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Chapter 2 – The Sorting
James Potter watched as the group of First Years huddled near the front of the Hall where the sorting hat was placed on the stool. He remembered last year when he'd been there. He was scared out of his mind – not that he'd let anyone know that. "That'll be your brother then?" a voice behind him asked. James turned around. "Gave me quite a fright there, Nick! No pun intended." Fred, sitting next to him, laughed while Nick looked rather offended. "Don't mind them, Nick. It's rather shameful that they belong to the family anyway," Molly Weasley said, but Nick pretended not to here. "There's another one going after her father's footsteps," he thought. James, meanwhile, searched the crowd for Rose and Albus, wondering if Rose ever found out what the sorting ceremony was about. He caught Albus's eye and winked, then proceeded grin cheekily and point to his ears. "Listen to the song!" he mouthed. "What are -?" Albus started to mouth back, but his question was answered before he asked it.
"You may think I am ugly,
An old and dirty hat!
But I mean much, much more,
I assure you that.
Now I am sure some of you
Can guess what I am for,
But before that let me tell
About the founders four.
Loyal and the closet friends,
Together found this school,
And they left me behind,
Sitting on this stool.
Gryffindor, the bravest one,
Chivalry set him apart,
Chose to teach all of those
Who dared to speak their heart.
And who was next but Slytherin?
Cunning, ambitious and sly
Would go any means to have his way
And teach those who'll touch the sky.
The cleverest went to Ravenclaw,
To whom, brains were the most
And Hufflepuff, the fairest one
To the hard-working became a host.
But bear in mind, together we stood
Once and again and again
And no matter to what house you'll go
All of us are friends!
But here I am still today,
To run things how they ran,
To sort you into your own house,
For sort you Yes I Can!"
The mouth of the hat closed and it sat once more on the stool, looking nothing more than, as he said, ugly and rather dusty. "Oh so we just have to put that hat on!" Rose whispered to Albus from behind, wondering if the hat was going to ask her questions. Albus shrugged. The sorting had never been a mystery to him, but he didn't know the hat would sing! "What, you mean your parents didn't tell you that there's a sorting hat?" Scorpius asked Rose, trying not to laugh. What a shock she must have got when she saw a hat on a stool! "You don't ever stop being rude, do you?" Rose asked him, and then turned back towards the hat, trying to decipher any questions it might have from the dust patterns on it.
Scorpius was taken aback. He hadn't meant to be rude; he was just having a laugh! "What is with her?" he asked Albus. Albus shrugged, not replying, getting more and more nervous as Professor (Headmistress, really) McGonagall unrolled the list of names for this year's students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Scorpius followed Albus's gaze to the roll of parchment in the headmistress's hands as well. Could he really pull it off? He took a deep breath and grinned. There's no point worrying now. He'll find out soon enough.
"Adams, Grace" she called in a clear voice that showed no signs of her age. On the Gryffindor table, Fred poked James muttering "she's muggle-born, that one. I say Hufflepuff. 3 sickles." James laughed, "I'll take you on. I say she's coming this way." Louis Weasley grinned from the other side of the table as the hat was put on her head. "3 sickles to Ravenclaw," he said when his sisters looked at him. "What?" he asked them, "it's my pocket money." Victoire and Dominique shrugged, the latter replying "it's also the year you get to go to Hogsmeade, so I wouldn't be wasting all my money now."
"I can always borrow from Molly."
"Don't count on that! Dad told me that I should be really trying to find friends higher up in the circle and I don't think lending around my money really suits my image," Molly said. "Sometimes I doubt you're our cousin" Fred replied and grinned at her scowl. "Shh!" Victoire said. A hush fell on the table as the Hat opened its mouth.
"Slytherin!" it shouted. And while the Slytherin table applauded and wooted there were amused grins everywhere else. "Guess I didn't see that one coming," James said. "At least no one lost their money," Fred replied and they turned their attention back towards the sorting, more guessing and betting following until –
"Malfoy, Scorpius!"
"No guesses there," Victoire said. "Oh, come on Vic. You're Head Girl, you're not supposed to be prejudiced" her brother said. "Just stating a fact, Louis… Want to bet?" she replied, knowing that Louis wouldn't risk it, before shrugging and turning back to the front of the great hall. The hat was just being placed on Scorpius's head.
