Chapter 2 - Hogwarts' Sorting
I would go into the group's trip to Diagon Alley, but nothing out of the wizarding ordinary happened. They got a few drinks at the Leaky Cauldron, bought their books at Flourish and Blotts, and their other supplies at the various stores in the area.
By the time they got back to the Burrow - the Weasley's home - it was late. Tomorrow they'd get to packing all their stuff, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George would be boarding the Hogwarts Express, which just happens to be the only way for students to get to Hogwarts, since they can't fly there by broom, and especially not by car.
The lot were very excited, but judging by the look on their worn-out faces, they were also very tired. They were undressed and in their beds by 9:30 and fast asleep by 10. The only sounds you could hear were the faint snores coming from certain rooms and Pigwideon - Ron's owl - bickering with Hedwig - Harry's owl - over a mouse they'd found.
*****
The next morning, Harry woke with something bright orange around him. He sat up awkwardly and groped around in front of him. Feeling nothing and not seeing his hands, he slowly brought his hands towards his head until he felt a sort of cloth.
"What are you doing?" said a voice from his right. "You look like a zombie!"
Harry felt something lift off his head and saw Ron's red hair and face staring at him as though he had just evolved into a polka-dotted rabbit.
"Sorry I threw my Chudley Cannons shirt on you. I was looking for my wand." Ron gingerly walked across the room and buried himself in his closet.
Stretching, Harry glanced to the bedside table and saw a long box hidden slightly under a few schoolbooks.
"This is?" Harry said, pulling at the box and knocking off a few books.
Ron came bounding over, jumping over random pieces of clothing and grasped the box. Opening it slowly and peeking inside, he said, "Yeah! Thanks Harry!" and pocketed it, throwing the box on the floor by the books.
"You better hurry up and get ready, now. Mum's cooking breakfast, then we're off to King's Cross."
King's Cross is a train station in muggle London that wizards and witches must access their platform, Platform 9 3/4, by walking through a wall-barrier between Platform 9 and Platform 10, inconspicuously to muggles.
"All right, boys," ("Hey!" said Ginny) "And girls," Molly added ("Thank you!"). "We'll be doing the same as last year and arriving by taxi cabs to King's Cross, so try and keep the animals quiet this year, will you?"
"Ah, Mum!" Fred said, grinning. "You'll have to bribe up a bit before we try to keep Pig quiet." He jerked his head over to a small bit of gray fluff flying around in small, quick circles, hooting loudly. "Although we did learn a nice curse in Defense Against the Dark Arts class that could silence him forever."
"Fred!" Molly said, shocked. "That is Ron's owl! There'll be no killing of your brother's animals, or anything else, for that matter." Molly added, seeing George coming to butt in again with another sly remark.
After they had gotten the animals safely quiet, the taxis drove off to King's Cross.
Somewhere, in a very dark, crowded alley walked wizards in long, darkly colored cloaks, chatting amongst themselves.
Off to a side, a voice was heard, only slightly louder than the crowd. "Lily!" was what it screamed.
A young fair girl with dark brown - maybe even black - hair and brilliant green eyes turned her head at the sound. She seemed unaware of why she turned. She knew no one with the name "Lily." She turned back around and continued walking.
After passing through to Platform 9 3/4, Harry, Ron and Hermione found an empty compartment towards the back of the Hogwarts Express and sat themselves in it. They immersed themselves in conversations about their classes (like Potions and Care of Magical Creatures), and their professors (like Professor Snape and Hagrid), among other things. One of their "professor" conversations about the lack of a professor. They knew they would have Defense Against the Dark Arts, but their professor from last year was no longer there. In fact, ever since Harry had come to Hogwarts, he had had a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor each year. Who would it be this year?
By the time the train reached the platform at Hogwarts, the three were dreadfully hungry and ready for the feast to begin. They dreamt of mashed potatoes, chicken, tripe, peas, beef, corn on the cob, and sausage, just to name a few items.
As they entered the Great Hall, they noticed all the usual decorations. Four extremely long tables lay in the Hall, each representing one of the four houses. Closest to the door was Slytherin, then house of such like Draco Malfoy. Next in line is Ravenclaw, where Cho Chang (Harry's crush) resided. Third down was Hufflepuff, where the late Cedric Diggory, Hogwarts Champion and Cho's ex-boyfriend had been put. But the last table is where Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George were all headed. Gryffindor. All the Weasley children were or had been in Gryffindor, including the three eldest Weasleys, Bill, Charlie and Percy.
When everyone had been seated, another door opened and about 40 kids walked in looking extremely nervous. A somewhat aged witch followed with a stool and an old, battered and torn wizard's hat. She placed the stool in the front of the Hall, and then the Hat was placed on the stool.
