Chapter 8
It was almost dark when the three had stopped talking and were almost asleep. Lee, however, suddenly jumped up, making Fred and George leap a mile.
"We'd better get changed," Lee told them. "We should be there in about five minutes. Come on, get your robes out and we'll get them on quickly, then we can get off so we don't go steaming back to London before we've even started."
The twins nodded, reaching above their heads and grabbing their trunks. Fred didn't notice George's look at his trunk- Fred's was much larger and didn't have a large tear down the front repaired with masking tape. George looked away and pulled out his robes.
Two minutes later the three stood in the compartment with their Hogwarts robes on. Fred and Lee's were identical, but Georges was strangely greyed and several inches too short for him. Lee was about to say something when Fred cleared his throat. "Come on, we'd better get off."
Lee agreed and left the compartment, and Fred gave George a small smile which George returned, looking embarrassed.
Moments later, Lee and the twins were stood in awe, staring at a huge giant of a man with a mane of long tangled black hair and a beard. He looked down at them kindly.
"How yeh feelin'?" he asked them. "Nervous?"
"Yeah, I suppose so," George said, and Fred agreed. "More looking forward to it than anything though."
The giant winked at them. "That's the way teh think about it," he told them. "Make the most of it. Yeh'll only ever see Hogwarts for the first time once. An' it's one of the best moments yeh'll ever have."
The three boys' eyes were shining, and when they were following the huge man towards a fleet of boats, Fred and George got into one and Lee got into another with a good looking black girl- the twins guessed she was Angelina.
Once everyone was in a boat, they began to move of their own accord. They soon reached a tunnel in the rock, with a curtain of ivy hanging right into the water.
However, nothing could have prepared them for what lay on the other side of the tunnel. Every single student gasped at the sight of the huge castle that loomed high above them, reaching up the starry sky. Hundreds of windows flickered by candle light.
Even Lee was silent in the boat next to them, and George felt shivers down his spine. He glanced at Fred and could tell that he felt the same.
The lake was very large, but the journey across it seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. When they got off the boats and had walked a short distance up to the castle, the giant (who had introduced himself as Hagrid) knocked three times on the huge doors.
Boom. Boom. Boom. There was a short silence, and then the enormous doors began to open slowly.
Fred recognised the witch standing, tall and regal, to welcome them in, as Professor McGonagall, this time wearing emerald green robes.
"Welcome, first-years, to Hogwarts," she said to them. "I'm Professor McGonagall and I am head of Gryffindor house and deputy headmistress of Hogwarts. If you would follow me please. Thank you, Hagrid."
Hagrid nodded and gave the first-years an encouraging smile before turning and disappearing back where he had came from. The group of eleven year olds followed Professor McGonagall into the castle and the door was shut behind them.
They found themselves in a huge entrance hall, with hundreds of portraits on the walls, lit by flaming torches. The ceiling was so high they could barely make it out.
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and began to talk. "Through these doors-" she waved her hand towards two large oak doors, at least ten feet high, "-is the Great Hall. The rest of the school is already seated waiting for us. The Sorting Ceremony will take place, where each of you will go up to the stool in the middle in turn, where you will try on the Sorting Hat and will be placed in one of the four house, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Is that all clear?"
The first-years nodded, looking terrified. Professor McGonagall nodded. "We will have to wait a few moments before they're ready for us, so you may talk amongst yourselves."
A soft murmuring of talk soon broke out. Professor McGonagall headed in the direction of the twins.
"So, you've met have you?"
The twins nodded.
She sighed. "I am very sorry, both of you," she said. "It was a difficult situation, I'm sure you understand why we couldn't tell you of each other's existence."
"Yeah, I guess so," Fred said, but George remained silent.
"How are you, anyway, Mr Johnson?" she asked him. "Did you find Diagon Alley easily enough?"
"Yeah, I did. But it's Weasley now, not Johnson."
George glanced sideways at Fred with an unreadable expression.
"You do change your mind quickly don't you, Mr Weasley? It's a good thing I control the list for the sorting isn't it? Or you would have been sorted under the wrong name," Professor McGonagall said, frowning. "And what about you, Mr Weasley? Did you find your way easily enough?"
George shrugged. "Guess so." Professor McGonagall gave him a piercing look, and was about to say something when she saw a scruffy man with long, thin grey hair and bulging eyes approaching them.
"They're ready for you, Professor," he said, looking over at the first-years in an ugly manner. Fred and George immediately disliked him.
"Okay, thank you Filch. Follow me then, first-years. The Sorting is about to begin."
The twins felt their stomachs drop and they followed the Professor through the oak doors.
