A/N: Thank you, Queens, for just being Awesome.
Chapter Three
"We're here!" said Lisa excitedly, instantly forgetting the mystery boy. "I can't wait to get there!"
"I can't wait to see the ceiling of the Great Hall," said Ernie, "Apparently it's amazing."
"I can't wait to be sorted," said Susan, getting up and leading the way out of the compartment.
Justin reached to pull down his trunk, but Lisa stopped him by laying a hand on his arm. "Apparently they get taken up to the school separately," she said quietly, pulling him along and out of the compartment after the others.
"You know," said Justin as they walked behind the others, "What if we're not in the same House?" he asked.
"Well, they can't stop us being friends, can they?" reasoned Lisa, jumping out of the train onto the platform.
"I suppose not," muttered Justin as he joined the throng of students.
The five friends moved together along with the crowd, until they heard a voice calling, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!'"
They turned to see a giant towering over the students, gesturing for the first years to gather around him. Regarding him curiously, Justin and the others joined the gaggle around him. Justin looked around and saw that the other first years were all standing in groups of two or three, some by themselves. Theirs was by far the largest group.
"C'mon, follow me- any more firs' years?" said the gigantic man loudly, turning to lead them down a steep, slippery path.
Susan tripped several times, but Ernie- who was walking beside her- managed to hold her up each time, so that they all reached the end of the path unscathed. As they were rounding the last corner, they were afforded their first view of Hogwarts.
"Blimey!" Justin heard Lisa whisper beside him, "I didn't know it was a castle, did you?"
"No," he whispered back. He wasn't quite sure why they were whispering, but both were so overcome by awe that they had stopped in the middle of the path. The people behind soon hurried them along, and they quickly moved forward.
The giant then told them to get into some boats that were arranged along the shoreline of the lake before them. As each boat only took four pupils, the group now found themselves split up. Justin found himself sharing a boat with Ernie and a light-haired boy who spoke with a strong welsh accent.
"Wayne Hopkins," he said, nodding to the two boys as they settled in the boats.
Justin and Ernie introduced themselves. Ernie and Wayne began chatting, but Justin felt his gaze drawn out to the castle. The lake was calm, with a beautiful reflection of the moon shimmering in the water. The castle was alight, a brilliant contrast against the darkness around them. It had more turrets than any castle Justin had ever seen, it was by far the best castle he'd ever seen- and with his father as a medieval fanatic, he'd seen a few in his time. It had obviously been built upon, with towers and buildings of different styles tacked onto the side. He'd have to see it in daylight to assess it properly, but Justin was highly impressed with Hogwarts.
"The Firs' years, Professor McGonagall."
"Thank you, Hagrid; I will take them from here."
The giant stepped back, allowing the Professor, a tall, Scottish witch who looked quite neat and proper, to lead the students inside. She marched quickly through the large entrance hall to a small ante-room. Justin had seen bigger and fancier entrance halls, but never one that looked quite so lived-in. No wonder, though- only one of the castles he'd visited had actually been occupied at the time, and the owner lived in a wing isolated from the rest of the castle. Hogwarts' entrance hall was well-lit, with fascinating tapestries and paintings he thought were watching him.
Justin looked around the ante-room. It was only just large enough to fit everybody in, and he found himself squashed up between Lisa and a pair of twin girls. He smiled apologetically at one of them when he stepped on her toe and she blushed right back. Justin was about to introduce himself when the tall professor spoke again.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. 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."
"A banquet!" whispered Lisa happily, "Thank God, I'm starving!"
The Professor went on, telling Justin and the others that they'd soon be sorted into four houses (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin) for whom they would earn and lose points over the year. When the professor told them that at the end of the year, the house with the most points won the house cup, Justin saw a shine of competitiveness enter Lisa's eye along with a ghost of a grin. Justin smiled back. He wasn't too fussed about earning the most points, but he'd try his best and hopefully that would be enough.
"I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting," said the professor with a lingering look at a ruffled-looking boy near the front. "I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly."
The professor swept out of the room, which quickly burst into the noise of many questions. "How long do you reckon she'll be?" he heard someone ask, and "D'you think we get to choose houses?" However, the most common question on the lips of the students was "How do we get sorted?"
Lisa directed this question who drew up a blank face and shrugged. Wayne, Susan and Su didn't seem to have any answers either.
"I never really asked," said Ernie, "I knew that we got sorted, and that there's a ceremony and a feast, but nobody in my family ever told me exactly what happens. It's quite extraordinary I haven't overheard it actually, since every member of my family's been since ..."
Since when, Justin didn't find out that minute, for Ernie's voice trailed off before he could finish. He was gaping somewhat gob smacked over Justin and Lisa's head, accompanied by those around him. Justin turned to see what was happening.
"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves?" Several ghosts had entered the chamber and were hovering over the heads of the students, whom they hadn't noticed yet. "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 Elizabethan-style clothes, a ruffled collar and breeches, looked down upon the first years with as much surprise as Justin felt upon seeing them.
"New students!" said a rotund, happy looking ghost who appeared to be wearing a monk's habit. "About to be Sorted, I suppose? Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house, you know."
"The fat friar!" exclaimed Ernie, "My brother David, the one who's a Hufflepuff prefect, said that he's alright for a ghost." He nodded around at the small group, apparently trying to allay any fears they might have.
"Move along now, The Sorting Ceremony's about to start. Now form a line and follow me." The professor had returned, and Justin found himself being led out of the ante-chamber.
