Parts of this are word for word from the first book which I own a copy of but nothing more in case you thought I did.
Ron looks nervous.
"Are you okay?" Neville asks, looking confused. The ginger grimaces.
"Bit worried about the test. Fred said it hurts and I think he was joking but I don't want to be put in a house like Slytherin." Harry is somewhat surprised the boy doesn't give a theatrical shudder to go with the tone of disgust.
"Oh. It's nothing to be scared of really. All we do is wear a hat and it tells us where we go." Ron regains colour and even manages to laugh a little.
"Should've known he was joking!"
"That's good- I'd hate to be tested so soon- I'd fail for sure!" The bushy haired girl pipes up. Harry turns around to smile at her and she seems a little confused before giving a hesitant quirk of the lips back.
"Yeah- me too." Ron turns around too and the girl frowns.
"But aren't your family all witches and wizards?" The boy nods and blushes a little.
"Yeah but it's just not really something many families do." Hermione- Harry reminds himself- seems confused before her eyes widen and she stares past them.
"What is-" He turns and his instant reaction is shock.
How the hell are there ghosts here?
In the next instance he is moving, scrambling under his robes to get to his pockets. They don't seem to have noticed him yet.
In fact they were behaving very oddly. They seemed to be arguing between themselves coherently with actual words.
Harry pulls the small container of salt from his pocket and keeps it tucked under his sleeve, still observing the strange ghosts.
"I say, what are you all doing here?" The one with the ruff and tights asks, suddenly realising that there were children all over the floor, many whimpering.
No one answers and Harry knows he shouldn't because these are an unknown threat but-
"We are waiting to be sorted." The ghost turns to him, shock and delight on his face.
"Oh- new students I see! I hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house you know." The ghost winks to the room cheerily.
"Move along now. The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." Harry has never been so thankful for the Professor's presence in the whole time he has known her. Granted it's only been several minutes since he met her but the sentiment still counts. The ghosts float away through the walls, as casually as you could imagine.
"Now, form a line and follow me." Everyone does as she says. He gets into line behind a sandy haired boy. A peek behind him reveals Ron, then Neville and finally Hermione followed by more people he doesn't know.
They follow the woman out of the chamber, across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall. The man floats above them still and Harry mentally thanks the architecture of the building for the tall doorways. He has to concentrate a little to not let him get too close to the candles floating in the air but he manages, letting the man drip dry over them.
They are lead up to the staff table, facing the rest of the students. Hundreds of faces stare at them, looking strangely eerie in the candlelight. The ghosts are here too, watching. He looks up at the ceiling and sees only a clear, starlit sky.
"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in Hogwarts: A History." Hermione whispers from his left. Now she has said that he can see the delicate spell-work covering the whole ceiling, each piece interlocking with the next so that it looks like a gauze shimmering as different bits of the network light up in response to the small changes in the sky above it.
It's beautiful. Harry knows Cas would agree with him.
He really hopes he gets to learn that. Auntie Rowena was a master of everything to do with her own survival but she didn't show him anything that would really impress his family like he wanted to.
Harry drags his gaze back down again, just in time to see a hat on a stool in front of them twitch.
Animating inanimate objects too! Maybe he should stay for a while rather than just finishing what he needed and leaving. It looked like he could learn more here than he first thought.
Then the hat begins to sing and Harry wonders if Jody would let him take an apprenticeship under these wizards if he hasn't learned everything before he leaves.
The song finishes and Professor McGonagall steps forwards holding a long roll of parchment.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." She pauses, looks down at the list, "Abbot, Hannah!" The girl stumbles out of the line, clearly embarrassed by being first. The hat falls down to cover her eyes when she puts it on her head. It waits a second then the rip near its brim opens again-
"HUFFLEPUFF!" The table on the right cheers as the girl joins them, clapping as she takes her seat. The ghost with the ruff and tights waves at her.
"Bones, Susan!" She too joins Hufflepuff and takes a seat next to Hannah.
Terry Boot goes to Ravenclaw and the table second from the left claps this time, several people standing to shake the boy's hand as he joins them. Mandy Brocklehurst goes to Ravenclaw too.
The table on the far left explodes into cheers as Lavender Brown becomes the first new Gryffindor. The twins almost stand on their seats in their excitement.
Millicent Bulstrode is the first Slytherin and Justin Finch-Fletchley goes to Hufflepuff.
For some people the hat takes longer than for others, Harry notices. The sandy haired boy who had stood next to him had taken a whole minute to be put into Gryffindor whereas others had been sorted before the hat had actually touched down on their heads.
Hermione is called up and she runs eagerly up to the stool, almost jamming the hat onto her head. Harry pays particular attention, wondering if she'll go into Ravenclaw- the knowledge house according to the hat.
In the end she goes to Gryffindor and a quick glance to his left shows his faint shock mirrored on both Ron and Neville's faces.
Neville is called up, the hat takes a particularly long time on him.
"GRYFFINDOR!" Shouts the hat. Neville takes it off with a huge grin, placing it back on the stool.
Malfoy gets sent to Slytherin as the arrogant boy had predicted and eventually it's Harry's turn. He smiles at Ron encouragingly before he steps out of line and walks over to the hat.
Everyone starts whispering but Harry ignores them as he drops the hat on his head.
Harry waits.
And the hat begins to speak in his ear.
"Hmm- you are more difficult than I expected. Very difficult indeed. Plenty of courage and a strong need to protect other people. Quite the mind too- I think you'll find the lessons here a bit too easy for you but there's still a long way you can go before coming to the limits of your talent and- oh! That is interesting- with a mentor like that you should be going straight to Slytherin…" The hat seems to pause and Harry thinks about Hermione.
"Um, I'd rather go to Gryffindor with Hermione and Neville- we're friends already and one of the boys in Slytherin has already declared me his mortal enemy." Sentient animated inanimate objects- this place is amazing.
The hat makes a sound oddly like laughter.
"You're right- Slytherin just isn't for you. Maybe I could convince you with Ravenclaw- I offered the girl that too but surely someone like you would see the intelligence of being accepted into the house for academics? The way you're getting all excited about learning everything here proves you'd be suited to their way of life." Harry is tempted- really tempted- to accepts the hat's offer.
Sorry for not revealing Peter- I was so sure I'd get to it in this chapter but apparently not, haha! I forgot how long the sorting takes.