Chapter 7
The Sorting Hat
We stood along the front of the hall in front of a dirty hat on a stool. What is that thing sitting on there for? I wondered. All of the sudden, it started singing. It was some song about all the founders of the houses. Very strange.
The hat finished its song and everyone clapped. It then seemed to bow and Professor McGonagall announced that we were to come up to the stool and she would place the sorting hat on our heads and we would be sorted into our houses.
"Abercrombie, Euan!" she called. A brown haired guy who looked a bit scared went up to the stool and sat down on it. The hat was placed on his head and after a few moments the hat called out
"Gryffindor!" Euan looked happy and ran over to the Gryffindor table. So that was how it was done, I thought.
Professor McGonagall continued on her long list of names.
"Chang, Olympia!" she called. Olympia confidently strode up to the stool and jammed the hat on her head. A few moments later, the hat called,
"Hufflepuff!" Giovanna burst out laughing.
"I knew she wasn't smart enough for Ravenclaw!" she hissed in my ear. Olympia on the other hand, looked a bit hurt. Maybe it was because she wanted to be in the same house as her sister, but probably because she just got put in the dunce house, according to her. Still, she looked rather angry and sad as she slumped off to the Hufflepuff table.
After what seemed like ages, Giovanna's name was called.
"Pettinato, Giovanna!"
"Go!" I hissed to her. She sat down on the stool. Moments later, the hat called out
"Ravenclaw!" Giovanna looked shocked. She took the hat off and wandered over to the Ravenclaw table where Katerina was jumping up and down like mad. She looked so happy to have her sister in her house.
A few people later, I heard my name get called.
"Rookworth, Karina!" I froze. Anna, who was still up there with me, pushed me. I stumbled over to the stool and sat down. The whole hall was staring at me. I felt so weird. It was so nerve wracking. I saw Harry lean in for this and George (…I think) actually shut his mouth and paid attention.
The hat was placed on my head. I could feel it getting into my brain and looking into it.
"Hmm," the hat said, "you look eager to learn. Ready for anything and you aren't afraid of anything. Something tells me you'll be the top witch in your year. Better be…Ravenclaw!" Giovanna and Katerina cheered like mad. I got off the stool and ran towards them.
"Way to go Karina!" they yelled.
"Thanks," I looked behind me at the Gryffindor table.
"Great job!" Hermione mouthed. George winked at me.
"Nice going!" he said. I felt a little sad all of the sudden. I guess cuz of him, but I knew that I may not have been in his house, but I knew there were other ways to find out more about George. After all, his brother is Harry's best friend and Harry is my cousin.
So whatever, I hope this will be a good year.
After the sorting, Professor Dumbledore explained the school rules (with an interruption by Professor Umbridge, who unlike the rest of the staff, was dressed in what looked like what my grandmother would wear) and after that the feast started. Food appeared right in front of my eyes. My mouth hung open and I stared. There was so much!
"Magic is amazing, isn't it?" Giovanna said. I nodded. This was just so cool! Immediately I dug into the feast. After the first course I was stuffed! I had almost no room left at all for dessert.
After the feast, we followed a prefect named Alice to the Ravenclaw common room. We arrived in front of this huge painting of a woman wearing a black dress. It was so beautiful. I wished I could wear it so bad. The portrait talked.
"Password?" she asked.
"Pine fresh," Alice replied. She turned to us.
"Remember that," she said. The portrait swung open and we went through the hole and followed a flight of stairs up to room.
"This is the Ravenclaw common room," Alice announced, "It's basically our house here. All Ravenclaw students are allowed to go as they please in here. Now boys dormitories are on the stairs to the right, girls same on the left. You will find that all of your belongings have already been brought up for you,"
I followed her instructions and found a door labeled 'First Years' and opened it. I walked into the dormitory. Wow, I thought. I looked around and found my things next to a bed near the window. Sasha's cage was there too. I found that she had been already let out for the night. There was a note stating that from now on she would be living in the owlery which was the tower next to Ravenclaw tower. I opened my trunk to find that the Ravenclaw symbol had been put onto my robes and that there was blue and silver trim on my sweaters. I also noticed that the colors on my ties were changed to blue and white and there were 2 scarves on there too. I lay down on my bed and sighed. Life was just too good.