The room they had entered was, without a doubt, the Great Hall the professor had mentioned before. It was far more impressive than any hall in any castle Father had taken him to. It was lit by hundreds, or thousands, of candles floating mid-air. They were being led down an aisle between two long tables. Older students were already sat at the tables, of which there were four, watching them walk to the far end of the hall. Looking up ahead, Justin saw the high table – but instead of medieval knights and their fair maidens, he saw men and women in long, flowing robes of varying colours and looking on seriously.
Suddenly he felt a small hand slip into his. He looked over to see that Lisa was looking around wide-eyed. She turned to him, and he could immediately tell that she was overwhelmed by the surroundings. He gripped her hand tightly and she smiled weakly back at him. They had reached the top of the hall, and were lined up facing the student body.
"You'll be fine, don't worry," Justin whispered to Lisa, "You're going to make tons of friends and learn magic and have a great time."
"Thanks, Justin," she whispered back, "I feel a bit silly for getting nervous."
"I'm nervous myself," replied Justin, as the professor placed an old, pointed witch's hat on a stool in front of them. He frowned. "I'm not sure quite what's going on myself."
"What's going to hap-" Lisa began, before she, Justin and every first year around them watched the hat in awe. It was old, faded, patched and looked a bit dirty. But it, somehow, managed to move its big rim to form a mouth. When it began to sing, Justin began to think that nothing would surprise him anymore. After all, what's stranger than a singing hat?
"Oh, you may not thin 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!"
As the rest of the hall burst into applause for the hat, Justin and Lisa looked at each other. They might be separated now. Justin didn't mind at all which house he went into – he wasn't sure he was quite qualified for any of them, but they all seemed to have merits. He gave Lisa an encouraging smile as the professor stepped forward and began to speak again.
"When I call you name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." She looked down at the long piece of parchment in her hand. "Abbott, Hannah!"
A rosy-cheeked, pretty blonde girl nearly tripped forward out of the line to Justin's left. He felt quite sorry for her, as she obviously wasn't comfortable with the eyes of the whole school on her. But she managed to make it to the stool without embarrassing herself. The professor put the hat gently on her head and a few moments the hat shouted out: "HUFFLEPUFF!" Hanna's face was a picture of relief as she rushed down to the table of cheering students. Justin could now recognise that there was a table for each house.
"Bones, Susan!" was the next person called, and she stepped confidently up to the stool from Lisa's side. When the hat also cried "HUFFLEPUFF!" she looked satisfied and happy.
Justin only had time to watch a few more people sorted, and no more of his friends from the train, before his own name was called. He gave Lisa a small smile before walking calmly up to the stool. He was in turmoil on the inside. The sudden attention he had- he could tell that every eye in the room was upon him- made him quite uneasy, and he was quite desperate for this ordeal to be over and to be sorted quickly. However, he knew that Lisa was nervous and scared, and he intended to let her know that this was easy, that it was nothing to be scared of. So he put on a calm, concentrated expression and sat down on the stool.
The sorting hat was placed on his head quickly, covering his eyes and blocking out the light. For a second he wondered how long the hat would take to make up its mind, when he heard of voice that made him jump.
"I'll take as long as I need, boy," said the voice into his ear, "I'll not rush a sorting, or else I might get it wrong, and then where would you be?"
Justin realised that the hat was talking to him, and chastised himself for jumping. Of course the hat would talk to him. He thought hard, 'I'm dreadfully sorry for that, I understand completely that you'll need to get this correct, so I'll let you get on with it.'
"I say," said the voice, "Your manners are a lot better than others I've had recently. But looking around in here lets me know that there's only one place for you, and that's HUFFLEPUFF!"
The hat was pulled of his head and Justin blinked at the light. The table Susan had gone to was cheering loudly, and he walked quickly down to sit next to her, smiling happily.
"Welcome to Hufflepuff!" Susan whispered to him, as a sandy-haired boy was sorted into Gryffindor.
The next few minutes seemed to pass very quickly, with students being sent in all directions by the hat. Justin, Susan and Hannah were joined by Ernie, Wayne from the boat ride across the lake and two more girls called Megan, and Eloise. Su from the train was the first of their group not to be sorted into Hufflepuff. She gave Susan a small wave as she made her way from the stool to the applauding Ravenclaw table. Justin watched as the twins he'd stood next to in the ante-chamber were split up. As the places on the table he sat at were filled up, it looked more and more likely that he wasn't going to be in the same house as her. He tried to catch her eye, but suddenly the Great Hall erupted into noise as students whispered frantically to each other. Justin looked around, confused.
"What's going on?" he asked Ernie.
"That's Harry Potter," replied Ernie, gesturing up to the front of the hall. A skinny boy with messy black hair was just sitting down hesitantly on the stool. "I guess it's really true, then."
"What's true?" asked Justin, wondering why on earth the whole school was getting so excited about one student.
Ernie's head whipped around. "Don't you know the story of Harry Potter?" he asked incredibly, "I thought everyone knew!"
Justin shook his head, wondering what was special about the boy up on the stool, but before he could ask for a further explanation the sorting shouted its verdict.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
The table to the right of the Hufflepuff table exploded. The cheers for Harry Potter were at least five times louder than for any student so far. Justin was going to have to somehow get the story out of Ernie later.
The sorting continued, giving Hufflepuff two more members – a Zacharias Smith and a Sally-Anne Perks. Soon enough "Turpin, Lisa!" was called. Justin could tell that she was scared out of her wits – after all, she was one of only three people left to be sorted. Whereas the rest of the sorting had gone quickly, the few seconds of Lisa's sorting seemed to stretch out for several long minutes. Justin felt a bit foolish for being so concerned about a person he'd only met that day. Especially since she was a girl. However, Justin knew that whichever house she wound up in, he'd always have her for a friend.
"RAVENCLAW!" announced the hat.