House or Home
Harry looked around at all the students heading in the other direction. He was about to follow them when he heard a familiar voice.
"First years this way! First years over here," Hagrid called. Harry headed towards Hagrid's large form. Ron followed him and Irlynn caught up with them. They were ushered into boats. Harry and Ron ended up with a boat with Irlynn and Hermione. They didn't really speak as the boats moved across the lake. Harry looked around as the other boats with their little lanterns bobbed on their way. He couldn't stop thinking about what was going to happen next. He had heard some of the older students talking about houses.
"What do you think is going to happen?" Irlynn voiced to the boat.
"We have to get sorted," Ron answered.
"Sorted into what?" Harry asked.
"Uh…I don't really know," Ron admitted. They all waited, waiting for Hermione to give an explanation but she didn't say anything. They fell into silence until the boats landed at the edge of the lake. Hagrid ushered them up a very large hill and to the front doors of a castle. Gasps and exclamations of amazement rose out of the throng of first years as they walked up the front stairs. Hagrid pushed the doors open and let them all fill the Entrance Hall. Harry looked around at the large space and was impressed with how tall the ceiling was. They all stopped and looked around. Hagrid had disappeared. Irlynn had stopped walking and was looking at her fellow students. She noticed a blond boy walking towards them. He gave a laugh as he approached.
"Let me guess…red hair, freckles and hand-me-down robes. You must be a Weasley," the boy said.
"Who are you?" Harry asked.
"Draco Malfoy. I can show you who you ought to be associating with, potter," Draco explained, extending his hand. Harry looked at the boy's hand and back at Ron.
"No thanks. I think I can figure that out for myself," Harry replied. Draco turned to Irlynn.
"What about you?" he asked.
"I can make my own decisions," she answered. Just then there were footsteps above them. All eyes looked up to see a woman in a wide-brimmed conical hat and flowing emerald green robes.
"Students," she called, getting their attention. They all quieted down.
"My name is Professor McGonagall,' she continued.
"You will be following me into the Great Hall and will be sorted into your houses. Please follow me now," she announced. They followed her, the mass of students squeezing between four long tables. Hermione looked up at the ceiling. It looked the outside sky.
"Wow," Irlynn murmured.
"It's enchanted. I read it in Hogwarts: A History," Hermione explained. Professor McGonagall stopped and turned around to look up at the high table. A silver bearded man nodded back to her. McGonagall walked over and picked up a stool. She set it in the center of the table and produced a tattered, old hat.
"I will call each student by name. You sit on the stool and I will place the hat on your head. You will then be sorted into one of the four houses," she explained. She set the hat on the stool and pulled out a long scroll of parchment.
"Abbott, Hannah," she read. A blond girl wormed her way through the crowd and sat down on the stool. She took a deep breath as Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head. The hat mumbled to itself for a while before making the first announcement of the evening.
"Hufflepuff," it shouted. Hannah jumped up and raced towards the table clad in yellow.
The list continued in this manner for a while until they reached 'G'.
"Granger, Hermione," McGonagall called. Hermione strode up to the stool, giving her self a pep talk.
"Ok…don't panic. Just calm down," she mumbled to herself.
"Nutter she is," Ron muttered to Harry. Harry snickered a little as Hermione took a seat on the stool. The hat sat on her head for barely a minute.
"Gryffindor!" it boomed. Hermione beamed and went to sit down at the table of red and gold clad students. More students followed until it arrived at the Ms.
"Malfoy, Draco," McGonagall announced. Draco pushed to the front of the group, which had thinned greatly since the start of the evening and sat on the stool. The hat didn't even touch his head before it announced his house.
"Slytherin," it said. Students in silver and green clapped loudly as he made is way over. Irlynn was next and she waited for a while for the hat to decide.
"Very interesting," it said. She furrowed her brow. What was interesting? Why didn't it just announce her house like the rest of the students?
"Hmm…very interesting. Must be, Ravenclaw," it finally said. Irlynn stood up and walked over to the table, being welcomed by the older students. Finally, it was Harry's turn. He walked up to the stool and sat down. McGonagall set the hat on his head.
"Well isn't his interesting," the hat said.
"Where to put you," it continued.
"Not Slytherin. Anything but Slytherin," Harry murmured.
"Not Slytherin?" the hat repeated.
"You would do well in Slytherin. Very well indeed," it said.
"I don't want Slytherin," he said.
"Well then…it must be…Gryffindor!" the hat announced. Harry leapt off the stool and raced to sit next to Hermione and Ron's brothers. Ron was one of the last students to be sorted. He ended up in Gryffindor as well.
"Before we begin, I would like to say a few words," the Headmaster said, standing up. Everyone quieted down and turned their attention to him.
"I would like to once again, welcome all our new students. I hope you have a good year. To returning students, I trust you had a good holiday," he continued.
"Mr. Filch, our caretaker would like me to remind you that all students that the Forbidden Forest is off limits unless with a teacher. Additionally the third floor corridor is off limits," he said.
"Enjoy," he called and sat down. Food appeared on plates magically and earned gasps from some of the younger students. Harry looked around and up at the teacher's table. He recognized Professor Quirrel from the Leaky Cauldron. He was talking with a dark haired man dressed all in black. Harry got a strange feeling when the man looked at him. He turned back to the Gryffindor table and looked at Percy.
"Percy, who is that teacher talking to Professor Quirrel?" Harry asked. Percy glanced up at the table.
"That's Professor Snape. He teaches potions but everyone knows it's the dark arts he fancies. Been after Quirrel's job for years," Percy replied. Harry felt a shiver run up his spine at that thought. Even the man's name sounded unpleasant. Over at the Ravenclaw table, Irlynn was sitting next to a very eccentric girl named Luna. Irlynn simply kept nodding her head as Luna rambled on about her father and made up creatures. At least, Irlynn assumed they were fake by the way the older students reacted. The meal soon ended and they were led off to their respective Common Rooms. She caught sight of Harry, Hermione and Ron and gave them a wave. Only Harry noticed her and waved back. Irlynn sat down on the large four poster bed. She was surprised to see her trunk already there.
"Where is Artemis?" she asked. Another girl looked up.
"They put all the owls up in the Owlry," she answered. Irlynn nodded in understanding. She considered writing a letter to her parents tonight but found she was too worn out from all the traveling they'd done today. So she sorted through her trunk to find nightclothes. She snuck into the bathroom and changed. When she returned the other girls in her room had already gone to bed.
On the other side of the castle in Gryffindor Tower, Harry and Ron were getting to know Neville, Dean and Seamus. They all seemed nice enough, even if Neville was a bit on the clumsy side. Seamus had a poster hung above his bed of a Muggle football player.
"What is that?" Ron asked.
"It's football," Seamus answered as if it should be obvious.
"It's a sport," Harry said.
"Oh," Ron mumbled.
"Well I'm going to turn in," Seamus said.
"Long day and all," he added. His dorm mates nodded in understanding and soon they too had retired for the night. Harry tried to fall asleep but found he couldn't. This was still a lot for him to take in. He went over in his mind all that happened since he'd stepped off the Hogwarts Express. He very well could be making friends for the first time in his life. And so far people hadn't looked at him strange, not many people anyways. Some didn't even know who he was…like Irlynn. Somehow, that seemed comforting to him. With that thought in his subconscious, he drifted off to sleep.
