-Author's Note:
Yes Brianna has been to Hogwarts before but she didn't really pay attention to the castle, she had no idea where Hogwarts school was located.
She was in Dumbledore's office and then quickly escorted out of the building.
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The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Brianna's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.
"The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." She pulled the door wide. The Entrance Hall was so big you could have fitted the whole of the Dursleys' house in it two or three times.
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, which led to the upper floors was facing them.
They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Brianna could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right. The rest of the school must already be here. Professor McGonagall did not turn towards the doors but showed the first-years into a small empty chamber off the hall instead.
They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously. Brianna stood in between Ron and Finley who both towered over her slightly, they looked at each other as if for reassurance.
"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."
McGonagall paused and looked at them with a slightl smile before continuing her long explanatory speech.
"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin." she paused again, noticing the mix of sneers, geers and cheers as each house name was spoken.
"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." Once again she paused fixing them with a stern look, she seemed to focus of several individuals such as Draco Malfoy, Hermione Dursley, Ron Weasley and Brianna herself at various points as she spoke.
"'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."
Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. Brianna nervously tried to tame her tangle of curls.
"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." She left the chamber. Brianna swallowed.
"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" Finley asked Ron, before Brianna could open her mouth.
£Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot" Ron replied "but I think he was joking." He hastily added as Finely and Brianna paled.
Brianna's heart still gave a horrible jolt. A test? In front of the whole school? But she didn't know any magic yet – what on earth would she have to do?
Brianna hadn't expected something like this the moment they arrived and she looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified too. No one was talking much except Hermione, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learnt and wondering which one she'd need.
Brianna tried hard not to listen to her, as did the rest of the crowd. It seemed Brianna's cousin was irritating everybody with her consistent whispered chatter.
Brianna had never been more nervous, never. Not even when she'd had to take a school report home to her adoptive parents saying that she'd somehow turned his teacher's wig blue.
She kept his eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead then to their doom.
Then something happened which made her jump about a foot in the air – several people behind her screamed. Ron and Finley both reached out and grabbed her, protectively. Brianna giggled thinking about how she had already made friends.
Ron and Finley both flushed pale pink but began laughing.
Brianna only hoped that they were in the same house as each other and somehow she knew the two boys were thinking the same thing.
"What the –?" Ron gasped.
About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to each other 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 – I say, what are you all doing here?"
A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first-years.
Nobody answered.
"New students!" Said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be sorted, I suppose?"
A few people nodded mutely.
"I Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" Said the Friar. "My old house, you know."
"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.
"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first-years, "and follow me."
Feeling oddly as though her legs had turned to lead, Brianna got into line between Ron and Finley, with Finley in front of her and Ron behind her.
They walked out of the chamber, back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.
Briann had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles which were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting.
These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the Hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first-years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them.
The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Brianna looked upwards and saw a
velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. She heard Hermione whisper to the small, plump girl with black hair that walked behind her
"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in Hogwarts: A History."
The girl did not look pleased with this knowledge and sneered at Hermione harshly.
It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens.
Brianna quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first-years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.
Brianna knew that neither her adoptive family the Fairdales nor her Aunt Petunia would have let it in their homes.
Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it, Brianna thought wildly, that seemed the sort of thing – noticing that everyone in the Hall was now staring at the hat, he stared at it too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth – and the hat began to sing:
'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 Gryf indor,
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 folk 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!'
The whole Hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.
"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Finley whispered to Brianna and Ron.
"I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll." Hissed Ron
Briannw smiled weakly. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but she did wish they could have tried it on without everyone watching.
The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Brianna didn't feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment. If only the hat had mentioned a house for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for her. But then again she thought that would probably be the house for almost everyone at that particular moment.
Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"
A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause and then
"HUFFLEPUFF!" Shouted the hat.
The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the HUFFLEPUFF table. Brianna saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.
"Bones, Susan!"
'HUFFLEPUFF!' shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.
"Boot, Terry!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.
'Brocklehurst, Mandy Went to Ravenclaw too, but "'Brown, Lavender' became the first new Gryffindor and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Brianna could see Ron's twin
brothers catcalling. 'Bulstrode, Millicent' then became a Slytherin. Perhaps it was Brianna's imagination, after all he'd heard about Slytherin, but she thought they looked an unpleasant lot.
Brianna was starting to feel definitely sick now. She remembered being picked for parts during the school plays at her old mundane school.
She had always been last to be chosen, because she was no good, acting was not one of her skills
"Dursley Hermione" called professor McGonagall and Hermione swaggered forward. Brianna, Ron and Finley all healed their breath as the hat debated what house Hermione should go too and then their hearts sank and they groaned in horror as the hat yelled
"Gryffindor"
'Finch-Fletchley, Justin!' became a 'HUFFLEPUFF!'
