Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! I'm expecting this to be a pretty short chapter, compared to the ridiculously long one before. All right, it wasn't ridiculously long, but it was pretty darn close. Reviews are more than welcome (it's what keeps me updating relatively quickly!)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Chapter Eight: The Sorting

Cordelia's first impression of the Great Hall was amazement. This was certainly not how she imagined her new school to be. Instead of a gray, dreary cafeteria, thousands and thousands of glittering candles lighted it, and four long tables stretched across the floor. The teachers sat at a horizontal table overlooking the students. The first years were sent to a halt near the older students, who were sitting at the tables. She looked up and saw the black ceiling dotted with glowing stars.

"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History," the bushy haired girl said annoyingly, effectively ruining the moment.

Please keep her away from my house, please keep her away from my house, thought Georgina darkly. She also noticed Pansy glaring daggers at the girl too.

Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool with a tattered hat in front of the first years. Cordelia heard Malfoy say, "I am NOT putting that RAG on my head!" to which she mentally rolled her eyes. Cordelia silently pushed her way towards Harry, who looked like he was going to pee in his pants.

"Hey, Harry. Are you okay? You look like you're going to be sick!" Cordelia said, worriedly.

"Er- yeah. I'm fine. What if they make us pull a rabbit from it?" Harry asked, his face looking greener and greener by the second. Ron gave Harry an odd look at his question.

"I'm sure they wouldn't do that. Half the people here haven't seen any magic before either," Cordelia said reassuringly, "if it helps, you can hold Pumba?"

"Yeah, sure," Harry said, "I'll try not to strangle her too much."

They put their hands together to avoid people staring at the smuggled snake, and Pumba slithered from Cordelia's forearm to Harry's.

"She's so slimy! How can you just leave her in your sleeve?" Harry whispered, wincing as the snake heard and tightened her grip on his arm.

Cordelia just shrugged. The sorting was about to start soon, so she motioned for both of them to be silent.

For a few seconds, the Hall was relatively silent. Then, the hat opened its brim and started singing:

Oh you may not think me 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 Great Hall burst into applause. Cordelia took a sideways glance at her friends. Blaise looked slightly relieved that it was only putting on a hat and getting sorted. Pansy was biting her nails nervously, and Malfoy, well, Malfoy looked like he didn't really care. Harry was looking noticeably less green, but she put her hand on his shoulder for reassurance.

"When I call your name, please put on the hat and be sorted," Professor McGonagall said calmly.

"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 moments pause —

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Brocklehurst, Mandy!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Brown, Lavender!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Bulstrode, Millicent,"

"SLYTHERIN!"

Cordelia heard Pansy mutter about her being a fat pig next to her and Blaise paled noticeably. She did look like Crabbe and Goyle a bit though.

"Finch- Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Finnegan, Seamus"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head. Oh, no, it's the know-it-all. Please get sent back on the train please get sent back on the train! Thought Cordelia frantically. Unfortunately, she didn't.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Greengrass, Daphne!"

A pretty looking blonde witch stepped up to the stool. She smiled at Blaise, Pansy, and Draco before she put on the hat.

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Longbottom, Neville!"

The boy who lost his toad looked even worse for wear than Harry he fell over on his way to the stool.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Neville ran off the stool in relief, but apparently forgot he had the hat on his head. note not to forget that.

"Malfoy, Draco,"

The hat barely touched his head before screaming, "SLYTHERIN!" Well, at least it didn't touch his head that much.

Pansy and Blaise smiled at him before turning back to the sorting.

"Nott, Theodore!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Parkinson, Pansy!"

Pansy walked to the stool with an air of confidence. "SLYTHERIN!" the hat shouted. Georgina's heart sunk. Were all of her friends going to be Slytherins?

She didn't pay any more attention to the sorting until, "Potter, Harry!" was announced. Whispers spread across the Great Hall like wild fire.

She gave Harry the most encouraging smile she could muster, as Harry meekly stepped up to the stool, embarrassed by the whispers.

The hat paused for a while before saying, "GRYFFINDOR!" in an irate voice. It obviously didn't want to put Harry there.

He took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindor table. He was so relieved to have been chosen and not put in Slytherin, he hardly noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

Harry sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff he'd seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, and Harry winced noticeably.

"Thomas, Dean!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Turpin, Lisa"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Vixen, Cordelia!"

The Great Hall fell silent as Cordelia walked up to the hat with a small smile on her face. She didn't want to look like Longbottom did. She put it on, and immediately, there was a small voice in her head, much to Cordelia's surprise.

"This will be an easy choice. You have charisma, ambition, and cleverness. Clearly you are destined for- SLY-,"

"No wait! I don't want to be in Slytherin!"

"What? A Vixen not in Slytherin? My, you are an odd one, but why not Slytherin?"

"There are Dark Wizards in Slytherin!"

