Chapter III: The Sorting Hat
Romulus had always told Remus that the Great Hall was spectacular, but he still couldn't help but gasp at the sight of it. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles, which were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first-years up there, so that they came to a half in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. Looking along the table second from the left, Remus searched out his brother. He saw him almost immediately as he was sitting in the seat next to the place where the new Ravenclaws would be. He smiled at Remus and pulled a funny face.
Remus grinned. His brother always knew how to make him less nervous. Not that he was nervous. Not at all. Not one bit.
He was brought out of his self-convincing session, when Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first-years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed, and extremely dirty. Just as he glanced back towards his brother with a questioning look, people started laughing. Professor McGonagall gave a small yelp, and Remus looked to see what was wrong.
Instead of the old, ragged hat that had been there just moments ago, what looked like a large tropical fruit bowl had appeared. It took Remus a minute to realise what was going on. James and, or, Sirius had obviously known what the Sorting would entail, and changed the hat into the most ridiculous looking thing you could have imagined. Obviously one of them was very good with Transfiguration.
As the school continued to laugh Professor McGonagall tapped the hat with her wand and turned it back to its original form. She turned to look at the rest of the school with a highly stern look, making everyone hush as she scanned each face. She then turned to face the first-years with the same look and stopped her gaze next to Remus. Remus looked beside him, and noticed for the first time that James and Sirius were standing to his left.
They looked as guilty as a two puppies sitting next to a pile of poo.
Professor McGonagall seemed to think so too. She walked up to them and looked down her nose. Remus saw she looked angry, and just a little bit… impressed?
'Detention, Friday night. Eight o'clock. My office. Don't be late.'
James and Sirius looked slightly crestfallen. Professor McGonagall walked back towards the hat and tapped it once more. 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:
'I'm the Sorting Hat of Hogwarts,
I choose where you shall be,
For the next seven years,
As you will shortly see.
New faces and new minds,
I have to plough through to decide,
Different races different creatures,
In this coming year you'll find.
You might be placed in Gryffindor,
Who are courageous and brave.
Or perhaps in Hufflepuff,
You'll find friends to the grave.
You'll have to be smart for Ravenclaw,
Or Rowena won't let you in,
And if you're ambitious and cunning,
Then you'll be in Slytherin.
Four houses for the students,
In which I have to sort,
Four choices for each one of you,
Depending on where you ought,
To go and make new friends,
And retain them fixed and true,
When next year I'll have to sing again,
For if you only knew,
What lies ahead in front of you,
Instead of from behind,
In your house you'll meet new people,
But keep an open mind.
Brave, loyal, smart or determined,
I tell you where you're at,
So sit down and enjoy the show,
By the Sorting Hat!'
The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.
Remus felt slightly relieved. There would be no custard or general knowledge about penguins. Not that Remus had believed anything his brother said. Of course not. And not that he had actually looked up some books about penguins either…
Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.
'When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,' she said. 'Applebee, Amanda!'
A stout girl with curly hair pushed through the line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause-
'SLYTHERIN!' shouted the hat.
The table on the left cheered and clapped as Amanda went to sit down at the Slytherin table.
'Black, Sirius!'
Sirius swaggered out of the line, and shoved the hat on his head. He seemed to be having a hard time with it, and he had the hat on a few good minutes before-
'GRYFFINDOR!'
The Gryffindor table clapped, though not as enthusiastically as the Slytherin table had for Amanda. In fact, the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables had started whispering amongst themselves, and most of them looked shocked. Remus noted that the tall, blond Head Boy (who he found was sitting at the Slytherin table), was not clapping at all, and looked rather miffed. Sirius, however, didn't seem to mind and ran down to the Gryffindor table.
'Brannon, Belinda!'
'SLYTHERIN!'
Again the Slytherin table erupted in applause. Belinda ran off to sit next to Amanda.
Kevin got his wish of Hufflepuff, and 'Daly, Holly, Dent, Arnold and Evans, Lily' went to the Gryffindor table, where Sirius promptly jumped up and hugged each of them in turn (much to the amusement of the rest of the hall). 'French, Olivia' became the first Ravenclaw, and Remus saw his brother shake her hand and smile.
The hat was up to 'Huneycutt, Joshua' (the boy with blond hair and glasses became another Hufflepuff), when the names jumped to 'Johannes, Cassandra' (Slytherin), to 'Kendra, Diana' (another Gryffindor who was hugged by Sirius) then to 'Leery-Masters, Adam'.
L? Gee, they got there quicker than I would have liked, thought Remus dryly.
'RAVENCLAW!'
'Lupin, Remus!'
Remus stepped out of the line nervously. Careful not to trip over himself he picked up the hat, placed it on his head and sat down on the stool. The last thing he saw before he was engulfed in darkness was his brother grinning at him.
