I ended up in line directly behind Trinity, and with Joseph behind me. We all walked out of the chamber and through a pair of double doors, into the Great Hall.

The first thing I noticed about the Great Hall was how large it is. Four long, wooden tables stretched from one end of the hall to the other, and at the very end of the hall, a fifth table that faced the hall sat what I assumed were our professors. At the four tables sat the students. They didn't seem to be sitting in any specific order, with seventh years next to second years just as frequently as next to fourth years. At each table, there was an obvious color scheme, with green and silver at Slytherin, red and gold at Gryffindor, blue and bronze at Ravenclaw, and yellow and black at Hufflepuff. Strewn about in various seats sat ghosts, pearly white and semi-transparent.

The third thing I noticed about the room, after the size and the tables, was the ceiling. I'd heard the ceiling was enchanted to look like the sky above, but nothing can prepare you for seeing the magnificent candles floating among the stars, the roof seeming to just open up into the night sky.

But before I could lose myself in the sky, I noticed the hat. What was obviously the Sorting Hat sat on a chair in the very center of attention in the hall, directly in front of the professor's table. It was old, ragged, torn, and slightly burned, alarmingly. The Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall, stood from her seat at the middle of the professor's table, and as she stood all the students quieted down and focused their attention on her and the hat. For a second, there was complete silence. Then a rip near the brim of the hat opened (like a mouth) and the hat began to sing.

"I've done this job for centuries,

On every student's head I've sat,

Of thoughts I take inventories,

For I'm the famous Sorting Hat.

I've sorted high, I've sorted low,

I've done the job through thick and thin

So put me on and you will know

Which House you should be in.

You could be in strong Gryffindor,

Where the brave and chivalrous thrive,

These people remain strong at heart

When others lack their drive.

You could be in good Hufflepuff,

Where students are just and loyal,

These people are forever true

When others are disloyal.

Or maybe you're in smart Ravenclaw,

For those of smarts and wit,

If you have a willing mind,

There you can find your fit.

Or you could be in sly Slytherin,

Where cunning and guile make the rules,

These students, it is said by many,

Will never be made fools.

So try me on, don't you fear,

I'm the famous Sorting Hat,

Don't worry, kids, I'll do my job,

You'll be happy where you're at."

Everyone applauded when the old hat finished the song. It bowed to all of the tables and then went still again. I couldn't help but grin as I clapped, liking the way that the hat made all the houses sound like they were good to be in and didn't show any sort of favorite. I'd mostly forgotten that we were going to have to wear the hat in front of everyone until Professor Weasley stepped towards the hat holding a long list.

"When I call your name, put on the hat and sit on the stool," he announced. "Brocklehurst, Colin."

A rather short boy shakily stepped out of the line, put on the hat (which covered his eyes), and sat down. A second later, the hat shouted, startling me.

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second to the right burst into applause, several Ravenclaws standing up to shake hands with Colin as he sat down.

"Calderon, Joseph."

I looked up as the mute boy walked towards the hat, wanting to know which house he'd be in.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The table on the far left exploded with cheers, and Joseph grinned.

"Corner, Marietta."

Our other sort-of friend.

"RAVENCLAW!"

I noticed that sometimes the hat seemed to take a little bit to decide which house to put a particular student into their house. "Rose Granger-Weasley." was immediately put into Gryffindor, to little surprise.

"Harris, Trinity." was after her, and I grinned at her as she went up, giving her a thumbs-up.

"SLYTHERIN!"

The blonde boy Albus was hanging out with turned out to be "Malfoy, Scorpius." who was quickly made a Slytherin.

"Potter, Albus."

"SLYTHERIN!"

When Albus Potter is put into Slytherin, there is complete silence. Both the Gryffindors and the Slytherins seem in complete shock. As well as everyone else.

The silence breaks only for mutters.

"Slytherin?"

"Whoa! A Potter? In Slytherin?"

Albus looks like somebody could poke him and he'd fall over, like an uneven statue. The Malfoy boy waves and grins, calling Albus over to him.

Albus blinks and starts to walk to his table, as I notice Yann Fredericks mutter, "I suppose his hair isn't that similar."

I catch sight of Rose Granger-Weasley's face, as well as James Potter. Rose looks absolutely shocked, as well as slightly heartbroken.

A few names later, "Rosier, Remus." is called directly before me.

"Runites, Areti."

I walk towards the hat, attempting to at least look like I'm not nervous, but as the hat is lowered over my eyes I somehow catch Trinity's eyes, who is sitting next to Potter and Malfoy. She gives me a thumbs-up, and then there's darkness.

"Hmm," said a voice in my ear. "An American, ay? Surprised you didn't end up in Ilvermorny like your siblings. Anyways, choices, choices."

I couldn't help but notice that the hat smelled dimly of smoke and ash, and the hat responded to my thought.

"Yeah, that'll be from when Lord Voldemort stuck me on Neville Longbottom's head and lit me on fire. Turned out all right, tho'. So, which house should you be in? Let's see, Parseltongue and love of snakes, which usually says Slytherin, but then you don't really care to prove yourself. You're smart, but not spectacularly… well, I'd say you fit in with HUFFLEPUFF!"

