Chapter 2: Is The Hat For Dancing?
When the doors opened they were met by a tall, stern looking witch with black hair pulled back in a tight bun and square spectacles. She led them through the grand foyer and into a small chamber next to another pair of massive oak doors. She introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, then briefly explained to them that they would be entering the Great Hall for the start of term banquet. She then told them that the Sorting ceremony would begin the banquet, and each of them would be placed in one of four Houses; Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff.
"I will be returning shortly, I'd suggest you smarten yourselves up," she said, "And do keep quiet." She gave Remus a haphazard glance and then left the chamber. A low murmur of voices rose as the first years began talking quietly among themselves and in a few minutes McGonagall return and they followed her to the hall where the Ceremony would take place. The doors were opened and they stepped inside of the Great Hall, marveling at its size and splendor. Several long wood tables were lined up, all of them occupied by students. Hundreds of candles were suspended in the air were the ceiling should have been but instead it looked as thought the roof opened up to the night sky. McGonagall brought out a stool and an old tattered wizard's hat, and then set the hat on the three legged stool. Sirius leaned towards James,
"What d'ya wager the hat's for? Tap dancing?" he whispered. James chuckled and replied,
"Maybe we dance to see what house we belong in." They both laughed quietly until someone started singin. It was the hat! A rip near the brim served as a mouth and through it came a curious song. As the hat continued the first years wore various expressions ranging from shock to delight. When the hat was through, McGonagall unrolled a parchment scroll.
"When I call your name come up and put on the hat," she said briskly, "Once you have been sorted, go to your house table." She then looked down at the scroll.
"Abbey, Alice."
The strawberry blonde from the train stepped forward and sat uncertainly on the stool and carefully placed the hat on her head. No sooner than it touched the hat exclaimed,
"Hufflepuff!"
The Hufflepuff table burst into applause as Theresa joined them looking terribly relieved. The hall's attention reverted back to McGonagall as she resumed calling students.
"Bellandy, Mara," became a Hufflepuff. James overheard Malfoy complaining about the first two Hufflepuff's right away. Lucius was sitting at the Slytherin table; he had already attended Hogwarts for six years going into his seventh- Sirius just kept forgetting. The blond boy spoke too soon, because just then his girlfriend Narcissa Black's little sister, Bellatrix Black became a Slytherin like her older sister.
"Black, Sirius"
Sirius bounded up front and plopped the too-big hat on his head, all the while grinning like an idiot. The hat took a few minutes to decide until it finally declared,
"Gryffindor!"
This time a roar of cheers came from the Gryffindor table. Sirius joined them and glanced over at his friends visibly crossing his fingers. James grinned and gave Sirius a thumbs up; the new Gryffindor was the first in a family and ancestory of Slytherins.
"Chandler, Matthew," also became a Gyffindor, "Courtney, Jason," a Hufflepuff as well, "Croy, Seth," a Ravenclaw. Then came a name that might have been just as unimportant as the others,
"Evans, Lily"
The red-head. Sirius hammed it up by cat-calling Lily from the Gryffindor table as she walked forth to face her doom with mild trepidation. Upon sitting down she cautiously crowned the hat atop her head, and in a few seconds it cried out,
"Gryffindor!"
James applauded wildly; secretly hoping now more than ever to be in Gryffindor. Another name was called "Hack, Sabine" another cousin of Sirius's. After Hack was "Hassan, Nadia," who became a Ravenclaw.
Next were the twins in braids,
"Hupp, Aneled": Gryffindor, and then,
"Hupp, Delena" also became a Gryffindor. As the two headed for the Gryffindor table Sirius greated them with a whistle, James helped from where he was standing.
"Lupin, Remus,"
All eyes were now on Remus as he pushed his way up front, walking with the air of one sentanced to Azkaban. Please be Gryffindor, please be Gryffindor... he silently begged as he quickly slipped on the hat. Everyone watched in silence as moments flew by when the hat finally boomed,
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Remus flew off the seat and raced over to the Gryffindor table; where he was welcomed with smiles and slaps on the back. And naturally, he recieved a noogie from Sirius.
James bit his thumbnail anxiously, occasionally glancing over at the Gryffindor table where sat his two best friends and the lovely Lily Evans- he just had to be in Gryffindor, there was no maybe about it. As he nervously watched the Gryffindor table, the wild-haired boy didn't notice "Lynn, Nathan" be dubbed Slytherin. Suddenly James was struck with a horrible thought; what if he got sorted into Slytherin, your house was your Hogwarts family. The thought made him feel sick, so he decided to push it as far back into his mind as was possible.
"Munroe, Alesca,"
Peter elbowed James; they both recognized Alesca. Alesca Munroe was the very scary dark-haired girl who hung out with Lily and the twins. Peter crossed his fingers and murmered his hopes that Alesca might be sorted into Ravenclaw; a house he was certain he'd never have a shot at. To both boys' great jubilation, the hat shouted
"Ravenclaw!" after several minutes- several long minutes.