'Ah, yes, I've heard about you. Hmmm,' said a small voice in his ear. 'Difficult. A good mind here, and hard-working too, my, what a good combination. Plenty of motivation I see, and definite courage. Rather like your brother in many ways,' the hat added thoughtfully. 'Mr. Black wants you in his house you know… oh, but what a mind… decisions, decisions, where to put you? Do you have a preference?'
'Not really. I think all of the houses are great,' Remus "said" to himself, still slightly shocked at the voice he was hearing.
'Hmm… maybe Hufflepuff… no… no. I don't think Hufflepuff is for you. I think the house that you will enjoy the most, is – GRYFFINDOR!'
Remus heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He picked the hat off his head, sat it back down on the stool and shakily walked over to the Gryffindor table, where Sirius Black jumped up and hugged him firmly, as he had done with the others in Gryffindor.
'Knew you had it in you mate!' Sirius exclaimed.
After almost suffocating and then sitting down, Remus glanced up at the High Table, and saw that Professor Dumbledore was looking at him. He gave Remus a smile and a nod, and turned his attention back to the stool. From two tables over, Remus also saw his brother grinning at him, and he shrugged as if to say 'Too bad'. Remus smiled back and watched the rest of the Sorting.
Mary Monahan ended up in Ravenclaw, after falling off the stool twice, 'O'Halloran, Emmett' and 'Oliver, Daisy' both became Slytherins and Elizabeth took the longest with the hat so far, before she also became a Gryffindor. She ran down towards the Gryffindor table, before sitting down between Sirius and Remus and giving each one of them a hug. Remus felt a bit funny, but that was probably due to the tightness of the hug, and the emptiness of his stomach.
The next person to be sorted was Medusa Parkinson, who hardly had the hat on her head before she was put in Slytherin. 'Pearce, Beatrice' became a Hufflepuff, before 'Pettigrew, Peter' (the round faced boy who had forgotten his quill on the platform) became the next Gryffindor, followed directly by James Potter, both of whom Sirius (and now Elizabeth) hugged, this becoming even more funny to the rest of the school.
'Roetz, Scarlett' became a Hufflepuff, Remus saw his brother greet 'Smith, Geneva' at the Ravenclaw table. 'Snape, Severus' sat down next to Medusa Parkinson (apparently to both their distaste) before being joined by 'Stebbins, Stephen'. Five people in a row became Hufflepuffs, before 'Whitby, Walter' was Sorted into Slytherin and Sam was the final Gryffindor, receiving hugs from not only Sirius (albeit a very short one) and Elizabeth, but from the entire Gryffindor first-years. The last two people to be sorted (Zimmerby, Alison and Amit) became a Ravenclaw and Slytherin respectively.
Professor McGonagall rolled up the scroll and put the stool away, when Professor Dumbledore stood up and addressed the school.
'Welcome to another year Hogwarts! I have a few delightful words to say, and they are chocolate hobnobs, ginger snaps and humbugs! How I am looking forward to dessert tonight!
'Thank you!'
The occupants of the Great Hall clapped and cheered, Remus cracked a grin; Dumbledore certainly knew what spoke to teenagers.
The plates in front of them magically filled with a wondrous amount of food, everything from lamb shanks and roast chicken, to beans and pumpkin and everything in between. Everyone filled up their plates and began to eat the amazing food.
The boy next to Sirius turned to the new Gryffindors and said:
'Hullo. My name is Frank Longbottom, and this is Margaret Abercrombie, we are the fifth year Gryffindor Prefects. If you have any questions, or if you need help with anything, don't hesitate to ask us. Okay?'
The first-years nodded.
'What's that?' asked Sam, as she pointed a pearly white man standing in the middle of the table.
'That's Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, or Nearly Headless Nick,' Margaret Abercrombie explained. 'He's our resident ghost. The Hufflepuffs have the Fat Friar, the Ravenclaws have the Grey Lady and the Slytherins have the Bloody Baron.'
'You'd also better watch out for Peeves,' warned Frank. 'He's a poltergeist, which means he can actually pick things up and throw them at you. He said at the end of last year that he would be targeting the Ravenclaws this year. But, if at all possible it's best to avoid him altogether.' And with that warning, the two prefects began carrying out a discussion with some second-years that were sitting on their other side.
Nearly Headless Nick came over a moment later, and put Sam right off her food when he showed exactly how one can be "nearly headless". He ruefully started to explain his horrible death, when Frank leaned over and told him not to be so morbid to the first-years.
'Why don't we go around in a circle and say something about ourselves?' Elizabeth suggested when Nick had departed.
'Sounds like a great idea!' exclaimed James, making all of the peas on his fork fall off.
