"-will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be assorted 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. Your 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 its produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you 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 honor. 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.
"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly." And with that, Hermione disappeared, pleased with herself for getting every word right.
"Like I had to hear that again," Becky muttered. "Exactly the same speech, every year. Not that I would know," she said quickly. "I've, uh, never been to one of these things."
Soup examined her face steadily. "You mean that you awen't allowed to come to these."
"Basically."
"Hey, Tomato, get out of the way." James and a pale boy shouldered their way into the group and left, laughing.
"If he weren't your brother," Becky said slowly.
"I- We would kill him," Doug joined in.
Lily didn't say anything.
Saving the day, Hermione came back through the doors. "Time to come in." After she had arranged everyone in a line, she led them through the doors.
Lily's breath was caught in her throat, and she momentarily felt as if she might be choking. The Great Hall was huge, larger than she had ever imagined. All over, there were thousands and thousands of glittering candles that evaporated the shadows. With a start, Lily realized the candles were floating in midair. Two boys at a table were trying to see how fast they could spin a set of floating candlesticks. There were four large tables where the students were sitting, laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. Hermione led them to the front of the room in front of another long table with adults, obviously teachers, sitting at it. Lily had a brief glimpse of Ron sitting next to a man with black hair and bright, anxious green eyes. Before she could get a better look, Lily turned to face the rest of the hall like all the other students. It seemed, to her at least, that everyone seemed to be staring at them. Of course, everyone was, but she couldn't tell if they were looking at her or not. To avoid having to look at them anymore and find out that they were, in fact, staring at her, she looked up.
"Becky, look!" she whispered excitedly. There wasn't any ceiling; the room opened up directly to the clear night sky.
"Oh, that," Becky said as she looked up. Wasn't she worried about what would happen if it rained? "My dad said it's spelled so that the ceiling reflects the weather outside."
"Oh." So there was a ceiling. Lily felt better now.
Hermione stepped forward and silently placed a stool in front of the first years. The man with the black hair and green eyes handed her a hat which she placed on the stool. Lily looked closely at the hat. It could use a good cleaning, she decided. Her eyes noticed the worn look about it, the patches, and the amount of dirt and dust that seemed to be attracted to it. What was the point of having that poor hat in this beautiful place? Hermione took a few steps back and watched the hat; she seemed to be waiting for something.
The hat, odd as it might seem, moved- gave a little twitch. Then a rip formed near the brim, a rip which reminded Lily somewhat of a mouth. And then, the hat actually began to sing:
Becky and the older children, joined by the teachers, applauded. The hat bowed to each table, and then, seemingly, to Becky as a few other first years- including Lily- clapped nervously. Then, the hat straightened and became still again.
"Now then," Hermione began. "When I call out your name, you will sit on the stool and put on the hat so you can be sorted."
Lily sighed. "I hope I'm in Gryffindor," she told Becky and Doug again.
Soup nodded. "I just want to be somewha wha my accent won't be made fun of too much."
Lily pursed her lips and thought how selfish she was being. Soup was much worse off than she was. He'd been made fun of all his life for the way he spoke, and she had only been shunned by her brother for two days, and even then, she had friends like Becky, Doug, and Soup himself.
"Well, we won't make fun of you," she said. Soup grinned.
"I just hope that I'm not in the same house as James," Doug said.
"Second that," Becky agreed. "No offense," she told Lily.
"None taken."
"Abbot, Linda," Hermione called out.
A blond girl went up to the hat and set it on her head, more or less confidently. She sat on the stool and waited, the hat covering most of her head.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted. Linda went off to the Hufflepuff table, where its members were calling her over.
"Adams, Daniel."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Bass, Susan."
"HUFFLEPUFF!" She went to join Linda.
The list went on. Lily waited nervously as the line became smaller. A boy named Michael Clark became the first Gryffindor, and a girl named Marcie Crumble became the first Slytherin.
"Gilmore, Douglas."
Doug stepped forward and gave a slight smile to both Ron and Hermione, who smiled back. He tried on the hat. Everyone in the hall waited quietly. "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat finally shouted. Doug, grinning yet still looking slightly nervous, took the hat off and handed it to Glass, Amy before setting off to the Gryffindor table.
The line kept thinning. "Longbottom, Rebecca."
