Chapter 3: The sorting
They made it across the lake with Hagrid, gathered together to hear from McGonagal, met the ghosts, and finally, entered the Great Hall for the sorting. Ernie and Justin stood side-by-side and watched as the first year students were sent to one house or another. Hannah Abbot became a Hufflepuff, Lavender Brown went to Gryffindor, Terry Boot went to Ravenclaw, Vincent Crabbe to Slytherin, and so forth. Justin swallowed hard when Professor McGonagal called his name, but he walked to the sorting hat with his head held high. Ernie flashed him a thumbs up as he spun to sit on the stool. The hat went on and after a few moments, the brim split to announce, "Hufflepuff!" Ernie applauded with the rest. Hermione Granger went to Gryffindor, Daphne Greengrass went to Slytherin as did Gregory Goyle. Wayne Hopkins was sorted to Hufflepuff. Ernie gave Neville a bracing grin as the boy walked forward to be sorted into Gryffindor. Before long, it was Ernie's turn. As McGonagal read his name he walked forward and sat on the three-legged stool, careful of his posture and trying to avoid looking in any particular direction. The hat plopped down on his head, and as it covered his eyes being so large, everything went dark.
"Ernest Macmillan, eh…" a voice said in his head.
"Ernie, actually," Ernie replied.
"Ok, Ernie. You'd like to go to Hufflepuff, I suppose, like your forebears?"
"I'm happy with Hufflepuff," Ernie said.
"Uh-huh. That can be arranged. You'll be fine in Hufflepuff. You'd be fine anywhere, you know. Ravenclaw would be happy to have you. You'd benefit from Gryffindor—I think you might need a little spark; you'd get it, there. Slytherin, well, where would you go if you were a Slytherin? To the top, I'd imagine!"
"I've been taught to be subtle about magic, Slytherin isn't subtle about magic," Ernie said.
"True, true. Don't be too subtle, young man. You've as much a right to magic as the next wizard. In any case, if you're sure…"
"I am." Ernie said.
"Then it better be… Hufflepuff!" the hat announced. He felt the hat lift off his head and he hopped up, making a beeline for the Hufflepuff table. He found a seat by Justin and smiled at his classmate.
"So, you decided on Hufflepuff in the end, eh?" Ernie said.
"Well, the hat did nudge me that way, but I don't know… this is all new to me. I knew you'd be coming to Hufflepuff, and I thought, why not just stick with Ernie? He knows what he's doing," Justin said.
Ernie laughed, but he felt pleasantly flattered. He looked across the table at Hannah Abbot and Susan Bones, his newly sorted housemates. Their heads were close together and they whispered as they watched the remaining students being sorted. Malfoy went to Slytherin, as expected. Theodore Nott, too, and Pansy Parkinson. Finally, it was Harry Potter's turn and the entire Great Hall went silent. Ernie felt for Harry, because he looked really embarrassed. It was probably a relief to have the hat dropped over his face. The silent crowd waited. And waited. And waited. It seemed to take longer than any other student had taken so far. At last the brim split open and the hat hollered, "Gryffindor!" and predictably, the Gryffindor table erupted in cheers. The rest of the sorting was much less interesting, though Hufflepuff gained one more first year, Zacharias Smith.
The other Hufflepuffs talked and ate the outstanding feast, everyone was generally jolly and happy to be back at Hogwarts for another year. The first years were quiet. Maybe, like Ernie, they were thinking about what the sorting hat had told them.
They filed away to their common rooms. Justin looked a little longingly at the retreating forms of the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors. He'd just learned that their common rooms were in towers and Hufflepuff's was in the dungeon, which of course, to a muggleborn, probably sounded horribly unfair. And it was true, the pathway to the common room winded down staircases and through torchlit caverns and low archways, but as they neared the round, yellow common room door, the space around it opened up into a dome. Skylights high above revealed the starry night sky, and the smooth, curved stone walls were warm with witch light. A few chairs and tables lined the walls, making the whole area look inviting and comfortable. The prefects stood outside the door. "First years," said one, "Step forward." And so they did. "To enter our common room, you must be keyed to our door," her eyes locked on Ernie's, and she gestured him forward. It was then that he saw a slot in the door, right in the center. "Are you right handed?" she asked, and Ernie nodded. "Place your right hand there, in the opening." He did, and the door clasped his hand. It was warm, and firm, like skin, like a handshake. It held him for a moment and then released him. He looked at the prefect. She nodded and he stepped back. He smiled at the other first years, "It doesn't hurt," he said, because some of them looked concerned. The older Hufflepuffs laughed, and one by one, the first years were keyed to the common room door, and finally, it swung open to reveal what would be Ernie's home away from home for the next seven years.