'Can you tell that Jamesie likes talking about himself?' mocked Sirius, making most of the group laugh.
'Well then you go first Sirius.'
'Fine, I will. My name is Sirius Black, and my ambition in life is to annoy my family as much as humanly possible, hence being in Gryffindor,' he pushed a lock of shiny black hair behind his ear. 'Nothing is going to annoy my family more than me being here. It makes me feel so proud.' He pretended to cry with pride, and then looked at Elizabeth expectantly.
'Oh, okay. Um, well, I'm Elizabeth Palmer, and I'm looking forward to Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions, because my Dad works for the Beasts Division at the Ministry, and my Mum is a Potion Experimenter.'
Remus involuntarily choked on his baked potato. Her father worked for the Beasts Division? This did not bode well. Remus suddenly felt very boxed in, he had to keep his secret for at least the next seven years. Could he really pull this off?
It took him a moment to realise that everyone was looking at him, waiting for him to say something about himself. What should he say?
'I – er, I'm Remus Lupin, and my brother is a Ravenclaw prefect. He says that I'll like Defence Against the Dark Arts, so I guess I'm looking forward to that the most.'
James was particularly eager to talk. 'Well, as you all know by now, my name is James Potter, and I want to be the best Quidditch player this country has ever seen! Also, I was the one who transfigured our lovely Sorting Hat. My Mum has been teaching me practical magic for as long as I can remember, and Transfiguration is definitely my best area of expertise.'
'My name is Peter Pettigrew, and I'm really looking forward to being able to understand magic. I, uh, my parents aren't magical, so, yeah… all of this is a bit new to me.' Remus noted that Peter's watery blue eyes kept darting around to each person at the table, as though he was trying to take everything in at double the normal speed.
'I'm Sam Williams, and like Peter, I'm… what was it Elizabeth?'
'Muggle-born,' Elizabeth replied after swallowing her carrot.
'Yeah, I'm a Muggle-born; so until about two months ago, I didn't even know wizards and witches existed, or that I'd been living next to a whole family of them for most of my life!'
The next person to talk was a witch with frizzy brown hair. 'My name is Diana Kendra, and I'm from East Suffolk, my Dad is a Muggle, and my Mum is a witch. I have two younger sisters, and I am so happy to get away from them!'
'My name is Lily Evans, and I am like Sam and Peter in the respect that I'm Muggle-born. I have an older sister, and I loved school at home, so hopefully I'll enjoy it here as well.'
'I'm Holly Dayley, and I want to work for the Daily Prophet when I leave Hogwarts. I'm really interested in the History of Magic and Divination.' Remus could just picture Holly as a reporter for the Daily Prophet; she had her hair in a neat blonde bob, and had wide, assertive eyes behind her horn-rimmed glasses.
'Lucky last eh? Okay, I'm Arnold Dent, but mostly I go by Dee. My sister is the other fifth-year Ravenclaw prefect,' he looked at Remus meaningfully, though Remus had no idea why, 'and I love Quidditch too. I support the Tutshill Tornados.' He pointed to a Tornados badge on the outside of this cloak.
Just as Dee stopped talking, Remus felt a tap on his shoulder, and looked around to see his brother standing behind him. He smiled before ruffling Remus' hair.
'You know it's a pity, I had such high hopes for you,' he laughed before sitting down sideways between Remus and Peter, making Remus budge up next to Elizabeth.
Remus grinned. 'Well, not all of us can be geniuses you know.'
'No, I suppose not.' He turned to the rest of the Gryffindors. 'You're all going to take good care of Remus aren't you? Because Mum will come down here and do her raving nar-nar if her little Remus gets hurt.'
Remus felt like hiding under the table and he felt his cheeks flush.
The rest of the first-years laughed.
'Rest assured he's in safe hands with us,' said James. 'No harm will come of him under my watch, mark my words!'
'I will have to hold you to that. And I will also have to hold Margaret to that,' he added louder so that Margaret turned around to face him.
'What am I going to be held accountable for? You losing the Quidditch Cup again Lupin?'
Romulus let out bark of laughter. 'Yeah, in your dreams. It'll be Ravenclaw's name on that trophy this year, mark my words!'
'Yeah, yeah, that's what you said last year.'
'That was just the warm up. The real game starts this year.' Margaret grinned at the comment and turned back to her food. Romulus' eyes flicked back to the Ravenclaw table. 'Ah, I'd better be off. Your sister is giving me that 'get-back-over-here-and-look-after-your-own-house's-first-years-look,' he said to Dee.
'Have you asked her out yet?' Dee asked suddenly.
'No… why do you ask?'
'She's been talking about you all summer. It's bloody annoying.'
