TIMES ARE GETTING DARKER
Disclaimer: By now, you have to know what the general disclaimer is, but just in case you don't--I do not own most of the characters in this story. J.K. Rowling Does. I used Arlen for the last name of the first student to be sorted because it begins with an "A", and I watched King of the Hill last night. The character is mine, but the last name isn't. Also, I don't check for spelling and grammar because I'm too lazy too as well as the fact that Microsoft Word isn't working so I've resorted to Wordpad, but I now know how to save as a webpage using it, so the good formatting SHOULD be back, but it isn't. Maybe because the originally saved one was a .txt file. I also remind you that this is my first fan fic (or eighth if you count by chapters). If any one would like to be a beta reader, I would not mind but just tell me about improvements and errors to avoid uneccessarily large-sized e-mails.
Chapter Eight: The Sorting Hat's Mistake
"Fred, George, Ron and Ginny, get down here!" yelled Mrs. Weasley. They were running late and didn't want to miss the Hogwart's Express. Harry and Hermione had already came down since they had spent the end of the summer at the Burrow.
Ron and Ginny came running down the stairs, almost tripping over them and each other.
"Sorry Mum, but I couldn't find something," said Ron.
"There's no time for that now," said Mrs. Weasley, "we need to get going so you won't miss the train."
At that Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, and Mr. and Mrs. Wesley raced out the door, and had managed to get onto one of the wizard's world magical buses. Now, these magical buses are naturally like cabs, driving anywhere and as fast as they can but better: buildings hop out of the way and the bus is also capable of apparation.
Luckily, the bus's first stop was always the station on the first day of school at Hogwart's since at least 30% of the families ran late.
All the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione got off the bus.
"There's no time to say good bye to you, just get to the platform in time," said Mrs. Weasley, and Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny started running with their luggage that the bus had been able to carry. They had just made it to the train on time.
***************
"So what do you think it'll be like this year?" asked Ron.
"I don't know, but I'm glad the Dursleys still believe Sirius is a murderer," said Harry.
"Why?" asked Hermione.
"They treat me better when I tell them about Sirius. Plus, I just told them he was a convicted murderer, so I didn't lie."
"You still didn't tell the whole truth," said Hermione.
"If you lived with the Dursleys, you would understand. Plus, I will tell them once I'm out of Hogwart's."
At that moment, Draco burst in with Crabbe and Goyle saying, "Weasel, Potter! I can't believe I thought you were actual Crabbe and Goyle in second year. You've sunk lower than me!"
"Hey! How'd you find that out?" asked Ron.
"Remember the ferret. The white, bouncing ferret," said Harry. "Also, what took you so long?" However, the question was useless because Draco ran out crying. He still hadn't come to grips with the bouncing white ferret that the Bartemius Crouch Jr. posing as Mad-Eye Moody transformed him into. "Oh!" exclaimed Harry, slapping himself on the head. "I'm such an idiot!" He had just realized Professor Dumbledore had told him that Arabella Figg had lived two streets down in his letter during the summer.
"What?" asked Ron who hadn't really been paying attention.
"Nothing. I was just talking to myself," said Harry.
*********
"First-year this way," said Madame Fleur Delacour.
"That's odd. Normally Hagrid ushers the first years to the lake. I wonder where he is," said Harry.
"He's probably doing an errand for Professor Dumbledore," said Hermione. "Regardless, we need to catch the carriages." So Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione hopped onto a carriage that went around the lake to Hogwart's.
***********
When everyone had gathered in the Great Hall for the Sorting and the First Feast of the year, Professor Dumbledore said, "Before we begin the Sorting Ceremony, I have a few announcements to make. First, everyone is forbidden from entering the forest unless accompanied by a staff member. Second, Alastor Moody has decided to follow through with his one-year commitment to being the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher seeing as how unforeseen circumstances prevented him from doing so last year. Third, and finally, Madame Fleur Delacour will be substituting for Hagrid as Gameskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher until he returns from a previous engagement. She may continue to teach with Hagrid, if she so chooses."
When he was finished, speaking, the Sorting Hat was brought out and sung its song. The last three lines were:
In all the years I've been sorting I've never made a mistake.
"Arlen, Erin," said Professor McGonnagol.
At this time, a nervous first-year came up, and the sorting hat was placed on her head. The hat took a few seconds to decide where to put her, and then shouted out "Hufflepuff!" All of Hufflepuff clapped.
"Bradt, Jonathan," called Professor McGonnagol.
Another nervous first-year came up, and the sorting hat was placed on his head. It exclaimed "Gryffindor!" almost immediately, and all of Gryffindor applauded.
The next four students were sorted into Slytherin so quickly by the Sorting Hat, it was hardly realized that they were even sorted except by the Slytherin students who applauded loudly.
The next three students were sorted into Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin respectively. Each house clapped as a student was sorted into their house.
"This can't be good; a lot of students are being sorted into Slytherin," said Harry. Ron and Hermione told him that they agreed.
