The door swung open and a tall, black-haired and stern-looking witch in emerald-green robes stood there. Just from looking at her, Harry knew that crossing her was a bad idea.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide and they came to a spacious entrance hall. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. Dutifully, they followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor, where Harry picked up the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right. Which meant that the rest of the school must already be here.

However, instead of joining them, Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

She looked around, eyes lingering on certain individuals for a moment, before going on. Harry followed her gaze, silently glad that his Hedwig somehow managed to tame that birds nest on his head. Because without that, he probably would look as unpresentable as the boy with a badly fastened cloak or as Ron with his smudge under his nose.

Speaking of Hedwig, the young boy couldn´t wait to see her and Colonel again. They parted ways on the platform, with the promise of seeing each other again later in the castle. He hoped they were both alright and that the owl was successful in her efforts of sneaking the penguin into the school without trouble.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall, once she finished her control. "Please wait quietly."

She left and the first-years started to chat among themselves.

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" Harry asked Ron.

The redhead just shrugged. "Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."

A curious look appeared on the young raven´s face.

A test?

Of what sort?

As Harry thought about it, he was quick to cross out two possibilities. The first possibility was a written test. Considering it was dinner time and with serious doubt about there being writing tables waiting for them, that idea sounded too ridiculous to be true. Besides, if the others were as hungry as him, then they probably wouldn´t be able to put their best into such a test. The second possibility was giving a demonstration of their magic. That alone would be too insane to be true since they were merely first-years that came here to learn magic. So unless there was some sort of magical primary school, one that he hadn´t been invited to attend, the tests nature laid in something else. Then he remembered the fantasy novels he read before and about the different forms of magic here described. Maybe the test will determine, what type of magic were they more inclined towards…

He nearly jumped from his skin, when several people screamed behind him. Quickly turning around, he was left staring at what he saw, while several people around him gasped.

About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance…"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost…" A ghost wearing a ruff and tights started, then noticed the first years. "I say, what are you all doing here?"

None of the soon-to-be students could bring themselves to answer and instead, it was a fellow ghost that did it.

"They must be the new students!" declared the Fat Fair, before he gifted them with a smile. "You´re waiting for the sorting, aren´t you?"

That got a few nods from the still surprised students.

"Then I hope I will see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "That´s my old house, lads!"

Harry found himself smiling a little at the ghost, but before he could say anything, a sharp voice spoke.

"Move along now. The Sorting Ceremony will start soon."

The voice´s owner revealed to be Professor McGonagall, who has returned somewhen during the conversation. The ghosts nodded at her and then floated away through the opposite wall they came from.

"Now, that the entrainment disappeared, form a line and follow me," the professor said, before turning away.

The children obeyed her and soon they left the chamber, heading down the hall and finally went through the pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

The sight that awaited inside was strange but beautiful at the same time. Above four long tables, where the rest of the students were, floated thousands of lit candles, their light reflecting in golden plates and goblets underneath. Following the candles upward, the children expected to see the ceiling, only to gasp in awe as they saw not stones, but the night sky, similar to the one hiding just behind the castle´s walls. Harry heard someone whisper about the enchantments used to make it like that, but the boy could barely focus on it.

Magic was truly something, he thought.

Peripherally, he noticed the movement and looked down again. There he saw Professor McGonagall place a stool in front of them and then she put a pointed wizard´s hat on top of it. Seeing that thing, Harry couldn´t help but think it had seen better days and would probably need a replacement. Then, much to his shock, a rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth.

"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

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 folks 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!"

Applause erupted as the hat finished its song, breaking Harry from his awe-filled daze.

"So we just have to try on the hat," whispered Harry somehow relieved.

"Yeah. And after that, I´m going to kill Fred. He told me we would have to wrestle with a troll," grumbled Ron, causing his companion to chuckle.

As the first student, Hannah Abbot was called forth to be sorted and ended in Hufflepuff, a thought occurred Harry.

He turned towards the redhead and quietly asked, "We could still be friends, even if we end in different houses… right?"

"You bet, mate. You and those birds of yours are too much fun to hang around, to pass it," Ron answered with a grin.

Harry grinned back and they proceeded to watch how their fellow first-years got sorted and joined their housemates at selected tables. Those that went to Gryffindor joined the table with people with gold and red trim on their robes. Those that went to Hufflepuff joined people with yellow and black trims. Ravenclaws went to those with blue and bronze and finally, Slytherins came to those with green and silver trims. The young raven grimaced when he saw the ruse boy from the train, Draco Malfoy, ending in the house of snakes. It made the young boy grimace, hoping that he won´t end up in the same house as the blonde.

"Potter, Harry!"

With a deep breath, the young raven stepped forward. He did his best to ignore the whispers that broke out around him, as he sat down on the stool and the hat was dropped over his head, covering his eyes.

A moment of silence, then he heard a voice.

"Hmm…Interesting. Very interesting. There is a lot of courage in you, particularly around animals. You have ambitions, although not the usual kind. A very interesting talent is here too, and a good mind to match it. Hm, you don´t make things easy for me, do you?"

I´m fine with anything, so long as it isn´t Slytherin. Harry replied in his mind.

"Not a fan of that house, eh?"

More like not a fan of one boy here.

"Ah, right. Your little encounter on the train, not the best way to leave an impression… That helps to narrow it down, but still, placing you is difficult."