Almost immediately, two identical, symmetrical holes in the hate opened, as did yet another larger hole further down in the hat. The first years jumped. This hat had eyes and a mouth! Well, sort of. There were no eyeballs in the eye area, and no tongue or teeth in the mouth hole.
Quickly, the hat's mouth opened wider, and out burst a song:
"Though torn tattered, and broken,
I remain the same today,
My age has not affected,
The things I will soon say.
I will put you in your house,
The one that's right for you,
Is it Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw,
Or Slytherin that I'll choose?
Gryffindor needs brave ones,
Hufflepuff means dedication,
Ravenclaw wants intelligence,
While Slytherin requires ambition,
With me to judge your character,
You really shouldn't fear,
I will not be biased,
When place upon your ear!"
Though the Hall was completely silent through the hat's song, you would never have known now, for the room had burst with applause, cheers, and whispers of "it's the Sorting Hat!"
And that it was. The Sorting Hat would be placed on the heads of each of the kids up front. Then, the Hat would yell out the house the child would be put in.
The witch, namely Professor McGonagall, unrolled a large piece of parchment and cleared her throat.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said, as she did every year.
"Aude, Isabelle."
A young girl with jet black, straight hair walked forward, somewhat nervously, and the hat was put on her head. Quick as lightening, it yelled, "Slytherin!"
"Barclay, Conary."
A bit taller than Isabelle, a quiet-looking boy with dirty blonde hair came up and sat on the stool. It took a while for the hat to sort him, but he ended up being put in Ravenclaw, the first to be sorted to that house.
"Chapeau, Azure."
A tall girl with short brown hair came forward to quickly be placed in "Gryffindor!"
Next came "Collotto, Pic," who ended up a "Ravenclaw!" too. Another Slytherin named Ilara Creed followed.
At this point, Harry noticed that all the professors look much happier than usual. Especially Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, who was normally a happy person, now looked simply ecstatic.
The only person at the professor's table who didn't look so happy was Professor Snape. A greasy haired, crooked nosed man was Snape, and he despised even the mere thought of Harry. The look on his face made it seem as if he just found out that Harry was his own son. That would be a nightmare for both of them. Snape was almost glaring at the person currently being sorted ("Epans, Latona" who was put in Hufflepuff). He must have felt Harry's stare, because Snape looked over at Harry, and his lip curled. Harry looked away.
As he glanced down the table, something caught his eye. Actually, someone. There, in the place of all the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, was a head full of long, silver hair that shown brightly. It was Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons champion from last year's Triwizard Tournament. She was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor!
She flung her shiny hair around, and smiled and waved at Harry. Harry nudged Ron and pointed to Fleur. She grinned and waved at him, too.
"So now she's Professor Delacour," Ron whispered. "How weird."
"Gredbank, James."
A boy with light brown hair walked up confidently. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a mellow yellow shirt.
"He's rather cute," Hermione said, a small grin on her face.
"Do you hope he'll follow you into the library everyday, too?" Ron asked. "Then he'll ask you to come visit him far, far away in some unknown land?"
"I never said I fancied him," Hermione replied, defiantly. "I just think he's attractive..."
"For an eleven year old?" Ron said, probably louder than he meant to.
"Well, obviously Hermione isn't the only one who thinks so," Harry said, looking around.
She wasn't. Quite a few girls were staring at James and whispering between each other, grinning at the sight of the boy.
When the Sorting Hat yelled "GRYFFINDOR!" the entire female population at Harry's table jumped up and screamed with happiness. He got off the stool, but started towards the Hufflepuff table.
"What's he think he's doing?" Ron said.
"He's talking to that girl. Look!" said a girl behind them, pointing.
Sure enough, he stopped in front of a girl looking relatively nervous, with fair skin and dark hair ( yet a bit lighter than the aforementioned Isabelle Aude). He whispered something in her ear, grinned, and walked over to the Gryffindor table, where he was met with more yells and screams from not just the girls, but the entire table. He sat a few seats from Hermione.
"Hey!" Hermione said, as the sorting continued. "James, isn't it? Who's that girl?"
"You'll see," James replied, as he turned back to the sorting.
After a few people, Professor McGonagall called "Moon, Piper" and the girl James was talking to went forward. She turned towards James, sighed, and sat on the stool. Her face looked calm, but her hands gripped the bottom of the stool tightly.
"Gryffindor!"
The girl grinned and ran over to where James was sitting as "Parker, Riley," walked up and become another member of Ravenclaw.
There was little important that happened after that. More people like "Stirling, Alisha," and "Whisp, Matt," walked up and were sorted.
The end had come. Professor McGonagall rolled up her parchment and moved the stool off the stage.
It was now that the silver-haired Professor Dumbledore stood up.
"This year," Dumbledore began. "I have on this to say: Glickledybop at midnight, my dears!"