The last word was shouted to the whole hall, and I headed to my table, smiling over at Trinity. I silently promised to myself to try to find a way into the Slytherin common room and dorms so I could talk to her outside of class.

When the last student, "Zabini, Zachary," was sorted into Slytherin, Professor Weasley rolled up his list of names and took the Sorting Hat away.

I looked around the Great Hall and noticed the whole hall watching Minerva McGonagall, who had stood up to face the hall.

"Welcome back to our returning students, and welcome to our new first years! I hope that everyone has had an excellent summer and is prepared to have an excellent school year. Thank you!"

And then the golden cups filled with various drinks and the golden platters were suddenly covered in food. Students burst into conversation, loaded their plates with food, and passed platters up and down the tables. The food was amazing, and I even found a pizza that tasted like it was made back in California.

We all talked while we ate, and a girl named Hazel Pennet-Perks and I started talking about our favorite places in Diagon Alley. She was muggle-born and hadn't known she was a witch until her letter came, so she had fun exploring it more than I did, since she'd never seen the magical world before.

"Personally, I think Weasley's Wizard Wheezes is the best spot in Diagon Alley. The colors and the chaos makes it so exciting," she said, biting into some sort of bagel.

I grinned. "I liked it all right, but I think my favorite place was the Magical Menagerie. The magical animals in there are insane, though snakes are still my favorite." Most of the people ignored Novus for the most part. She was still curled around my shoulders, and occasionally I handed her bits of chicken from my plate.

"I don't know how you like the things," she said, grinning at Novus. "They're fantastic, and most of them are beautiful, but I don't think I could stomach feeding them anything live."

"What pet would you want to have at Hogwarts, if you could have anything?" I asked her. "Unless you have something already?"

"Oooh, I'm not sure. I don't really need an owl, since the school already has those, but I think a cat would be magnificent."

The conversation meandered from topic to topic, and after a while, our plates were cleared and replaced with dessert. I found myself wishing I could talk to Trinity about what our likes and dislikes were like we'd done on the train. I ended up making a mental list of what I did and didn't like, hoping to tell her about them later.

Eventually, the desserts also disappeared from the tables, and Headmistress McGonagall stood up again

"Right — just a few more things now that you've all eaten, I have a few things you should know. First years should know that the forest is forbidden to all students. The caretaker would also like 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, so anyone besides first years interested in playing for their House teams should talk to Madam Weasley-Johnson. And now, it's time for bed. First years, follow your prefects to your common rooms."

We ended up following a pair of blonde twins through a door in the entrance hall and down a set of stairs. There, in a brightly lit broad stone basement corridor, we passed loads of food-themed paintings. After we passed a particularly large painting of a bowl of fruit, we stopped at a stack of barrels. One of the prefects gestured for quiet.

"Okay, look over here. This is the only way into the Hufflepuff common room, so pay attention. This barrel, here," she said, pointing to a barrel in the middle of the second row, "Will open if you tap it to the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff'. If you tap on the wrong barrel or the wrong rhythm, one of the other lids will burst off and soak you in vinegar."

Both prefects grinned at us, then knocked on the barrels, saying "Helga Hufflepuff." as they knocked, to show us.

The barrel's lid slid away to reveal an earthy tunnel that sloped upwards. We all walked through the tunnel, brushing against the walls until we reached a cozy, circular, low-ceilinged room.

The room is rather fancy, with cheerful, bee-like colors of yellow and black emphasized by the highly polished, honey-colored wood for the tables and chairs. The same wood was used in round doors that I assumed lead to the dormitories. Each door had a list that named which students were in each separate dorm. Some kids rushed to read the lists and style into their rooms, but I decided to explore the common room before bed.

A colorful mix of plants and flowers seem to show off the general atmosphere of the Hufflepuff common room. Various cacti stand on circular shelves curved to fit the walls. Plant holders hung from the ceiling, causing ferns and ivies to brush some of the taller students' hair as they passed under them.

There is a mantelpiece carved with decorative badgers, and above it hung a portrait showing Helga Hufflepuff holding a tiny, two-handled golden cup.

Through small, round windows level with the ground outside the castle I could see grass, dandelions, and occasionally the shoes of passig students. The room somehow manages to be underground yet still feel sunny.

Deciding I'd seen all there was to see, I headed through the ddorm door that had my name listed. The other names on the list below mine read Hazel Pennet-Perks, Violet Hubble, Remus Rosier, and Rome Finch. I pushed through the round, hobbit-like door and stepped into a sort of mini-common room that had five desks, a couch, and a small bookshelf with five shelves. Five doors split off of the circular room, each with a sort of blank nameplate.

Hazel Pennet-Perks sat in front of the bookshelf, and she was stacking her textbooks onto one of the five shelves when I came in.

"Oh, hey, Runites! To claim one of the rooms, you can just tell the door your name. It'll put it on the nameplate. I figure since there are five shelves and five desks, I'd put my books on one of the shelves. Also, your trunk will appear in whichever room you choose. This place is great!"

I smiled at her and went to one of the doors. "Areti Runites, Ret for short."

The door spelled out in in quick, tidy words:

ARETI (RET) RUNITES

I opened the door and stepped in.