The sorting hat continued sorting until there were three new Gryffindors, three new Hufflepuffs, four new Ravenclaws, and seven new Slytherins then Megan Kepple was called to be sorted.
"Hmm. You are a tough one," said the Sorting Hat. "You have characteristics of a Gryffindor, characterstics of an Hufflepuff, characterics of a Ravenclaw, and characterstics of a Slytherin. However, I sense you don't want to go into Slytherin, so I ask, are you sure."
At that point, Megan whispered, "Yes."
"Well, then Slytherin is out. Hmm. I don't think Gryffindor will suit you as well as either Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, so Gryffindor is out. However, you can do great things in both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. I need to think carefully about this one."
"Just, place me in either one. I don't care which."
"Well, in that case, it better be HUFFLE--" at that point, all of Hufflepuff started to applaud, but the Sorting Hat finished, "CLAW!"
Hufflepuff stopped applauding, and everyone was shocked--the Sorting Hat had done something it never had done before--it had made a mistake. The teachers discussed this and decided on what would be the appropiate action.
"May I have everyone's attention?" Dumbledore asked. "Due to this highly improbable mistake by the Sorting Hat, we have decided to postpone the rest of the Sorting Ceremony. I would like all the prefects to lead their Houses to the dorms. However, I would like to speak to Fred, George, Ron and Ginny Weasley, and Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and Draco Malfoy when as soon as they can get to my office. Unsorted students, that includes Megan Kepple, will remain here with Madame Delacour and Professors McGonnagal, Sprout, and Flitwick. You will report to meals at the normal time and classes will most likely be delayed at least one day. That is all."
The prefects lead their houses to the dormitories, with the unsorted students staying in the Great Hall while Professor Dumbledore headed to his office.
A/N: I like putting this note at the end, thanks whoever does this for inspiring me to do it. Ok, now to the note about my fic. Please review this fic. It took eight, long chapters, but we're finally at Hogwart's. Now, you may be wondering, why Ginny hasn't talked about Harry in a while. It's not that I've forgotten, it's just that I couldn't find the right time in this chapter too, but I am planning something about her and Harry later. It will be necessary for the plot of the trilogy. Just in case you're wondering, the next chapter will be entitled "The Order of the Phoenix Prophecies," and I bet you thought I forgot that the fifth book will be titled The Order of the Phoenix. By the way, the rating may eventually go up to R, but I don't see why I should rate it R before it is worthy of that rating. You can MiST all of this story so far, and you will be able to MiST the entire trilogy when it is complete--whenever that may be.
Disclaimer: By now, you have to know what the general disclaimer is, but just in case you don't--I do not own most of the characters in this story. J.K. Rowling Does. I used Arlen for the last name of the first student to be sorted because it begins with an "A", and I watched King of the Hill last night. The character is mine, but the last name isn't. Also, I don't check for spelling and grammar because I'm too lazy too as well as the fact that Microsoft Word isn't working so I've resorted to Wordpad, but I now know how to save as a webpage using it, so the good formatting SHOULD be back, but it isn't. Maybe because the originally saved one was a .txt file. I also remind you that this is my first fan fic (or eighth if you count by chapters). If any one would like to be a beta reader, I would not mind but just tell me about improvements and errors to avoid uneccessarily large-sized e-mails.
Chapter Eight: The Sorting Hat's Mistake
"Fred, George, Ron and Ginny, get down here!" yelled Mrs. Weasley. They were running late and didn't want to miss the Hogwart's Express. Harry and Hermione had already came down since they had spent the end of the summer at the Burrow.
Ron and Ginny came running down the stairs, almost tripping over them and each other.
"Sorry Mum, but I couldn't find something," said Ron.
"There's no time for that now," said Mrs. Weasley, "we need to get going so you won't miss the train."
At that Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, and Mr. and Mrs. Wesley raced out the door, and had managed to get onto one of the wizard's world magical buses. Now, these magical buses are naturally like cabs, driving anywhere and as fast as they can but better: buildings hop out of the way and the bus is also capable of apparation.
Luckily, the bus's first stop was always the station on the first day of school at Hogwart's since at least 30% of the families ran late.
All the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione got off the bus.
"There's no time to say good bye to you, just get to the platform in time," said Mrs. Weasley, and Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny started running with their luggage that the bus had been able to carry. They had just made it to the train on time.
***************
"So what do you think it'll be like this year?" asked Ron.
"I don't know, but I'm glad the Dursleys still believe Sirius is a murderer," said Harry.
"Why?" asked Hermione.
"They treat me better when I tell them about Sirius. Plus, I just told them he was a convicted murderer, so I didn't lie."
"You still didn't tell the whole truth," said Hermione.
"If you lived with the Dursleys, you would understand. Plus, I will tell them once I'm out of Hogwart's."
At that moment, Draco burst in with Crabbe and Goyle saying, "Weasel, Potter! I can't believe I thought you were actual Crabbe and Goyle in second year. You've sunk lower than me!"