Although Becky nearly gagged at Hermione saying her name, (Hermione apologized with one of her looks), she went to take the hat. It didn't take long before the hat shouted out "GRYFFINDOR!"
Becky turned to wave to her dad as she walked off. Neville seemed to be having the loudest cheering spasm Lily had ever heard. Hagrid was trying to get him to shut up.
"Potter, James."
Lily sighed as many children craned their necks to see her brother. Instantly, she heard a flood of whispers bouncing off the walls. She could have sworn that a coat of armor nearly fell off its pedestal, but the light in that corner wasn't good enough for her to tell for sure. Ron and Hermione had said they were well-known, but she wished they weren't this well-known.
James went up, slightly nervous (as Lily was for some reason glad to see), and set the hat on his head as he sat on the stool. The Hall waited. The seconds kept going on, then the minutes started to drag. Lily's heart caught in her throat. If the hat was having so much trouble placing her brother, where would it place her? Or, far worse, what if it didn't put her in any house, and they shipped her back to the Dursleys as if this were all a mistake?
Finally the hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" James grinned and went to join his friends at the Slytherin table. Lily looked at Hermione, who seemed to have had a heart attack. She turned to look at the teachers' table, where Ron and the man next to him were also looking terribly white. A pale man on the far end was grinning nastily, and it was obvious that he was trying not to laugh out loud. The other teachers, including Neville and Hagrid, who were sitting with them, were all looking stunned and confused.
Hermione finally cleared her throat (which she seemed to be having quite some trouble with) and said slowly, "Potter, Lily."
Lily walked up to the stool. She suddenly felt slightly woozy. Everyone else seemed to think it was horrible, James being placed in Slytherin. Would it be bad if she were placed there too? Would she end up in Gryffindor like her father? Maybe the hat had forgotten to mention a house for people who were completely lost and confused.
Now, she could see through blurry stars kids craning their necks to see her also, and she could here people saying, "Both of them!" and "No one mentioned that Lily Potter was here," and someone voiced what she was thinking, "I can't believe James Potter is in Slytherin! What about his dad? I wonder if Lily Potter will be there too."
She sat on the stool and gratefully put on the hat. Good, it not only covered her eyes, but most of her face as well.
Suddenly, she heard a small voice whisper into her ear, "Lily Potter, hmm? My, not so difficult as your brother, thankfully. Don't worry about him, he's just in Slytherin temporarily. Now, then, let's see. A thirst to prove yourself- your father had that also. Powerful. Very. And a brilliant mind. Memorized all those books, did you? That's good. It will most surely help you. Would you rather Gryffindor or Slytherin?"
Gryffindor! Lily nearly shouted.
"Away from your brother?"
With my friends, Lily corrected. She couldn't believe she preferred Gryffindor to her brother.
"Very well, then. You'll be in GRYFFINDOR!"
Before she took off the hat, she heard Hermione's relieved sigh, along with Ron's, and over half the people's in the Great Hall. She took the hat and placed it on the stool, brushing off a bit of dust as she did so. As she turned to walk to the Gryffindor table, she caught the man's eyes, the man next to Ron. Her scar began to tingle pleasantly, giving her a warm feeling. She frowned for a second, wondering about why her scar was doing this, deciding she liked it, and then thinking that her eyes were like that man's. She smiled at him- later on she believed that it had been one of her idiotic smiles. Nevertheless, he smiled back.
She walked over to the table and sat down next to Becky and Doug.
"Becky? Who's that guy next to Ron?"
"Headmaster Potter. Harry Potter."
Lily froze, thinking things over. Like there's much to think about, she told herself sternly. Things in her mind were just now beginning to connect. She remembered her dream. "Harry!" someone in the dream had shouted. Harry Potter. Of course!
"Becky? In Diagon Alley, Ron and Hermione said that my dad was still alive." She paused thoughtfully.
"Yeah? So?" Doug prompted her. Becky glared at him.
"I think I know who my dad is."
"Who?"
"Headmaster Potter."
Becky let out an excited sigh. "I wanted to tell you about him, and how weird it is that you have so much in common and everything, but I figured if Ron and Hermione hadn't told you- And besides, you figured it out on your own, so now I can tell you pretty much anything, right?"
Lily nodded thoughtfully, trying not to seem too eager as she did so.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."
Lily shook her head. "Don't bother. You're right. If Ron and Hermione didn't tell me, there's a reason for it."