I would go into the group's trip to Diagon Alley, but nothing out of the wizarding ordinary happened. They got a few drinks at the Leaky Cauldron, bought their books at Flourish and Blotts, and their other supplies at the various stores in the area.
By the time they got back to the Burrow - the Weasley's home - it was late. Tomorrow they'd get to packing all their stuff, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George would be boarding the Hogwarts Express, which just happens to be the only way for students to get to Hogwarts, since they can't fly there by broom, and especially not by car.
The lot were very excited, but judging by the look on their worn-out faces, they were also very tired. They were undressed and in their beds by 9:30 and fast asleep by 10. The only sounds you could hear were the faint snores coming from certain rooms and Pigwideon - Ron's owl - bickering with Hedwig - Harry's owl - over a mouse they'd found.
*****
The next morning, Harry woke with something bright orange around him. He sat up awkwardly and groped around in front of him. Feeling nothing and not seeing his hands, he slowly brought his hands towards his head until he felt a sort of cloth.
"What are you doing?" said a voice from his right. "You look like a zombie!"
Harry felt something lift off his head and saw Ron's red hair and face staring at him as though he had just evolved into a polka-dotted rabbit.
"Sorry I threw my Chudley Cannons shirt on you. I was looking for my wand." Ron gingerly walked across the room and buried himself in his closet.
Stretching, Harry glanced to the bedside table and saw a long box hidden slightly under a few schoolbooks.
"This is?" Harry said, pulling at the box and knocking off a few books.
Ron came bounding over, jumping over random pieces of clothing and grasped the box. Opening it slowly and peeking inside, he said, "Yeah! Thanks Harry!" and pocketed it, throwing the box on the floor by the books.
"You better hurry up and get ready, now. Mum's cooking breakfast, then we're off to King's Cross."
King's Cross is a train station in muggle London that wizards and witches must access their platform, Platform 9 3/4, by walking through a wall-barrier between Platform 9 and Platform 10, inconspicuously to muggles.
"All right, boys," ("Hey!" said Ginny) "And girls," Molly added ("Thank you!"). "We'll be doing the same as last year and arriving by taxi cabs to King's Cross, so try and keep the animals quiet this year, will you?"
"Ah, Mum!" Fred said, grinning. "You'll have to bribe up a bit before we try to keep Pig quiet." He jerked his head over to a small bit of gray fluff flying around in small, quick circles, hooting loudly. "Although we did learn a nice curse in Defense Against the Dark Arts class that could silence him forever."
"Fred!" Molly said, shocked. "That is Ron's owl! There'll be no killing of your brother's animals, or anything else, for that matter." Molly added, seeing George coming to butt in again with another sly remark.
After they had gotten the animals safely quiet, the taxis drove off to King's Cross.
Somewhere, in a very dark, crowded alley walked wizards in long, darkly colored cloaks, chatting amongst themselves.
Off to a side, a voice was heard, only slightly louder than the crowd. "Lily!" was what it screamed.
A young fair girl with dark brown - maybe even black - hair and brilliant green eyes turned her head at the sound. She seemed unaware of why she turned. She knew no one with the name "Lily." She turned back around and continued walking.
After passing through to Platform 9 3/4, Harry, Ron and Hermione found an empty compartment towards the back of the Hogwarts Express and sat themselves in it. They immersed themselves in conversations about their classes (like Potions and Care of Magical Creatures), and their professors (like Professor Snape and Hagrid), among other things. One of their "professor" conversations about the lack of a professor. They knew they would have Defense Against the Dark Arts, but their professor from last year was no longer there. In fact, ever since Harry had come to Hogwarts, he had had a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor each year. Who would it be this year?
By the time the train reached the platform at Hogwarts, the three were dreadfully hungry and ready for the feast to begin. They dreamt of mashed potatoes, chicken, tripe, peas, beef, corn on the cob, and sausage, just to name a few items.
As they entered the Great Hall, they noticed all the usual decorations. Four extremely long tables lay in the Hall, each representing one of the four houses. Closest to the door was Slytherin, then house of such like Draco Malfoy. Next in line is Ravenclaw, where Cho Chang (Harry's crush) resided. Third down was Hufflepuff, where the late Cedric Diggory, Hogwarts Champion and Cho's ex-boyfriend had been put. But the last table is where Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Fred and George were all headed. Gryffindor. All the Weasley children were or had been in Gryffindor, including the three eldest Weasleys, Bill, Charlie and Percy.
When everyone had been seated, another door opened and about 40 kids walked in looking extremely nervous. A somewhat aged witch followed with a stool and an old, battered and torn wizard's hat. She placed the stool in the front of the Hall, and then the Hat was placed on the stool.
