As we entered the Great Hall my mouth fell open. Hundreds of candles flickered in midair over the four, long, house tables. Golden plates and goblets were set at every place. The ceiling overhead (or at least I assumed it was a ceiling as I was not getting wet) was just as fantastic as the rest of the hall. Dark grey clouds swirled ominously across it and a fork of lightening flashed somewhere.

Professor McGonagall lead us past all the students, toward the teacher's table. When we reached it, she turned the line around so that we were facing the house tables. In front of the line was a plain wooden stool. On it, Professor McGonagall had just placed a rather worn looking, dirty old black hat. Everyone in the hall had gone silent and they were all staring intently at the patched wizard's hat. Suddenly, tear opened near the brim, and the hat began to sing:

"I can see it on your faces,

That you are wondering why

A task as important as this

Is given to a hat like I.

Frayed and dirty I may seem,

But if you look you'll never find

Any other hat like me,

For I am one of a kind!

Yes, I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat!

An important hat indeed!

I'll see into your mind, I will,

Your courage and your greed.

Try me on and don't be shy,

I'll tell you where you ought to go.

Whatever is in your head will tell me

All I need to know.

In Gryffindor you might belong,

With the daring and strong of heart

Quick thinking and most noble souls,

In Gryffindor bravery is their art.

Or perhaps in Ravenclaw you'll find,

That you belong the most,

Intelligent and witty, creative and quite wise,

Those who're ready for learning, Ravenclaw does boast.

Or is it yet in Hufflepuff,

Where you'll fit in the best?

Friendship strong and loyalty,

And patience more then all the rest.

And last, perhaps in Slytherin you'll be.

Cunning, and ambitious Slytherin.

Proud and determined to the end,

Perhaps here you'll find your kin.

So why not try me on right now?

And find what house you're in!

You'll be safe with me, I've said,

And now let the sorting begin!"

All the tables burst into applause as the hat finished. "Oh, thank goodness!" Angelina whispered, "All we have to do is put it on!"

I was relieved, but still a little nervous. Every single person was staring at us and it was making me feel rather sick to my stomach. Also, though I'd only met them a few hours before, I was desperately hoping to be in the same house as Fred and George and Angelina. Even Sandy and Fiona would be alright as long as there was someone in my house I knew.

Professor McGonagall was holding a long scroll; she stepped forward, saying, "When I call your name, you will sit on the stool and place the hat on your head. It will announce your new house and you will then join that table," She cleared her throat and glanced at the list, "Abbarton, Kris!"

A tall boy came forward, grimacing nervously around the hall. He placed the hat on his head and sat down on the stool. "SLYTHERIN!" the hat called loudly after a moment.

The Slytherin table cheered loudly and Kris Abbarton went to join them. I anxiously watched Professor McGonagall. I knew that she probably wouldn't get to the S's for a long time, but I was still nervous. It would be awful if I accidentally missed my name.

"Beron, Gordon!" Professor McGonagall called. A terrified looking black boy stepped forward, carefully sat on the stool and placed the hat on his head. This time the hat slipped all the way down past his ears and sat on his head quite a while longer then Kris Abbarton, before calling, "RAVENCLAW!"

The Ravenclaws cheered even more loudly then the Slytherins and several people moved over to offer Gordon Beron a seat. "Douglas, Kevin" became the first new Hufflepuff. He was immediately followed by "Elmont, Ben" who became a Hufflepuff almost the second the hat touched his head.

"Fitzgerald, Juliana!" Professor McGonagall called. A short girl with long black curls that swished elegantly against her school robes stepped forward gracefully and sat on the stool. "SLYTHERIN!" the hat cried immediately.

Some people took much longer then others to be sorted. When "Frank, Aaron" was called, it took what felt like forever for the hat to call "SLYTHERIN!" where as when "Hansky, Michael" went to put the hat on it took it only a second to decide on Slytherin. I watched Michael hurry over to join Aaron Frank.

"They're on the H's!" Angelina whispered. "Only a few more!" She looked scared to death and when "Henrique, Ana" was sorted into Slytherin, she ran a hand over her hair and smoothed her robes carefully.

"Johnson, Angelina!" called Professor McGonagall. Angelina hurried forward, nearly tripping on the hem of George's overlong robes as she went. She sat nervously on the edge of the stool and slipped the hat on. It fell past her eyes and there was a moment of silence before it announced "GRYFFINDOR!" Angelina tugged the hat off, looking very relieved and hurried to the Gryffindor table, where I could see someone with vivid red hair greeting her.

"That's Charlie," George whispered. "She's lucky. Very first Gryffindor!"

Lee Jordan soon joined her. About a fourth of the people were gone now. I glanced around the great hall, crossing my fingers and hoping I would end up in Gryffindor. "Kim, Devin" was now joining Slytherin and "Lewis, Zach" had just been sorted into Hufflepuff.

"Lillis, Sandy!" Sandy walked forward and put the hat on over her blonde curls. She waited for a long time before the hat finally announced "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Behind me I heard Fiona whispering "I wanted to be in the same house as her, but Huffly-puffle? I don't know…"

Slowly the line was thinning, "Luniere, Jacques" was sorted into Slytherin and the pale boy from the train, Thomas MacMillan went to Ravenclaw. "Mckorkin, Justin" was made the next Gryffindor and "O'Leary, Sean" joined Thomas MacMillan in Ravenclaw.

