The first-years were huddled in the corner of the Great Hall, nervously awaiting the Sorting Hat Ceremony to begin. Fred was seated at the faculty table, watching Hermione and Ron, now headgirl and headboy, sitting tantalizingly close to one another. Ron whispered something in Hermione's ear and she giggled. Fred thought that if their relationship had a little bit of style, then maybe he wouldn't be so irked by it,

His train of thought was interrupted by the hoarse and jagged song of the Sorting Hat. The trembling first-years stared at the singing hat with wide eyes as if they were expecting it to fly down on them and bite them.

"Adrien, Violet," McGonogall called out. After five agonizingly long seconds, a mousy-looking blond girl slowly climbed onto the stool.

"Hufflepuff!" The hat cheered immediately after it was placed on Violet's head. The Hufflepuff table errupted into thunderous applause. With a wide grin on her face, Violet scurried to her appropriate house.

"Barner, Howard."

"Gryffindor!"

"Beck, Cecilia."

"Ravenclaw!"

Fred's mind drifted to something more important: how was he going to teach charms to students who were nearly his age? They surely would not take him very seriously if he was so young. Then again, he could issue detentions to poorly-behaved students... and Slytherins.

"Hey, why is Fred sitting at the faculty table?" Hermione asked when she spotted Fred sitting between Professor Sprout and Hagrid.

"Oh, he's teaching charms this year," Ron answered nonchalantly.

"What?! What happened to Flitwick?!"

"He's on sabbatical."

"What was Dumbledore thinking when he hired Fred?!"

"Idunno."

"He's our age! How is he supposed to teach us?!"

"By... teaching us?"