Sometimes, Brianna noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. 'Finnigan, Seamus', a sandy-haired boy near to Brianna in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.
"Granger, Finley!"
and Finley Stumbled forward. He walked quickly, it looked like he was almost running to the stool and jammed the hat
on his head. Seeming to what to get the sorting over with.
"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Ron and Brianna smiled.
A horrible thought struck Brianna, as horrible thoughts always do when you're very nervous. What if they were not put in the same house? What if they were put in different houses? What if they were not chosen at all?
What if she just sat there with the hat over her eyes for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had obviously been a mistake and she'd better get back on the train?
When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted
'GRYFFINDOR' , Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to 'MacDougal, Morag'.
Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed,
'SLYTHERIN!'
Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.
There weren't many people left now.
'Moon' … 'Nott' … 'Parkinson' … then a pair of twin girls, 'Patil' and 'Patil' … then 'Perks, Sally-Anne' … and then, at last –
'Potter, Brianna!'
As Brianna stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.
"Potter, did she say?"
"The Brianna Potter?"
The last thing Brianna saw before the hat dropped over her eyes was the Hall full of people craning to get a good look at her.
Next second she was looking at the black inside of the hat. She waited.
"Hmm," said a small voice in her ear. 'Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Loyalty too, and there's talent, oh my goodness, yes, now that's interesting … So where shall I put you?"
Brianna gripped the edges of the stool and thought,
"Not Slytherin, not Slytherin."
"Oh no, definitely not" said the small voice "don't worry you certainly are not a Slytherin, a Hufflepuff maybe but I think the best place for use is…. GRYFFINDOR!'
Brianna heard the hat shout the last word to the whole Hall. She took off the hat and walked shakily towards the Gryffindor table. Brianna was so thankful that she had been sorted tnwt she hardly noticed thats he was getting the loudest
cheer yet.
Percy the Prefect got up and shook her hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled,
"We got Potter! We got Potter!" Brianna chose to sit away from a smirking Hermione. She practically threw herself at the empty seat next to Finley. She was now sitting opposite the ghost in the ruff she'd seen earlier. The ghost patted her arm, giving Brianna the sudden, horrible feeling she'd just plunged it into a bucket of ice-cold water.
Brianna could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest her sat Hagrid, who caught her eye and gave her the thumbs-up. Brianna grinned back. And there, in the centre of the HighTable, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore.
Dumbledore's silver hair was the
only thing in the whole Hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts.
Dumbledore smiled warmly at Brianna who smiled back feeling a lot more secure now.
And then there were only three people left to be sorted.
'Turpin, Lisa' became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. Brianna crossed his fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted,
'GRYFFINDOR!'
Brianna and Finley both clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the seat next to Brianna.
"Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously across Finley as 'Zabini, Blaise' was made a Slytherin.
Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.
Brianna looked down at his empty gold plate. He had only just realised how hungry she was. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago.
Albus Dumbledore had got to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.
"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"
He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Brianna among them.
'Is he – a bit mad?' Brianna heard Hermione ask Percy in an uncertain voice
"Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes?"
Brianna mouth fell open as she too looked at the dishes in front of her, they were now piled with food. Brianna had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup and, for some strange reason, mint humbugs.
Brianna had never exactly been starved, but she'd never been allowed to eat as much as she liked before.
The Fairdales had always believed in moderation and had followed the recommended portion size strictly so Brianna had often been left feeling hungry.
The Dursleys too had been strict about mealtimes, one serving only and no snacking between meals.
Brianna piled his plate with a little bit of everything except the humbugs and began to eat. It was all delicious.
"That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Brianna cut up her steak.
"Can't you –?"
"I haven't eaten for nearly five hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."
"I know who you are!' said Ron suddenly. 'My brothers told me about you – you're Nearly Headless Nick!"
"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy –" the ghost began stiffly, but Finley interrupted.
"Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?"
Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted.
"Like this," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell on to his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back on to his neck, coughed and said,
"So – new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the House Championship this year? Gryffindor has never gone so long without winning. Slytherin have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable – he's the Slytherin ghost."
Brianna looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Malfoy
who, Brianna was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements.
"How did he get covered in blood?' asked the boy called Seamus Finnegan with great interest.
"I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.
When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the puddings appeared.
Blocks of ice-cream in every flavour you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, rice pudding …
As Brianna helped herself to a treacle tart, the talk turned to their families.
"I'm half and half," said Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mam didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."
The others laughed.
"What about you, Neville?" said Ron.
"Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," said Neville, "But the family thought I was all Muggle for ages. My great-uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me – he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned – but nothing happened until I was eight. Great- uncle
Algie came round for tea and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles
when my great-auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced – all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased. Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here – they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great-uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."
A short way down the table Brianna's was not surprised to find that Percy Weasley and Hermione were talking about lessons
("I do hope they start straight away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult –" she heard Hermione say
"You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing –" Percy replied)
Brianna, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore.
An absurd looking teacher, wearing a purple turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose and sallow skin.
It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past the others turban straight into Briqnna's eyes – and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Brianna's forehead.
"Ouch!" Brianna frowned as she clapped a hand to her head.
"What is it?" asked Ron.
"N-nothing." Replied Brianna quickly, still rubbing her scar. The pain had gone as quickly as it had come.
Harder to shake off was the feeling Brianna had got from the teacher's look – a feeling that he didn't like Brianna at all.
"Who's that teacher talking to the professor in the turban?" she asked Percy.
"Oh, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions,
but he doesn't want to – everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. The professor in the turban. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."
Briannw watched Snape for a while but Snape didn't look at her again. At last, the puddings too disappeared and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The Hall fell silent.
"Ahem – just a few more words now we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. 'First-years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do
well to remember that as well."
Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.
"I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."
"He always tries to ban magic in the corridors, never works" Brianna heard someone mutter
"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch." Continued Dumbeldore "and finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."
Brianna looked startled, and she noticed only a few people including Finley laughed.
"He's not serious?" Finley muttered to Percy.
"Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere – the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us Prefects, at least."
"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore.
Brianna noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.
Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick as if he was trying to get a fly off the end and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself snake-like into words.
"Everyone pick their favourite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"
And the school bellowed:
'Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuf ,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluf ,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.'
Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march.
After Dumbledore had conducted their last few lines with his wand, and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.
"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "The finest magic. A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"
Brianna stood up, with the rest of the students, imagining the whole school as a herd of Horses as she did so.
The Gryffindor first-years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase.
Briqnna's legs were like lead again, but this time it was only because she was so tired and full of food and not because she was full of dread.
Brianna was too sleepy even to be surprised that the people in the portraits along the corridors
whispered and pointed as they passed, or that twice Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries.
They climbed more staircases, yawning and
dragging their feet, and Brianna was just wondering how much further they had to go, and if she could flop against Ron and Finley, or whether it would be better to beg Percy for a piggyback road when they came to a sudden halt.
"Here we are." said Percy in a pompous voice
At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.
"Password?" she said.
"Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall.
They all scrambled through it, Brianna needing a leg up due to her small size, and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cosy, round room full of squashy armchairs.
After Percy informed them of their room assignments he directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another.
Ron, Finley and Brianna said goodnight to each other and went their separate ways.
Ron and Finley were in the same form, they were sharing with Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan and would be sharing together for the next 7 years.
Brianna on the other hand was to share a dorm with Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, Gwendolyn Montrose and to Brianna's horror Hermione.
The Gryffindor common room and dorms were located in the tallest tower. Brianna claimed the narrow spiral staircase that led to the dorms. She followed the others down the long corridor with doors on either side that coiled round and raised up ever up three doors by a small staircase..
The boys dorms seemed to coil around the tower clockwise and the girls dorms seemed to coil around the tower anticlockwise.
Each level alternating between girls and boys.
after a few moments they found their dorm room, and then after a slight Scrabble they found their beds.
Five four-posters hung with deep-red velvet curtains. Sat in a circle around a log burner.
Hermione and Lavender were on either side of the main door and Lavender and Parvati were on either side of the bathroom door.
Gwendolyn was next to Hermione and Brianna was between Gwendolyn and Parvati. The window was between Brianna's and Gwendolyn's beds.
Each bed had a narrow wardrobe, set of draws, bedside cabinet and a small narrow desk and chair squished around it.
Their trunks had already been brought up.
Everyone but Hermione seemed to be tired to talk much, so they pulled on their pyjamas and fell into bed.
"Great food, isn't it?" Hermione muttered to the room, although the others had all closed the
hangings around their beds.
Brianna thought about asking Hermione if she was too nervous to sleep, but she fell asleep almost at once.
Perhaps Brianna had eaten a bit too much, because she had a very strange dream. She was wearing Professor Quirrell's turban, which kept talking to her, telling her he must transfer to
Slytherin at once, because it was her destiny. Brianna told the turban she didn't belong in Slytherin; it got heavier and heavier; she tried to pull it off but it tightened painfully – and there was Malfoy, laughing at her as she struggled with it – then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold – there was a burst of green light and Brianna woke, sweating and shaking.
She rolled over and fell asleep again, and when she woke next day, she didn't remember the dream at all.