Blah, Summer Vacation already...wait, what am I saying? YAY!! Sorry it took so long to update, Phil, but I did have graduation, plus packing for the trip, plus an end of the school year/burning all school papers party, so don't complain!

Chapter Four- The Sorting of the Students

The person they had been following halted them at the base of a large staircase. From the doors that they had entered from, Harry noticed that there were four, what looked like, hourglasses standing on either side of the doors. Each was mounted with a different animal and had a different colored gem inside. At the bottom, three numbers (all of which were currently zero) were labeled.

"Attention, please," the Witch said. "Quiet, quiet...QUIET PLEASE!!!" Each student stopped talking to stare at the woman. "That's better. Now, in a few moments, you will be entering the Great Hall to be sorted into your House. The Houses are; Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Gryffindor. During your stay here at Hogwarts, your House will be like your family; your triumphs will earn your house points; any rule-breaking will lose your house points. At the end of this year, whichever house has the most points wins the House Cup." She paused, took a breath, then continued. "Please wait here one moment as we try to get the ceremony ready." She turned around and quickly opened the doors and closed them behind her.

Harry relaxed for a moment, then a slick voice caused anger to boil up inside of him. "It's true then, what they're saying on the train...Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." Harry did not move, although Ron turned to look at Harry.

"I'm surprised you even made it here, Malfoy" Harry replied with a smirk on his face. "I can't believe that 'your father wanted to bring you here himself because he doesn't trust the Hogwarts Train'."

"How—What," stuttered MALFOY. "Crabbe! Goyl—"his words were cut off by a boy known as Neville crying, "TREVOR!" and leaping forward to catch the toad. Harry stepped to his right quickly as Neville grabbed Trevor the Toad, who was in front of Harry's left foot.

"Nice," Ron muttered to Harry.

"What part?" Harry muttered back, smirking. "Me getting out of the way of Neville, or me replying to Malfoy's comment?"

"Both," Ron replied, grinning.

The Witch came back, glaring at Neville who was still lying on the ground, Trevor clasped in his hands. "The ceremony will begin now," she said, leading them into the Great Hall.

As the students quietly filed into the Great Hall, there was a sudden gasp at the decorations. Thousands of candles floated in the air, each of them illuminating the ceiling, which showed the night sky. From somewhere behind him, Harry heard someone say, "The ceiling is bewitched to look like the night sky. I read it in Hogwarts: A History."

Four long tables filled the main floor of the hallway, each lined with witches and wizards of all ages clad in black cloaks and the ceremonial hats. Lining the front of the Hall was one long table where all of the teachers sat at, murmuring amongst one another. In front of the table was a three-legged stool with an ancient pointed hat sitting atop it.

The witch they had been following began to talk as she unrolled a scroll.

"Now, when I call your name, you come up, sit down on the stool and put the hat on your head," she looked at the paled first-years as she called out, "Abbott, Hannah." The list went on and on, until Harry began to realize some of the names being called.

"Granger, Hermione!" The girl who had been looking for Neville's toad walked up to the hat. "GRYFFINDOR!" The hat cried out. Hermione gladly walked to the table of cheering witches and wizards.

"Hanale, Jeanna!" Harry froze. Could it really be her? He stood on his toes to get a good look at the girl. When she sat down, Harry realized that the girl with brown eyes and strawberry blond hair was the Jeanna that he knew.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Malfoy, Draco!" Ron suppressed a laugh at his name.

Without having to put the hat on his head, it cried out, "SLYTHERIN!"

"Potter, Harry!" The crowd that was chattering stopped abruptly as he slowly walked up to the hat. Sitting down, the witch placed the hat on his head. A voice in his ear began to talk to him as the hundreds of students watched him eagerly.

"Hmm...difficult, yes, very difficult...now, where to put you?" the hat said to Harry. "I see plenty of courage, hmm...but I see thirst for power...But, where?"

"Not Slytherin, please, not Slytherin!" Harry begged the hat.

"Not Slytherin, eh?" the hat replied. "Very well...better be GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table erupted in applause as Harry seated himself next to Fred and George.

Someone moved from where they were seated to right next to Harry, who didn't notice their arrival. They finally whispered to Harry, "Wow. I never imagined seeing someone like you here, ickle 'Arry!" Harry turned to look at who it was.

"I never thought I'd see you here, ickle Jeanna," Harry replied, smiling her the girl. "And you were Muggle-born, right?" she nodded. "I can't believe that I'd see my neighbor here at Hogwarts!"

"Really," Jeanna replied, ending the conversation as the witch called, "Weasley, Ronald!"

Harry could tell that Ron was nervous; his skin was pure white and his ears were tinged with red. "GRYFFINDOR!!" Ron ran over to sit across from Harry as the color in his face came back.

"Glad that's over, eh?" Ron said, his voice shaky.

"Really, Ronny," Fred said.

"Why were you—"George said.

"So—"

"Nervous?"

"It's not that—"

"Big of an—"

"Event!" chorused the twins.

"Sod off!" Ron replied, his ears turning red once more.

Finally, the final name was called. ("Zelinsky, Jessica!" "Slytherin!") As she took her seat at the Slytherin table, Professor Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!" he cried to the students. "Before we dine on our excellent feast, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

The dazzling plates in front of Harry and his schoolmates filled up with food. To Harry's delight, they had every kind of food he could think of. If only my stupid cousin Dudley could see me now! Ha! Harry smirked and looked at Ron. Ron, however, was too busy stuffing his face to notice that Harry was trying to ask him something. All of a sudden, his scar began to hurt. Although the pain was excruciating, he didn't move. Jeanna then prodded him in the side.

"Why aren't you eating, Harry?" she asked, the food on her plate forming a small volcano. "Is something wrong?"

"No," he replied quickly. "Nothing at all." He began to pile food onto his plate.

Feeling much better after eating, Harry began to chat amongst Ron and Jeanna. As soon as he began to tell them about his scar hurting, Dumbledore stood up once more, his blue eyes twinkling. He held up his hands to silence them, as he began to speak.

"Now that we are all fed and well-nourished," he began. "I have a few announcements. First of all, I would like to point out to the First Years that the Forbidden Forest is off-limits to everyone, I don't think you would want to go in there anyway.

"Second, the list of items that are banned from the school hallways has lengthened over the summer. I believe there are almost three-hundred on the list now. For the complete list, you may go to Mr. Filch's office.

"Third, and most importantly, this announcement goes for everyone. The third floor corridor is off-limits to everyone. Unless you wish to die a horrible and painful death." He paused and smiled. "Now, on a lighter note, and with that said, it's off to bed for you all. Get plenty of rest! Your classes start tomorrow!"

He sat down. Chatter immediately flooded the room. The rest of the night was a daze. Harry followed Percy up to the Fat Lady Portrait (Fizzing Whizby), he climbed the stairs up to his dormitory. Luckily he was with Ron. He took off his glasses and set them off the table. It had been an exciting night.

His mind wandered to thoughts unheard of to mankind...

Ah, don't mind my usage of that certain person, all you choirlings. I just had to put her in it!! Hopefully I can update soon enough. It's quite hard to find time to get on the computer here at my house!