AN: The Sorting Hats song and the school song are taken directly from Philosophers Stone.
There were four long tables that stretched nearly the whole length of the hall. At the far end there was a raised platform which had a fifth table going from left to right. Around the huge room there were hundreds of candles hanging, both from wall brackets and in mid air. All the tables were teeming with people, except from one end of each. The end of the tables next to the teachers table was empty, presumably Michael guessed, for the new students. McGonagall lead them down the center of the room until they were in a group at the foot of the raised platform.
"Stand here" She said and the group complied and clustered in a tight group. McGonagall went to a small door behind the teachers table and disappeared inside. She re-emerged carrying a stool in one hand and a tattered piece of cloth in the other. She placed the stool at the front of the platform between the students and the teachers table and placed the cloth on it. The cloth turned out, upon closer inspection, to be a battered old hat. McGonagall took a step back from the stool and pulled a roll of parchment from inside her robes.
"When I call your name you will come forwards, place that hat on your head and it will sort you into your houses" she said and looked at the hat. It now appeared to have a mouth. A large slit had appeared just above the brim which now opened and in a loud clear voice 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 you bowlers black,
You 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 Gryffindor's apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuff's 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 there 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!"
When the song finished the hall burst into applause. The Hat bowed to each of the house tables and once to the new students and to the teachers. Then it became still. Professor McGonagall unrolled her parchment and cleared her throat.
"Abbot, Hannah!" A blushing girl with blonde pigtails pushed herself out of the group and sat on the stool. She placed the hat on her head and a silence fell over the hall.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" yelled the hat and Hannah jumped up put the hat back on the stool and scuttled off to the far right table that had exploded in noise when the hat had spoken.
"Bones, Susan!" McGonagall called through the noise and it quietened down. The hat pondered for a moment or two.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" called the hat again and the table broke out in clapping and cheering again. Susan hurried over and sat down next to Hannah.
"Boot, Terry" jumped forwards and after a few seconds thinking the hat gave him to Ravenclaw. The table on the left of the door clapped this time.
Mandy Brocklehurst also went to Ravenclaw but the next person, Lavender Brown, went to Gryffindor. Michael could see a pair of red-headed twins catcalling as Lavender made her way to the table on the right of the door. He looked over to the only table not to gain anyone yet. It had to be the Slytherin table and Michael thought they looked a surly, unpleasant lot.
Just as Michael came to this conclusion "Bulstrode, Millicent" became a Slytherin and she confirmed his thought. He heard a sigh from next to him and he saw Harry looking down at his shoes. He put his hand on Harry's arm and Harry smiled back.
"Granger, Hermione" they heard and saw Hermione rush to the stool and ram the hat on her head.
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat yelled. She leapt up, shot Harry and Michaela quick grin and joined the Gryffindor table.
"Liennard, Michael" he groaned and stepped up onto the platform and slid onto the stool. He pulled the hat down to the tops of his ears and squeezed his eyes shut. There was a deafening silence that seemed, to Michael, to go on for hours. Then finally the hat spoke.
"GRYFFINDOR!" his heart leapt as the hat spoke and he felt a huge wave of relief run through him. He leapt down and, replacing the hat on the stool, nearly sprinted to the Gryffindor table. He sat down next to Hermione and smiled at her. She grinned so wide it looked like her face would split in half. While he was sitting and shaking everyone's hands he missed Neville's sorting. He arrived a minute later after having to go back to return the hat, amidst gales of laughter.
"Malfoy, Draco" A sallow faced blonde by pushed forwards and strutted to the stool. The hat had barely touched his head when it shouted.
"SLYTHERIN!" Malfoy looked absurdly pleased with himself. He walked over to the Slytherin table and sat down glaring over at the Gryffindor table.
The group was now getting smaller. 'Moon, Nott, Parkinson, the twins Patil and Patil then Perks, Sally-Anne'. Then McGonagall cleared her throat.
"Potter, Harry" the hall fell silent. Harry walked forwards and put the hat on. As he walked the entire hall was whispering. Harry seemed to be having a conversation with the hat. Michael could see his mouth moving but couldn't make out the words. Harry's head was moving side to side as if he was looking over the hall. After a couple of minutes the hat spoke to the hall.
