The Great Hall of Hogwarts was one of the most amazing things Harry had ever seen. The room was massive, filled with four long tables that stretched nearly the length of the room. At the front of the room was a shorter table perpendicular to the others, set before five stained glass windows overlooking the lake. Each was emblazoned with one of the four house crests, with the Hogwarts crest on the center one. However, the ceiling was easily the most eye-catching feature. Somehow, the ceiling of the hall looked exactly like the night sky, complete with wispy clouds and the occasional owl flying past. Chandeliers hung down from it, with the chains disappearing into the sky as they rose.

After overcoming their awe, the first years scuttled after McGonagall down the center aisle. They eventually came to a stop before the head table, before which a dirty old hat sat quietly on a stool. The hall descended into silence as McGonagall turned to face the student body. Next to her, the hat began to twitch, before a tear opened near the rim and it 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 folks 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 older students burst into applause as the first years stared at the Hat, stunned. "I thought we had to fight a troll," Harry heard Ron mutter under his breath. Harry turned and grinned at him, and was about to reply when McGonagall spoke up once more.

"When I call your name, you will sit on the stool to be sorted. You will then join your house at their table," she said, unrolling a large scroll as she did so. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A girl with a pink face and pigtails rushed up to the stool, trembling slightly as she sat down. When McGonagall place the Hat on her head, it sank down over her eyes, stopping just past her nose. The crowd fell into silence, anticipating the first sorting of the year.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the Hat exclaimed into the silence. One of the tables in the middle with yellow ties and yellow trim on their robes erupted in cheers as Hannah Abbot passed the Hat back to McGonagall and scurried to the first open seat at the table. Two of the other tables clapped politely until she was seated, then silence fell again as the next student was sorted.

After several others, Harry heard a name that he recognized, and applauded as "Davis, Tracey!" was sorted into Slytherin. Soon enough, "Granger, Hermione!" was called up. Harry gave Hermione a slight nudge from where she stood beside him, startling her into action. She sat on the stool, and gave Harry one last panicked glance as the Hat slid over her eyes. The hall waited in anticipation as the time ticked by, first a minute, then five. The crowd was finally starting to become restless when "Ravenclaw!" burst from the Hat, and Hermione quickly moved to the end of the blue clad table. "Greengrass, Daphne!" was also a familiar name. Harry gave her a slight smile as her gaze passed over him, and she returned it before the Hat slid over her eyes as well. Moments later, she was seated at Slytherin next to Tracey.

"Longbottom, Neville!" was soon called, and was quickly sent to Hufflepuff. Finally, after what had felt like eons to Harry, McGonagall said "Potter, Harry!" Harry walked up to the stool, doing his best to remain calm even though he could feel his heart trying to pound through his ribcage. He sat on the stool, and McGonagall placed the Hat on his head.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a voice said directly next to his left ear. Harry twisted slightly, but could not see any feet on the floor.

"Are you the Sorting Hat?" Harry whispered as quietly as he could.

"Indeed I am, pleasure to meet you Mr. Potter," the Hat replied. "I don't usually directly speak with students, but there are always a few each year. Now, Mr. Potter, there are some students that, quite simply, don't quite fit the nice little categories that the adults like to put all of you children into. So, you get to choose."

"Choose what?" Harry whispered back.

"Your house, of course. From what I can tell, you know at least one person in each house so far except for Gryffindor, though I expect the youngest Mr. Weasley will end up there if tradition holds true. So, where would you like to go?"

Harry pondered the question for a few moments. He realized the importance of it, since he would spend the next seven years living with his choice. Finally, he came to a decision. "Put me where you think I'll do my best."

"Very well, Mr. Potter. Good luck in…"

When McGonagall called Harry to the stool, silence fell over the hall almost instantly. The older students watched, transfixed, as the Hat slid over Harry's eyes. They waited with bated breath, as the Hat twitched back and forth. As his sorting approached the seven minute mark, the murmurs in the crowd began to increase in both frequency and volume. However, the voices dried up instantly as the Hat's lips opened once more, exclaiming "SLYTHERIN" for the school to hear.

In stark contrast with each of the previous sortings, there was no explosion of applause or cheers when McGonagall lifted the Hat from Harry's head. Instead, there was a collective gasp from the entire school. After several seconds, a polite, though subdued, round of applause sprang up from the green and silver table, dying away quickly. Harry walked to the table, feeling extremely self-conscious, and slid into a seat near the end of the table, still feeling the eyes of the entire hall upon him. McGonagall had to call the next name ("Rivers, Oliver") thrice before a boy rushed out of the crowd and up to the dais where McGonagall stood.

Harry kept his eyes down at the table for the remainder of the sorting, refusing to meet the eyes of anyone near him. Finally, as "Zabini, Blaise," was sorted into Slytherin, McGonagall picked up the stool and Hat and carried them to the end of the staff table. Dumbledore stood from his ornate chair, and Harry finally lifted his eyes from the table before him.

