The Will of the Wands
Chapter 3 – The Sorting
"Oy." Dakota's voice, while making a half-hearted attempt to be quiet, rang clearly throughout the Entrance hall. She realized this as it came echoing back to her, and clapped her hand over her mouth in surprise.
"Excuse me, Miss Williams, if I could have your attention for a moment, and then you may go back to being freely surprised at the castle's enormity." The crisp voice of Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall floated down the marble staircase to the first years. A few of them gasped when they heard her, and all fell silent.
"In a few moments you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before you may take your seats you have to be Sorted into your Houses. Follow me." The aged woman passed through two ancient, hand-carved wooden doors, and without the slightest idea what was going to happen next, the first years followed her into the Great Hall.
The first thing that caught Dakota's eye was not the purple sky dotted with flashes of lightning, nor was it the thousands of levitating candles. No, the thing that caught the slightly scared girl's eye was the decapitated ghost that stood in her way, it's silvery head hanging by a thread of sinew to it's neck.
"Hello there," the transparent image said cheerfully. Several students around her jumped in surprise, then backed away in horror. "Welcome to Hogwarts."
"I'm sorry, but...w-who are you?" Dakota's voice shook as she stammered the words. She had thought of saying 'what are you,' but had thought better of it.
"I'm dreadfully sorry; my manners seem to have slipped my mind. Forgive me. I am Sir Nicholas de-Mimsy Porpington, resident Gryffindor ghost." He bowed slightly, then adjusted his elaborate ruff to keep his head from wobbling.
"I know who you are," a familiar voice in the crowd said bravely. "My mum told me about you. You're Nearly Headless Nick!" Dakota turned around in curiosity. She knew that voice.
"Millie!" After they had greeted each other, they turned back to Nick, who was looking quite offended.
"Begging your pardon, but I would prefer to be called Sir-"
"Would all un-Sorted students gather round, please?" Professor McGonagall's voice cut in. She gestured to a worn three-legged stool with a tattered, patched hat. They formed a many-layered semi-circle around the stool. Dakota and Millie unconsciously bit their lips in unison as they anticipated what was to come.
"Now, when I call your name, sit upon the stool and I will place the Sorting hat on your head." She glanced down at the parchment in her bony hand.
"Arnold, Anya!" A thin, bespectacled brunette slid through a gap and walked wearily to the stool, closing her eyes when the hat was placed on her head. After a moment of utter silence, the hat shouted its decision.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" The girl slid off the stool and scampered over towards the Hufflepuff table just as McGonagall called the next name.
"Glendall, Rose!" A petite girl with short black hair whose shine rivaled Cho Chang's detached herself from the crowd. She hopped onto the stool while grinning at someone in the crowd.
"RAVENCLAW!" She grinned, and hopped off to the Ravenclaw table, where, incidentally, she sat across from Cho Chang herself. She turned around immediately, as if waiting for another person.
"Glendall, Ruby!" The hall gasped in surprise. The first pair of twins since the Patils. The duplicate to the Cho Chang look-alike edged her way to the stool, glancing up at McGonagall's unsmiling eyes.
"RAVENCLAW!" The girl's twin scurried off the stool and made to sit next to her sister. Dakota fell silent as she watched the crowd around her dwindle slowly as the R's began to be called. Somewhere in that midst Millie had been Sorted, but she couldn't remember hearing the House. 'Oh well,' she thought.
"Reed, Madison!" A girl with thick brown hair that was pulled up into a sleek ponytail skipped over to the stool. As she sat down, Dumbledore rose.
His eyes glanced over the hall, which fell silent. "I wish now to introduce you to one of the seven exchange students, Miss Madison Reed. I will announce the others' names as they are Sorted."
"RAVENCLAW!"
With a whoop, Madison jumped off and knocked over the stool. She slunk back, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry," she mumbled to McGonagall. She walked this time over to the Ravenclaw table, where she immediately turned around to watch the rest of the Sorting, shrugging off any unwanted conversations with the curious older Ravenclaw students, especially Cho and her friend Marietta.