They stepped into a large, round room with three massive fireplaces, each crackling with an inviting fire and surrounded with low, soft looking seats. The wallspace between the fireplaces alternated between garden level windows and oaken book cases. Leafy green plants seemed to burst forth from every surface, and even to hang from the ceiling. The warmly polished wooden floors were covered with woven rugs. In the center of the room there were several large tables appropriate for group study sections. Ernie was ecstatic. It was exactly how he'd pictured it, though perhaps with a few more plants. The windows faced both east and west, ensuring that the room would be sunny and bright all through the day. He stole a glance at Justin to see how he might be feeling. Justin was standing in front of a potions table set up with beakers and vials of ingredients, and was in eager conversation with a third year student.
Hufflepuffs were filing off towards the circular doors that led to the sleeping dorms. Ernie followed the fifth year boy's prefect through the door. "Here we have the first years' room. You should find your things already there. Let me know if you need anything, I'm two doors down with the other fifth years."
Ernie entered the sleeping chamber. There were four-poster beds for each of the four first-year Hufflepuffs, hung with heavy velvet drapes in chocolate brown. The drapes were drawn back by golden, braided ropes to reveal colorful patchwork quilts covering the beds. Ernie recognized his own trunk and sat down on the foot of the bed he had been assigned. The other first years followed suit and they observed each other for a moment across the round woven rug that lay between them.
"So…" Ernie said.
"So…" Zacharias Smith said. And all four boys burst into silly laughter.
Justin got his bearings first. "I like it here. I think I'll like it here. I was thinking Ravenclaw was the place to be if you want to be serious about studying, but this common room looks well-equipped. I was talking to a third year who wants to tutor us in potions. He said the teacher is pretty tough, but we can practice with the supplies here, so that should be helpful."
Wayne was nodding. "Yes, one of the prefects said that in Hufflepuff, the third years tutor the first years, the fourth years tutor the second years, the fifth years tutor the third years and the sixth years tutor the fourth years. I guess the seventh years just focus on themselves." He looked down for a moment. "It's a good thing, too. I'm sure I'll need loads of help. My mom always uses spells for cooking and cleaning, but being in a mixed family, she keeps it pretty quiet. My dad didn't really encourage me to learn much about magic before I got my letter."
"I feel like I've got a lot to learn, too, being muggleborn. Good thing Ernie here is an old hand," Justin said, smiling over at Ernie. Ernie just shrugged.
"Ask me anything," he said. They all turned to Zacharias Smith. It was a weird feeling, the need to have everyone declare their level of magical blood.
"I'm pureblood," Zacharias said, "In fact, on my mother's side we trace our heritage back to Helga Hufflepuff herself."
Justin and Wayne looked suitably impressed. Ernie said nothing, but he was skeptical. Weren't most wizards related to one another if you went that far back? What sort of records actually traced lineages back 1000 years anyway?
"Well," he said, "I'm knackered. To sleep?" They all agreed, and took turns getting ready for bed in the generously appointed en suite behind yet another round door. When he was finally prepared for sleep, Ernie pulled together the velvet curtains of his bed and turned down the covers, only to find a neatly folded envelope on his pillow. His name was inscribed in raised golden lettering on the outside and it was sealed with wax. He couldn't quite make out what the insignia was meant to be.
He opened it carefully by ripping open the top, so as to preserve the seal. The note was written in the same golden script on heavy, creamy parchment. It read:
Dear Mr. Smith,
As a scion of the Sacred 28, you are cordially invited to attend an exclusive welcome reception one week from today. Please RSVP by completing the card and returning it to this envelope. Further communication will provide you with the time and place of the event.
Sincerely yours,
Scions of the 28
P.S. We request your discretion regarding this event.
Ernie looked at the note for a long time. Then he sighed, replaced it in its envelope, and laid down to sleep.