Book 1 - Harry Potter and The Dawn Of Chaos
Chapter 5 - The Sorting
The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Neville's first thought was that she reminded him of his gran.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."
She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was huge. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.
They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Neville could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right -the rest of the school must already be here - but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.
"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."
Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, he quickly pulled it around till it was facing forward, yes Professor McGonagall definitely reminded him of his gran.
"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."
Then something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air - several people behind him screamed.
"What the -?"
He looked over at Harry who stood there gapping, Neville smiled at his friend who seemed to get wide eyed about every bit of magic he saw. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -"
"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?"
A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first answered.
"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"
A few people nodded mutely.
"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the friar. "My old house, you know."
"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."
Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.
"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."
LINE BREAK
The end of Hermione's summer had been very emotional, after her trip into Diagon Alley she had been in incredibly high spirits. The new depths of knowledge available to her was incredible and the fact her parents couldn't control what she was learning due to them not understanding any of it was even better. She had spent the better part of a weeks reading and rereading every book on the Hogwarts list, though this meant she hadn't had time to read up on those extra books she had gotten. Most of the concepts confused her but some things made sense, the ideas of transfiguration really seemed to appeal to her and Hermione couldn't wait till she would be able to apply the theory and do actual real life magic. Charms also seemed very practical and while it confused her more than Transfiguration did. She was still excited for it, in fact she was excited for every lesson since they all meant learning brand new things.
However the high spirits faded when she had opened up her History book, learning about the history of the magical world on paper sounded brilliant but in reality turned out to be depressing. Hermione had learnt all about the purity war that had only ended 10 years ago and according to the book the views which had come to ahead in this war, the idea that those born in the non-magical world or Muggle world as the wizarding world called it where lesser than those born from magical blood or Purebloods. Learning that simply years before she had been born those like her had been slaughtered and hunted, learning that this war had ended when the Dark Lord Voldemort or You-Know-Who as the book told her many referred to him as had been defeated by a baby she had almost laughed. A man who had been described as one of the most powerful wizards to ever live was killed by a baby and the magical world had asked absolutely no follow up question upon finding this out, it was insane.
The idea of these views having faded in the time since the fall of You-Know-Who was unlikely but Hermione held out hope but couldn't deny the growing concern in her stomach, she hadn't told her parents about this in fear they would use it as an excuse to pull her from the school. These concerns unfortunately had been proven correct when while looking for an empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express she had bumped into an older boy who upon seeing her muggle clothes had snarled at her and shoved her out of his way, telling her to keep her dirty hands to herself. This had obviously upset and distressed Hermione who had run into what she had thought to be an empty, only to discover it wasn't empty. Lucky the young ginger haired boy, who introduced himself as Ron, seemed nice enough. His manners could have used a bit of work but since he didn't care that she was a Muggle-born he was an improvement. Hermione spent the rest of the train journey talking to the boy, learning about his family and the legacy of all getting into Gryffindor that he was worried about living up too. Hermione had told him that it was silly and he should just go into whatever house suited him best. By the time they got off the train and arrived at Hogwarts they had formed a rough sort of friendship.
Seeing Hogwarts for the first time had been breathtaking, the castle lit only by the moonlight was beautiful and Hermione watched in awe as she walked through the was after all a perfectly preserved castle from mediaeval Britain.
The charmed roof of the great hall was definitely impressive but the fact no one had seemed to have read there books already since it was clearly stated in Hogwarts a History that it had been charmed by the foundered to reflect the sky above it, apparently it was something that had never been replicated on such a scale since, the fact it had lasted since there deaths had amazed many researchers who couldn't understand what exactly they did to it. The fact no Headmaster had allowed extensive study of Hogwarts didn't help things at all. Apparently Hogwarts was considered separate from the control of the Wizengamot and by extension the Ministry of Magic.
She looked over and saw Ron looking just as surprised and in awe as the rest of the first years, she nudged him and he looked back at her, "It's not real the ceiling, just bewitched to look like the night sky, didn't you read your books."
