Professor McGonagall led the first years to the great hall, positioning them so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them.
Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History."
Needless to say that it was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all.
Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. 'Aunt Petunia would never have let something like that into the house.' Thought Harry
For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth — and the hat began to sing:
"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
That 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 burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.
Professor McGonagall now stepped forward with a long roll of parchment in hand.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"
A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause and then...
"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.
And so it went on. People got sorted into their Houses. Some people needed long minutes to be sorted , others only took moments. Take Malfoy, for example, the hat barely touched his head before it shouted "SLYTHERIN!"
How long have they been standing there, Harry didn't know, but it didn't take long until...
"Granger, Hermione!"
... That happened.
Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.
"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Ron groaned.
"Great! We've probably got the Know-it-all with us!" Ron complained. Harry only shot him a glare, which the red head (yet again) was oblivious to.
and then, at last...
"Potter, Harry!"
As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.
"Did she say Potter?"
"The Harry Potter?"
The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.
"Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes — and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting... So where to put you?"
Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought 'I want to be with Hermione. I want to be with Hermione.'
"Hermione, eh?" said the small voice." Ah! I see. You want to be with your Bonded Mate, don't you? Then better be... GRYFFINDOR!"
The hat shouted that last bit out loud, but it's voice was drowned by the cheers of the other Gryffindors (especially two red heads, who were shouting "We got Potter! We got Potter!" over and over).
Harry went to the Gryffindor table and sat beside Hermione, who had a smile that put the setting sun to shame.
The young couple didn't realize that Ron was sorted into Gryffindor until he sat down on Harry's other side as if they were expecting him (which they were not).
McGonagall then rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.
Harry looked down at his empty gold plate. He had only just realized how hungry he was. The Pasteries now seemed ages ago.
Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.
"Welcome!" he said. "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!"
He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.
And then, to Harry's ultimate surprise the dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.
The Dursleys had never exactly starved Harry, but he'd never been allowed to eat as much as he liked. Dudley had always taken anything that Harry really wanted, even if it made him sick. So Harry piled his plate with a bit of everything (except the peppermints) and began to eat.
It was all delicious.