People pushed their way towards the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. As Jade finally set foot on the platform, she heard a rough-sounding voice telling all the first years to follow him. She spotted Daphne and Draco and stood near them. "Oh hello, Jade right?" Asked Daphne. "Who's the giant guy." She asked Daphne just shrugged. "Potter says his name is Hagrid," Draco told her. "How does Harry know him?" Jade and Daphne asked. "He was Potter's guide into our world, bloody fool if you asked me," Draco said as Crabbe and Goyle caught up to them. "Hey, Jade." They both greeted her.
Hagrid had led them to a lake and many 'oo'd and awed but Jade and Draco just seemed to take in their environment in silence. Draco was quieter cause he knew what to expect from his mother and father who'd informed him. "No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Jade decided to go with Daphne and her friends. "Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself, "Right then, FORWARD!" And the little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was smooth as silk. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood. "Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff, they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face.
They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they climbed out onto rocks and pebbles. "You there! Is this yer toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them. "Trevor!" cried Neville in relief, holding out his hands. Then they climbed up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.
"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door. Jade and Draco rolled their eyes at Nevil's reaction to getting his toad back. "If it were me I'd purposefully lose the toad again." She muttered under her breath. Draco who had just walked up behind her and Daphne seemed to have heard her though as he snickered at the comment. Pansy who had walked up to Daphne, whispered; "Have you told him yet?" "No. I'll wait till after being sorted into Slytherin," Daphne whispered back quietly as they all continued to follow Hagrid. The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face. "The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid. "Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." She pulled the door wide open.
The Entrance Hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Evans' house in it and there'd still be plenty of room left. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. They followed Professor McGonagall across the stone floor. Jade could hear hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right, the rest of the school must already be here, but Professor McGonagall showed the first-years into a small empty chamber to the other side of the hall. They all crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall with a small smile. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room. 'The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. 'The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, and on Ron's smudged nose. Jade noticed Harry Potter was nervously trying to flatten his hair.
"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." She left the chamber. Jade suddenly became nervous. "How exactly do they sort us into houses?" She heard Harry ask Ron, who wasn't too Far from where she was. "Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking." Jade's heart gave a horrible jolt. "Don't eavesdrop too much, Evans you might hear how Bubotuber pus is used in healing potions," Draco whispered in a teasing tone as he noticed her listening to Potter and Weasley who were sputtering out nonsense. "Sorry, I can't help it. It's how I prepare myself for something I know nothing about." Jade said admittedly. "Well don't worry about it, besides I don't think it's a painful ceremony," Draco said trying to be reassuring. "How can you be so sure?" She asked.
"My father wouldn't allow me to go here if it meant I'd be harmed in any way." He said smugly. Jade smiled as her nerves settled. She couldn't explain it but she felt she could trust Draco so she just allowed herself to calm down a bit. "What kinda test do you think we'll have to do?" She asked. Draco shrugged. "Don't know, sure it won't be hard though." He said sounding pretty sure of himself. "What the...?" Jade gasped as she saw about twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to each other and hardly glanced at any of them. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying, 'Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance...' 'My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost... I say, what are you all doing here?' Nobody answered.
"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them excitedly. "About to be sorted, I suppose?" A few people nodded behind her, while Jade refused to do anything but stare. "Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know." "Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall. "Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first-years, "and follow me." Jade's nervousness from before had suddenly come back again, but she squished it and forced herself to do as she was told. She'd never imagined such a strange place. It was lit by thousands of floating candles over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were covered with 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 so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. Jade's heart was hammering in her chest, she'd never seen so many people in her life. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. She couldn't quite tell if it was nervousness or what but she felt like whatever feeling it was, was going to make her sick soon if it didn't stop. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone in a mist-like lighting. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Jade looked upwards and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars.
She heard Hermione Granger tell someone; "The ceiling's been bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in Hogwarts: A History." It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all. Jade slowly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of them. On top of the stool, she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. 'Hope I don't ever have to touch that thing.' Jade thought as 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 got 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 folk 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!"