Ron shook his head but didn't reply, his gaze was now on something behind her. Hermione followed his line of sight until she saw it, a group of three ginger haired boys all watching him, she guessed it was the rest of his family. Deciding she should probably leave Ron alone until after the sorting due to the fact he was clearly dealing with some personal issues since Hermione didn't know him particularly well and because of her habit of not noticing boundaries until she had crossed them. She probably wasn't the person he wanted to talk about them with. Instead she was focusing on what was happening in front of her. Professor McGonagall now stood up in front of the first years, behind her was the rest of the staff, an old collection of teachers who Hermione couldn't wait to pick the brains off.
Hermione watched as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed hat, which Hermione swore looked identical to the wizard hats from old fairy tales, however unlike those hats this hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.
For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and the hat began to sing:
"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. Hermione stared at it in shock, not only had it spoken but it had done so with the elegance many adults didn't possess. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.
"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Hermione overheard Ron muttering to himself. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."
Hermione couldn't help but sympathise with the boy, she had suffered at the hands of practical jokes that others found so very funny far too many times. Hermione tried to pick apart what the hat had actually said.
It seemed to be highlighting the main qualities of each house, of course this was common knowledge to the wizarding world so it must be doing so to fill in those Muggleborns like her who unlike her hadn't done any reading, maybe it was also trying to make her thinking about those traits and which ones applied to her and in doing so make its job easier.
She hoped she could class herself as noble and chivalrous. Hermione always tried to respect her elders and never broke any rule set by teachers. She hated lying and only did it if she really really had too. However the hat had also described Gryffindor as the dwelling of those brave at heart. Thinking over her life she tried to pick out every moment of her being brave. There weren't many. Maybe the time she stood up to Alice, the local bully who had always enjoyed picking on those weaker than herself, but that had gone horribly wrong and Hermione had ended up in tears because Alice pushed and reminded Hermione of her lack of friends. So maybe not Gryffindor.
Hermione considered herself loyal, the few friends she had back home were old friends so surely keeping them for years meant she was loyal. The fact they mainly stuck around due to her double checking all their homework might mean maybe it wasn't her loyalty to them but they're enjoyment of the free pass they got. She decided right now wasn't the time to go down that rabbit hole. Patients was never something Hermione had, her Father would laugh himself silly if she was sorted into a house with patients as a virtue but he might be proud if she was in the house of the hard working. Maybe she was too hasty to rule out Hufflepuff.
Hermione was definitely ready to learn, this was the house she felt the closest too. The obvious fact her parents would love her to be in the house of the academic was one big draw of Ravenclaw. The other was Hermione's love of knowledge, she adored learning, it made her happy to master new skills and learn new facts. The hardest to admit was the little voice in the back of Hermione's mind that suggested that maybe, just maybe her being in Ravenclaw would allow her to find common ground with people. She might actually be able to make proper friends. However she couldn't ignore the fact Hermione wasn't very quick witted, often taking too long to think things over so that could stop her from getting in.
Hermione's never was getting out of hand, what would happen if the hat couldn't sort her, would she have to go home? This panic caused Hermione to miss the first few names being called, only snapping back to reality when she heard:
"Granger, Hermione"
Panicking she ran forward and jumped onto the stool, hoping it would cover up her fear. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head but not before whispering to her about how happy she was that Hermione was here and wishing her luck.
"What a wonderful mind, truly something special" a voice seemed to say from within her mind, she guessed this was how the hat worked. "That would be correct Miss Granger, I am impressed. Most Muggleborns panic the first time I speak but I suppose your not exactly like most Muggleborns"
Hermione didn't understand what the hat was implying.
"Let us move on otherwise you will get started on questions and I do not have all night." The hat seemed to be able to look at her memories, that must be how it decided how to sort children. "Such a brilliant observation brings us to Ravenclaw, while you do have a passion that Rowena would be jealous of, you are far too practical, you like knowledge for what it grants you not just out of a sense of academia. This brings it down to two, Gryffindor could work, you are noble and I feel you would grow into a fierce young witch within my old masters house but I feel our final choice would suit you better. Your ambitions would impress even the great Salazar. So any thoughts before I decide?"
