1 CHAPTER TWO: The Great Halt

The first years proceeded to the Great Hall, a large room with five large tables, four of which contain the students of each houses. They walked in the middle aisle, and then formed a row in front of the staff's table.

Harry was so amazed about the place, Hogwarts. There were these thousand floating candles hovering above the tables; this night sky-like ceiling that appeared to be none; and these ghosts whooshing from one place to another.

After some start-of-term announcements, Prof. Minerva McGonagall stood in front and held out a list of the newcomers. She brought with her a stool with a ragged, patched tattered pointed wizard's hat on it.

"When I call your name," McGonagall declared in a rather loud manner, "you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." A series of names was read from the list. Harry anxiously waited for his name to be called. Draco, as expected, was sorted as Slytherin. Ron and Hermione went to Gryffindor.

"Potter, Harry," the professor said, looking at the person she just called. Everybody in the room, ghost and human alike, stood up and stared at Harry. Harry didn't mind them, but rather continued to walk slowly to the front. Harry sat on the stool and let Prof. McGonagall put the hat on him. He held tightly on the stool and waited.

Suddenly, after the sorting hat was placed on Harry's head, it quivered and twitched as if it was drawing out something. Klunk. He felt something heavy on his head.

"Might use this in the future…" the hat whispered to Harry.

"What?" he asked curiously.

Harry waited for the answer. But instead of the hat's voice, he heard nothing. All of a sudden, all the people in the Hall – teachers, students and ghosts – froze and stopped moving. Professor McGonagall stood there, fixed in his right, holding the list of the first year students. The staff on the high table remained staring at him anxiously, especially Hagrid, who was looking very stiff. All the students in front of him have a steady expression in their faces. The ghosts hung still in midair. Harry looked at the hall that now seemed like a room full of mannequins. He's the only one moving.

"Why did everybody stop moving?"

"What happened?" He pulled off the hat from his head and grabbed the thing that it once concealed.

"What's this thing?" he asked himself.

The thing looked like a necklace, it was a necklace, only with tiny hourglasses attached at a distance from each other.

"Weird hat," Harry said, while holding it in his left hand.

"I thought this is supposed to speak or whatever. It said that it will sort, not belch out objects," he said while looking at the hat.

He shoved the necklace into his pocket, looked again at the hat curiously, and again slowly put it on. The hat leaped, and all immediately sprang back to life as each of them started to move. At that moment, he was really confused.

"Uhhmmm, difficult. Very difficult," the hat spoke. "Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. Oh, there's talent. And to prove yourself… but where to put you?"

Harry held tight on the stool. He kept on thinking about the necklace, and the strange halt that happened so suddenly. Harry remembered, I'm being sorted now, there's no time to think about that! His attention returned to the hat's words. Harry was eager to know his house, for he'll live with this house for seven years. I hope I'll be in Slytherin, since Draco's there. Imagine a friend like him, hanging around with you all the time. I don't care if I was a bit cold to him a while ago, I'll just make it up for him. After all, he is my first 'friend'. And besides, I think Slytherin's the greatest…

"I know, " the hat's voice gradually increased in volume. All waited in great excitement and eagerness. One can even hear the sighs and gasps of nearby people waiting for the announcement. More students stood up to see the hat's reaction.

Hagrid leaned forward.

Draco sniggered.

Ron kept his fingers crossed.

Professor Dumbledore pushed back his half-moon eyeglasses.

Professor McGonagall's grip on the list is evidently tightening.

Everybody's now paying attention. Who wouldn't? It's the Harry Potter being sorted.

The hat paused for a quick moment, as if drawing in some air, and roared out the answer:

"SLYTHERIN!!!"

Harry was stunned.