Dakota was among the last of the few first years to be Sorted. There were only five other people besides herself who remained- a tall, blonde-haired boy who looked as though he'd blown in from the Cote d'Azur surfing; a snobby-looking brunette who stood at about five-foot-four and kept scuffing her shoes at the floor in a bored, standoff-ish way; a tall blonde girl with three earrings in each ear and pink flowered nail polish; a brown-haired boy who obviously inherited traditional Italian looks- a long nose with a bump, brown eyes, and wavy hair; and a tiny brunette whose hair was pulled back into two endless braids, falling just below her belt.
'Oy,' she thought glumly. 'Do I feel like the ugly duckling or what?' In the whole Hall, she guessed that maybe two other people were from Middle Eastern descent, and they were twin girls. She pulled her head up just enough so she could see the withered parchment in McGonagall's hands.
"Mynuet, Luc!" The blonde boy sauntered over with an air almost identical to Malfoy's, except for the fact that he waved at the nearest flock of admiring, giggling girls. This time, Dumbledore announced that he was from Beauxbatons, and he hadn't visited the school during the previous meeting. Silence hung in the air; Dakota knew that it was to honor Cedric, who had died during the Triwizard Tournament, thanks to Lord Voldemort's resurrection.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" The gaggle of girls screamed as they clapped, signifying their delight. Of course, Luc had the pride to seat himself in the middle of them, making the ones farthest from him fight with the others. Dakota couldn't help but smile. Draco needed competition, especially some that seemed nicer than he.
"Hilenbrandt, Roxi." Dakota held her breath as the brunette stalked past her and threw herself gracefully on the stool, maintaining a look similar to Draco Malfoy's traditional sneer on her face.
It came no surprise, a moment later, to hear the Sorting hat shout, "SLYTHERIN!"
"Santorini, Jule!" The dark haired boy sauntered over, and Dakota felt her eyes drooping. 'This is soooo boring! Call my name already!'
"Williams, Dakota!" Her eyes snapped open. People all around her were staring at her and the short brunette politely, as if they were waiting for one of them to step forward. "Miss Williams?" McGonagall said again, as she raised her thinning eyebrows slightly.
"Oh!" As she forced a smile, she mentally cursed herself for looking like a complete prat in front of the whole school. She reached the stool, and looked over at the deputy headmistress. She motioned for her to sit, and she closed her eyes as the hat slipped over her brow and past her nose. She felt her face burn as the whole school laughed. 'I have a small head. Is it really that amusing?!?!?!!!'
'Well, well. You must be Draco Malfoy's cousin. Ahh, yes, it seems like only last week that your father was being Sorted. Brought Slytherin House a whole lot of glory, didn't he?' A voice near the back of Dakota's mind said softly.
'What are you?' Dakota thought shrilly.
'What am I? I think the question is who am I! I am the Sorting Hat! Now, where were we? Ahh, yes. You seem to like to stand up for yourself, especially to your siblings. Not a bad study ethic, either. A will to help people, well, you won't be in Slytherin, that's for sure...A streak of jealousy, if truth be told....Hmmmm!'
'Hmmm, what?! Are you going to make me sit here all night, or are you going to Sort me?'
'Don't get your knickers in a twist yet, missy! Well, then, if Slytherin's out, then that leaves you with Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Your jealousy keeps you from Hufflepuff, obviously. What else can we unearth about you? '
'I like Quidditch! Does that help? Ummm, I like to roam around after hours on my own...usually when Mum gives me time for myself when we're on vacation....'
'Oh? Hmm, perhaps Gryffindor, then, if you truly think you belong there!'
'Anything! It's taken you forever!'
"Gryffindor!"
'Phew!'
Instead of receiving the stares she was anticipating, Dakota lifted the brim to see the Gryffindors clapping ecstatically. She grinned, and took the last empty seat. "Psst! Dakota! Hey!" She turned her head and looked down the bench to see Millie's smiling face. She waved.
"Hi! I'll talk to you later!"In reality, Dakota was so pleased that she was not the last one to brave the hat that she wanted to revel in the glory for a moment. As she was doing so, she glanced around the people nearest her. When she realized who it was, she almost choked on her pumpkin juice. The noise made the other students look at her, and her gaze was met by surprised and shocked faces.
The faces of-
'Can I die now?'
The faces of Harry Potter and his friends.