The hat was asking her and more importantly it thought the Pureblood house would fit her.
"Ah that old chestnut, if that is all that is stopping you from joining the silver serpents then it better be…"
"SLYTHERIN" The hat shouted, his voice now coming from above Hermione instead of inside her head. She looked around, Ron seemed shocked, McGonagall looked almost worried for her before her expression shifted back to one of passive observation, removing the hat from Hermione and gesturing for her to join the other Slytherins, she walked towards the table noticing the small round of applause and the faint whispers coming from each table.
"A Muggleborn in Slytherin"
"Oh I hope she's gonna be okay"
They did nothing to quell the nauseous rising in her stomach. Taking a seat next to the other first years who all seemed to move further up the table, as if they were trying their hardest not to touch her. A wave of depression washed over Hermione, she was all alone, again.
LINE BREAK
"Poor girl, Neville whispered from beside him. Harry turned to him and asked what he meant because for whatever reason Hermione Granger's sorting had not been met with the same joy and excitement as the other.
"Slytherin was founded by a blood purist and it is also the house that You-Know-Who supposedly came from. Also most of his most vile death eaters came from that house. So for a Muggleborn to be sorted into it, well it just isn't good for her."
Oh, now everyone's reaction made a lot more sense. However Harry didn't like the idea of judging the entire house because of that.
"Surely it's not all bad, I mean that other houses must have their own problems?" Harry usually didn't like disagreeing with people who had been kind to him, the Dursleys had made him truly appreciate when people were nice to him yet being around Neville was different. he had never had a friend before due to Duddley turning everyone against him at school before he had a proper chance to talk to them so the idea was strange to him but he had come to consider Neville as a friend. To begin with he had been quiet but after some time he had come out of his shell a little, telling Harry in great detail about lots of different plants that he had never even heard of but Harry still enjoyed.
He was relieved when instead of getting angry at him Neville took a moment to think and then answered. "Yeah I suppose you're right, Sirius Black was a Gryffindor after all and he was meant to be one of the biggest death eaters ever but Syltherin has turned out far too many bad apples for people to just ignore."
Deciding against asking who exactly Sirius Black was since he had been asking Neville a lot of questions Harry took his time too once again take in the stunning beauty of the great hall. It was amazing.
Harry's attention was brought to the table at the front of the great hall and he began to study each of the teachers sitting there. His eyes were drawn to one in particular, he looked similar to the chocolate frog card, wearing the same crescent moon glasses and with the same long white beard. The slight sparkle from his bright blue eyes put Harry on edge for some reason. This was the great Albus Dumbeldore.
As Mcgonagall continued to read out the names from the list a horrible thought struck Harry, as horrible thoughts always do when you're very nervous. What if he wasn't chosen at all? What if he just sat there with the hat over his eyes for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had obviously been a mistake and he'd better get back on the train?
He tried to push this horrible thought out of his head, he wouldn't, couldn't go back. He felt his anxiety begin to rise but forced his mind solely on the sorting in front of him, using it to anchor his thoughts. It worked.
Harry pondered Neville's words, all the houses had some bad apples, Harry had considered what house he would be in after learning about them. He was unsure what would fit him.
Neville was eventually called, Harry wished his friend luck and watched as the boy timidly walked up in front of the rest of the school and put on the hat. Harry waited and waited but nothing happened. For 10 minutes there was silence within the great hall at Hogwarts, Harry who was getting nervous for his friend watched as Neville's face seemed to be screwed up like he was thinking too hard. Finally much to Harry's relief the hat spoke.
