Hogwarts Castle was the most beautiful, marvelous and enthralling thing Harry had ever seen.
Diagon Alley could not hold a candle to the sight of the castle rising from the opposite side of the lake. Its great walls and towers gleamed under the twilight; rays of orange light giving it an almost ethereal beauty.
The castle was so large it seemed to go on forever; towers rising into the very clouds themselves. The many windows adorning its walls glowed with a soft, warm yellow, accentuating the radiance of the setting sun.
The wind blew gently against his skin as the small boat slowly moved forward, splitting the still water and creating small ripples along its sides. He wished this moment could last forever.
A small hand grasped hold of his, and he looked at Hermione who was seated to his right. Harry imagined that her face must have matched his own, because the wonder and amazement in her eyes mirrored his feelings perfectly.
"It's so beautiful…", she whispered.
"It is.", he agreed, and they both resumed their enraptured gazing.
"Over 'ere!", shouted Rubeus Hagrid, a humungous man with a long beard and pitch-black eyes.
In contrast to his imposing size, Hagrid's eyes shone with warmth and even his loud voice carried with it a friendly tone that would make anyone feel safe and welcome.
Harry wondered if that was the reason why the giant of a man apparently guided all the first-year students through their voyage to the castle.
The group of first-years huddled together, trailing along after Hagrid as he led them through the courtyard and up the stairs to the castle entrance.
Hermione had not left his side since leaving the train, and was currently pressed closely against him in an effort to not get lost in the crowd. Harry's mind flashed back to when he had done the same with Professor McGonagall in Diagon Alley.
"The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall.", he heard Hagrid say once he had opened the massive doors.
"Thank you, Hagrid", a familiar and very strict voice replied, and Harry felt a fond smile spread across his face. The day he spent with his Professor had been one of the best in his life.
They walked inside, and as Harry stepped over the threshold to the castle he could feel the magic seeping into his very being, warming him and filling him with a sense of excitement and adventure.
The entrance hall itself was large enough to fit his house inside it several times over. At the far end was a large staircase, which according to the Professor would lead to the Great Hall.
They came to a halt at the top of the staircase, and McGonagall turned to them with a serious expression.
She then proceeded to welcome them all to Hogwarts, and began detailing the events that would take place during the evening. She was interrupted when a chubby boy suddenly burst out of the crowd, reaching down for a toad he had spotted nearby.
"Trevor!", he exclaimed, until he caught sight of McGonagall's narrowed eyes, upon which he eeped and quickly rejoined the group of first years.
"As I was saying...", she continued. "The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and has produced many outstanding witches and wizards."
Harry briefly wondered if she had named them in order of personal affection, until he realized it was merely in alphabetical order. He knew she was head of Gryffindor, but that appeared to be a mere coincidence. McGonagall certainly did not seem like the type to hold favorites.
"The Hogwarts Houses will be somewhat akin to your family while here, and your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will result in a loss of points."
She paused, no doubt to make sure they all understood the severity of her statement, and Hermione pinched him in the side. She must have thought he was not paying enough attention to the professor.
"The sorting ceremony will take place shortly, in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you smarten yourselves up as much as possible. I shall return when we are ready for you."
McGonagall left the chamber, as well as a large number of now nervous students in her wake. Harry heard the boy with toad anxiously ask a redhead next to him if he knew how they would be sorted.
"I don't know.", the redhead replied. "My brothers told me it would be some kind of test, really painful. Maybe we'll have to fight a troll?"
The chubby boy whimpered in fright, while Harry audibly snorted.
That would be ridiculous. What kind of school would purposely injure their students just to sort them into a house? Hermione seemed to share that opinion, from the disdainful glare she sent in the redhead's direction.
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.", she muttered under her breath, however, her tense tone betrayed unease.
"Yeah. It's probably a personality test of some sort. You know, based on the founders' preferred characteristics. I think it said something like that in 'Hogwarts: A History'."
Hermione blinked at him. "That actually sounds pretty reasonable.", she admitted.
Then ghosts appeared.
As it turns out, it did come down to a personality test. Apparently, they had to put on a magical hat which would sort them into their respective houses. To Harry's surprise, the hat had just sung them all a song.
He clapped politely and joined the other first years as they formed into a line, and would be called forward to sit down on a stool at the end of the hall, right before the head table.
Hermione had just finished citing a passage about the enchanted ceiling when Professor McGonagall called out the first name.
"Abbott, Hannah!"
The professor placed the hat on her head, and there was a momentary pause of silence.
"HUFFLEPUFF!", shouted the hat, and the table to Harry's immediate right burst out in cheers.
'Bones, Susan', was also sorted into Hufflepuff, until the next boy to be sorted was sent off to Ravenclaw. 'Brown, Lavender', however, became the first Gryffindor to be sorted.
After a few minutes he noticed Hermione growing restless, and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You'll be fine."
His reassurance came just in time, as the next name to be called was indeed "Granger, Hermione!". Hermione walked up to the stool, all the while repeating his words.
