Chapter 4

The Sorting

The door swung open at once, and there stood a tall figure. He had a shining white beard which stretched till his waist, long enough to be tucked into his belt. His twinkling, blue eyes peered at them through his half-moon spectacles, which rested on an extremely crooked nose. Albus Dumbledore beamed at them.

"The firs' years, Professor Dumbledore," said the Giant. He was smiling widely and his chest was puffed up like a bullfrog's. Perce was staring at the celebrated wizard with his mouth slightly open, until Subash nudged him in his ribs. He quickly looked away.

"Thank you very much, Hagrid. I shall escort them from here," Professor Dumbledore said, in a clear voice, bowing slightly.

He pulled the door wide, and they saw the Entrance Hall. Perce tried calculating whether the Jordans' Mansion would fit, and decided that it might — the ceiling was practically invisible. Professor Dumbledore led them across the flagged stone floor, guarded by stone walls on each side, and lit by flaming torches. They followed him into an empty chamber off the hall.

Professor Dumbledore spread his arms out, as though embracing them all, and said, "Welcome to Hogwarts!" And smiled widely. "The traditional start-of-term banquet is about to commence, but before that there is a much more important ceremony — the Sorting. Every Hogwarts student belongs to one particular Hogwarts House, which will be determined by various aspects of their personality and capabilities. You will be sorted into your Houses in this Sorting ceremony. During your time at Hogwarts, your House shall be like a family. You will attend classes along with the rest of your House, spend your leisure time in the common room and retire in the House dormitories." he paused, his eyes twinkling at them.

"Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin are the four Hogwarts houses. Each one of these Houses has produced extraordinary witches and wizards, and every House has a unique history. You will earn House points for every triumph, and, be warned, lose points for any rule-breaking. At the end of the year, the Headmaster will award the House Cup, which is considered a great honour, to the House with the most points. I hope each one of you shall be a credit to whichever House you belong.

"The Sorting shall begin in a few minutes, and you shall have the audience of the whole school. It is my suggestion that you straighten your ties, style your hair and dust your cloaks while you wait." He finished, his gaze sweeping the crowd, till they rested on a small boy who was struggling with his tie, almost choking himself. He flicked his wand, correcting it, and the boy turned red as a beetroot. "I shall return in a few minutes to escort you inside. Please wait quietly." With that, he turned, and went into the Great Hall. Perce could hear a drone of hundreds of voices from inside.

"And that is supposed to be the greatest sorcerer in the world," said Perce, smiling widely.

"Right," retorted Subash, unable to see what was so exciting. Perce shook his head disbelievingly.

"Well," said Subash, "how d'you think we're going to be sorted?"

"Well, that's easy, we'll just —" Perce paused, "actually, that's a good question, Subash. I have no idea," he said, frowning.

"I just hope we won't be asked to do three cart-wheels and five backflips…" he chuckled. Perce shook his head.

"Well, I suppose we will know in a few min — hey, watch out!" Perce skipped aside, and just in time, as the same boy with the now corrected tie dived straight down where Perce was standing, and caught a cat with both his hands.

"There you are, Longleaf — naughty little cat — I'm sorry, he just jumped out of my hand you see, I couldn't catch him in time — he never usually does that, I don't know what prompted him — he usually likes me a lot, you see — I'm Jefferson, by the way, Luke Jefferson," he said all this in a few seconds, and held out his hand to Perce, and then to the slightly skeptical Subash, and then muttered apologies to all those around him. Perce's eyes moved from Luke to his cat. It — he — was extremely tidy, his fur perfectly smooth, and the colours of his fur gracefully switching from pure white to jet black as one traced from his pink snout to his ears. His eyelids were wearily half-closed, concealing partly the faded green eyes and the dark pupils. Longleaf allowed Perce to stroke his back, purring softly.

"Who named him Longleaf?" Perce asked, half laughing, as Luke turned back to them.

"I did," he said simply. "There grew some ridiculously long leaves in our backyard, and this cat's favourite pass-time was scratching and biting them —" he stroked the cat's neck. "But anyway, which House d'you hope to be in? I definitely hope for Gryffindor, I've read all sorts of books on Hogwarts — my parents are Muggles, you see — bit of a shock to them, but I was thoroughly excited — but as I was saying Gryffindor does seem to be the best House, and —" he was cut off by Subash.

"Hold it, hold it, there —" he chuckled. "And speak for yourself, we're Slytherins here, the House for the greatest, the ambitious…" he said, giving Perce a fist-bump.

Before Luke could come back with another five-thousand-word retort, there was a unanimous shriek: many pearly white, floating figures came zooming in. "Ghosts," Perce muttered. Some took their hats off, some their heads, and after greeting the First years, and hoping that they would have more guests in their own Houses, they floated into the Hall through the door. Almost a moment later, the door opened again, and Professor Dumbledore beamed at them.