"GRYFFINDOR"
Neville seemed to be in shock, needing Professor Mcgonagall to guide him off the stool and towards the cheering of the scarlet table, the lions were whooping and cheering, applause filled the hall for a good five minutes. Clearly they were happy to have Neville and Harry couldn't help but smile at the excitement that met Neville when he arrived at the table.
Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"
Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.
There weren't many people left now. "Moon" "Nott" "Parkinson" then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil" then "Perks, Sally-Anne" and then, at last - "Potter, Harry!"
As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.
"Potter, did she say?"
"The Harry Potter?"
The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat.
Nothing happened, then he felt something, at the edges of his mind creeping inwards, it was like at the train station but more subtle and harder to notice. "Difficult. Very of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting... So where shall I put you?" The voice was inside his head, it was at this point Harry connected the dots. If the hat gave him the same feeling as the strange man on the platform and the hat was inside his head. That meant the strange man had been inside his head. Oh god Wizards could read minds.
"Excuse me, is the talking hat not interesting enough for you"
"Oh sorry." Harry thought hoping this was how it worked
"Thank you," Harry had been correct, it was how it worked. "Now let us get back to the reason for our little chat. Your sorting. I do enjoy a challenge, this year has given me a few and you seem happy to continue that pattern."
Harry was unsure what the hat was actually referring to. Why was he a challenge? Is that why Neville had taken so long?
"How very inquisitive, perhaps Ravenclaw is the house for you. No no not their silly old hat. I can often get distracted so let us get back on track. Two houses above the rest stand out to me. Both would see you grow, both would see you happy I feel. You could be great, you know, I can see it, it is all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness or it could be Gryffindor, you have a heart of courage and Godric's house would help you tame that rage, you would blooms in the house of lions but…"
"But what" Harry said out loud, forgetting that he could just think the words.
"But I can see what you desire, I can see what you dream and because of that I feel I have one option. So I ask you, Mister Potter, what will it be?"
Harry thought over the hat's words, he had given Harry two clear options. Gryffindor or Slytherin, well surely that was an easy choice. His one and only friend was in Gryffindor, everything he had heard about Slytherin was awful. So his choice should be easy and yet it wasn't. Harry couldn't bring himself to say it, something about the way the hat had talked about Slytherin was pulling at him.
"So you have decided, good luck Mister Potter. I can't wait to see how much you grow." And with those final words the presence seemed to fade from his mind. There was silence for a few seconds in which Harry became very aware of how long this conversation had taken.
"SLYTHERIN" the sorting hat shouted.
Nobody moved, not a single sound could be heard. A stillness had fallen upon the great hall which nobody wished to break. Students sat there in shock, even the composed Slytherins had reacted to this. Behind him and out of his view the teacher also appeared frozen, Professor McGonagall, the only one in his line of sight, stared at Harry not removing the hat from him, not doing anything. Harry didn't know who broke the stillness first, maybe it was Mcgonagall when she removed the hat from his head, maybe it was Professor Dumbledore when he started the clapping, maybe it was the students' muttering which broke the stillness. It mattered not. Harry still had to stand from the chair.
Harry began his walk towards the table, he felt every eye in the great hall watching him. The rather short round of applause died. Mcgonagall called another name but it didn't matter, most of the eyes were still on Harry.
When he arrived at the part of the table where the rest of the Slytherin first years had gone, nobody moved. He couldn't sit down without forcing his way in and that might not work. He looked at each first year, some refused to look at him, some looked disgusted and angry at him, some didn't care but it didn't matter how they looked at him, not a single one moved.
Dracos pale blue eyes locked with his emerald green ones, the smug smile on Draco's face told Harry exactly what he thought of Harry's situation, he was happy Harry was stuck, he felt he could make Harry regret ever rejecting him. Breaking eye contact with the boy Harry turned and looked for anything close to a friendly face. Finding none he looked for the best thing which at this point would have been a neutral face, this he did find. A few other first years, those not connected to Draco seemed to not really care about what Harry was doing, some had even turned back to the sorting.
