"EEK!" Said Ginny as an entire bucket of water was drenched all over their already soaked robes.  Everyone else in the entrance hall stepped away from a spot some five feet from Ginny as Peeves dumped another bucket of water over there.

Harry looked up and saw Peeves, a tiny man in a large orange revolving bow-tie floating in mid-air, with a fleet of buckets (all filled with water) behind him.

"Peeves!" Said Lupin as he whipped out his wand.  "Peeves, leave now or I'll be forced to call the Headmaster!"

All Peeves did was blow a loud raspberry.  "Looney, loopy, Lupin! Looney, loopy, Lupin! Looney…"

"Offendere!"  Yelled Lupin pointing his wand at Peeves' face and all of a sudden Red blotches erupted on Peeves' cheeks.

He stopped singing and zoomed away, cursing.  His fleet of water-buckets fell to the floor sending a wave of cold water over everyone's shoes.  Harry quickly led Ron, Hermione, and Ginny away from the entrance hall and into the warmth of the Great Hall.

As they sat down at the Gryffindor table, they saw Lupin slip into his seat at the teachers table.

"I hope the sorting starts soon!"  Moaned Ron, massaging his stomach, "I'm so hungry!"

"Oh, but Ron!" Said Hermione, "Don't you want to see who else is going to be in Gryffindor this year?"

"No," he said.

Soon all of the students above first year were assembled in the Great Hall and it we beginning to get very noisy.  People kept looking towards the doors for some sign of the first years coming in for the sorting.  After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, the doors burst open and Professor McGonagall came in with a three-legged stool and a patched-and-frayed wizards hat.  A group of about sixty scared-looking first years walked in behind her.

The rest of the school quieted as Professor McGonagall placed the stool in the center of the Hall with the wizards hat on top.  Everyone stared apprehensively at the hat and soon enough, a rip near the brim opened wide and it began to sing:

'Twas a long, long time ago,

This mighty school was found,

By the four greatest witches wizards of our age,

Whose names are still well-known.

There was bravest and bold Gryffindor,

Sweet Hufflepuff the fair,

Smart Ravenclaw was the cleverest,

Cunning Slytherin wit no despair.

In Gryffindor house the bravest were placed,

Their boldness far outnumbered the rest.

In Ravenclaw house the smartest were put,

Their brains were simply the best.

In Hufflepuff house the sweetest were found,

And the ones who didn't fit in.

In Slytherin house, the purest blood,

Would later find their kin.

So those four founders chose those ones,

Who suited them the most.

They were sorted into houses, four,

Each one to be their host.

They formed this great and noble school,

To teach those young at heart.

They'd take them in and teach them spells,

To make them really smart.

But how to choose once they were gone,

Was a question that would linger.

For they were not immortal souls,

And could not choose much later.

So Gryffindor, whom I adore,

Took me of his head,

And the smartest one, fair Ravenclaw,

Put some brains in my pointed head.

But soon the houses became divided,

For their selections were all unlike,

Oh, so little did they know that,

Soon bad times would strike.

Slytherin and Gryffindor

Became such great foes,

Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw

What truly happened, no one knows.

So heed my warning,

Take great care,

Let us not ruin this school.

Dark times are approaching,

We must be strong,

Stand together as one,

Now…I must finish my song!

Here I am today, right now,

And I am anything but a fool,

Put me on, I'll look inside your head,

To choose a house for you!

The Great Hall erupted with some unsure applause.  Last year the hat had given a warning like this one and later everyone had found out that Lord Voldemort had truly risen again.

The first years looked as scared as ever as Professor McGonagall read off their names from a list:

"Arthur, Evan!"  A small black-haired boy cautiously walked up to the stool and sat down and placed the hat on his head.  It sat there for about fifteen seconds and then shouted, "RAVENCLAW!"  The Ravenclaw table applauded loudly.

"Andews, Felicia!"  A blonde-haired girl walked up to the stage and placed the hat on her head.  This time it covered her shiny hair for almost a minute before roaring, "GRYFFINDOR!"  The Gryffindor table exploded and Harry clapped along with the rest.

They got through the students from B through E (Gryffindor got 'Beterman, Emerick', 'Brown, Jacob', 'Danes, Rachel', 'Danielle, Daniel', 'Doreen, Ellen', and 'Emerson, Matilda').  But when they reached the F's Seamus Finnagin, a sandy-haired boy in Harry's year tapped him, Ron, and Hermione on the shoulder and pointed to a small girl with the same coloured hair as him.  "My sister!" He said.

And sure enough, "Finnagin, Heather!" Was called and Harry saw Seamus crossing his fingers under the table as she tried on the sorting hat.  No sooner had it touched her head, it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"  Heather came to sit down in-between Hermione and Seamus, looking very smug.

"Hi Heather," said Seamus, "this is Ron Weasley," he said motioning to Ron, "Hermione Granger," he pointed to Hermione, "and Harry Potter," he motioned to Harry, who waved.

At the sight of Harry, Heather blushed and turned back to her brother.  Ron raised his eyebrows at Harry as the sorting continued.  Soon there were five new additions to the Gryffindor table along with the students from A through F: 'Gold, Kenneth', 'Hughes, Jennifer', 'Lee, Jared', 'Smarts, Alan', and 'Williams, Amy'.