"The time has come for the Sorting Ceremony," he said. "Please form a line and follow me. There is no need to be nervous." He smiled at them all.

In spite of his advice, the nerves were running high in the group again, and they let out a collective gasp as they entered the Hall. It was brilliantly lit, with the ceiling inviting them to stare into its starry depths. Luke began another narrative about how it's bewitched to look that way. Perce tried to ignore him, observing the thousands of floating candles in the air, the four long tables in the middle of the hall, one for each House, and the High Table, for the Professors. At the centre of the High Table, on a large golden chair, sat the Headmaster — an old wizard, frail looking, with a pale face and brown eyes, and a few wisps of white hair on his head. Luke went on, until, fortunately, Professor Dumbledore halted, cutting short of his spontaneous flow. He placed a three-legged stool in front of the High Table and in front of all the students, and on it a rather ragged looking hat. It was tattered and dirty, and uninteresting, until a rip near the brim opened, and the hat started singing:

"Be you short or tall,

Large or small,

I am the hat

That is here to sort you all.

I am here to choose the table

Where you will be sat,

I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat!

If you are academically able,

Hardworking, wise and smart,

Ravenclaw is where you fit the part.

If you are craft and sly;

Always willing to reach for the sky:

Slytherin is where your loyalties lie.

If you are friendly, loyal and true;

Hufflepuff is the place for you.

If you are brave

And adventure is what you crave:

Gryffindor is the home of such a knave.

So put me on and meet your fate.

Make haste; don't be late.

Take care

And begin this adventure if you dare."

The Hat finished, and lay still to the applause ringing from the Great Hall. Professor Dumbledore clapped too, and then took out a scroll of parchment.

"Please sit on the stool and put on the Hat when your name is called out," he said. He unscrolled the parchment, and began with an "Arundell, David!" He went up to the stool, and put on the Hat. For the next five minutes they were waiting. Everyone was getting more nervous by the minute, until finally, the Hat shouted "RAVENCLAW!" followed by great applause from the Ravenclaw table, as David went to sit down.

Only when Dumbledore called "Arundell, Linda!" did Perce realise that these two were the twins he saw in the boat. They had hair a colour of light brown, quite similar to his father's. Luke began another narrative on Hat Stalls, and Subash almost punched him. Surprisingly (and thankfully) enough, Linda didn't cause a Hat Stall, and within thirty seconds the Hat shouted out "RAVENCLAW!" Dumbledore called more names from the list, and the students nervously went up to the stool to be Sorted, and walked to the respective tables smiling sheepishly, as the students clapped. Then came "Jefferson, Luke!" and it wasn't a minute before the Hat bellowed "GRYFFINDOR!"

And finally, Dumbledore called "Jordan, Percival!" Perce went to the stool, and put on the Hat. Like for everyone else, it fell over his eyes, covering his view entirely. He closed his eyes. Then a small voice spoke in his ear: "An interesting case, yes… plenty of ambition, plenty… but a great deal of intelligence. I can see a great deal of wit… yes. You would do good in Ravenclaw, very good… but there's ambition too, and Slytherin will help you there… and yes, thirst for knowledge, determination… now where should I put you? Ravenclaw seems to be perfect… but what's that?"

Perce was frantically thinking, "Slytherin… please, Slytherin… Slytherin…"

"Slytherin, you say? I believe Ravenclaw would suit your intelligence… it's true I considered Slytherin. But you seem firm in your wish, so let's not disappoint you. SLYTHERIN!" The Hat bellowed the last word, which was heard throughout the Hall. Perce placed the Hat back on the chair, grinned widely, and walked to the Slytherin table, where the students were applauding. As he was sitting down, a tall boy with grey hair clapped him on the back. Perce smiled, and noticed a gleaming badge on his chest, with the letter 'P'. He had a short, round nose, emerald green eyes, and a pale face. He shook his hand.

"Welcome to Slytherin, Perce. I'm Hadner Greyfall, your Prefect," he smiled. "And there goes another Hufflepuff…" he said, after Dumbledore called "Warren, Gerda!", who was now walking towards the Hufflepuff table. Next came "Shastri, Subash!" and the Hat shouted "SLYTHERIN!" the moment it touched his head. Perce clapped hard with the rest, and Subash sat next to him, grinning, and he flushed as Hadner welcomed him. Perce then got the chance of observing the High Table. To the left of the Headmaster was an empty seat, and Perce assumed it was Dumbledore's. To his right sat a very short wizard, on a high seat. On the left side of Dumbledore's seat was a stout wizard, with shiny, straw-coloured hair, with a small bald patch on his crown. He had a fairly thick gingery-blond moustache. He was smiling, and applauding as each student was Sorted. His green robes spoke of his House.