Feeling like an idiot for just standing their Harry decided he needed to move and at this moment a face caught his attention. It wasn't happy or angry but it was certainly looking at him. Harry had never been particularly good with faces but she looked hopeful. Then it clicked, Hermione. Going over to the girl who sat alone at the end of the table he nervously sat himself next to her.
"Hi, my name is Harry. Are you okay with me sitting here?"
The girl giggled slightly. "I know, Professor Mcgonagall read it out and yes, I am glad someone did."
Harry blushed slightly with embarrassment but felt himself relax. Maybe Slytherin wouldn't be awful.
LINE BREAK
Ron Weasley was having a very up and down day. It started brilliantly, the excitement about going to Hogwarts meant he had had a very restless night, waking up multiple times in the night and taking ages to fall back asleep. When it was finally time for him to get ready he was far too excited to focus, he had to repack four or five times because of this. When Ron had been younger the mad rush that always happened on today's like today was fun for him, he used to love watching Percy, Charlie and Bill panic and enjoyed the teasing of the twins who seemed to make it their mission to cause more panic then needed. However, now that it was his turn to panic, the twins' jokes, such as hiding all of his books, weren't as funny.
Eventually they all crammed into the family car, not able to take the floo network since they had run out of powder and couldn't afford to buy anymore for a while. The journey had been longer than Ron remembered and a lot more nerve racking, Percy was sat next to his mother reading the handbook he had been given alongside his prefect badge, the twins were sat together, they were trying to get a rise out of Percy who was completely ignoring them, much to there disappointment. Ron had to be squeezed between Fred and Ginny, who was coming for no other reason than she had demanded too and Mrs Weasly wouldn't say no, and as a result of the squashed conditions was very uncomfortable.
Arriving at the station had been frantic, getting everything out of the car boot and rushing through it, ignoring the looks he was sure they were getting from the Muggles, one did cause him to falter though, a boy who the bright green eyes who seemed to be studying him, Ron didn't have time to stop and ask the boy what he was doing.
Running through the barrier and standing on Platform Nine and three quarters was something Ron had done almost every year since he could remember yet this time felt different. The Hogwarts express seemed to almost shine, the red paint seemed brighter, the sharp horn of the train which acted as a warning that it would be leaving in ten minutes used to be painful to him yet now it seemed to call to him, the busy platform filled with families used to scare Ron and now it had excited him. It all seemed a lot more magical, he smiled at this.
The train ride however hadn't been magical, it had been boring and lonely, he had hoped he could make some friends perhaps even sit with his brothers but as soon as they were on the train they all disappeared, Percy to the prefect compartment and Fred and George to their friends leaving him alone. So Ron found an empty compartment and sat down, letting himself wallow in self pity. When the knock at the door had come and the bushy haired girl had sat down and started talking Ron had initially found her irritating but as the journey went on it became less so and he found himself actually enjoying answering the quick fired question and learning some interesting trivia from the random facts.
Though as he now walked through the great hall he had zoned out a little once he spotted his brothers sitting there saving a space for him, conflicting feelings emerged upon seeing this. On one hand it was amazing that his brothers wanted to make him feel so included and had saved him a seat next to them however on the other hand the assumption that Ron would be just another Weasly really did annoy him.
So yeah, an up and down day. Luckily his last name being Weasly he had a while before his sorting and he planned to spend that time thinking and trying to sort out his feelings, this plan went out the widow pretty quickly when Hermione had been sorted into Slytherin, he had openly gasped at this, she was a muggle born how could she possibly be a snake as well, maybe there was more to her then he had originally thought or maybe, no Ron refused to let his brain consider any other option. Maybe the girl was secretly pure blood who had been hiding from the world waiting to strike as the next dark lady. Yes, that could be it. Ron was aware of how unlikely this was.
The next shocking twist and a far bigger one was when the hero savour of magical Britain had also been sorted into Slytherin, Ron had been stunned into silence just like everyone else, did this mean Harry Potter was going dark? It couldn't, could it?