Once everyone was sitting at their tables, the Hall noise-level began to inch higher and higher.  Harry and Ron were staring apprehensively at the empty golden plates in front of them.  Suddenly, Dumbledore stood up to speak and the entire Hall fell silent.  "Welcome, welcome to another year at Hogwarts!" He said stretching his arms out wide as though he wanted to hug the entire Hall, "I have a few words to say," he paused looking at the hungry faces around him, "but, I am also certain that no one as famished as you will actually listen to what I have to say and it is a pity to waste my breath when so many of you won't be listening.  Therefore," he paused again, "let the feast begin!"  And with that, he waived his arms and the plates in front of everyone filled suddenly with delicious food and drink.

Harry helped himself to everything he could reach and saw Ron doing the same.  Hermione, however, helped herself to very little and began to eat the least she could.  Harry, noticing this, said, "Starting with SPEW again, are you?"

"As a matter of fact, I am," she said.

"But...Her-my-oh-nee…youf knowf fwat fey're 'appy?  Don't youf?"  Harry couldn't see how Ron had managed to say this in-between mouthfuls of food.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Ron?  They're brainwashed!"

"Brainwashed, eh?"  Nearly-Headless Nick had come to join them.

"Yes," said Hermione, indignantly.

"She sdill doesn't gwet it, Nick!" Said Ron.

"I've already tried to explain it.  Remember last year?"  Said Nick, looking at Ron's full mouth with utter loathing and fixing his head in the ruff around his neck.

"They are poor, unfortunate, mistreated, deprived beings who-"

"They.  Like.  It! Hermione, they like being enslaved!  How many times do we have to explain it to you?"  Asked Harry.

"I don't care!  It's still not right!"  And with that, Hermione shoved her plate away, crossed her arms, and said no more.

The rest of dinner was very uneventful, besides Hermione's tuh's every time Harry or Ron reached for more food.  It was almost midnight by the time Harry was full.  He leaned back in his chair staring up at the stormy ceiling and thinking longingly of his four-poster bed.  As he gazed up into the gale and felt himself drifting into its depths.  The rain was coming down on him…he could actually feel it hitting his face.  Wait-why was there rain hitting his face?

He sat up straight and looked around and saw that Ron had been splashing him with his pumpkin juice to get his attention.  When Harry looked at him, he sniggered and pointed up to Dumbledore who had stood up once again.

"I must remind all of you that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds as usual.  You may go into it but only if you wish to suffer an immense amount of pain.

"Mr. Filch has also asked me to remind you (and it is hard to forget myself because he reminds me at least twice a day) that magic is forbidden in corridors.  As well are screaming yo-yo's, biting freebees, and many other oddities that witches and wizards in our magical community have unfortunately decided to produce.  The full list of allowances is posted on Mr. Filch's office door if you would like to double-check it.

"And one last reminder.  Because of the events of last year I beg of you (and I am most certain that you will obey) not to badger the people who know anything about the Dark Lord's return."  Harry could've sworn that Dumbledore had given the smallest glance.

"Lastly, this is not a reminder this time; I would like to introduce you to a new staff member who may have been an old teacher for you.  Professor Lupin has kindly come back to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts this year."

There was quite a lot of applause.  Everyone who was fourth year or up and in Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff was clapping enthusiastically.  Not one single person at the Slytherin table was clapping and everyone from third year and down was clapping politely.  Lupin smiled and waved and then turned to talk to Professor McGonagall, who was sitting next to him.

"Now," said Dumbledore, clasping his hands together, "I have kept you here for long enough!  Bed-time!  Shoo, shoo!"

Harry got up and followed Ron and Hermione out of the hall.  "Why don't you two have to round up the first years?" Ginny asked.

"That's the sixth year's job.  We don't really have to do much this year except look important and scare all of the younger students away."  Said Ron.

"Ron!" Said Hermione.

They made their way up to the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, which was located on the seventh floor behind a large painting of a fat lady in a pink satin dress.  Harry reached the portrait first and waited for Ron and Hermione to get close enough so that the fat lady could hear them say the password.

"Obbrutesco," said Ron once he had gotten close enough, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a circular room with squishy couches and a fire burning merrily in the grate.  Harry crawled through the passageway and into the common room and was shortly joined by Ron and Hermione.

He and Ron made their way up to their dormitory.  The sign on the door now read 'Sixth Year'.  They walked inside and gravitated towards their familiar four-poster beds.  Harry began to pull his pajamas on just as Seamus, Dean, and Neville walked in.  Harry sat down on the squishy mattress of his bed, feeling ready for a good night's sleep, but Seamus pulled him over to the side to talk to him.

"Yeah," said Harry, completely bewildered as he stood a foot from Seamus.

"Uh…Harry?"  Said Seamus, awkwardly, "er…I really don't know how to put this…but my…my sister fancies you."  He said this last bit as fast as he could.

"What?"  Said Harry, now more confused than he was before.  "How d'you reckon that?"

"Well, didn't you see her at dinner?"  He asked, "when she met you…she blushed a bit.  And then she turned to me and told me that she fancies you.  But I promised her that I wouldn't tell you…if you see her, try not to let it slip."

"But why are you telling me this?"  Said Harry.

"Well, because I just wanted you to be on the look-out.  You know, don't be surprised if she does anything stupid.  Believe me, she just might send you a bouquet of roses or something."

"Okay…" said Harry.  He walked over to his four-poster, set his glasses on his bedside table, laid down, twitched the hangings and fell into a very uneasy sleep about young girls who looked exactly like Seamus except with long hair and bouquets of roses dancing around him…