He didn't know whether it was because the corridors were unusually empty, or because of the event that was about to follow; but walking through the castle felt rather eerie. As they turned one corner, two ghosts suddenly floated through the wall behind them.
"Oh thank goodness, I'm not late" the ghost said.
"Good evening friar" greeted Lee.
"Good to see you too" the Fat Friar replied cheerfully. "And good luck first years. Hope to say you all in Hufflepuff."
The Fat Friar then passed through the wall to the right. James turned round to see Jackson and Darren's reaction. Both of them looked alarmed by the sight of a ghost. James learnt the hard way from muggle primary that ghosts don't exist in the muggle world.
"Are you ok?" Bella asked considerately.
"You like you've just seen a ghost" James added jokingly.
Darren chuckled slightly, whilst Jackson gave James a hard shove.
"Hey, no fighting back there" Lee called out.
"Don't make me do that to you again" warned Jackson irritably.
James couldn't help but laugh at his own joke, as he continued his journey to the Great Hall. After a couple of corners, and a staircase, James stood face to face with a pair of the largest doors in the castle. Professor Lee stood in front of them, and faced the students.
"Before we enter, I just have a few things to say" said Lee. "When we begin the Sorting Ceremony, you are all going to be placed in one of four houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin. All four of these houses have produced some of the greatest wizards and witches, ever to walk the earth."
"Yeah, I suppose to some bigots, Tom Riddle is great" James whispered sarcastically to Bella.
"These houses aren't just a label for describing you" Lee went on. "In many ways, they are literally your home. Your fellow members of your house, are your family. Throughout each year, you will be aiming to score as many points for your house as possible; so that at the end of the year, it could be you who wins the House Cup."
"Hell yes" Jackson breathed to himself.
"All I have to say is that we don't demand you to be perfect" Lee said. "But what we do expect is that you work as hard as you can, and contribute positively to your team."
"Get on with it" James muttered impatiently.
"Now, let's not keep you waiting anymore" grinned Lee. "It's time."
Professor Lee waved his wand, and the doors to the Great Hall began to open. Inside was the largest room James had ever seen in all his life. Inside were four long tables that were almost as long as the hall itself. The table second from the left was far emptier; the students occupying it totalling to less than half of the other houses. He knew what the Hufflepuff table was, as he instantly recognised Teddy Lupin; Harry's godson, and one of James' best friends. At the far end of the hall was the staff table. James could recognise Hagrid, Professor Longbottom and Head Mistress Professor McGonagall; but he didn't know any of the others.
In front of the staff table was a pedestal with an old hat on top. James heard from his father that the Sorting Hat was old, but he still didn't expect it to look as old as it did. He hoped that he wouldn't get his hair dirty by wearing it.
"Oh hoggy hoggy Hogwarts, the new year begins anew" the Sorting Hat suddenly burst out into song. "Students that passed last year, we had to bid adieu. But in their steed comes fresh blood, hoping to fill their Hogwarts house with good."
"What the hell" Jackson gasped.
"Will they be in Gryffindor, where the brave and bolded reign; or will they be in Ravenclaw, where their minds forever train. Will they be in Hufflepuff, where acceptance rules supreme, or will it be in Slytherin, and do anything to fulfil their dream."
"It's gotta be Gryffindor" James begged to himself. "It's just gotta."
"So come on up, and don't be shy; and forgive my eagerness to pry; as your mind and dreams will help me deduce, the house in Hogwarts I'll introduce."
Everyone on the tables, and most of the first years lining up gave the Sorting Hat a round of applause. The hat's tip lowered slightly, as if it was bowing back.
"Wasn't that amazing" squealed Bella.
"Only if you like really bad rhyming I guess" muttered Jackson.
"When I call your name, you will step forward and wear the hat on your head" explained Lee. "Once the Sorting Hat has made up its mind, you will walk over to the corresponding table, and become a member of that house."
"I wonder who's up first?" asked Bella eagerly.
"Abraham Abraham" Professor Lee read out.
There were numerous sniggers in the hall, as Abraham made his way to the pedestal. He placed the hat onto his head, and waited intensely.
"Hufflepuff" roared the Sorting Hat.
The Hufflepuff table erupted with applause. Abraham Abraham took off the hat, and ran to his new house. Teddy Lupin stood up from his seat, and shook the new arrival by the hand.
"Kyle Bishop" Lee went on to the next student.
A taller than average blonde boy, strolled over to the Sorting Hat and put it on.