The smaller boy now looked paler than before and had broken into a cold sweat. The N's had been very few, and now McGonagall was in the P's. "Parkinson, Craig" a Slytherin, "Patil," was a Ravenclaw, "Peck, Brittany" a Slytherin. Then it came down to
"Pettigrew, Peter." The blue eyed boy froze on the spot. McGonagall's hawk-like gaze swept over the the Great Hall, then she repeated his name. James gave the boy a shove and Peter stumbled up to the hat and perched it on his head. Again the hat took several minutes to decide, making Peter's complexion turn a sickly shade of green. Finally the hat declared,
"Hufflepuff!"
Peter nearly slid off in relief, then he got up and headed for the Hufflepuff table; looking both happy that he wasn't in Slytherin, but wistful because none of his friends were in Hufflepuff.
"Potter, James." The boy with unruly hair marched proudly up to the stool and sat down. Then with an air of mock dignity he put on the hat, wearing it as if it were a crown. It only took seconds for the hat to decide,
"Gryffindor!"
At this splendid turn of events James practically threw off his hat and bolted over to the Gryffindor table were Remus and Sirius waited.
"Damn. It's too bad Pete's a Hufflepuff," Sirius said as his bespectacled friend took a seat, he and Remus nodded in agreement.
"Amen to that," the Potter kid said. Remus made a good point, though when he said that Peter could still be "brainwashed" even if he was in a different house. The crowd of first years had finally begun to diminish, and now the S's were being called up.
"Snape, Severus."
Remus cringed when the hook-nosed boy was called up. The hat declared him a Slytherin in the end. Only five students now remained. "Watkins, Rachel" became a Hufflepuff, "Wydell, Daniel" a Ravenclaw, "Wydell, Juniper" a Slytherin, "Wyrosdick, Parker" the last Hufflepuff for that year, and then, "Zabini, Malcom" was that year's last Slytherin. Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and stool and took them away as an aged wizard with a long white beard and hair stood up at the staff table before the body of students. His eyes shone from behind his half moon spectacles.
"Good evening to everyone," he bagan. James could hear several students whisper excitedly to one another Professor Dumbledore's the new headmaster! Of course, this made no difference to James. The headmaster continued,
"Frist of all, I would like to welcome our first years, I hope we all have an excellent year. Second of all; for the new students, I am the new Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. The staff, older students and myself are all certainly grieved by the passing of our late Headmaster, Aramondo Dippet. But, such as life is, nothing is forever; and death- to the well organized mind- is merely the next great adventure. Next on the agenda, it pleases me greatly to announce that the former Ancient Runes teacher, Professor Minerva McGonagall, is now the Transfiguration instructor and has also been promoted to Deputy Headmistress." there was a scattered applause, largely coming from the Prefects' table.
"Now, onto more serious matters," he continued, "this year a new addition has been made to the Hogwarts grounds. A rare Whomping Willow has been planted outside of the front school entrance, and I would advise anyone who values their lives or limbs to avoid it. That being said; let's have a productive and eventful year; and of course: dig in."
The feast was by far the greatest meal the boys had ever had; and when it was over they felt quite contented and full. Throughout the entire course of the meal, however, Remus barely touched his food, and he had begun to look very pale. Sirius didn't question though; he simply assumed that the long ride over finally caught up with his amber-eyed friend. Professor Dumbledore finally dismissed everyone after dessert. The House Prefects started rounding evryone up, as the groups finally split up and headed to their dormatories. Peter ran up to his Gryffindor friends to say goodnight as the Hufflepuff group broke off down another corridor. The blond haired boy gave a quick squeaked as he ran down the hall to catch up with his group.
The Gryffindors were led by a tall black haired girl named Raven. They followed the shifting staircases all the way up to the seventh floor and were led through several shelves of books and a few classrooms when they stopped in front of a portrait. In the portrait sat a fat lady in a pink dress; she looked at the students and then to Raven and asked,
"Password?"
"Squigglemoose," the Prefect replied without missing a beat. The portrait swung open and they all filed inside and found themselves standing in a large and rather cozy room. Squashy antique furniture decorated the room who's wall were covered in intricately woven tapestries, and a welcoming fire crackled in the large fireplace.
"Alright everyone," Raven called their attention, "The boys' dorms are that way, and girls' dorms are up those stairs." With that she went to the dorms leaving the first years to do as they would. Some stayed in the Common Room and talked a while; but most, as James, Sirius, and Remus did; went to the dorms. The room had five four-poster canopy beds and the trunks were already in front of each bed. The other two boys, Frank Longbottom, and Matthew Chandler had already gone to sleep; and Sirius was beginning to think that was a wonderful idea. So the three boys got into their pajamas and collapsed onto the beds; except for Sirius.
"Hit the deck!" he screamed as he kamikazed onto his four-poster. The others just grumbled or threw objects at him before drawing the curtains around the four-posters. With that the room plunged into silence; save for the soft breathing of five eleven-year-old boys sound asleep.
a/n: Oh my god! This is such a major accomplishment for me! I've never in my life finished writing a second chapter! Or any chapter after that... So! My further evidence against Malfoy's presence includes this reasonig: He seems to hold more of a nasty grudge to our buddy Aurthur Weasley, and perhaps that is because he was at school with him. And we know that Aurthur and Molly Weasley went to school before James and co. Anyhoo, this chapter was pure HELL to write because of the names. Some names I got from flipping through my yearbook, and some characters are based on people I know. I think that's it for the moment. Should I keep going? Tell me what you think! Review please!