The Great Hall amazed them, possibly even more than the first view of the castle had. There were four long tables, two on either side of the main aisle, full of students, who were all staring at the group of eleven year olds. There was one final, long table at the far end of the hall, facing the students, which was apparently where the teachers sat. George recognised Professor Dumbledore sat in the middle of the table. Thousands of candles floated in the air, giving the hall a beautiful glow. But the most amazing thing was the fact that instead of a ceiling, they looked straight out at what looked like the night sky, with stars glittering down at them.
Professor McGonagall led them right down the aisle, towards a lone stool sat in the middle of the hall. She stopped them a few metres away from the stool and stepped forwards, turning to face the school. She pulled out a dusty hat from her cloak, that she straightened and placed on the stool, and then she removed a long piece of parchment. She stepped back, watching the hat, as everyone else in the room appeared to be doing. The twins glanced at each other, confused, until they noticed the hat move. A slit appeared in the front of the hat, shaped like a mouth, and the slit opened wide and 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 room burst into applause, and when the clapping died down, Professor McGonagall stepped forward and unrolled the parchment.
"Adams, Lionel," she said clearly, and a short boy with curly blond hair stumbled forwards, sat on the stool, and Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head. He sat nervously for a few moments, before the hat shouted out "HUFFLEPUFF!" The boy took the hat off and hurried over to the table second from the right.
This procedure repeated several times, placing Angelina Johnson and Lee both into Gryffindor, a good looking boy called Cedric Diggory into Hufflepuff, and Roger Davies, a boy with short, dark hair, into Ravenclaw.
Eventually, Professor McGonagall called out "Weasley, Fred." Fred gave George a terrified look and headed towards the stool. He sat down shakily and felt the hat fall over his eyes.
Hmm, another Weasley I see.
'What? There's only two of us right?'
Not quite, indeed, no... very interesting indeed. Brave, yes. Foolish, maybe. Reckless, definitely. Yes, you're fairly easy to place. "GRYFFINDOR!"
Fred got off the stool and headed towards to table to the far right, where he could see Lee and Angelina clapping him enthusiastically. He looked over at George, who avoided his eye. George was the last one to be placed. Fred sat next to Lee and crossed his fingers under the table. Come on, George.
"Weasley, George."
George felt sick. He only knew two people in this whole school, and they were both in Gryffindor. What if he wasn't?
He sat down and as the hat fell over his eyes, saw only darkness.
And the second of the pair arrives. A lot more scared than the other. Interesting.
'I'm not scared. I just want to be with Fred.'
Yes, you would say that. But I can see in your head, George Weasley, and I can see fear. Where does the fear come from? It's a lot deeper than simply nerves. Everyone gets nervous at the Sorting.
'I am just nervous, same as everyone else.'
No, you're not. You're scared of someone outside of this place, someone from your past. Ah. I see it. And yet, he's dead, isn't he? Irrational fear, that's what this is. Not the trait of a Gryffindor.
'I am a Gryffindor. No, I can be a Gryffindor. I haven't had the upbringing Fred had, but we're still the same person!'
Not quite. Even below your fears, I can see intelligence that he doesn't have. Not a huge difference, I'll admit, but you're also more reserved. You really are a tough one.
'Please. I'm begging you, put me in Gryffindor.'
But you barely even know your twin yet. Why are you so desperate to be with him? You're a different person.
'I need the chance to get to know him. It was neither of our faults we're alone. It isn't fair to be split up again, after we only just met.'
You say alone. But he wasn't alone, was he? He still has a family. How do you know he feels the same way?
'I... I don't know.'
Exactly. I just can't decide with you. You're an odd one. But then, I suppose I have to go with what you truly are, not what you've been made to become by other people. Okay, I've decided.
'Please...'
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Relief. That was all George felt. He opened his eyes and felt the hat being removed from his head. He looked down towards the Gryffindor table and saw Fred and Lee standing up, whooping him. He headed towards them and sat ahead of Fred, next to Angelina.
As the clapping died down, Fred leaned over and whispered to him, "That took a long time, I was beginning to worry there."
George smiled weakly. "Yeah, I was worried too."
"I didn't like the hat, I thought it was a bit creepy..."
"Yeah, agreed." And yet, Fred had no idea how scared George had been.
A/N: So, what did you think? I'm hoping you're getting more insight as to how the twins feel, especially George, since I think he is a lot more complicated than Fred, in this story anyway. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you think its finished in a strange place, that's because I wrote this and the next chapter together, but decided to split them because it was almost 4000 words, which I know is normal for most people but is a very long chapter for me. And I like my chapters short, sorry if you readers don't! Please read and review anyway :) Special thanks to AurorSilver3031, Gato0629, Spiralling-Down, Ryah Ignis, TwinFan, digigirl02, GeorgieForever and PotterheadWhovian. Thanks for reading!