The short wizard was addressing a witch next to him. She had an extremely wrinkled, ghostly-pale face, with shoulder length hair, which was a blinding shade of white. She had black eyes, and feeble hands, which threatened to snap at the smallest tap. She was smiling faintly, and talking to her neighbour.

Soon, Dumbledore folded the parchment, and departed with the stool and Hat. Then, the frail old man got up from his seat at the centre of the High Table. Hadner let out a sigh. "He's the Headmaster, Armando Dippet. And he loves to watch us starve while making his speech…" he chuckled. Professor Dippet glanced at the entire crowd before delving into his speech.

"My dear students of Hogwarts! I welcome you all, to start a fresh year," he said, and his eyes swept the crowd once more. "There are a few notices that I am obliged to inform you about," he cleared his throat, and his voice became monotonous.

"The First years need to note that the forest near the grounds is out-of-bounds for all students. Our caretaker, Mr. Pringle, has asked me to remind you that no magic is allowed in the corridors." He paused, and cleared his throat again.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Whoever wishes to play for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"I hope you enjoy the feast! Thank you," he finished, and sat down.

The golden plates filled themselves with the most delicious food that Perce doubted Toby could make. There was everything: salad, roast beef, chicken wings, sausages, lamb chops, pork chops, boiled potatoes, cucumbers, gravy, bacon and steak, mince pies, pudding, and ketchup. Perce rubbed his hands in glee, and started gobbling down the potatoes. The chocolate frogs in the train seemed ages ago. Suddenly there was a series of gasps, and Perce looked up to see a ghost. He had an extremely gaunt face, silver blood stains on his robes, and he carried chains. As he passed, silence fell, and chattering began again.

"The Bloody Baron," said Hadner. "He's the ghost of Slytherin House." Perce nodded, and continued eating. "You're pure-blood, aren't you?" Hadner asked. "I am."

"Yeah, I'm pure-blood," he said, swallowing.

"I'm half-blood," said Subash, piping in.

"And so am I," said a first year girl sitting near them. She had a different accent, and Perce wondered. "But it doesn't really matter, you know —"

"Actually it might —" Hadner said, glancing at a group of burly sixth years, laughing and talking animatedly. "Just, watch out…" he said, smiling weakly. Perce merely continued eating.

The girl shrugged. "Anyway, I'm Susane Decarther." She said, and the others introduced themselves. "I'm from America… my family shifted from Britain many generations ago and they've been sending their children to Hogwarts, though there's Ilvermorny…"

"Well, that explains your accent," grinned Perce. "And of course, Hogwarts is the best school in the world." This statement caused an argument that included some raised voices, until Hadner stepped in, chuckling. They continued eating and talking, topics switching faster than a chameleon's colours, until it landed on Quidditch. Perce said that he was never really involved in the sport, but had played it once when his father took him to one of his colleagues' house. Subash apparently loved the game, and was speaking about some intricate details of a certain match with Hadner. Perce glanced at Luke in the Gryffindor table. He was, naturally, chattering away at lightning speed, quite blind to his neighbours' expressions. One girl was desperately trying to cover her ears while eating. Perce chuckled softly.

"Personally, I prefer baseball," said Susane.

"Base — what, I'm sorry?" Perce asked.

"Baseball, Perce, it's a Muggle game," Subash said. "You have a pitcher, he throws a ball, and the batter, his job is to hit it and run, to score — well, you don't need the details. Let's leave it at that."

"My father is Muggle-born, and he absolutely loves the game," Susane continued. "I've played a little bit too, but I love watching it more. And I totally love Yogi Berra and Ted Kluszewski —" Perce winced at the name. But she could not go on, for at that moment, Armando Dippet got up again, and their plates were wiped clean of the remains of the delicious desserts.

"Now that we are all satisfactorily fed and watered, I would request the Prefects to lead the pupils to their respective Houses. Have a goodnight!" He smiled pleasantly, and sat down again. Perce noticed that Dumbledore was now sitting in his seat, and presently got engaged in a conversation with the Headmaster.

Hadner was leading all the first years in the direction of the dungeons. Perce realised that his eyes were drooping, as his stomach was fuller than normal. He desperately wished he would reach his bed soon, and did not respond to any of Subash's questions or statements. They walked for what seemed like ages. He heard someone say "Mundus Aqua", and he realised that this was the password when the door swung open. He did not notice much of the common room, but simply yawned, and headed to the dormitories. He bade Subash good night, and collapsed into his bed.

A/N The Sorting Hat's song does not belong to me. It is an excellent creation by "Parsley the Lion", a user of this website. I give them full credit for it.

Link: u/190673/Parsley-the-Lion