A Strange Sorting
A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes opened the door. Rose could tell just by looking at her that this was one tough teacher.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said the giant.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."
She opened the doors widely so that they could all fit inside quickly. Rose was astonished to see that the entrance hall was larger than the Dursleys' whole house. There were flaming torches on the walls, a vastly high ceiling, and a marble staircase that went to the upper levels.
Professor McGonagall led them across the hall, past where Rose could hear the drone of hundreds of voices coming out a doorway on the right. She led them into a small, empty chamber off the hall. Rose felt a little self-conscious of herself standing this close to everyone.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room."
Rose looked around, catching Harry's eye and smiling.
"The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule-breaking will lose points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours.
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."
Rose saw her eyes wander over to Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's dirty nose. Rose brushed back her hair out of her face.
"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly."
She left the chamber, so Rose turned to Neville to begin fixing his cloak. Hermione helped, and Neville muttered a small thanks before looking up and gasping. Rose turned to see about twenty pearlescent ghosts gliding out of a wall. A fat little monk was saying, "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance –"
Another ghost in a ruff and tights cut him off, "My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost – I say, what are you all doing here?" He had just noticed the first years.
Rose held her breath, waiting for someone else to answer.
"New students!" cried the Fat Friar, smiling at them congenially. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"
Rose nodded along with a few other students.
"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" the Friar cried. "My old house, you know."
"Move along now," a sharp voice said, bringing Rose back to the living. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." Professor McGonagall had returned; Rose watched as the ghosts glided into another wall. "Now, form a line and follow me."
Rose got into line behind Daphne and in front of Hermione; she was pretty sure that Neville was somewhere behind Hermione. They walked back out into the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.
Mouth hanging open slightly, Rose looked around in awe. The room was lit by thousands of candles that were floating far above everyone's heads over four long tables where the rest of the student body was sitting. She looked up at the ceiling and was amazed to see a velvety black ceiling speckled with stars.
Professor McGonagall led them to the front of the hall so that they were between the other students and the teachers' table. Hermione leaned closer to whisper, "The ceiling is bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History."
Rose watched in anticipation as Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool in front of them. Then she put a very old and dirty hat on top of the stool. Rose stared at the hat, wondering what was going to happen.
Suddenly, the hat twitched, and a rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth – and the hat started a song:
"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
The whole hall started clapping before becoming silent again. Rose smiled and turned to Hermione, "That doesn't seem too challenging, does it, Hermione?"
Hermione smiled back before turning to look at Professor McGonagall who had moved in front with a long roll of parchment.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah!"
A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stepped out of line and put on the hat which fell right over her eyes, and took a seat. There was silence for a moment before –
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
The table on the right cheered as Hannah went to sit with the Hufflepuffs.
"Bones, Susan!" A girl with a light brown braid moved forward.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" and Susan moved to sit next to Hannah.
"Boot, Terry!" The boy with spiky, black hair stepped forward.
"RAVENCLAW!"
Mandy Brocklehurst, the girl that had been in Hermione's compartment with short, straight, dark hair, also went to Ravenclaw. However, Lavender Brown became the first new Gryffindor, and Rose could see Fred and George cat-calling.
Millicent Bulstrode became the first Slytherin, and Rose looked at the group critically. She had heard Ron telling Harry a load of bad stuff about them, but she refused to believe it; honestly, how could an entire group of people just be so terrible?
"Corner, Michael!" "RAVENCLAW!"
"Cornfoot, Stephen!" "RAVENCLAW!"
"Crabbe, Vincent!" "SLYTHERIN!"
"Davis, Tracey!" "SLYTHERIN!"
"Entwhistle, Kevin!" "RAVENCLAW!"
"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Finnigan, Seamus!" "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Goldstein, Anthony!" "RAVENCLAW!'
"Goyle, Gregory!" "SLYTHERIN!"
Then "Granger, Hermione!" Rose smiled encouraging to Hermione who then walked swiftly to the stool and put the hat on eagerly. "GRYFFINDOR!"
Daphne was called next; she moved forward with as much gracefulness as she could muster towards the hat, where she sat and waited. "SLYTHERIN!"
"Hopkins, Wayne!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Jones, Megan!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Li, Su!" "RAVENCLAW!"
"Longbottom, Neville!" Rose groaned as he slipped and slammed into the floor on his way to the hat, but was relieved when he simply stood up and continued as if he did that every day, which Rose thought, he just might. "GRYFFINDOR!" She smiled as he ran off wearing the hat and had to come back up to the front.
"Macmillan, Ernie!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Malfoy, Draco!" The blond boy that had shoved past her on the train moved forward and barely had the hat touch his head before it yelled, "SLYTHERIN!"
