The Marauders Tale: Year 1



Disclaimer: Again, I own nothing, it all belongs to J. K. and her fabulous mind.

Chapter 2-The Sorting

As they followed McGonagall through the winding hall, the students looked uncertainly around themselves. Some of them clearly doubted whether or not they belonged in such a big place and a few even whimpered to anyone who would listen that they wanted to go home.

James wasn't whimpering but his brain was full of doubts. His stomach was wriggling around and he had the sinking sensation that it was going to attempt to escape through his mouth any moment.

Beside him, Lupin was no longer looking around. His amber eyes were focused on his sneakers and he looked almost lost in daydream.

Just ahead of him, Sirius was barely refraining from bouncing on the balls of his feet. His mouth was stretching into a knowing grin and his bright eyes danced over the people surrounding him. He kept glancing back at James and making odd hand gestures, as though playing a silent game of charades that only he knew the rules to. Because James was completely lost, he merely shrugged and offered weak grins, which only made Sirius chuckle softly.

"Something funny, Mr. Black?" McGonagall asked sharply after his laughter had risen to a loud cackle.

He froze, shoulders going ram-rod stiff. She nodded to herself.

"I didn't think so."

Now it was Lupin who's smirk was knowing. Sirius scowled even as Lupin whispered, "Can't say you didn't deserve it."

McGonagall stopped walking abruptly and swung around to face them. Sirius' grin returned and he waited for the strict teacher to reprimand Lupin, but she didn't even glance at the now-silent young man. Sirius drooped for a moment until she spoke.

"As we walk through these doors, you will stand single-file until I call your name, at which point you will come to the head of the Great Hall to be sorted," she told them smoothly with the air of someone who had recited a speech too many times to actually be listening to herself speak.

The crowd of eleven year olds before her didn't respond and she turned once again to push the heavy looking oak doors open.

James felt his jaw begin to drop at the sight before him and hastily closed his mouth before anyone other than Sirius could notice. Nearby, the pudgy blonde boy who had been picked on moments earlier wasn't even trying to hide his amazement.

The Great Hall, as McGonagall had called it, was full of people, too many to count. The children were split into four groups, one group seated at each of the four tables. The teachers were at a fifth table, at the head of the room.

McGonagall strode through the overwhelming room as if it were her own kitchen. Meekly, the first years followed her until she stopped before a lone three-legged stool. The first years, curiosity getting the better of them, began to crowd one another once again, trying to see what resided on the stool.

A hat sat there, patched and old-looking. Sirius was so disappointed by this that he leaned back with a derisive snort. James gave a weak grin; this was what he had been afraid of? This was what would place him into a house?

To his surprise, the hat's brim tore open to reveal a mouth. It took in a deep breath and James found himself waiting, absurdly enough, for it to break into song.

Instead, a deep rumbling voice came from the depths of the Sorting Hat.

"I'm sure you'll all be disappointed to hear that I will not be presenting a song this year," it croaked. "Unfortunately, as I was needed for rather a long period of time last year, I had not the time to come up with new lyrics. So I will instead say this: You will face dangers this year and for years to come. I cannot say how or why but you must stand together. If you do not remain united, wizarding kind will fail."

The hat inhaled deeply and Lupin muttered, "Does it even need to breathe?"

It continued, "So. With that out of the way, I suppose the young ones would like their time to place me on their heads and see where they belong? Mm? Yes? Bring them up, then!"

And it fell silent.

Lupin grinned nervously. "Do you think it's always that, er, harsh?"

Sirius poked him between the shoulder blades. "If you think it's harsh, you need to go and look at the real world for a while, Remy. It's just being..."

"A hat?" Lupin asked sarcastically. His fear of Sirius had evaporated and what was left was somewhere between challenging and amiable.

McGonagall unfurled a long list and began to call out names. One by one, the first years walked nervously to the front of the room, sat down, and set the hat on their heads. After varying lengths of time, the hat would yell out whatever house they belonged in.

James was beginning to wonder how exactly the hat knew where they belonged. Perhaps it only guessed. Or maybe, he thought, it was bewitched somehow to be able to get inside their heads. Unnerving as that thought was, he had the feeling it was the right one.

Suddenly, Sirius was striding toward the Sorting Hat, his shoulder brushing James aside. James jumped; he hadn't heard McGonagall call his new friend's name.

Calmer than he had appeared before, Sirius made his way up to the hat and lifted it onto his head. It took only seconds before yelling for the whole Hall to hear, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Grinning more broadly than ever, Sirius wrenched the hat off and jumped down from the stool. He bolted to one of the long tables (the one from which the most screaming was coming) and sat down near the end.

The names kept getting ticked off, and the crowd was getting smaller and smaller. Lupin was called up and the hat immediately (though less immediately than with Sirius) called out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Looking quite pleased, Lupin hopped down and strode to the Gryffindor table where he sat quietly next to Sirius.

To James' surprise, the blonde boy whom he had helped save, Peter Pettigrew, also went to Gryiffindor, though the hat took quite a long time to place him there. Sirius bent over to whisper something to Lupin, who shrugged, eyes discreetly following Peter along the Hall.

Then it was James' turn to walk up the aisle with everyone staring at him and put on the hat.

To his surprise, the Sorting Hat was much more talkative than it seemed. From the moment he put it on, it whispered nonstop in his ear.

"Hmm...certain arrogance...interesting, interesting. Might serve him well in Slytherin," it mused. "Then again, the talent for retaining knowledge is definite Ravenclaw material...and the need to help those in need...well, looking in on the incident with the Pettigrew boy says Hufflepuff...You're a tricky one, you know that?"