"GRYFFINDOR!" Harry's face lit up with relief and a huge grin appeared on his face. He jumped of the stool put the hat down and came down to the Gryffindor table. He sat opposite Hermione while the red-headed twins shouted "We got Potter, We got Potter"
There were only three people left now. 'Lisa, Turpin' joined Ravenclaw and then came 'Weasley, Ron'. Another red-headed boy sat on the stool and the hat frowned for a second and then spoke.
"SLYTHERIN" This time there was no clapping or cheering. Instead a deathly silence had fallen over the hall. Even the teachers looked surprised.
"What!" yelled the twins, that Michael now knew were called Fred and George. Ron looked pale as he made his way over to the Slytherin table and sat down next to Malfoy. Neither of them looked to happy with the arrangement.
"Zabini, Blaise" became a Slytherin and the sorting was over. McGonagall removed the stool and the hat and replaced them in the room they had come from. Michael now realised that he was famished. He looked expectantly at the plate in front of him, as if he could wish the food into existence. He looked around the room and saw a very old man with a very long beard standing in the center of the teachers table.
"Who's that?" Michael asked and Hermione and Harry looked surprised.
"That's Dumbledore, the headmaster. He's probably the greatest wizard in the world." Hermione explained. Michael nodded his thanks and turned to look at Dumbledore.
"Welcome, welcome to another year at Hogwarts. I will leave the speeches until you are all too full to properly understand me" he said with a twinkle in his eye. Most of the hall laughed at this and Michael got the impression that Dumbledore was a bit mad. He mentioned this thought to the student next to him. He was another red-head, tall and bony faced. He had a red badge on his robes emblazoned with the letter P.
"Hmm, Mad? Well yes he is a bit. Quite brilliant and very powerful, but a bit mad yes. I haven't introduced myself. I'm Percy Weasley, one of the Gryffindor prefects" Michael nodded and introduced himself. He looked down at his plate and was astonished by what he saw. The platters in front of him were full of food. Roast chicken, Roast beef, Gammon joints, roast and boiled potatoes, peas and carrots, gravy and ketchup and, for a reason unknown to Michael, what looked like mint humbugs. He loaded his plate with meat and potatoes. Hermione looked at his dinner with a frown.
"What?" Michael asked as he caught her glance.
"Not very healthy is it?" she asked as she filled her plate. Harry looked round and pulled a pile of potatoes onto his plate.
"No, not really" Michael said as he tucked in. Hermione stopped filling her plate.
"What's wrong with it?" she asked. Michael shook his head.
"Nothing's wrong, I'm just not a healthy eating person. I believe that as long as you exercise and don't over-stuff yourself you can eat almost anything and stay relatively health" he explained and Hermione turned to Harry, her eyes pleading.
"Didn't Zoe try to convince you?" Harry asked. Michael dropped his fork in surprise and blushed.
"Sometimes" he admitted. Harry chuckled and Hermione grinned.
"Didn't work, did it?" Harry asked through a chuckle. Michael shook his head. They all resumed eating. Michael became aware of a tall pale figure sitting two places down from him. He was looking at the food on the table with a wistful expression on his shimmering face.
"I do envy you. That looks very good." The man said and Michael nodded.
"It is. You can't eat then?" Michael asked, thinking it was better to be polite. The man shook his head, which wobbled on his shoulders.
"I haven't needed to for nearly four hundred years, but I still miss it occasionally. I haven't introduced myself have I? Oh dear sorry. Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, resident ghost of Gryffindor at your service." He said with a courteous nod. Michael nodded back.
"I'm Michael and this is Harry and Hermione" he said indicating his two friends. They both smiled at Sir Nicholas. He smiled back with a set of ghostly teeth. It was a little unnerving.
Dinner passed quickly. When the main course was over, the platters cleared and were filled again, this time with dessert. There were cheesecakes and trifles, Chocolate pudding and jam roly-poly. They all filled their plate once more and tucked in. As they ate the rest of the new student's introduced themselves. Seamus Finnigan was a sandy haired Irish boy who had a deep accent and Dean Thomas was a dark skinned boy who was quiet and looked a little uneasy. Neville was also nearby and they all giggled as they recalled earlier when he ran off with the sorting hat still on. He blushed at this but joined in the laughing anyway. As pudding came to a close, their talk turned to their parents and family.
