Sorted
I felt as if I were going to be sick. I had changed into the Hogwarts uniform with Lily and her friends as the train slowed down. She was being very nice, telling me that it was going to be fine, everyone was going to like me, and Professor Dumbledore wouldn't let anything happen to me. I wondered why Dumbledore would have to watch out for me specially.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" I looked at Lily, whom I had stayed with.
"Lily, do I go with the first years? Or with you?"
"You go on the carriages," she replied. "After the first-years are Sorted, then Dumbledore will make an announcement and you'll go up and get Sorted."
Sorted. I was getting really nervous.
"Okay."
Calm down. It's going to be fine. It's going to be fine. It's going to be fine. Seriously. It'll be fine. Just a sample of what I was thinking – the whole ride there.
I was still nervous when I sat down at the Gryffindor table later that evening. The apparently horse-less carriages had done nothing to ease my nerves.
"I think I'm going to spew," I moaned.
Sirius, on one side of me, looked alarmed. "Don't do it on me," he warned. "But I don't think Lily would appreciate it either. Try Snape – the tall ugly Slytherin kid with the big nose, greasy face, and greasy black hair."
I laughed nervously. "Sure. If I throw up, I'll run over to him and give him a bad impression of me in the first ten minutes of being here. Great idea, yup." Then Sirius and Lily, who was on the other side of me, laughed. We passed the time like this, managing to keep my nerves at bay. While most of my attention was on the conversation, a small portion of my mind was marveling at the surroundings. The Great Hall was certainly great in size. The old-fashioned torches were set in brackets along the solid, high walls, and they illuminated more than they would have without normally. Looking up, I saw a dark, star-studded sky. Even though I knew there was a ceiling, it was hard to imagine it.
Then, too soon for my liking, Professor Dumbledore stood up.
"I would like to welcome all our old students, and our new first-years. But this year there is another student I would like to welcome. Sanya Calladorr, please rise."
Stand, damnit! For some reason my legs didn't want to work. At long last I rose. All heads turned towards me, some pleasant, some less, but most merely curious.
"Sanya here has an interesting tale to tell. She has lived in America –" here all the faces held a bit of confusion. No students were ever from America! "— For all her life. She has not known she was a witch. But one day, a representative from our school came and told her. She was, and is, fourteen. She will have a tutor, but right now she needs to be Sorted. Sanya, come and try on the Hat!"
This is it. I moved forward, slowly, towards the Sorting Hat. I reached it, sat on the stool, and put the Hat on my head.
"Oh! So, this is you. Interesting. Anyway, where should I put you? Very intelligent, but you're cunning too."
Not Slytherin!
"Yes, I agree. You're too loyal. Hufflepuff? But maybe Gryffindor would do? No, you're not rash enough." I giggled. "So is it Ravenclaw for you? You would do in any other House, if you tried hard enough."
A thousand thoughts raced through my head. I thought I would be in Ravenclaw, but my tutor is in Gryffindor. That would challenge things, wouldn't it?
"Yes, but I'm sure you would work things out. Yes, yes, you will follow your ancestor to RAVENCLAW!"
The last word was shouted out, and I tugged the Hat off my head. The first thing I saw was Sirius and Lily, clapping politely, but looking rather sad. I could tell that they wanted me to be in Gryffindor. I would have liked to be in Gryffindor, but knew I would probably be in Ravenclaw. The thing most foremost in my mind was that the Sorting Hat said that I would follow ancestor to Ravenclaw. So somewhere back in my family there's a wizard who went to Hogwarts. Hmm. Sirius said that the last magical person in my family was a Native American wise-woman. I guess he was wrong.
I walked over the Ravenclaw table, joining a group of girls that were waving me over.
"Hi. I'm Valerie, this is Rachel, Estelle, and Christina. You're Sanya, right?"
"Professor Dumbledore said so. Right now, I'm Relieved. Nice to meet you." The group laughed. I was as I said, relieved. I was afraid that the girls didn't have a sense of humor.
"Come on, let's eat. I'm starved."
"Hear hear." And we tucked into the feast that had appeared seconds earlier.
There was a multitude of different dishes. Three different types of potatoes, a couple different types each of lamb, pork, beef, and chicken. There were peas, carrots, and beets, ketchup, gravy, and a couple of un-identifiable dishes. And that was only what I could reach.
The rest of supper passed without too much talking on my part. I just ate until I was full, then leaned back and let the different conversations wash over me. From the first-years there was speculation about what could be next, and from the fifth- and seventh-years talk about the big tests ahead. Most of all there was just chatter about the summer and the courses. It was all very comforting.