Almost immediately, two identical, symmetrical holes in the hate opened, as did yet another larger hole further down in the hat. The first years jumped. This hat had eyes and a mouth! Well, sort of. There were no eyeballs in the eye area, and no tongue or teeth in the mouth hole.
Quickly, the hat's mouth opened wider, and out burst a song:
"Though torn tattered, and broken,
I remain the same today,
My age has not affected,
The things I will soon say.
I will put you in your house,
The one that's right for you,
Is it Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw,
Or Slytherin that I'll choose?
Gryffindor needs brave ones,
Hufflepuff means dedication,
Ravenclaw wants intelligence,
While Slytherin requires ambition,
With me to judge your character,
You really shouldn't fear,
I will not be biased,
When place upon your ear!"
Though the Hall was completely silent through the hat's song, you would never have known now, for the room had burst with applause, cheers, and whispers of "it's the Sorting Hat!"
And that it was. The Sorting Hat would be placed on the heads of each of the kids up front. Then, the Hat would yell out the house the child would be put in.
The witch, namely Professor McGonagall, unrolled a large piece of parchment and cleared her throat.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said, as she did every year.
"Aude, Isabelle."
A young girl with jet black, straight hair walked forward, somewhat nervously, and the hat was put on her head. Quick as lightening, it yelled, "Slytherin!"
"Barclay, Conary."
A bit taller than Isabelle, a quiet-looking boy with dirty blonde hair came up and sat on the stool. It took a while for the hat to sort him, but he ended up being put in Ravenclaw, the first to be sorted to that house.
"Chapeau, Azure."
A tall girl with short brown hair came forward to quickly be placed in "Gryffindor!"
Next came "Collotto, Pic," who ended up a "Ravenclaw!" too. Another Slytherin named Ilara Creed followed.
At this point, Harry noticed that all the professors look much happier than usual. Especially Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, who was normally a happy person, now looked simply ecstatic.
The only person at the professor's table who didn't look so happy was Professor Snape. A greasy haired, crooked nosed man was Snape, and he despised even the mere thought of Harry. The look on his face made it seem as if he just found out that Harry was his own son. That would be a nightmare for both of them. Snape was almost glaring at the person currently being sorted ("Epans, Latona" who was put in Hufflepuff). He must have felt Harry's stare, because Snape looked over at Harry, and his lip curled. Harry looked away.
As he glanced down the table, something caught his eye. Actually, someone. There, in the place of all the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, was a head full of long, silver hair that shown brightly. It was Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons champion from last year's Triwizard Tournament. She was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor!
She flung her shiny hair around, and smiled and waved at Harry. Harry nudged Ron and pointed to Fleur. She grinned and waved at him, too.
"So now she's Professor Delacour," Ron whispered. "How weird."
"Gredbank, James."
A boy with light brown hair walked up confidently. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a mellow yellow shirt.
"He's rather cute," Hermione said, a small grin on her face.
"Do you hope he'll follow you into the library everyday, too?" Ron asked. "Then he'll ask you to come visit him far, far away in some unknown land?"
"I never said I fancied him," Hermione replied, defiantly. "I just think he's attractive..."
"For an eleven year old?" Ron said, probably louder than he meant to.
"Well, obviously Hermione isn't the only one who thinks so," Harry said, looking around.
She wasn't. Quite a few girls were staring at James and whispering between each other, grinning at the sight of the boy.
When the Sorting Hat yelled "GRYFFINDOR!" the entire female population at Harry's table jumped up and screamed with happiness. He got off the stool, but started towards the Hufflepuff table.
"What's he think he's doing?" Ron said.
"He's talking to that girl. Look!" said a girl behind them, pointing.
Sure enough, he stopped in front of a girl looking relatively nervous, with fair skin and dark hair ( yet a bit lighter than the aforementioned Isabelle Aude). He whispered something in her ear, grinned, and walked over to the Gryffindor table, where he was met with more yells and screams from not just the girls, but the entire table. He sat a few seats from Hermione.
"Hey!" Hermione said, as the sorting continued. "James, isn't it? Who's that girl?"
"You'll see," James replied, as he turned back to the sorting.
After a few people, Professor McGonagall called "Moon, Piper" and the girl James was talking to went forward. She turned towards James, sighed, and sat on the stool. Her face looked calm, but her hands gripped the bottom of the stool tightly.
"Gryffindor!"
The girl grinned and ran over to where James was sitting as "Parker, Riley," walked up and become another member of Ravenclaw.
There was little important that happened after that. More people like "Stirling, Alisha," and "Whisp, Matt," walked up and were sorted.
The end had come. Professor McGonagall rolled up her parchment and moved the stool off the stage.
It was now that the silver-haired Professor Dumbledore stood up.
"This year," Dumbledore began. "I have on this to say: Glickledybop at midnight, my dears!"