"Hey! How'd you find that out?" asked Ron.
"Remember the ferret. The white, bouncing ferret," said Harry. "Also, what took you so long?" However, the question was useless because Draco ran out crying. He still hadn't come to grips with the bouncing white ferret that the Bartemius Crouch Jr. posing as Mad-Eye Moody transformed him into. "Oh!" exclaimed Harry, slapping himself on the head. "I'm such an idiot!" He had just realized Professor Dumbledore had told him that Arabella Figg had lived two streets down in his letter during the summer.
"What?" asked Ron who hadn't really been paying attention.
"Nothing. I was just talking to myself," said Harry.
*********
"First-year this way," said Madame Fleur Delacour.
"That's odd. Normally Hagrid ushers the first years to the lake. I wonder where he is," said Harry.
"He's probably doing an errand for Professor Dumbledore," said Hermione. "Regardless, we need to catch the carriages." So Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione hopped onto a carriage that went around the lake to Hogwart's.
***********
When everyone had gathered in the Great Hall for the Sorting and the First Feast of the year, Professor Dumbledore said, "Before we begin the Sorting Ceremony, I have a few announcements to make. First, everyone is forbidden from entering the forest unless accompanied by a staff member. Second, Alastor Moody has decided to follow through with his one-year commitment to being the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher seeing as how unforeseen circumstances prevented him from doing so last year. Third, and finally, Madame Fleur Delacour will be substituting for Hagrid as Gameskeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher until he returns from a previous engagement. She may continue to teach with Hagrid, if she so chooses."
When he was finished, speaking, the Sorting Hat was brought out and sung its song. The last three lines were:
In all the years I've been sorting I've never made a mistake.
"Arlen, Erin," said Professor McGonnagol.
At this time, a nervous first-year came up, and the sorting hat was placed on her head. The hat took a few seconds to decide where to put her, and then shouted out "Hufflepuff!" All of Hufflepuff clapped.
"Bradt, Jonathan," called Professor McGonnagol.
Another nervous first-year came up, and the sorting hat was placed on his head. It exclaimed "Gryffindor!" almost immediately, and all of Gryffindor applauded.
The next four students were sorted into Slytherin so quickly by the Sorting Hat, it was hardly realized that they were even sorted except by the Slytherin students who applauded loudly.
The next three students were sorted into Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin respectively. Each house clapped as a student was sorted into their house.
"This can't be good; a lot of students are being sorted into Slytherin," said Harry. Ron and Hermione told him that they agreed.
The sorting hat continued sorting until there were three new Gryffindors, three new Hufflepuffs, four new Ravenclaws, and seven new Slytherins then Megan Kepple was called to be sorted.
"Hmm. You are a tough one," said the Sorting Hat. "You have characteristics of a Gryffindor, characterstics of an Hufflepuff, characterics of a Ravenclaw, and characterstics of a Slytherin. However, I sense you don't want to go into Slytherin, so I ask, are you sure."
At that point, Megan whispered, "Yes."
"Well, then Slytherin is out. Hmm. I don't think Gryffindor will suit you as well as either Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, so Gryffindor is out. However, you can do great things in both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. I need to think carefully about this one."
"Just, place me in either one. I don't care which."
"Well, in that case, it better be HUFFLE--" at that point, all of Hufflepuff started to applaud, but the Sorting Hat finished, "CLAW!"
Hufflepuff stopped applauding, and everyone was shocked--the Sorting Hat had done something it never had done before--it had made a mistake. The teachers discussed this and decided on what would be the appropiate action.
"May I have everyone's attention?" Dumbledore asked. "Due to this highly improbable mistake by the Sorting Hat, we have decided to postpone the rest of the Sorting Ceremony. I would like all the prefects to lead their Houses to the dorms. However, I would like to speak to Fred, George, Ron and Ginny Weasley, and Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and Draco Malfoy when as soon as they can get to my office. Unsorted students, that includes Megan Kepple, will remain here with Madame Delacour and Professors McGonnagal, Sprout, and Flitwick. You will report to meals at the normal time and classes will most likely be delayed at least one day. That is all."
The prefects lead their houses to the dormitories, with the unsorted students staying in the Great Hall while Professor Dumbledore headed to his office.
A/N: I like putting this note at the end, thanks whoever does this for inspiring me to do it. Ok, now to the note about my fic. Please review this fic. It took eight, long chapters, but we're finally at Hogwart's. Now, you may be wondering, why Ginny hasn't talked about Harry in a while. It's not that I've forgotten, it's just that I couldn't find the right time in this chapter too, but I am planning something about her and Harry later. It will be necessary for the plot of the trilogy. Just in case you're wondering, the next chapter will be entitled "The Order of the Phoenix Prophecies," and I bet you thought I forgot that the fifth book will be titled The Order of the Phoenix. By the way, the rating may eventually go up to R, but I don't see why I should rate it R before it is worthy of that rating. You can MiST all of this story so far, and you will be able to MiST the entire trilogy when it is complete--whenever that may be.