Chapter 10

Who's House? (Cassie)

My name is Cassie.

I ran forward as I saw the girl, Hermione, collapse. Harry ran forward too. I ignored Marco, who was yelling words that I shouldn't repeat.

"What did you do to her?" I asked. Harry shook his head. "I stunned her. I'll wake her up. She's not a Yeerk. She wouldn't have been able to do magic otherwise." He reassured me. He pointed his wand at her. "Ennervate."

Hermione's body shook. Her eyelids fluttered, then she blinked. "You're getting good," she told him matter-of-factly. "Last time we dueled, I always won." He grinned. "That was before I dueled Voldemort. He plays nasty. He uses the Unforgivable Curses." He said.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Harry got up and pulled her to her feet. She squinted around the Chamber, then saw Marco. "Oh!" she said. She pointed at him and waved her wand.

Marco collapsed. "Ow…" he moaned. "What was that?"

Hermione rubbed her head, wincing, and said, "Jelly-Legs Jinx. I didn't mean for it to hit him. It doesn't have any permanent effects, though, so don't worry. Neither does being stunned. Believe me, Ron and I had it worse last year."

I sat back with a sigh of relief. She looked fine. She needed no medical attention.

As soon as she returned to normal, we Animorphs told everything. Hermione listened, eyebrows raised out of disbelief. "Yeah, right," she snorted when we finished.

Jake turned to me. "Cassie?" he asked. I shrugged, held my breath, and started to morph osprey.

The others think I'm the best morpher. I don't know about that, but I know that morphing will always creep me out, no matter how many times I do it.

A black and white feather pattern rippled down my skin. It looked a little like a tattoo. Within seconds, the feathers became 3D with small popping noises.

Then, suddenly, SHOOM! The ground rushed up at me! It seemed like I was falling, but my feet were always on the ground. I knew I was shrinking and I was expecting it, though, so it didn't freak me out as much as it had the first time.

My bones crunched as they hollowed out and moved around. My insides sloshed around with disgusting sloshing noises.

SHLOOP! My hair was sucked into my scalp.

SPROOT! My lips and nose sprouted into the cruel hooked beak of a raptor.

I finished my morph in seconds. I ruffled my feathers a little. With a sharp cry, I flapped my wings and took off. I had to flap constantly because we were inside (which was strange) and there were no thermals.

Hermione watched me in awe. Her eyes were round and her mouth was open. "Animagus," she whispered.

Harry shook his head. "No, not Animagus. They're Animorphs. They morph. Didn't you see how slow it was? It's not at all like that when Sirius transforms!"

I landed in demorphed. The thrill of flight still rang in my bones.

"What House are they in?" asked Hermione.

"Um… they aren't in any. I don't think we can just waltz up to Professor Dumbledore's office and ask to use the Sorting Hat. Well, maybe if we borrow it for a little while…" Harry said, leaving off.

She gasped. "Harry! You want to steal from… Dumbledore!?"

"No! No! We'd put it back. And I don't think the Hat would mind either."

"Well…" she faltered, looking conflicted, "Okay. But we put it right back."

"Yes."

"Who's house?" asked Marco.

Hermione laughed. "Not who's House. Which House. The school is divided up into four Houses, depending on your characteristics: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Harry and I are in Gryffindor."

Harry and Hermione left to grab the Sorting Hat. Whatever that was.

The rest of us Animorphs waited in silence.

"So," said Marco finally, rocking back and forth on his feet, "What's a Sorting Hat?"

I shrugged. "It must put us in these Houses some way."

What is a hat? asked Ax.

"A hat is a type of clothing… you wear it on your head." I explained.

Aaah. He said as if he understood.

There was another awkward silence.

Apprehensively, Jake broke the silence. "Should we make them into Animorphs?"

I blinked in surprise. Questions like this don't come up randomly.

I glanced around at the others. Tobias was expressionless, as a hawk usually is. Marco's face was convulsing as he thought. I knew he was remembering David, the Animorph we made that… well, went bad. Rachel was chewing her lip thoughtfully. Ax swatted a fly with his tail blade, no trace of emotion on his face. Jake was carefully twiddling his thumbs and staring at the large statue on the wall.

"Not yet," I blurted.

Everyone turned to me in surprise. The time we were deciding to make David an Animorph, I was all gung-ho about it.  Let's just say I didn't want a repeat.