"I'm half and half. Me mum's a witch. She didn't tell me dad that when they got married. Bit of a shock for him when he found out" he said and he laughed. Dean was quieter and just said that his dad had left when he was young and he didn't know if he was a wizard or not. Neville's mum and dad were both magical but he was raised by his gran.
"They all thought it had skipped me. Until my Uncle Algie dangled my out of a window and he let go by accident. I bounced down the garden and into the hedge. They were all so proud of me. Uncle Algie brought he my toad" he grinned and everyone laughed again. They all stopped when they heard a throat being cleared. They looked up and saw Dumbledore standing again.
"Now that you have all eaten your fill, I have a few start-of-term announcements to make. First years please note that the Forest on the edge of the grounds is forbidden. Some of our older students would do well to remember that as well." He looked over at the Weasley twins as he said this. He smiled but the twins were still stunned from the Sorting hats declaration.
"I have been asked by our caretaker Mr Filch to remind you all that magic is not allowed to be used in the corridors between classes. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone that is interested in playing for their house team should speak to Madam Hooch." He paused at this point and his eyes narrowed slightly.
"And finally, I must inform you all 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 most painful death" there were a few scattered laughs but most of the hall was silent.
"Is he serious?" Michael asked Percy and he shrugged.
"He must be. Usually he gives a reason why we can't do something. The forest is dangerous, we all know that. You think he would have told the prefects though"
"Now it's time for bed, but first it's time to sing our school song" he waved his wand and a ribbon of gold flew out and formed words high above his head.
"Pick your favourite tune and sing along" he called and laughed. The rest of the teachers wore pained expressions. The students took a deep breath as one and started bellowing:
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.
Everyone finished singing at different times. When finally the hall stopped singing, Dumbledore clapped loudest of all.
"Ah music is truly the greatest magic of all. And now off to bed all" he called. At once the entire hall stood and started to file out. Michael, Harry and Hermione followed Percy out of the great hall. They followed him up the enormous staircase. The group moved slowly, everyone was tired and full up. Percy kept trying to hurry them up. They had gone up two sets of stairs, through three hidden doors when they came to a halt. There was a bundle of walking sticks hanging in the air above their heads.
"Peeves" Percy whispered as he inched forwards. "The castle poltergeist" he explained.
"Show yourself!" he yelled and was answered by a raspberry. Percy scowled.
"Shall I go and get the Bloody Baron?" Percy asked and, with a pop, Peeves appeared floating in the air holding the sticks. He saw the group and let out a cackle.
"Oh look at the firsties. Aren't they cute!" he yelled as he swooped down at them. They whole group ducked as he flew over their heads.
"Leave Peeves or I will go and get the Baron!" Percy near-yelled, Peeves stuck his tongue out at him and flew off, pausing only to drop the sticks on Neville's head.
"Watch out for him, he is a real pain. Only the Baron can control him" Percy explained as they set off again.
"Ah here we are" he stopped outside a portrait at the end of a corridor on the seventh floor. The woman in the portrait turned her head. She was wearing a pink dress and was extremely large.
"Password?" she asked. Percy straightened up.
"Caput Draconis" he said and the woman nodded. The portrait swung forwards and revealed a round hole in the wall. They helped each other to scramble through the hole, they were very tired and everyone was dragging their feet. Michael crawled through and then turned to pull Hermione through. She smiled in thanks. Michael turned and saw the Gryffindor common room. It was a cosy room full of soft armchairs and red and gold hangings. Percy pulled them into a group in the middle of the room.
"Girls, your rooms are up there" he said and pointed to the left side where a staircase led up. "Boys, over there" he indicated an identical staircase on the right. Michael and Harry said goodnight to Hermione and headed up the boy's stairs with Seamus, Dean and Neville. They climbed the stairs going past the other year's dorm rooms. They reached the very top of the stairs and found an open door. Inside they found a circular room with five beds. They were huge four poster beds with red drapes. At the foot of each was a trunk. Michael found his one at the bed opposite the door. Harry was in the bed to his left and Neville to his right. They were all too tired to talk much so they simply pulled their pyjamas on and fell into bed.
"Goodnight" Michael said. Four murmured responses came from his roommates. He fidgeted for a minute to get comfortable and then fell into a dreamless sleep.