"Hufflepuff" the Sorting Hat concluded.
"I'm starting to see a pattern here" Jackson whispered to James, as Teddy shook Bishop's hand as well.
"Darren Crawford" shouted Lee.
Darren was taken by surprise, and almost tripped up walking to the Sorting Hat. He put it on his head and waited. It took a lot longer to make up its mind than it did for Abraham and Bishop. After five minutes, James started to feel sleepy. After ten minutes, people sitting down started to have quiet conversations with one another.
"What's taking it so long?" Jackson asked James.
"It can't make up its mind where to put him" answered James.
"Hurry up" moaned a blonde Irish girl just ahead of him. "It's my turn next."
"Gryffindor" the Sorting Hat finally moaned.
The Gryffindor table all stood up and cheered. Darren gave a weak smile, and walked over to a newly created seat.
"Aoiffe Donnelly" the next person got called up.
The Irish girl who had a sulk earlier stood up to wear the hat, and was quickly declared a Gryffindor too. Afterwards Duncan Dune was made a Ravenclaw, Rachel Eelling was made Hufflepuff, Hyacinth Ericsson was made Gryffindor, and Floyd Falcon got made Ravenclaw.
"How long is it going to be before I get called up?" Bella muttered impatiently.
"We're on f so there shouldn't be too many more people" James replied.
"Travis Gant" bellowed Lee.
A smug looking boy with long, blonde hair took to wear the Sorting Hat. As with Darren, it was taking a long time for the Sorting Hat to make up its mind. Bella was jumping up and down on the balls of her feet, knowing that she would be next up.
"Slytherin" the Sorting Hat decided.
The table with less than half its seats filled, finally stood up and cheered. As a dejected looking Gant took off the Sorting Hat though; a tall, lanky, ginger haired Gryffindor with glasses began booing the decision at the top of his lungs. Several other students began joining in.
"Sebastian, by quiet" ordered Lee.
The lanky Gryffindor student smirked, and sat down. The booing died down with it. Bella was so excited to go up, that she started walking before her name was even called out.
"Violet Gordon" Lee called up.
Bella stopped in her tracks, and stropped back to the main crowd as several people laughed to themselves. Violet quickly wore the hat, and was declared a Gryffindor. The Gryffindor table applauded once again, and Violet went over to sit next to Aoiffe.
"Arabella Gorren" Lee at last called up.
"Finally" Bella muttered, and made her way to the hat.
"Gryffindor" it shouted, before even touching her head.
"Yes, get in there Bella" roared the lanky Sebastian so loudly, that it was the most audible noise from a table of cheering Gryffindors.
Bella beamed, and ran up to him, giving him a hug.
"He's a wierdo" Jackson nodded at Sebastian, as the Sorting Ceremony continued.
"Just seems like a passionate Gryffindor to me" James replied.
"Dranzebar Lang" Lee shouted.
"Ah, we're at l" said Jackson. "I should be up soon."
"I never did ask your surname" James realised, as Dranzebar was made a Gryffindor.
"Don't be so impatient" Jackson teased. "It should be up any second."
Lee looked at his list of students, but instead of calling the next person up, he looked to and from his list, looking quite aghast in the process. He coughed to regain his composure, then read out the next name from the list, in a highly suspicious tone.
"Jackson Lestrange."
James widened his eyes in shock. The rest of the Great Hall went silent. Jackson swaggered up to the Sorting Hat, blissfully unaware of the connotations of sharing the surname of Voldemort's most loyal follower.
"Gryffindor" the Sorting Hat declared almost immediately.
"Yes" Jackson cheered to himself.
It was the only cheer in the room. Nobody from the Gryffindor table cheered like they did with all the others. Darren stood up with the intention of applauding, but he was quickly pulled down by an older student. Jackson stood around, confused as to why nobody was celebrating.
"You can go to your table now" Lee told him.
Jackson tried to sit down near Bella and Darren, but no one gave him a seat. He scowled, and made his way to the far end. James couldn't believe it. He thought all the Lestranges were either dead, or imprisoned in Azkaban. Several more people were being sorted, but James didn't listen to any of it. He couldn't get his head round Jackson's existence. He turned round to look at Teddy. Like him, he wasn't paying attention to the Sorting Ceremony either; instead just staring aghast at Jackson.
"James Potter" roared Lee.
"What?" gasped James.
"I've shouted four times" Lee scolded him. "Stop daydreaming, and get the hat on."
James blushed slightly, and walked over to fulfil what he considered an obligation.