"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 exclaimed, before retaking his seat. The crowd burst into one more round of raucous applause and cheers, and suddenly there was food on the table. More food than Harry had ever dreamed of, much less seen before. A vast variety of meats, vegetables, side dishes, and more lay on the table before him. His jaw dropped.

"What, never seen house elf magic before?" a feminine voice interrupted Harry's shock. He turned to the side, and saw that Daphne and Tracey had moved from their original seats and were now both seated to his left. The dark skinned boy who had been sorted last also moved up the table, and was now sitting across from the other three. "Harry, this is Blaise Zabini. Blaise, Harry Potter."

Harry lifted his hand towards the other boy, who shook it firmly, before turning his attention to the food laid out before them. With a grin he began taking small portions from practically every plate, eager to try out these new foods.

"What's a house elf?" Harry asked after filling his plate.

"A house elf is a kind of elf that's sworn loyalty to a family," Daphne responded as she scooped some potatoes onto her plate. "They have rather powerful magic, though they can't use it to harm humans unless they're defending their owner. Hogwarts employs a bunch of them to clean and cook the food."

"Only rich families can afford one, though," Tracey cut in. "I only know a few people who have them."

"Do any of you have a house elf?" Harry asked them.

"I do," spoke Daphne and Blaise simultaneously. They glanced at each other, then Daphne continued. "We've had our elf, Tripsy, since before I was born. They normally live pretty long lives."

Harry hummed in thought as he began to eat. The others also began to eat, and for a few minutes the only sound was the dull roar of conversation that pervaded the entire hall.

"You got quite the reaction when you were sorted," observed Blaise suddenly. "I think practically everyone assumed you would go to Gryffindor."

"Yeah, well, apparently I'm full of surprises," Harry said with something between a grin and a grimace. "Can't say I expected that reaction, though. Is there a reason Slytherin already seems to hate me?"

"Well, for some of them, I'm sure their parents sympathized with You-Know-Who. They probably told their kids all about how he was gonna fix the country and put Muggles in their place. I don't know if you know this, but Slytherin is sort of viewed as the house of pure-bloods. And recently, that's become the house of supporters of You-Know-Who," Tracey explained.

"Well, great. Just my luck that I would end up here where everyone already hates me," Harry groused to himself.

"Not everyone," Daphne said with a smile. "The more vocal people might dislike you, but I promise that most of them won't really care."

Harry turned to her and returned the smile. "So, who can tell me about all the professors?"

It was Blaise who spoke up this time. "The big one at the far end is Rubeus Hagrid. My mom said that he's half-giant, that's why he's so big. The next two are Sinistra and Babbling I think, they teach Astronomy and Ancient Runes, but I'm not quite sure which is which."

"The crazy looking one next to them is definitely Trelawney," interjected Tracey. She blushed as the other three turned to face her. "Sorry, she's just exactly how my mom described her. Anyway, she teaches Divination."

"The short one there is Flitwick, he teaches Charms," Blaise continued. "My mom said he was part-goblin, but she's not as sure about that one."

"Then we have Sprout, she teaches Herbology, and obviously Dumbledore. On the other side of Dumbledore, there's McGonagall, Snape, the Potions teacher, and Quirrell, who teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts. Then those two must be Hooch and Vector, they teach Flying and Arithmancy. And the guy on the end missing an arm is Kettleburn, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher," Daphne finished. "Snape is Head of Slytherin, Flitwick is Ravenclaw, Sprout is Hufflepuff, and McGonagall is Gryffindor."

Harry did his best to commit these names to memory, though he fully expected to forget a few. As he was looking along the head table, his eyes passed over the one with greasy black hair. He made eye contact with him for an instant, and immediately gasped as he felt a sharp pain in his forehead, right behind his scar. The teacher, Snape he thought, blinked rapidly several times, then pointedly looked away.

"Harry, are you alright?" Daphne asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry replied, briefly rubbing his scar. "The one next to McGonagall is Snape, right?"

"Yep. And from what I've heard, he's pretty partial to Slytherins in his class," she replied. Harry nodded, even as he continued to think over what had just happened. All of a sudden, all the food on the tables vanished, and Dumbledore stood from his seat again.

"Ahem. Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you," Dumbledore spoke, his words piercing the quiet that settled over the tables. "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 gave a pointed look to the Gryffindor table, though Harry could not see who he was looking at.

"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."

Harry gave a wary glance to his friends, who looked back at him with identical expressions of confusion. Shrugging, he turned back to the front.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!"

Author's Note: Obviously, it's been a while. I don't plan on abandoning this, but updates will come whenever I'm inspired or have time. There are some lines in here that are direct quotes from JK Rowling's books, mainly lines from Dumbledore and the Sorting Hat's speech. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, etc., the support really makes it worth it. Hope you all enjoy!