Scorpius sat calmly under the hat and repeated, "Gryffindor" in his head over and over again. "Gryffindor?" the hat asked him, in a sly and nasal voice. But Scorpius didn't give up on his little chant. "Hmm, I can see where you're coming from. Yes, yes. Gryffindor is certainly an interesting choice. But why not Slytherin? It's far more suited to a Malfoy…" The hat pondered for what seemed like an eternity, but Scorpius wasn't one for giving up. Albus stood in the line and wondered the fate of this boy who could be a really good friend. Will be really be in Slytherin? "Don't get your hopes up, Al. There's no way that he's going to be in-"
but Rose was cut off by the Sorting Hat.
"Gryffindor!" it shouted loud and clear.
It was the first time that there was no applause immediately after someone was sorted. Everyone was slightly shocked. A Malfoy in Gryffindor. It was Albus who started clapping first, grinning in spite of his fear and nervousness. The rest of the room joined in, but you could see the doubtful faces dotted across the room, both in the teachers and the students. Still, the sorting hat had never gone wrong. "What were you saying, Rose?" Albus asked his cousin over the claps. Rose shook her head, embarrassed for the third time because of this boy. "Don't worry dad," she thought. "I'm not going anywhere near him."
Scorpius went and sat down on the Gryffindor table in the midst of the Weasleys. They all looked at him as if he was some kind of intruder, but paying no attention, he turned towards the front of the hall, surveying the rest left to be sorted. "I say the hat won't last even a minute on the next one's head," he said. James admired the guts of this boy. No one starts a bet immediately after they're sorted. "You're on!" he grinned. "How much?" And soon, they're getting on well enough, to the horror of Fred Weasley. He couldn't forgive this Malfoy so quickly. Not after what his dad and granddad were. He'd have to do more than just a betting game to win over this lot of Weasleys.
Grace Longbottom, Andrus Nott and Violet Parkinson were each sorted into their respective houses before it was Albus's turn. The hat didn't even have to sit on his head for a second before announcing, "Gryffindor!" Albus happily joined his family and his new friend. "Guess we were just meant to be?" Scorpius asked Albus as he joined the table. "Guess so," Albus replied, grinning from ear to ear as he sat between his brother and Scorpius. The crowd of students in the front thinned gradually. Lorcan and Lysander Scamander both went to Ravenclaw, Andy Willow to Hufflepuff and soon enough, Rose was sitting amongst the Weasleys at the Gryffindor table; Professor McGonagall called Pygmalion Menkel, the school caretaker, to take the hat and stool away. "There's not much to say," she said and sweeping her hands once, turned around to sit on the high table.
The food was here! Everyone attacked the food at once, taking whatever they could. "Good job, Rose!" Victoire said, as she chewed on her lamb skewer. Rose smiled and thanked the many people that congratulated her after that. Conversation flowed steadily from topic to topic between the Weasleys, but while the Potters joined in, they carefully left Scorpius out of it. Scorpius smiled, thinking of this as just another obstacle he'll have to pass. Shrugging he turned to see who else there was. "Hello Sir Nicholas!" he said to the ghost who was studying him carefully. "Hello young Malfoy! Scorpius is it? Well there is going to be a lot of talk in the ghosts tonight about this little incident. The Bloody Baron doesn't look too happy, does he?" Nick asked, looking at the Slytherin ghost. Scorpius followed his gaze and laughed. "He needs to start getting over things," he said to Nick. Nick widened his eyes and looked around, hoping no one else had heard. Delicately, he said "moving on then," before passing straight through Scorpius to talk to a girl sitting on the far end.
After the desserts were gone, and the plates were clear and golden once more, Professor McGonagall stood up. "Only two important announcements before you can head up to bed!" she said, studying the room: everyone was listening in rapt attention, knowing the strictness of the Headmistress all too well. "Professor Ahal Partula will no longer be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. Instead we have Professor Teddy Lupin! And Professor Malcolm Baddock will be the new Head of Slytherin."
The Gryffindors were the loudest to applaud. Albus grinned, not at all surprised by this. He had seen Teddy get on the train and his parents had let him on the secret. Grinning he answered the Weasleys' interrogations. "He couldn't bear to be away from Hogwarts for more than a year!" Then James started teasing Victoire. "Nice Vic. Getting it on with a teacher." The rest of the Weasleys laughed as Professor McGonagall called their attention once more.
"Follow your prefects up to your common rooms!" she said and everyone was dismissed. In the usual clatter, everything lay forgotten, half in excitement, half in tiredness. And so it was absolutely plausible why no one noticed Rose Weasley not being able to take her eyes off Scorpius as he and Al walked towards the Gryffindor dormitories.