Sirius Black
"Black, Sirius!"
The first person of the day. A Black. Every Black the Hat had ever met had been in Slytherin. But this one..this one looked..different.
The Blacks always seemed to be short, fat, and sneering. But the Hat had been watching this Black with interest, since he'd come into the hall. He was tall and thin. His hat was askew and his hair was shown to be long and mangy and black as ink. He was with another tall, thin boy, with black hair that could only be described as pointy (it was spilling out of his hat) and round glasses. Both were quite handsome, and nearly every girl in the Hall was staring at them. The pointy-haired one was staring at a young girl with flowing red hair. Up till a few moments ago, Black was looking at every girl within a twelve-foot radius. However, as McGonagall called his name, his shoulders dropped and his face became ashen. He tried to strut slowly and hurry up at the same time, resulting in tripping over his shoes and flushing a dark red as laughter rippled across the Hall. The Hat observed that laughter came rather loudly from the Slytherin area, where young Bellatrix Black sat, a sneer on her face. She, like her cousin, was tall and thin, but a definite Slytherin.
After dusting himself off, Sirius walked normally and slid the Hat over his eyes.
Hello, young man. A Black. I suppose you'd like to be in Slytherin?
I hate everyone in that stupid place. Do NOT put me there.
Tsk tsk tsk—surely you do not hate your family.
I do. I really do.
You appear to be very strong. From what I can see in your mind, you are carrying the sorting of strength that can only be gained by reckless hate.
Got that right. I hate my family and they hate me.
Certainly not.
Certainly, right. Ten times a day, my dear mother compares me to my cousin and my brother, and forty times a day, she threatens to disown me. But I don't care.
Yes you do.
No I don't.
Yes you do. You can hide everything from everyone, but never try to hide your feelings from a Hat.
I do NOT care.
Then how come you look so scared?
…
…
…
…
I hate you.
Don't worry about it. At least fourteen people a year say they hate me.
Not as much as I do.
I agree you have much to hate. You say—think—that your family enjoys comparing you to others?
I'm telling you, I don't care.
Remember. You can't lie to a Hat.
Okay maybe I do care half an inch. But no one knows, which really means that I don't care.
That makes no sense.
I don't care.
You know what you are? A rebel. You're a brave, loyal rebel. You're also cunning.
I am. But don't put me in Slytherin.
Why? You want power, I can tell.
Hat, and I swear this, if you put me in Slytherin, I will tear you into shreds. You may be powerful, but you have nothing against me when I get angry.
Okay okay. Ravenclaw—you are smart. Hufflepuff—you are loyal. But you are chivalrous and brave. Yes, you belong in Gryffindor.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Thinking twice about tearing me to shreds, eh?
Eh, not really.
"Sly.."
Yes! Yes!
A/N: I am personally quite proud of this one. :)