The kid walked into the Great Hall in small, nervous steps, tailing the group of first years. His shabby robes that were tattered in places and too large for him, were drenched in rain. The ceiling of the Great hall, high above, mirrored the stormy weather outside. The sky was dark, enveloped in storm clouds that were ruptured occasionally by jolts of lightening .

The young lad walked slowly, at the rear of the group of kids. He seemed tired and his face had the dried out quality of someone who had missed a couple of meals. He was small, tiny for his age. He kept his angular face straight ahead, hoping no-one -( those sitting in the four long tables that occupied most of the warmly lit Great hall) - would notice him.

The first year students, cold and nervous, now huddled together at the front. The boy's eyes shone brightly, taking in every detail, and reflected the sparkling lights of the Great Hall. The stern looking, tall lady who had ushered them into the Great hall unrolled a parchment. She would read out names and the kids would go to the front where a small stool was placed. There was an old black, worn out hat lying on that stool.

The old hat which was called the sorting hat, had sung a poem earlier. He had missed out most of the words as he watched the grandeur of the Great hall. There were candles hanging in mid air and silvery ghost like beings flitted around the long tables. The place was nothing like he had ever imagined even in his wildest dreams. Why, even the rich landlord of the village did not have a hall like this.

He hoped they would serve food. He had pushed all thoughts of hunger away from bis mind till now, but he was beginning to feel pangs of hunger in his belly. There was a raised platform at the front facing the students. Behind an ornate table that was placed on the podium, a number of important looking people were seating. They were dressed in majestic robes of deep green, maroon, black and gold and sagely presided over the proceedings in the hall. A bald man with a long ponytail, in a long dark blue tunic sat at one end of the table.

The lady cleared her throat and read from the parchment.

" Armstrong, Rusty"

The boy watched fascinated, as the first kid, a rotund boy, rushed over to the stool smiling, and put on the hat. The hat straightened, a crease developing near its brim, and uttered a loud word.

"(Something) dor'

The first table with red and gold colors went up in cheers up and the heavy set, cherubic, Armstrong Rusty rushed over to that table. He was welcomed heartily by the students there, who made place for him to sit. There were claps on the and laughter.

The lad found it frightening. Never in his life had anyone cheered for him or welcomed him with such enthusiasm. Why didn't they did all this in some quiet room, away from hundreds of poring eyes. The procedure continued with other kids. He made a mental note - '(Something) dor -Red and Gold table, Slything - Green and Silver, '

There are four houses, the old lady in his village had told him.

'Griffindor, Ravenclaw, Hupplepuff and Slytherin. Will you remember?'

'Haan, Ajji,' he had lied.

"The Griffindor common room is in the North tower. They look for bravery and courage, but lot of them are plain reckless. I guess you will be alright if you are in Gryffindor. They won the Quidditch cup in our fifth year. Samson was the captain that year...or it was Rupert...Rupert was really mischievous. He once..(A tint of pink rose on her cheeks as she lost herself in dreamy memories, relieving her younger days.)

"Ravenclaw" The sorting hat announced and a tall boy went over and sat in the table that was dressed in Blue and Bronze colours.

"Only the smartest could get into Ravenclaw, ." She pointed to her head, "They made you answer riddles to enter the common room."

" Elphinston, Michael" A boy with dark hair, and rugged face.

"Hupplepuff.."

"Hudson, Thomas." A short, stout boy with deep blue eyes, trotted towards the stool.

"Slytherin "

'Slytherins were a bit nasty during my time. But Carrie was ok. And that was mostly after we put the reppeling charm on her ... Did I tell you about transfiguration?'

The boy shook his head.

"Tricky. Though I was good at it. But I excelled in Portions."

" Khan , Illa."

A dark girl with curly hair who was standing just before him went towards the sorting hat. She seemed to have practiced the walk several times earlier.

She put the hat on her head. It barely touched her forehead, before exclaiming,

" Hupplepuff."

"Raisingh, Dashrath." A young boy, richly dressed in velvet robes that had gold coloured fringe stitched at the border, walked stately to the stool.

"Gryffindor" The hat took a long time to decide.

" Smith, Kiara Holly"

A dark skinned girl with long braided ponytail moved ahead and wore the hat. It was less than twenty seconds the sorting hat announced,

"Griffindor."

"Thapa , Ashwin ."

Ashwin felt the force of the entire hall staring at him, as he walked in slow paces towards the stool where the hat was placed.

The wizened lady holding the parchment , who had read his name, smiled gently, encouraging him to move ahead. He trudged towards the stool where the old, worn out hat waited. He had merely touched the Sorting Hat near the brim , that he flinched, drawing back his hand. It felt as if the hat was ... red hot.

"Erm.." the lady with the parchment cleared her throat, audibly.

Ashwin craned his neck and looked at the lady, worried. Should he tell her, the hat seemed to be burning. He gulped. He saw a movement in the middle of the table , the one facing the students. The old man with a flowing beard sitting at the middle of the teacher's table, shifted ahead and watched the kid from behind his half moon glasses.

Ashwin could tell he was the headmaster. There were headmasters in his village, back in the Himalayas. But they usually held a cane and spoke stiffly as if they had better things to do. This old man in purple robes and flowing snow white beard was different. Ashwin couldread it. Some things he usually knew, (he felt them without knowing how) were usually right. It was one one of the things that he found difficult to explain to others.

"Quick, boy. It ain't gonna bite." A kind, gruff voice from the teacher's table, a few chairs to the left of the old white bearded man.

He thought he saw the head master wink. He did not know why, but that assured him. He bent forwards and carefully touched the hat. To Ashwin's astonishment, the sorting hat was now cold, almost cosy. He sat on the stool and pulled the hat over his head. It dropped down to his ears, covering his forehead and eyes.

He heard a curious, quiet voice in his mind.

"Hmm...Interesting, certainty did not anticipate this... The last one was , let's see, over a century ago."