"Gryffindor" the hat announced almost immediately.
Contrary to Jackson, every member of the Gryffindor table jumped up in the air, and gave the biggest applause in the ceremony. Sebastian climbed up on the table, and screamed louder than anyone.
"We've got Potter, we've got Potter" he celebrated.
James ran forward, fist pumping the air. He went over to where Bella and Darren were sitting. Darren was one of only two people who weren't celebrating, and was seemingly still confused over why he had got such a strong reaction in the first place. The other person was Jackson Lestrange, who James could see looking bitter at the far end of the table.
"It's an absolute pleasure to meet you James" Sebastian said, grabbing James' hand and shaking it as if he was meeting the Minister for Magic. "Sebastian Gorren, captain of the Gryffindor Quiditch Team; it's an honour to have you be a member…"
"The Sorting Ceremony hasn't finished yet Sebastian" Lee bellowed.
His voice was getting more and more aggressive, each and every time he had to tell Sebastian off. Sebastian however merely pressed his finger to his lips, and sat around impatiently, as if he couldn't wait to talk to James again.
No one else exhibited such drama when being sorted. Nigel Thomas took twenty minutes to be sorted into Gryffindor, but otherwise the process went as expected. After Angela Yelloly was sorted into Hufflepuff, Lee removed the Sorting Hat, and Professor McGonagall stood up to make her speech.
"I'm certain that most of you are listening to your stomachs right now, so I'll try and keep this as brief as possible" she began. "The most important thing I want all of you to take in is that after tonight, you will be required to turn on your brain, and work towards being the best witch or wizard you can possibly be."
"She says this every year" Sebastian whispered.
"There are also a couple of new additions that have been added to the school timetable" McGonagall continued. "Firstly by popular demand, Professor Lee has been able to get the Formula One working on the television in the Muggle Studies class; so anybody who wishes to watch the car racing can now do so."
Professor McGonagall sounded like she was trying very hard not to sound bored at the announcement, but several students were cheering at the news; one girl on the Ravenclaw table screamed particularly loudly.
"God, she would be happy…" muttered Sebastian.
"I'd also like to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds, and under no circumstances are you to enter it" warned McGonagall. "You all know who you are."
James saw Sebastian blush slightly, and look awkwardly towards his empty dinner plate.
"And after having a lengthy conversation with Montague, we have officially scrapped the rule about first years not being allowed their own broomsticks" McGonagall announced.
"What" James, Bella and Sebastian gasped together.
"During your first flying lesson, Montague will give you an exemption to own your own broom, if you clearly have the skill to fly it well without assistance. This exemption will also allow you to represent your house quiditch team, if your captain deems you worthy."
"Hell yeah" James celebrated as quietly as possible.
He knew that Harry became Hogwarts' youngest seeker in a century, when he got promoted into the team in his first year. James practised quiditch every second he could, dreaming that he could emulate his success. Now that Montague had convinced McGonagall to allow it, that dream could become a reality.
"And finally, I just want to mention the following" McGonagall continued. "There are a few names here that are familiar to all of us. Some for more noble reasons than others."
Most people turned their heads in the direction of either James or Jackson.
"But I want you to remember, names don't make a person. I don't want to see anybody here judging anyone, for what their mother or father may have done; good or bad" McGonagall said threateningly. "But I'm sure that you're all tired of listening to me. I believe it's time to begin, what I'm sure you've all been looking forward to."
McGonagall clicked her fingers, and the tables were suddenly covered with the most delicious food imaginable. James grabbed himself some steak, chips, a burger and chicken.
"Somebody's hungry" Darren chuckled.
James was surprised to hear his voice, only just realising that he was sitting next to him the whole time.
"This is the opening feast" James replied. "I'm going to eat as much as I want."
"I'm on a strict diet" Darren explained. "I don't want to ruin my fitness in one night."
"You don't need to worry about fitness" Sebastian explained. "Quiditch is more about the skill one has with the broom, than your physical state."
"What's quiditch?" Darren asked.
"He doesn't know anything about the wizarding world" James explained hastily, as Sebastian looked like he just saw his mother die in the streets. "We'll tell you about it later" he told Darren. "Right now, I wanna chow this all down."
James didn't speak another word until he ate through all his food. As he was finishing off his chips though, he saw a couple of Gryffindor students walking past him, trying to find a seat. James looked down to his right, and saw that the seats closest to Jackson have now been abandoned.
"Any dessert?" Sebastian asked.