"McDougal, Morag!" "RAVENCLAW!"
"Midgen, Eloise!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Moon, Lilo!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Nott, Theodore!" "SLYTHERIN!"
"Oke, Kahili!" "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Parkinson, Pansy!" "SLYTHERIN!"
"Patil, Padma!" "RAVENCLAW!"
"Patil, Parvati!" "GRYFFINDOR!"
Rose barely had time to ponder how a pair of twins could go to two different houses because "Perks, Sally-Anne!" quickly went to Hufflepuff, and Harry was called next. Rose could hear whispers of her last name and suddenly wanted to melt into the floor. She was famous, and her name was about to be called. The hat called out Gryffindor for Harry, and Rose could tell that he looked relieved.
"Potter, Rosemary!" She groaned at the use of her full first name and could definitely hear whispers now but moved forward anyway and put the hat on, feeling the rest of the world melt away as the hat sifted through her thoughts.
"Hmm," said a small voice in her ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. A brilliant mind and talent. Also, a strong thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting… So where shall I put you?"
Rose thought carefully, Put me where you think I will do best.
"Even if you're not with your brother, whom you care so much about?"
Yes.
"Well, if you're sure – better be SLYTHERIN!"
Rose heard the last word yelled out for the rest of hall, but she couldn't hear any clapping. She pulled the hat off and saw people's looks of confusion. Then the table second to the right started clapping, so she moved there to sit next to Daphne.
"Runcorn, Alene!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Thomas, Dean!" "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Turpin, Lisa!" "RAVENCLAW!"
"Weasley, Ronald!" "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Zabini, Blaise!" "SLYTHERIN!"
Blaise, a rather attractive black boy, came to sit next to Rose, looking at her curiously.
Rose turned to Daphne, asking, "What did I do wrong?"
Daphne leaned in close to whisper, "No one expected you to be like in Slytherin. Any other house, but like not Slytherin."
"Oh… why –" but she was cut off by Albus Dumbledore.
He had gotten to his feet and was beaming at the students. "Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"
Everyone clapped and cheered, and Rose grinned when she saw the plates fill up with food. There was so much food, but while she was filling up her plate, she continued her conversation with Daphne. "Why wasn't I supposed to be in Slytherin?" Daphne looked uncertainly and shrugged.
"Like does it matter? You're here now anyway, so it really doesn't…" she drifted off.
"No, it doesn't. I was just curious."
She continued eating her food, no longer aware of how delicious it was. She could hear voices around her, but she felt no desire to join them. Soon, the food cleared away and dessert appeared as soon as the other food was gone. She scooped some pudding into a bowl but merely picked at it until the desserts cleared away as well.
Professor Dumbledore stood up and the hall fell silent.
"Ahem – just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." Rose followed his eyes to the Weasley twins who were grinning.
"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death." Rose looked up at this and narrowed her eyes. A few people laughed, but not many.
"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" Rose noticed that none of the teachers seemed particularly pleased about this. She watched as a long golden ribbon shot out of his wand, but she put her head down on the table; she wasn't at all in the mood to sing.
She lifted her head back up when she heard Dumbledore say, "And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"
The Slytherins waited until everyone else had left before leaving the Great Hall together. They walked across the entrance hall to one of the doors leading off of it. Down several steps and through several dark corridors, they came upon a stretch of bare, damp stone wall.
A blonde Prefect walked to the front and said, "Blood status," to the wall. At this, a concealed stone door in the wall slid open. The older students behind the first years herded them quickly inside.
The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and several Slytherins were already silhouetted around it in high-backed chairs. The Prefect that had shown them the way in pointed down a rather dark corridor that was labeled First Years.
"Go down a little and the girls' dormitory is on the right and boys' dormitory will be on the left, and you can fight over the best beds," she smirked at them. Rose huffed and took the initiative to walk down there first only to be stopped by that blond boy, Malfoy.
She didn't care how much her eyes blazed in fury as she watched all the other girls go first.
"Don't worry, all the beds are the same, and our belongings have already chosen which bed you'll get anyway. My name is Draco Malfoy, and I'm so pleased that you could join me here in Slytherin. Would you like me to call you by your full name?" He had steely grey eyes, and Rose knew from some instinct not to trust him.
"You can call me Rose. Draco?"
"Yes, you may use my first name. I can't wait to get to know you better, but," he looked at some of the older students behind him, "I think they want us to go to bed now."
They walked down the dark corridor together and then parted at the boys' and girls' dormitories. Rose walked in without so much as a glance back at him and walked down another flight of stairs into the girls' dormitory.