"We should wait a while," I said reasonably, "How long have we known Harry? A day? We haven't known Hermione for even five minutes! Harry seems like a great person, but what was the whole thing with Hermione stealing Harry's cloak?"

Jake smiled, relieved. "Yeah," he agreed, "Maybe we should wait a little more. We can watch them for a week or two. If there are any attempts at infesting them, any at all, we'll stop the Yeerks. Period. They've seen us. They know us. We don't want our secret spilled to the whole place, wherever this is."

Everyone murmured his or her consent.

Then Harry and Hermione returned. Harry carried the dirtiest and rattiest hat I've ever seen in my life in his hand. He was holding it reverently, as if it were something that disserved respect.

"Okay, we have the Hat," Hermione said, "I don't know if it will sing for you, though."

"Sing?" demanded Marco, "How does a hat sing?"

"Heh, this is no ordinary Hat," Harry said.

"And I would be if I were any other," said a new voice.

Slowly, all us Animorphs turned to the Sorting Hat, as it was the thing that had spoken.

"Ex-excuse me?" I squeaked.

"I believe you heard me," the Hat replied, eyebrows raised. Believe me, I've seen a lot of things in my life, but never a hat raising its eyebrows… and it didn't have any eyebrows, at that!

"Erm, sorry to bother you," Harry told the Hat, "But could you Sort a few people?"

"That's what Godric Gryffindor created me for, wasn't it?"

"Well… er, yeah."

Harry walked over to Jake. Jake was a good head taller than him. He hesitated. "Um, I think you might want to sit down. It can take a fairly long time, or might seem like it. Well, you're probably not as nervous as the First Years, but…"

Jake sat down on the floor, Indian-style. Harry dropped the Sorting Hat on his head and stood back. It slipped down over his head and covered his eyes. I could hear, but couldn't make out, the Hat murmuring into his ear. After a moment or so, it yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry pulled the Hat off, grinning. He shook Jake's hand and turned to me. He was a little taller than me, but I sat down on the ground all the same. Water seeped into my jeans. I was a little nervous. Would I be in the same House as Jake?

Harry dropped the Hat on my head. It fell over my eyes, and I stared at the black lining.

"Hello, there," the Sorting Har whispered in my ear.

"Uh… Hi." I said.

"Now, what House shall I put you in?"

"Um… um…"

"You have a nice amount of bravery…"

"Thanks."

"You're quite intelligent, but definitely not Ravenclaw material…"

"Okay."

"Oooh! You're a hard-worker, and very loyal to your beliefs. You care for others. You consider ethics, and try to choose right over wrong. Have I the House for you…" The Hat said. "HUFFLEPUFF!"

I've done a lot of things in my life. I've seen a lot of things in my life. I've heard a lot of things.

I have never held an intelligent conversation with a hat before.

Harry pulled the Sorting Hat off. I sighed in relief. It was good to be able to see things again. I scrambled to my feet. Hermione smiled at me.

Harry approached Ax next. Ax was scanning the area behind him with his stalk eyes.

"Er…" Harry said.

Do you wish to place this talking hat over my head? Ax inquired.

Harry nodded and slipped it on Ax's head.

In seconds, the Hat yelled, "RAVENCLAW!"

Tobias was next. He was also Sorted into Gryffindor.

Marco looked dubious as Harry went over to him. "So, a hat is going to talk to me. A hat is going to basically read my mind?"

Harry shrugged and nodded.

Marco held up his hands. "Okay! You can lock me up in a rubber room now! Where's my straight jacket? Where are my soft, stuffed animals?"

Nevertheless, he was Sorted into Gryffindor too.

Rachel went next. We waited for a long time for the Hat to make its decision. Harry kept looking at his watch. He wiped his glasses on his robes, put them back on, and kneaded his scar with his fist.

"Well," Harry said after a long time, "This must be a record. It's been seven minutes."

The Hat made a noise. We all turned to it. It opened its brim wide and shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"

A/N: Muahahaha! Cliffhanger! I'm going to tell you now: I have nothing against Rachel. She's one of my favorite characters. If you're Sorted into Slytherin, it doesn't necessarily mean you're… erm… evil.  It just means you're ambitious and will do anything to get what you want, both I see as Rachel qualities. Stick around for the next chapter: "Chapter 11: The Wizarding Sport (Harry)". You will see a chapter from Ron's P.O.V. soon!