Doug shrugged. "Maybe they forgot."
"Hermione doesn't forget," Becky said firmly.
Doug cut her off. "Soup's up."
Becky shut her mouth as Soup walked up to the stool nervously. He picked up the hat and grinned at them before it fell over his eyes. A few seconds later, the hat shouted out "GRYFFINDOR!"
Lily, Doug, and Becky jumped up, cheering. Soup blushed as he took off the hat and placed it back on the stool.
"Hey, do the wave," Doug told the girls.
Lily laughed. Becky, however, asked, "What's the wave?"
"Well, it's-" Doug paused, trying to find the right words. "Like this. Watch us." He nodded to Lily and lifted his arms, bringing them down quickly. She did the same a second behind him. "Now you try," he told Becky. Becky became the third, but after twenty seconds, they decided they looked insane with only two people doing it correctly. Even Soup grinned when he saw them, trying not to laugh.
"Thanks, guys," he said to them when he sat down next to Becky.
"No problem," said Lily. "We, uh, enjoyed making ourselves look like idiots." She grinned at him and ignored the Slytherins, including her brother, who were pointing and laughing at them.
When the Sorting Ceremony was over, Headmaster Potter stood up. "As always, I have announcements to make." A few kids groaned; Headmaster Potter grinned. "As always, the Forbidden Forest is off-limits, hence the Forbidden part in the name. Second, last year, we had a few incidents involving blown-up toilets." His eyes rested on a pair of older boys at the Gryffindor table while Ron chuckled and Hermione looked stern. "No magic in the hallways. Quidditch trials are in the second week of the term. If you are interested in playing for your house, see Professor Wood. Thank you." At this, people at all the tables began to whisper and talk.
"Harry used to be the greatest Seeker in the world," Becky explained.
"What's a Seeker? And what's Quidditch?" Lily asked.
Becky started filling her in. "You should try out. You'd be a great Seeker, probably. But they won't let first-years have their own brooms."
"Why not?"
"Well, safety reasons, I guess. We need to learn how to fly a broom first."
"That's a pretty good reason."
"Won't you two ever shut up and eat?" Doug asked, exasperated.
Lily looked up and saw that the plates that had been empty a few moments ago were now piled high with food. "This is what I call living," she muttered as she grabbed a bit of everything.
"So you're Lily Potter, huh?" Lily looked up to see the two boys Harry had been talking to looking at her. They looked exactly identical- not to mention the fact that they looked a little like Ron.
"Yes."
"I'm Chris, and this is Kevin."
"These are the Weasley twins, Ron's nephews," Becky explained.
"She pretty much took the words right out of our mouths," Kevin said.
Lily grinned. "Blown-up toilet toilets, huh?"
Chris shrugged. "It's really just the seat."
"Our dad taught us how," Kevin added.
"We have a whole collection at home."
Lily looked at Becky, who nodded. "That isn't the only thing they collect."
Chris shook his head, grinning, as Kevin explained, "We also collect gum, which we put ever so carefully in the tin men's joints so they can't move."
"Who are the tin men?" Doug asked, who was listening closely. Soup nodded, but Lily got the feeling he didn't like to talk that much.
"Every metal figurine in this place that moves," Chris explained, beating Becky to it. He grinned at her. Lily didn't try to mention the coat of armor behind them, which was now standing stock still innocently.
"We also put rats in the girls' dorms. But we won't put any in yours, seeing as how someone in there would tell." Kevin stared directly at Becky, who smiled sweetly in return.
They chatted for a while as they ate, and eventually, the food disappeared and desserts seemed to appear before their eyes.
"All right!" Kevin said, grabbing a large piece of chocolate cake. A second later, another piece took its place, making the cake whole again.
Lily surveyed the room. At the teachers table, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were discussing something deeply. Harry looked up at her, and her scar started to become warm again. She smiled widely at him. He smiled back and looked to the Slytherin table briefly before entering the discussion with Ron and Hermione again. Lily had a feeling that he was trying not to look at her. There has to be a good reason, she reminded herself.
She looked at the Slytherin table, where James was talking to a ghost dressed in black, billowing robes marked with what looked like silver blood stains. The eyes were devoid of any life, not to mention the emotionless face. She got the shivers just from looking at him. How could James stand to talk to that- that abomination?
Becky elbowed her in the arm, more or less gently. "Hello, earth to Lily. Come in, Lily."