'Oh, no! Please tell me I'm just dreaming!' She screamed in her head as she realized rather quickly she'd have to put it on her head. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell since she didn't know many, but the hat looked as though it hadn't been washed for centuries. But she forced herself to look bored so as to not reveal her disgust with the idea of wearing the hat to everyone who'd been looking at all the first years. Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of paper. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!" A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause. "HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat. The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table.
Jade saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving happily at her. "Bones, Susan!" "HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah. "Boot, Terry!" "RAVENCLAW!" The table second from the left clapped this time, several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them. "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor, and Ron's twin brothers began catcalling her. Jade rolled her eyes hoping she didn't get sorted in with such an annoying bunch of morons. "Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. "Finch-Fletchley, Justin!" "HUFFLEPUFF!" Jade noticed, the hat sometimes shouted out the house at once, but for some others, it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus", the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.
"Granger, Hermione!" Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head. "GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Ron groaned. "Longbottom, Neville" He fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted "GRYFFINDOR" Neville was so happy, he ran off still wearing it and had to jog back amid the laughter of the others to give it to "MacDougal, Morag" Draco swaggered forward with a smirk when his name was called and got his wish at once. The hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!" Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself. There weren't many people left now and Jade was silently fuming. Everyone had been called up in alphabetical order from their last names and hers started with an 'E' so why hasn't she been called?
'Maybe Lucius made a mistake and I'm not really supposed to be here?' She thought until she heard "Harry Potter" and everyone started murmuring about him. After a while, he was sorted into "GRYFFINDOR" "And lastly, Jade Evans!" Professor McGonagall called her name, she walked over nervously. "Sorry, your last on this list even though your name starts with an 'E'." She apologized but didn't seem to mean the words. "You were really hard to track down since you moved to America. So you are our oldest first year, please take a seat." Jade, who was even madder sat on the stool forgetting to pull her hood down. "I must ask you to remove your hood," McGonagall said in a stern voice. She nodded slowly pulling her hood down and almost immediately heard the fear-filled voices of some of the students in front of her and a few voices from the teachers behind her. All were saying things along the lines of;
"Bellatrix!"
"Is she Lestrange's daughter?"
"Bet she's a Slytherin just like Lestrange."
At this moment, Professor McGonagall raised the hat over her head, and just as it touched a single strand of her hair the hat screamed "Slytherin!" Jade smiled, at least she got a house where she could possibly make wort-while friends was the only thought going through her head. But the only ones willing to sit with her were Draco and his friends and her smile faded at this. After sitting next to Daphne and Draco, she noticed she could see the High Table properly now. And there, in the center of the High Table, in a large golden chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Jade recognized him at once from the card she got out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole Hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. He seemed to be almost watching her as though she knew his biggest secret. She also spotted Professor Quirrell, looking very peculiar in a large purple turban.
Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away soon after everyone was sorted. Jade looked down at her empty plate. She had only just realized how hungry she was. It seemed like ages ago when she'd last eaten. Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students now, his arms opened wide as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there. 'What a load of crap.' She thought sarcastically to herself as he spoke. "Welcome!" he said. "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!" Jade looked at Daphne and Draco and asked: "Is he a bit insane?" Daphne didn't say anything but Draco in usual Draco fashion said; "I don't know but my father would agree with you."
All of a sudden, Jade noticed the table was now loaded with piles of food. Roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and for some strange reason, mint humbugs. She put a little bit of everything on her plate except the lamb chops and humbug. It was quite delicious. When she was done eating, she looked at the Gryffindor table to see a ghost talking to Harry Potter and his friends, the ghost then pulled his head nearly all the way off. She was a bit creeped out by that so she turned to Draco and asked him about the ghost. "He was beheaded for trying to be nice to a muggle and attempted to straighten her teeth, but when it backfired... well I think you get the idea," Daphne answered. When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them as sparkling clean as before.
A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs, and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, rice pudding. As Jade helped herself to some chocolate pudding, the talk turned to their families. "...mother says I could be the heir to both the Black and Malfoy fortunes," Draco said just before taking a bite of his apple pie. "Are you sure you want to?" asked Daphne. Draco shrugged. "Don't know. I've been trying to tell them for a while now that I want to make my own fortune, but they don't seem to understand." He sighed.