"Owens, Sylvie", a petite girl with long silvery blond hair sat next to Angelina when she was sorted into Gryffindor. Just then I heard Professor McGonagall say "Sara" and I thought I was going to have a heart attack until I remembered that she was only on P and I saw that Sara Palinsky was already stepping forward to put on the hat.

After her, Professor McGonagall called, "Spinnet, Alicia". My palms started sweating and my stomach gave an unpleasant lurch. At last, she was on the S's. "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat declared. Alicia Spinnet hurried to join Angelina and Sylvie.

Professor McGonagall turned back to her list. "Starell, Sarah!" She called. I gulped and walked forward to try the hat on. I sat on the stool and lifted the hat on to my head. It immediately fell down to cover my eyes. I was almost grateful for the soft black interior which blocked out the hundreds of faces staring straight at me.

Suddenly a voice was whispering in my ear. "Hmmm… Let's see, what have we here? Lots of imagination… Good head, you'll learn quickly… But… Oh, what's this? Ambitious are we? Big plans for the future, eh? Well… This is interesting. You're smarter than you think, you know… I'd know just where to put you except for that ambitious bit… You've got a lot of determination, too. Did you know that? Hmmm… Slytherin would help you achieve your dreams… but I think you might do well in RAVENCLAW!" The hat shouted the last word, apparently having made its decision. Relief swept over me, then disappointment. I wasn't in the same house as Angelina, like I'd hoped. All well, I thought, at least it's not Slytherin, and I'm sure I'll make friends.

Quickly I removed the hat and handed it to "Stimpson, Patricia". I walked toward the Ravenclaw table, which was now cheering loudly. When I was halfway there I tripped, but caught myself before I fell. Several people laughed. I blushed bright red and sat down at the closest empty bench. There were no other first year Ravenclaw girls yet, so I just sat at an empty place next to a friendly looking second year.

The rest of the sorting seemed to go by much more quickly then it had before I'd tried the hat on. "Stone, Amelia" and "Towler, Kenneth" had just joined Gryffindor. Next a pair of twin girls, Harper and Jordan Travers, were sorted, to my surprise, into different houses, Slytherin and Hufflepuff. It seemed to me that twins should be in the same house, but, then again, not all twins were as identical as the Weasleys. These two certainly weren't. Jordan, who had long auburn hair, went scowling over to sit next to Juliana Fitzgerald at the Slytherin table, while Harper, who had trimmed, dark brown hair went over to Hufflepuff, smiling widely as she joined the table.

Then it was Fiona's turn. "Tresh, Fiona!" called Professor McGonagall. She stepped forward and sat on the stool. I tried to decide whether I hoped she was in Ravenclaw or not. On the one hand, she would be someone I knew, but on the other hand I wasn't sure if I could stand her constantly laughing at my accent. "HUFFLEPUFF!" cried the hat. Well, that solves that problem, I thought. I could see Sandy's blonde head bobbing up and down cheering for Fiona.

"Weasley, Fred!" Professr McGonagall read. Fred came forward, congenially plopping the ragged hat on his head. "GRYFFINDOR!" the hat called immediately. Next George came up. The hat literally had not even touched the very top of his fiery hair before it screeched "GRYFFINDOR!"

There were now only three people left. "Wells, Megan!" Professor McGonagall called. A plain black girl with ornately braided hair stepped forward and placed the hat on her head. The hat paused for a moment, and then called "RAVENCLAW!" I was relieved. At first I had been afraid that I would be the only girl in Ravenclaw. I quickly moved over to make room on the bench for her, but she passed by me and went to sit at the other end of the table. Feeling a little lonely, I went back to watching the sorting.

"Winters, Victoria!" Professor McGonagall read out from her list. A girl with dark brown hair and a pale, delicate face placed the hat on her thick curls. "RAVENCLAW!" the hat called again. I glanced up hopefully, but Victoria Winters passed me too and went to sit with Megan. Once Tajel Zarri had been sorted into Hufflepuff, Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster, stood as if to give a speech. I looked down at my empty plate, my stomach grumbling loudly.

However, Professor Dumbledore simply smiled around broadly at all of us and announced, "Bon appetite!" The hall filled with noise as people began passing trays of food around. Delicious smells wafted from the various dishes that had just appeared. I quickly helped myself to a little of everything. Thee food tasted even better then it smelled. I was halfway through eating a pile of creamy mashed potatoes when a pearly, transparent, something descended next to me.

"Hello," she said mournfully. I swallowed the lump of potatoes and stared at her for a moment before I found my voice again.

"Um, hello," I knew they existed, but I had never seen a ghost before. I was quite sure that this was one however; she was wearing a long ball gown, the hem of which was currently drifting through the bench I was sitting on.

"New student?" she asked in a dreamy, indifferent sort of voice. I nodded. "Good…" she said vaguely, "Ravenclaw is certainly the best of all the houses. I'm Lady Genevieve by the way…" She drifted off down the table, leaving me staring after her.

Dinner was soon replaced by dessert, after which the plates were left sparkling clean. At last Professor Dumbledore stood again. "Welcome, to all our new students, and welcome back to all the rest! I'd like to inform all our first years that the forest on our grounds is forbidden… And Mr. Filch, the Hogwarts caretaker has asked me to remind you that magic in the halls between classes is prohibited. You can find a full list of all the school rules and prohibited items tacked to Mr. Filch's door. I believe there are at least four hundred and thirty-six of them now… Also, tryouts for the house Quidditch teams will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested should give their names to their head of house or to Madam Hooch. And now, off to bed with you!"