"I'll be fine, I'll be fine, I'll be fine…", he heard her whisper over and over, and was slightly annoyed when someone in the crowd muttered something about 'mental, that one'.
Hermione nervously jammed the hat over her head, and after a couple of minutes - the longest sorting yet - it roared "GRYFFINDOR!", and the table to the far right exploded with cheers and applause. Hermione shot him a look of relief and happiness, and walked off to join her new housemates.
Harry smiled back, and then watched as 'Longbottom, Neville' was sorted into Gryffindor as well. He was secretly surprised that the timid boy hade made into the house of the brave, but decided not to judge a book by its cover.
Eventually 'Malfoy, Draco' was called up, and he recognized the pale, pointy-faced blond boy he had met inside Madam Malkin's. He was sorted into "SLYTHERIN!" without the hat even touching a single strand of his hair.
After a rather pretty girl named 'Moon, Lily' was sorted into Slytherin too, Harry began to zone out. Standing still for so long was making his legs go numb, and his mind drifted to thoughts of all the magic he would learn. Perhaps there even was a counter-spell against numb legs.
When he heard two girls with the surname Patil get sorted, Harry snapped back into attention. They had reached 'P', and it was only a matter of seconds before he would get sorted as well.
He felt his heart rate increase and took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself. There was nothing to be nervous about. It was just a sorting.
In front of the entire school. What if he tripped on his way up?
"Potter, Harry!", McGonagall suddenly called out, and his heart jerked as though he had been defibrillated.
Harry straightened his back and walked past the parting sea of students, whose neat line had long since been broken up. The entire hall grew silent, with the exception of a few low murmurs and whispers.
"Potter, did she say?"
"The Harry Potter?"
Harry reached the end of the hall and met McGonagall's eyes. She gave him a soft smile, which he gratefully returned. Right now, he did not need her usual strict look which made her lips thin to the point where they seemed non-existent.
Grasping the proffered hat, he sat down on the stool and placed it over his head.
"Oh, my…", said a small voice in his ear. "Now this is a surprise."
"Are you inside my head?", Harry thought.
"Yes… and no. I am a hat, and thus, obviously very much outside your head. However, I am able to project some of my thoughts to you, just as you are able to project your thoughts to me."
"I… see. Well, are you going to sort me then?", he asked, slightly disconcerted by the fact that a magical artifact was able to read his mind.
"Oh yes, I am. And what a mind to sort! There is bravery here, very much indeed. Yet I sense a thirst for knowledge, and an even greater need to prove yourself."
Harry nodded, acknowledging the hat's observations. He supposed it was all true, in some way or shape. He did not necessarily believe himself to be that brave, however.
"I think you'll find that bravery is perhaps your greatest quality, young Potter.", the hat whispered in response. "After all, it was bravery which gained you the favor of a most… intriguing… individual."
Was the hat talking about Mister Goku?
The hat did not elaborate on its vague observation.
"Yes… Bravery. Especially when it comes to those you care about. You would go to the ends of the world for those you love… Despite love being somewhat of a novelty for you… How fascinating."
He vaguely heard a voice not belonging to the hat muttering about a 'hatstall'.
"Yes, the other students appear to be growing rather impatient, aren't they? But no matter… Mister Potter, you are undoubtedly destined for greatness. All that remains is to find the house that will best lead you to it."
"I really don't mind either way. Wherever you think is best will be fine.", he said.
"Oho! Such a daring mind! It has been a pleasure to converse with you, Harry Potter. As for your house… Better be…"
Harry felt the hat tensing in preparation.
"SLYTHERIN!"
He pulled the hat off his head following the exclamation, placing it back on top of the stool.
Absolute silence reigned throughout the hall. Silence to the point where even a dropped needle would be heard falling against the stone floor.
He barely payed attention to the emblem of Slytherin House appearing on the left side of his chest, where there previously was an empty patch of fabric.
Harry looked at Professor McGonagall, who had turned as pale as a sheet. His eyes trailed along the head table, where surprisingly only the Merlin-like figure of Albus Dumbledore was smiling down at him encouragingly.
Another, feeble-looking man wearing a turban stared at him in shock, while another, greasy-haired professor beside him looked as though someone had slammed a door in his face.
Eventually, Dumbledore began clapping, which prompted the rest of the school to do the same. The applause grew into loud cheering, and most of Slytherin House even chose to stand up.
The trickle of doubt that had begun to settle was instantly replaced with joy, and Harry hurried to join his table.
"Hey, Potter! Over here!", he heard, and noticed an older girl calling him over. Seeing as he had no better alternative, Harry sat down next to her in the spot she had cleared for him.
"The name's Gemma! Wow… Of all the people to get sorted into Slytherin, I don't think anyone was expecting you!", she said, while shaking his hand excitedly.
"Er… Thanks?", he half asked, half replied.
The girl laughed and ran a hand through her wavy, chestnut hair. Harry noticed several tiny, faded freckles across her nose and cheeks.
"Oh boy, this is going to be a very interesting year!", she exclaimed cheerfully.