" Trust me, young Vixen; you will fit in perfectly there. Erase your doubts, and just be yourself there. SLYTHERIN!"

Cordelia scowled at the hat before dumping it on the stool. It just called her a dark wizard! How insulting. On the bright side, some of her friends were there, but not Harry. She headed off to the Slytherin table, but first she looked at the teacher's reactions.

Dumbledore, with his gray hair, seemed to be frowning slightly, but it was only noticeable if someone was actually looking for an emotion, McGonagall and most of the other teachers didn't look suprised at all. Hagrid wouldn't meet her eyes, which made Cordelia feel slightly hurt, but Quirrel and the man sitting next to him looked at her with pride.

When Cordelia reached the Slytherin table, she sat next to Pansy and across from Malfoy. She vaguely noted that Blaise sat on the other side of her after he was sorted. She was kind of disappointed she got into Slytherin after telling her friends that she didn't want to be there. After the sorting, Professor McGonagall took the hat away and went up to the teacher's table.

Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there, "Welcome! 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 sat back down while everyone clapped and cheered.

Cordelia was shocked, "That was Albus Dumbledore? The Albus Dumbledore? The defeater of Grindelwald? How? " She exclaimed, causing a round of laughter to erupt form the Slytherin table.

"You'll see that he's a little more barmy than brilliant," one of the older boys said laughing, "How he managed to keep his position is entirely beyond me."

"Oh," Cordelia said, feeling a bit disappointed, what would she tall her parents? That they had a more mad than brilliant headmaster?

She stared in awe as the platters in front of her began filling up with piles of food, but tried not to show it, as most of the other students (including the first years) didn't look surprised at all. Silently, the four friends began loading up with food, and talking about trivial things. They were interrupted when Millicent Bulstrode joined in their conversation.

"Is it true, Vixen, that you were sent to live with muggles? Do you think they rubbed off on you?" the girl said evilly, obviously jealous that the rich Vixen heir wasn't talking to her.

"No! Of course not! I was just…in an elite training school in the Americas! Their accent hasn't rubbed off on me though, thank God," Cordelia said feigning anger at Bulstrode's words. She didn't really think her fellow classmates would like her as much if they found out she lived, and actually liked muggles.

"Really? That's why our invitation to the Christmas Ball always gets returned," Draco said scratching his chin thoughtfully. Hopefully, he wouldn't ask why she was with Harry and Hagrid while buying her school supplies.

Unfortunately, that was what he was going to say, but Cordelia, sensing this, quickly asked about other parties she'd missed out on while in America.

Soon, they were chatting happily about anything and everything, and she found out some of the parties she was obligated to attend to represent her family.

Dessert came and went, and Cordelia talked to some of her housemates. Marcus Flint, the boy who told her about Dumbledore, looked a little trollish, but he turned out to be the Quidditch captain and led the team to victory numerous times. He also introduced her to all of the professors there, and she learned that the one next to Quirrel was Professor Snape, their Head of House.

When the desserts also disappeared, Dumbledore got up again, this time to warn them about places. "The forest on the grounds is forbidden to students. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, asks me to remind you there is no magic to be used in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held during the second week of the term. 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."

"He's joking, right?" Cordelia asked Flint, thinking the headmaster's insanity was taking over.

"I don't know, but you better not go there. The teachers will be prowling all over there." Flint answered, "I'll bet the little Gryffies will be there, those little brats who can't keep their nose out of trouble."

She made a mental note to tell Harry not to dive head first into trouble.

"And now, before we go to bed, let's all sing the school song!" Dumbledore announced happily.

Most of the Slytherins and some Ravenclaws grimaced in distaste. Surely the song couldn't be that bad, Cordelia thought.

Oh, but it was. Once Cordelia took a look at the lyrics, she almost fell on the floor laughing. A drunk and drugged Dumbledore must have wrote it!

The school (minus all of the Slytherins and a few wise Ravenclaws) sang:

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

With some 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've forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot."

Cordelia almost threw up. It sounded terrible! They all had different tempos, and she could see Professor Snape tugging on his hair in agony. She was pleased to see Harry scratching his head in confusion before trying to mouth the words.

"Ah, music," Dumbledore said, wiping his eyes, "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

Suddenly, Cordelia was glad she was in Slytherin. At least that house had some sense of pride!

Author's Note: Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading! Reviews = love.

Sorry for the people who wanted Harry and Cordelia in Gryffindor or Slytherin. For the rest of the story's sake, they have to be in different houses. But you'll still get a lot of interaction between them!

It's almost time for me to actually write something, other than just editing! Two more chapters of correspondence to the other story, then I'll be very happy to new suggestions! Year one is actually kind of boring, to tell you the truth. I can't wait for the second and fourth year (I'm afraid year three won't be as interesting either, I'm sorry). But stay with me here!

Also, I've started working on the next chapter already! Expect it to come up in a few days.

P.S. I love you guys!