"What?"
"Where have you been?"
"I was just thinking. Why? What happened?"
"We decided about ten minutes ago to head up to the Gryffindor tower so we could get some sleep," Doug told her.
"Oh. Okay." Lily wasn't really that hungry anymore anyway.
Becky looked at her with a concerned look, as did the guys, but as she got up and walked with them, Becky started to bicker with the twins, and Doug paid close attention to the conversation, as he often did to everything, and Soup dropped back with Lily.
"What weh you thinking about?"
Lily considered this. How could she really explain to any of her new friends what she was thinking? "You know, I knew this friend once who had the same problem you have. The trick is that whenever you say your R's, your tongue has to touch the roof of your mouth."
"Okay." Soup started watching his feet when he wasn't watching the things around him.
Hoping to change the subject, and also hoping she hadn't hurt his feelings, Lily asked, "Are you looking forward to riding broomsticks?"
Soup brightened. "Definitely. It'll be like all of those old tales about witches flying in fwont of the moon on Halloween and stuff."
"Except you can't do that," one of the twins said quickly.
"Why not?" Soup asked. Lily nodded in agreement.
"Because. We can't let the muggles see us, that's why," Chris said sharply.
"Why?"
Chris looked at Kevin. "Too many questions."
"First years," Kevin responded, trying to sound exhausted, but the smile he had on his face suggested otherwise. "If muggles knew we existed, they'd want us to do all this stuff for them. Like love potions."
"Hexes."
"Jinxes."
"Spells."
"Curses."
"Mischief making."
"Bewitching things to act weird."
"And the such. Not only that, but some people are afraid of magic."
"The Dursleys," Lily said sourly, even a bit sadly.
"Hey, you're at Hogwarts now," Becky told her. "It'll be fun."
By then, they were in front of a portrait of a large, ample-bodied woman. Becky had told her about the portraits on the Hogwarts Express, but she was still a bit surprised to see the woman actually move.
"Teas teliot," Kevin said. He turned to grin at them as the portrait swung open. "It took us a while, but we finally tricked them into using that as a password. It's 'toilet seat' spelled backwards."
This wasn't at all going the way he'd hoped. The way he'd seen it, both of them would be in Gryffindor, and both would be happy. Instead, they were separated. Even worse, James was in Slytherin. Draco Malfoy would never let him hear the end of this one. Not only that, but Lily. Every time he looked at her, and their eyes met, his scar would start to tingle. He kept it well covered with his hair out of habit. The problem was, what if Lily's scar did the same thing? Did she know? Becky wouldn't have told her. He had enough faith in the Longbottoms to trust them just as he trusted Hagrid- except Neville didn't need drinks. But Lily would see the resemblance; she had to. James, however, (and as much as he hated to admit it) was too blind to notice Harry unless James got into trouble. Being in Slytherin, he had no doubt it would be soon.
In the meantime, Harry was sick and tired of pacing in his study. Ron and Hermione had left what seemed like ages ago. Harry looked out the window and was once again amazed that it wasn't dawn.
Carefully, he reached for the Sorting Hat. Dumbledore, or better yet, his ghost, was vacationing in the Bahamas, but he had retired, and Harry had gotten the job. That included possession of the hat, and Dumbledore had given him Fawkes as a birthday present.
Harry put the Sorting Hat on.
"Oh, you again," said the now familiar voice in his ear.
Yes, it's me. Tell me, please, why you put my son in Slytherin. Harry was careful to be polite, especially with the hat. If he said anything rude, Hermione would punish him severely, and even though he was a greater wizard than her and was headmaster, he still feared her wrath.
"It's only temporary. Now, then. About your daughter, Lily. She really wants-"
Harry took the hat off gently, but at the same time curtly. He didn't want to talk about James or Lily right now. He didn't want to think about Slytherin and Gryffindor. He didn't want to see Malfoy, or worry about his scar, and most of all, he didn't want to worry Voldemort.
Suddenly, Harry felt very sleepy, and he decided it would take too much energy to walk to his bed. He fell asleep right where he was.
Silently, Fawkes flew over and looked from the hat to Harry; then he looked out the window. Why was it that he could see the enchantment, see that Voldemort was in their mists, and everyone else refused to see it? Too bad, Fawkes thought in his own way, that his tears couldn't heal the insides.