The boats seemed to sail by themselves. It must be magic. What was even more magic though, was when the boats turned the corner and she caught her first glimpse of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry…


It was wonderful, it was amazing. It looked like the sort of picture that would appear in one of the fantasy books Hermione had read before she discovered that it was all real. There wouldn't even really be any point in reading those sorts of books now, they probably wouldn't live up to the real thing.

It seemed as if the journey was over before it started, and they had stopped at the other side of the lake. Carefully, she climbed out of the boat hoping the clumsiness of her early years that she had gotten over wouldn't make a surprise reappearance – she didn't fancy a trip into the cold, dirty lake. Falling into line with the rest of the first years, the walked the short distance from the lake to the castle, walking through a set of massive marble double doors into a hall that had to be double the size of her house, at least.

There were four house tables with individual banners above each, they had their own mascot and colours. Hermione remembered reading about them in one of the many books her parents had bought her to try and get her out of the sulk she had been in all summer. Ravenclaw was a raven, gold and blue. Gryffindor was a lion, scarlet and gold. Hufflepuff was a badger, yellow and black. The final house Slytherin was a snake with a shady reputation, green and silver were its colours.

Glancing up at the ceiling she was reminded of something she had read in Hogwarts: A History and turned to Harry Potter who had been in her boat and was currently stood next to her, explaining – "Its enchanted to look like the night sky you know. Its just like having a see through ceiling really, except of course it will be a lot more sturdy." Harry nodded, not really looking that interested. They lined up, and Hermione felt the butterflies in her stomach start. A lot rested on what house she got into…

-&-

Flitwick's POV.
Flitwick looked down from the staff table where he had sat for over seventy years. Every year he watched the sorting but never did it lose its appeal. It made children's lives really, anyone's Hogwarts experiences would have been drastically changed if they were in a different house to the one the sorting hat decided. This was something that sometimes, he thought should have happened. Maybe they didn't suit their house, especially as they got older, children do change after all. Maybe a different house would have done them some good, let them break away from what was expected of them. How different might the professor, the man who was sitting next to him be if he had been sorted into not Slytherin, but Ravenclaw or Gryffindor instead? Severus would have probably turned out very different.

Today's assortment of first years was very interesting. Everyone from the muggleborn who had just found out about magic to the snooty pureblood who had been brought up with magic.

Draco Malfoy was the spitting image of his father, Lucius Malfoy the convicted death eater who was responsible for hundreds of deaths both directly and indirectly, from his attitude and demeanor Flitwick realized that Draco must have been raised to be a carbon copy of his father. Hopefully though, with the help of Severus as usual, they could stop Slytherins from following in their death eater parents foot steps. Maybe it wasn't too late for some. Ravenclaw, his house, might even change Draco, with a whole different set of expectations.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. At least Flitwick wouldn't have to deal with Lucius Malfoy now. Slytherin was where Draco Malfoy ended up,

Draco was flanked by two large, thuggish looking boys. Crabbe and Goyle if he remembered correctly from the pictures that Dumbledore had always shown all of the teachers before the new intake came along. Flitwick wasn't normally one to judge, but they didn't really look Ravenclaw material. Maybe Hufflepuff, the way they were protecting Draco.

Slytherin. Although most thought it a place for evil death eaters, and pureblooded old families tended to think it the only acceptable house, Salazar Slytherin had greatly different intentions.

A bright red head of hair caught his attention, it must be another Weasley. Ron Weasley was the last boy, and he had a lot to live up to; every Weasley before him had been in Gryffindor, and every Weasley before him had been special. Would he manage to live up to the expectations?

Gryffindor. Indeed he had, but, now what would the next seven years entail for this Weasley?

Two identical twins stood next to each other, everything the same right down to the braid their hair was in, even if one was a little more ruffled than the other. The Patil twins had undecided alliances, their parents neutral, with one being a Slytherin and the other a Hufflepuff. It was a miracle they had gotten together, with house rivalry being as bad as it was back then.

Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. This was very interesting, he hadn't known of twins being sorted into different houses before. The only other twins at Hogwarts now were of course the Weasley twins who had both been sorted into Gryffindor. What would their parents think?


Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived. Son of James and Lily. Many different names, but underneath it all he was just a boy.

Gryffindor. Although it took a while, the hat did make a decision. Looks like the young Potter was following in his footsteps.


Finally, a bushy haired girl stood there. Hermione Granger was her name. Strangely enough, Dumbledore had mentioned her as not muggleborn, but living with muggles. It was suspicious to say the least.

Even more suspicious was when she was sorted into Slytherin, the first 'muggleborn' there for over 200 years.