"No way" replied James. "I'm stuffed."
"I told Teddy you were a dead cert for Gryffindor" grinned Sebastian. "He was holding out hope that you'd end up in Hufflepuff."
"That's ridiculous" James chuckled, before turning around and seeing that Teddy did look slightly glummer than he did at the start of the Sorting Ceremony.
"Aren't you having any dessert Sebastian?" asked Bella.
"No thanks" replied Sebastian.
James got the impression that Sebastian did want to continue eating, but wanted to keep talking to him instead.
"Are you and Bella brother and…"
"Cousins" Bella interrupted sharply.
"Yes, we are indeed merely cousins" Sebastian sighed. "Bella's dad is the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; mine is merely a clerk for Flourish and Blotts."
"I'm sorry" said James.
"Don't apologise" Sebastian said cheerfully. "It's not anybody's fault for who their parents are."
"True that" agreed James, before remembering something. "Sebastian, did you say that you were the quiditch captain."
"Indeed I am" he replied.
"I was just wondering, is there any vacancies on the team for this year?"
"You sly little devil" Sebastian grinned. "You paid attention to Montague's new exemption policy as well. Montague could do with all the help he could get, the Slytherins were utter shambles last year."
"Not much of a talent pool is there" James noted. "And who is Montague?"
"He's the flying instructor and head of Slytherin" explained Sebastian. "There are so few Slytherins nowadays, I reckon he's doing everything he can to get a somewhat competitive team going."
"Well that didn't work" replied James. "I think there was only two or three Slytherins total this year."
"One" Sebastian replied, almost laughing at the stat. "That Travis Gant fellow's the only new one this year."
"How the mighty have fallen" James said.
"Why is Slytherin so empty?" asked Darren.
"It's because they're a load of dark wizards in waiting" Sebastian explained. "Trust me Darren; every kid sitting on that table now would have joined Voldemort twenty years ago."
"That's not fair" Bella argued. "But it's true that when Voldemort rose to power, almost all of his followers came from Slytherin house. Ever since his defeat, everybody begged the Sorting Hat not to put them in Slytherin, because it's the house of Voldemort."
"Anyway, we're moving off topic" Sebastian closed the conversation. "I believe you wanted to know if there was a spot open on the quiditch team."
"Yeah" James said enthusiastically.
"You're in luck" replied Sebastian. "Our seeker graduated last year, so we have a spot open. If you can impress that sod Montague, I'll have a discussion with the team."
"Thank you so much" James shouted.
"James" Darren interrupted. "Are they more ghosts?"
Several more transparent figures entered the Great Hall through the walls. During the rest of the feast, James introduced himself to Nearly Headless Nick, explained to Darren how the enchantment made the ceiling look like what was going on outside, and began telling him what the subjects meant once they received their timetables.
"I believe we have all finished our meals" Professor McGonagall called out. "Then it's about time for us all to go to our common rooms, and have a good night's sleep. Remember that tomorrow is when things get serious."
"She wishes" Sebastian hissed.
"For all you first years, if you ever feel like you need any help, feel free to talk to your Head of House" McGonagall continued.
"That's Professor Longbottom for us" James whispered to Darren. "He's the Herbology teacher."
"And now, at long last, I bid you all goodnight."
There was suddenly a large amount of hustling going on throughout the all the house tables. Many people began leaving the hall, including Sebastian. Bella tried to follow him, but he stopped her.
"First years need to follow Victoire Weasley" he explained, before leaving.
"Who's Victoire Weasley?" asked Darren.
"Gryffindor first years, follow me" a girl shouted from further up the table.
"Never mind" Darren muttered.
James, Darren and Bella all walked up to the sixth year girl who called them. Her blonde hair made her distinct from almost every other Weasley James knew.
"Hi James" greeted Victoire.
"Evening" James greeted back. "We're cousins" James told Darren. "The same way that Sebastian's Bella's…"
"I know what a cousin is" Darren snapped.
"I'm prefect for Gryffindor house" Victoire introduced herself. "So therefore, I have the ability to remove house points if I deem it appropriate; but I don't need to do that, will I?"
"No Victoire" a few of the first year girls answered back.
"Perfect" Victoire beamed. "Now let's show you the way to our common room."
The band of Gryffindors all left the Great Hall together. Looking to his left, James saw Travis Gant having to be escorted all on his own by two Slytherin prefects. Looking behind him to see just how many new Gryffindors there were, he saw Jackson Lestrange; and he looked very angry indeed.