and confidently sat on the stool. He placed the hat on his head and within an instance the hat's crumpled face turned into one of deep thought. Two minutes passed and everyone was expectantly looking at the hat to make a decision. Harry was murmering the word Gryffindor many times.

"Okay, if you insist and I don't see why not, GRYFFINDOR!"

The house below the gold and scarlet banners applauded, Tom nearly heard someone shout, "When's the food!"

There weren't many people left, the numbers were dwindling,

"O'Donnell … Patel … Quintus … Ramora then Scamander" and at last –

"Tom Selby"

Tom stepped forward and saw the people craning to get a good size of him, trying to guess what house he will be in.

"Hmm," said a voice in his ear. "This one is harder than I expected, I see knowledge in him and some loyalty but mixed in he has a lot of nerve and bravery, I see you are looking out for another, interesting, very interesting. I don't see any sort of Slytherin in you though … So where shall I now put you."

Tom moved his head and looked at Harry and Richard who were making beckoning hand movements signalling him to join them.

"I see that your friends want you to join them in Gryffindor, but you can make other friends, wise or loyal ones. However I think that there is one house I think that you will be suited, your friends shall be happy – GRYFFINDOR!"

Tom smiled and shakily walked towards the Gryffindor table, he was relieved that he wasn't in Slytherin or with people he didn't know. The people sitting on the table gave him a great welcome, Harry clapped him on the back and Richard laughed at Tom's relieved expression.

Now there were fewer people, several people collapsed into their chairs. He now had a better view of the staff table, on the largest chair sat an elderly yet gaunt lady, Minerva Mcgonagal. She looked around the tables checking that they were behaving themselves. Tom spotted Hagrid waving brightly, he spotted several others a woman with an Asian complexion and a man with a strange lightning-bolt scar on his forehead.

"That'll be Harry Potter" Richard said, noticing Tom's attention, "greatest wizard ever born, I heard he has enough magical raw ability to match Merlin." Tom was awed at the amount of liking the man got.

Finally, the last name was on the list.

"JODIE ZABINI!"

As she stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out, mainly from the Slytherin side of the room.

"Did I just hear Zabini?"

"It's actually her?"

The hat dropped over Jodie, enough to cover her eyes which was convenient as Tom thought that she would of wanted to avoid the sight of the whole hall craning to look at her. They all waited. Tom heard Harry distinctly chant "Gryffindor, Gryffindor."

A few seconds seemed like an eternity to Tom, he was so silent that he heard the blood throb into his head.

"Zabini, I know what to do with you, SLYTHERIN!"

"No!" shouted Harry in shock, indeed Jodie looked as surprised as he was. Pale faced, she sat down next to Nathanial, who had saved her a seat.

"What the hell was that about," Richard muttered to Tom.

Tom was about as surprised as he was, she didn't seem the Slytherin type, for starters she made friends with Tom, Richard and Harry, that incident on the train proved that. What was also surprising was the way that the other people in his house were interested, but didn't look surprised, it was as if it was predictable.

McGonagall, stood up, she seemed quite stern, wearing a severe exp ression. She had black hair, worn tightly in a bun. She was a figure which you couldn't help but respect.

"Welcome, welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Firstly, there are a few matters of which you all should be aware of, firstly, the Forbidden Forest remains out of bounds for all students. Again, no duelling in the corridors and do not trespass at night."

"On another note, I am happy to welcome new additions to the staff this year"
"Firstly, Professor Damocles Belby, who will become our new Potions Master, we look forward to appreciate his expertise"

There was loud applause and loud whispers, clearly he seemed quite famous

"For our second new appointment," Minerva continued, as the applause for Damocles died away, "Professor Dawlish, our Defence of the Dark Arts Teacher, retired last year in order to join the expedition to Albania. However I am glad to say his place will be filled by Harry Potter, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his Auror work."

Everyone around the hall looked at each other, stunned. Then they all joined ito an applause, so tumultuous that it made the applause for Damocles seemed pale in comparison. Tom caught a glimpse of Potter, who wore a grin.

"Ha, I knew it!" shouted Richard.

"Well I think that's everything" said McGonagall, "let's start eating!"

The golden plates and goblets filled suddenly with food and drink. Tom felt ravenous and put food on his plate and began eating.

The feast was incredible, all you can hear was laughter, chatter and the clatter of knives and forks beating upon the golden plates. Tom felt worried about Jodie, and peered to her table, she was looking like she was having a boring time – he glimpsed Nathanial in his element, talking to Regina nearby, but always flicking his head back, to look at the one girl on Slytherin table who wasn't sure that she should be there.

At last, when the crumbs of the puddings evaporated from the plates. McGonagall indictated that it was time to go to bed.

They followed the Prefect, who introduced herself as Sarah MacDonald, and streamed up the marble staircase, Tom felt very tired, as they walked up more and more stairs which moved as they kept walking. They encountered a large portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress, "Password?"

"Listen carefully First Years" Sarah called to the crowd at the top of the stairs, "the current password's Horntail!"

Tom repeated the word 'horntail' in his head, he climbed through the portrait hole and into a large room, filled with comfy chairs around a roaring warm fire. Tom, Richard and Harry strolled through the welcoming Gryffindors to the side of the common room. They hurried up the staircase, right up to the top and reached their new dormitory, which had a sign saying "First Years." The first thing Tom noticed was that the room was circular and surrounded by high and narrow windows. Their trunks had been brought up, and placed at the ends of the five four-poster beds which were hung with velvet fabric.
Richard gave a small laugh.
"Just like my uncle had described"
After a few minutes of opening their trunks, the dormitory door opened, their fellow new Gryffindor lads, Jack Quintus and Apollo Scamander walked in.
"Cor - have you seen that Gryffindor girl downstairs? Fit as" said Quintus
"First or Second Year?" asked Harry.
"First" replied Apollo, smiling warily.
Richard beamed, couldn't help feeling that this would be a good year.

Tom sat next to the window, looking into the clear night sky, very different to the orange haze of Light Pollution in London. He couldn't help but worry about Jodie Heartly, now Jodie Zabini.