Finally his name was called. He couldn't see his face but guessed he was pale green, walking towards the stool was suddenly the hardest thing Ron had ever had to do, every step took effort to push his body forward. Fear was stopping him, it had completely replaced the day's excitement. He steadied himself before sitting down, the sorting hat was lowered and then Ron waited. 1. 4. 8. 15. 20 seconds passed and yet nothing had happened, Ron was sweating now.
"I am sorry Mister Weasly, I had expected you to already know my answer." The hat spoke within his head. "I mean where else would I put a Weasley, certainly not Ravenclaw as your family values knowledge and the pursuit of it very little" Ron gritted his teeth, the hat wasn't saying anything about him. "And as loyal as your family are to each other I do not think Hufflepuff would be a very good fit for you since there are other options more suited to you."
"I am more than just my last bloody name you stupid batty old hat." Ron quietly snapped out, he hoped no one had heard him. Yet instead of being offended, which had been Ron's intention, laughter had instead rang out within Ron's mind
"Ohhh Mister Weasley I can see that very clearly, I just wanted to hear you say it. I did not get exactly the words I wanted but they will do." The hat had tricked him, Ron didn't know whether to be impressed with the hat or disappointed in himself. "Maybe a bit of both, the temper of yours will get you into trouble one day. Now since you have made it clear you want more than to just be another Weasley. I offer you a choice, I can send you to a house which will see this deep ambition fulfilled, you will do things your family could never dream of."
Ron couldn't deny that it sounded amazing, it sounded exactly like what he wanted but something about how the Hat had said it caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand a little. Pushing it down he made his choice.
"Good choice, I do hope you do not come to regret this" The hat stopped talking inside his head and then started again outside and uttered the house Ron knew was coming in his heart but couldn't believe he had agreed too "It better be SLYTHERIN"
The sound of clapping seemed numb to Ron, as he stood up and started to walk towards the table he refused to look at his brothers. He couldn't bear to see their disappointment, their disgust, a Weasley in Slytherin, Ron didn't think it had ever happened. Merlin, what would his mother and father say? Ron couldn't think about that right now, he had to focus on more important problems such as where he was going to sit. He knew that the Slytherins wouldn't be impressed with his sorting, his father had caused a lot of problems for more prominent members of society and now he was in a house full of their children.
Looking up and down the table he searched for a single friendly face, he spotted Hermione who was sitting on the far end of the table, Harry Potter sat next to her. He started to walk towards them but his eyes then caught someone else he knew, her icy blue eyes were watching him. Daphne Greengrass was sitting alongside another girl with mouse brown hair who Ron had never seen before. Maybe he could sit with her. No, that was a silly idea. For one she probably didn't remember him and two his father had specifically warned him about her family. Tapping Hermione on the shoulder he asked if he could sit next to her, obviously she said yes and Ron sat down. He ignored the little glances other Slytherins kept throwing towards him and he sat in silence, waiting for the sorting ceremony to end. Luckily he didn't have to wait long and soon every new student had found a house.
Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away. Ron looked down at his empty gold plate. He had been hungry since finishing his sandwiches on the train but the nervousness of the sorting had meant he'd forgotten all about it, now as he sat there the hunger returned. Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.
"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!
"Thank you!"
He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Ron didn't know whether to laugh or not. The man was a legend yet he seemed completely bonkers.
Large amounts of food appeared on the table in front of Ron and thoughts of Dumbeldore completely vanished, he had never had so much choice of food before and he couldn't wait to try everything. He ate in silence, Hermione hadn't said a word to him and Harry just watched everything in a manner that kinda creeped Ron out a bit.
After the desserts had been cleared away Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.
"Ahern - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."
Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Gryffindor table and Ron knew it was directed at the twins.
"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."
A few people laughed at this. The Slytherin table seemed to groan at this. As if Dumbledore regularly warned the school about dying and they were bored of listening to him.
"He's not serious, is he?" Hermione asked. The worry in her voice was very clear.