James jumped as the hat addressed him directly. "Erm...sorry?" he offered weakly, not knowing what else to say in apology to an inanimate object.

If the hat could've shaken it's head, it would have. As it was, it heaved a huge sigh in James' ear.

"It's not your fault, Potter," it griped. "Now...let's see...courage. Plenty of it too....need to take risks....I think, to be safe, we'll just stick you in GRYFFINDOR!"

James jumped and tried not to yell aloud. He whipped the hat off and stepped off the stool to rejoin his friends, trying to ignore the fact that his ears were ringing nicely.

Sirius wacked him painfully on the back, knocking the wind from his lungs for a few seconds as he said, "Well done, James, together for the next seven years!"

Lupin was smirking again. "That's only if you're not expelled. I take extreme pity on the poor teachers who try to reign you in..."

Next to him, Peter had lifted his head and was staring eagerly at the others.

Sirius smiled far too sweetly. "Yes? Can we help you, er..."

"Peter!" the boy said in a high squeaky sort of voice that James found immediately irritating. "Peter Pettigrew. I was wondering if, uh, maybe I could hang out with you guys sometime..."

"Doesn't beat around the bush, does he?" Lupin murmured, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Obviously not..." Sirius' teeth were clenched as though the boy's words (or perhaps his voice) caused him extreme physical pain. He forced a smile back onto his face.

"So? Can I?" Peter demanded, a bit louder than necessary.

"Erm..." Sirius appeared to be at a loss for words for the first time since arriving on the Hogwarts Express, so James leapt in.

"Sure. Why not?" he said cheerily, ignoring the daggers Sirius was sending via his eyeballs.

Peter gave an annoying little cheer. "Yessss! Thanks, thanks so much, you won't regret this friendship!"

"I'll bet," Lupin chuckled through clenched teeth, looking like he wanted for all the world to clock both James and Peter.

"Hey!" Peter squealed. "We should have a team name or something! Something cool that would strike fear into the hearts of others!"

Lupin flinched visibly. "We don't want to--"

"How about the Marauders?" James cut in. "Doesn't quite strike, er, fear, but it isn't easily forgotten, is it?"

"Yeah! The Marauders! Sounds great!" Peter grinned toothily at them all. He looked like he was going to say more, but thankfully was interrupted by Dumbledore, who had just stood up.

"Boys and girls, witches and wizards, ghosts and poltergeists (and at this James noted the silvery figures floating among the students)," Dumbledore rumbled in a voice that seemed unfit for a man of his age. He looked to be around fifty and his once brown hair was quite gray. Only his clear blue eyes betrayed the sense of youth that his appearance lacked.

"I would like to, of course, welcome you either back or for the very first time, to Hogwarts," the headmaster continued. "Starting off, I think I'll actually get the announcements out of the way before we begin our magnificent feast." He beamed around at all of them. "Now, as our caretaker, Mr. Argus Filch, will take care to remind you all, there is to be no magic in the corridors and no student is allowed in the Forbidden Forest for any reason whatsoever. That is all, for now, so, with that out of the way, I suggest we set into this delicious feast."

He clapped his thin hands together and sat. James looked around eagerly, noting the sudden rumbling of his stomach.

Nothing happened. No house elves entered the Hall and certainly no waiters appeared. James blinked, then turned to Sirius. "What--"

But the need to ask the question vanished as James' eyes fell on the table before him. The littering golden plate at his place was suddenly full of food: chicken legs, potatoes, vegetables, even a bit of peppermint. His goblet had been filled to the brim with pumpkin juice by an invisible hand.

Sirius didn't seem at all off-put by the appearance of food. He was stuffing a bit of everything into his mouth with one hand and tugging yet more of the amazing cuisine onto his overflowing plate.

On James' other side, Lupin was eyeing his plate somewhat warily, but eating all the same. Peter wasn't eating at all, preferring instead to stare adoringly at James, who looked quickly in the opposite direction, sure that Peter was going to start a fan club any moment.

Soon enough, the students and teachers were finished and Dumbledore was on his feet again. He waved for quiet before announcing, "As it so often happens, the feast has put us all into a haze of sleep ( James and the others were feeling as though they could doze off at any moment), so I suggest the prefects lead your students to your respective dormitories and you can all rest up for tomorrow's classes. Off you go, then, to bed..."

Obediently, Sirius, Lupin, Peter, and James got up with the rest of the Gryffindors and followed the burly older boy who had told them to dress on the train out of the Great Hall. He led them up and down a number of winding corridors and staircases until they were facing an enormous painting of a fat woman in a pink gown.

She appeared to be waiting for something. The boy said firmly, "Werewolf blood," and she swung forward on her hinges to admit them.

As the Gryffindors scrambled inside to the comforting common room, the prefect boy announced, "That was the password and you'd all do well to remember it as it is your ticket into Gryffindor Tower, understand? Now. Boys up this staircase, girls have that one. Try to refrain from talking, just go straight to sleep."

He didn't smile. Instead, he began herding the boys in one direction, the girls in another. James followed Sirius up the stairs into a room with four four-poster beds. Sirius selected one and bounced onto it after kicking off his shoes, not even bothering to change into his pajamas. Lupin silently took the furthest one over, on Sirius' left side, James took the one on Sirius' right, and Peter (to Sirius' chagrin) hopped into the last one.

"This is exciting, isn't it?" Peter breathed in his high voice. "Just fabulous! I can't wait `till classes tomorrow, won't they be wonderful? I think Defense Against the Dark Arts will be the best, don't you? So fascinating, the creatures we learn about and the curses!"

By this point, James had begun to tune the overexcited boy out. His eyes began to close and he barely registered the light, even sounds of Lupin's breathing and Sirius' snores as he drifted off.