'Has she?' Romulus asked and looked back at the Ravenclaw table. Remus followed his line of sight and saw a girl who looked like the female version of Dee. She had flawless black skin and an afro that rivalled her brothers in size. Romulus had been talking all year about a girl called Editha, and by the look of his gaze, this was obviously the girl. Romulus cleared his throat. 'Yes, well, I'd better get back, see you later,' he said and stood up, swinging his leg back over the bench. He leaned in next to Remus' ear and whispered, 'I love you,' gave him a hug, kissed the top of his head and walked back to his own seat.
Remus blushed. 'Yeah, that's my brother Romulus,' he said quietly, 'he's rather affectionate.'
'I like him,' Elizabeth said appraisingly.
'So does my sister,' added Dee dryly.
The conversation continued on to their families, and somewhere in the middle of their conversation, the plates in front of them were cleared, and mountains of dessert appeared. Everything from bread and butter pudding, to chocolate ice cream had magically replaced the lamb shanks and roast chicken.
After their stomachs were filled with the delights of dessert, Professor Dumbledore stood up at the front table and cleared his throat. 'I'm afraid you must sit through one more speech. Just a few start of term notices before we retire for the night.
'Firstly, I would like to welcome our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Praeiudico. We wish him all the best for the coming year.' The Professor was tall and thin, with horn-rimmed glasses and a stern expression. He stood up and was greeted by a lukewarm applause. Remus could have sworn that when Professor Praeiudico looked at the Gryffindor first-years he had the slightest look of revulsion on his face.
'First years, and others,' he gave a look towards the Slytherin table, 'should note that the forest on Hogwarts grounds is prohibited to all students. Also Professor Sprout has reminded me to tell you that we have an exciting new specimen at Hogwarts this year. A Whomping Willow has been planted over the summer, and it doesn't take kindly to people trying to touch it. This new tree is extremely dangerous, and should be avoided at all costs. Anyone attempting to touch it will receive the same punishment as going into the forest.
'I have been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used in the corridors between classes, and severe penalties will apply to anyone breaking this rule. A list of some two hundred and twenty-three banned items are posted to the his door, and none of these items are to be used on Hogwarts grounds.
'Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested should contact Madam Hooch.
'And finally, before we go off to the land of Nod, let us sing the school song. Everyone pick their favourite tune.' Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick and a long ribbon came out of the tip that formed the words to the school song. 'One, two, three and-' the school started singing:
'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
Of 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 forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.'
Everyone finished the song at different times and the very last to finish was Mary Monahan, who appeared to be singing Carmen. The occupants of the Great Hall clapped each other.
'How I do love a good sing-along,' Dumbledore exclaimed. 'And now, off to bed with all of you. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow. Goodnight.'
The first-year Gryffindors followed Frank Longbottom and Margaret Abercrombie out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Twice they walked through hidden passageways, and finally they came to a painting of a very fat woman in a pink dress.
'Password?' she said.
'Whomping Willow,' said Margaret, and the portrait swung open to reveal a round entrance hole. They scrambled through it and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, which had squishy chairs and a roaring fire.
'First year boys with me,' Frank called over the top of their heads.
'First year girls with me,' Margaret added.
Leaving the rest of Gryffindor behind them, Remus, James, Sirius, Peter and Dee followed Frank over to the other side of the room, through a door and up a spiral staircase. They passed doors with second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh-years on them, and found themselves at the top of the staircase facing a door, which proclaimed 'First Years'.
'This is where you'll be living for the next seven years of your life. My dormitory is three doors down from this one if you need me. I know you'll do Gryffindor proud in the coming years, and I know you'll have fun.
'So, I'll leave you to it. Goodnight.'
Frank walked back down the stairs to the common room, leaving the five boys to walk into their room. Five four-posters hung with deep-red velvet curtains greeted them, and they found their trunks at the end of their beds. The excitement of the day had obviously taken its toll on them all, because Remus noticed, for the first time, that he wasn't the only one who hadn't spoken since leaving the Great Hall. The five boys sleepily pulled on their pyjamas, and clambered into their beds, bidding goodnight to their roommates.
Remus put his alarm clock on the shelf above his head, and sighed happily as he relaxed into the comfy bed, reminiscing about the day's events. The last thought he had on his mind before he fell into a slumber, was how much he was going to enjoy his time here. If, he could keep his secret.
Please Read & Review
Next Chapter: Chapter IV: The Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor
The real story begins. Remus has his first lessons, gets to know his friends a little more, and meets the new DADA Professor.
A.N: Peter being a Muggle-born is not my original idea. That stroke of brilliance comes from contrail from LiveJournal. The link to her wonderful essay, which changed my entire stance on Peter's Ancestry can be located in my profile.
Peace,
Rotae