In an attempt to calm her nerves Ron told her how his Brothers had yet to have any real near death experiences. His brothers had told him about their fair shares of dangers but honestly most of them were caused by the twins. His attempt clearly failed
"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Ron noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.
Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.
"Everyone picks their favourite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!" And the school bellowed:
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.
Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Ron couldn't help but smile at his brother's antics. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.
"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"
The first years followed the fifth year Slytherin prefects, Daniel Avery who was a tall boy with pale brown hair and dark green eye, and Vinda Rosier, who was an equally tall girl with black hair and hazel eyes out of the main hall and towards the dungeon. The entire journey Ron tried not to think about how different it would be if Percy was the one leading them. He forced that thought out of his mind. Finding out the Slytherin common room had been in the dungeon was a surprise, he had assumed with how stuck up the members of the those were said to be that the common room would be somewhere a lot nicer.
Ron watched Harry Potter has he walked. He seemed uncomfortable with the stares he was getting from the other first years. Making a choice he tapped Harry on his shoulder.
"Hey, my name is Ron. Ron Weasley. Nice to meet you." He extended his hand.
Harry seemed to just stare at Ron for a few seconds before replying. "Harry Potter." Taking it in a brief shake.
They walked in an awkward silence for a bit. Ron wasn't sure what to say to the famous hero of Britain.
"I read about you, you were mentioned in a few of the more recent history books." Hermione cut through the silence and Ron cringed a little as he saw Harry get uncomfortable at this mention of his celebrity status.
Deciding to try and stop the eager girl before she went on her tangent, Ron interrupted.
"So Harry, who's your favourite quidditch team?"
"Quidditch?"
"You don't know what Quidditch is. Well basically." Ron began his quick run down of the rules of the game.
"Excuse me. We would appreciate it if all the first years paid attention. I would think someone of your background would be a lot nicer to his new house prefects." Vinda Rosier's voice cut off Ron before he could get onto the different teams and his attempt to recruit Harry as a Cuddlecannon fan. Feeling his cheeks redden with slight embarrassment and the inquisitor look from Harry and the worried look from Hermione, Ron mumbled out an quite apology. The giggles from one of the girls near Malfoy almost made Ron snap but before he could they arrived outside a blank slate of wall and Daniel Avery spoke.
"Every fortnight Professor Snape will change the password, the new password will be posted on the general common room notice board and on your year's specific notice board. Understood?"
Ron had heard loads of stories about Snape, he was said to be a bitter and biassed man who was unfair to all the other houses yet treated Slytherins perfectly and wasn't looking forward to meeting him. The wall behind the prefects seemed to shift, breaking apart and revealing the entrance to the Syltherin's common room. Ron's heart was beating extremely fast, he was about to enter the snake's den.
Dear Readers,
Well they have final arrived at Hogwarts. How exciting. I do hope you all enjoyed my slightly different telling of the trios sorting. I hope my logic as to why they all were sorted into Slytherin makes sense and if not then feel free to message me and give me an idea of how to better explain it. If it did make sense to you then I hope you enjoyed it.
A thank you again to everyone who reads this chapter and to all those who have added the story to your favourite and followed the story.
To Bluerain22 I hope you enjoyed the sorting and I am glad you like Neville as much as I do, he is over time going to play a major role so I hope you enjoy how I play with his character until then and I am glad you found the young Slytherins mistakes fun, one goal I have of this story is to make the younger Slytherin's feel like children who over time grow into the stereotype we all think of when discussing Slytherins.
To JasperroMytheart I appreciate your kind words. I do agree with your comments on the last chapter. I feel I went a little too heavy on the wands and when I rewrite this first book it is one thing I intend to correct. I hope this chapter kept up the promising start.
That's all for this week Readers, as I said feel free to message me with any scenes you think could improve the story or an edits you think would up level the work. Incase you were unaware has updated it's policy on notification so unless you manuially set your account to recvie notifications you won't get any.
Next Chapter: 2nd December.
From Paddington123