I´m sorry.

"Don´t be, my boy. I like the challenge," the hat chuckled. "Now, to continue, you seem to possess the same creativity as your father, with the open heart of your mother…"

Curiosity took over the boy. Which house were they in?

"Both went to Gryffindor, although your mother would have done great in Ravenclaw too. Would you like to join that house and follow in their footsteps?"

I…don´t think so. I never knew them, so I have no idea what they were like. Why should I try to follow their path?

"Very true, very true… That leaves Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, then."

Which one of them would accept Hedwig and Colonel?

"Caring for your companions, I see. To answer your question, both would accept them, actually. One would see that penguin of yours just as a curiosity and the other would take him as an interesting challenge."

Then I don´t care which house it will be. So long as those two are happy, I can manage in any house. Besides, it is not like being placed in a house dictates who I am…

There was a moment of silence before the hat laughed. "Well said, my boy! Well said! You are clearly more perceptive than most, so your place should be in…"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The last word was shouted and the hat left Harry´s head. He stood up and walked over to his new house table.


After dinner and several words from headmaster Dumbledore regarding rules and warnings, the Ravenclaw first years followed a prefect girl named Penelope Clearwater into the Ravenclaw tower. They got there using a tight spiral staircase and stopped in front of a large door. Prefect Clearwater walked over to it and knocked using a bronze eagle-shaped knocker, then waited.

Then the knocker spoke:

"I am the beginning of everything, the end of everywhere. I'm the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space. What am I?"

A few seconds later, the prefect answered: "The letter e."

"Correct."

The doors opened and students entered a wide and circular room that was the Ravenclaw common room. Harry looked around, already liking this place. It had graceful arched windows, and the walls were hung with blue and bronze silks. The domed ceiling was painted with the night sky, which was echoed in the midnight-blue carpet. Tables, chairs, and bookcases covered the expanse of the floor and a good portion of the walls was filled with bookshelves. One section caught the raven´s attention, for there stood a beautiful white marble statue, that made the raven curious about whom it represented.

"As you could see, we enter our tower by solving a riddle," spoke Clearwater. "The riddle changes each time, so the same answer won´t help you if you try to use it again. If you can´t figure out the answer, you won´t get another chance and would likely have to wait for another person to come along. Or, if the first isn´t an option, then go get Professor Flitwick, our head of the house. His office is down the stairs to the right, you can´t miss it. Now the rules of the house: First, you are obligated to do your homework and turn it in on time. We are the house that praises intelligence, so slackers are not tolerated. If you have trouble with certain subjects, then we have study groups for them. The schedule for them is posted next to the staircase leading to the dorms. Second, you can´t leave the common room after nine, that is the school-wide curfew. The only time you can break this rule is for the astronomy class. Third, you have to be present for each meal in the Great Hall. Skipping is not recommended unless you have serious reasons for that. And finally, for the interval of your first year, you will be sharing dorms with your year mates. This is mostly to help you deal with any potential homesickness. Next year you will get the chance to move into separated rooms with either none or one roommate, so deal with it. Understood?" she asked them.

When they nodded, she continued: "Tomorrow morning, Professor Flitwick will be here to give you the start of the term speech. So be there around 7:30 a.m. The bedtime for first and second years is 9:30, so you have until then to make yourself at home in the dorms."

With that, they parted ways and Harry went with the other boys towards the staircase and into the boys´ dorms. There waited five four-poster beds with dark blue, velvet curtains. At the bottom of each bed were their trunks and, as they were too tired to talk with each other, they pulled out their pyjamas and went into bed.

The other boys easily fell asleep, but Harry couldn´t join them. He was worried for his two companions, neither of whom he had seen up until now. Where were they? Somewhere in the castle, or perhaps, still outside? Were they alright? Were they hurt or unharmed? Did somebody found out about Colonel? He didn´t have answers for these questions, but he really hoped they were both alright. He didn´t know what he would have done if something happened to them.

"Wenk!"

His eyes went wide and he quickly sat up. He beamed when Hedwig landed on the head of his bed and one look over the edge showed Colonel waiting to be picked up. The young wizard dutifully did so, cuddling with the non-flying bird once he was within arm-reach.

"I´m so glad to see you, guys," Harry whispered to them.

"Preck preck."

"Wenk wenk wenk."

The boy smiled. "That you did. Did you have any trouble getting here?"

"Preck./Wenk."

"None? That´s good then. You ready to explore the castle?"

"Preck preck!" Hedwig scolded him.

"I meant tomorrow, girl. I´m too tired now," Harry replied with a yawn.

The owl nodded. "Preck. Preck preck preck."

"Yeah, yeah, I´m going. I was just waiting for you."

"Wenk wenk wenk?" the penguin asked.

"Yes, you can sleep with me, Colonel," the wizard nodded, with another yawn.

With that, they settled for the night and the remaining occupants of the dorm fell asleep, with dreams known only for them.


To remind you: Pairings are up for suggestion, don´t have to be limited by just Harry Potter fandom, as there might later be small crossovers with other fandoms.
Suggested pairings for Harry(so far): Tom Riddle Jr; Tony Stark; Blaise Zabini; Bucky Barnes; Reborn (KHR); Fon (KHR); Fred & George Weasley; Wolverine; Gambit
Can´t wait for more!

Please read and review!

Sincerely,
LadyMidnight07