Chapter 9

Harry burst into the great hall panting, with a sweaty brow. He received several odd looks as he hurried to the Gryffindor table, where Hermione and Ron were sitting down to their dinner.

"Thanks for the back up guys!" He said angrily.

Both immediately protested that it was the other's idea to run for it, and then they looked down at their plates, ashamed. Ron shoved chips into his mouth and Hermione began reading a book she had in her lap. Harry, still fuming, slammed himself down on to the bench opposite his two best friends. Silence lingered between them. Harry didn't eat anything, despite his hunger; he just stared at them, waiting for them to break the silence. Finally when he couldn't bear it any longer, and his stomach gave a loud roar of reminder that it needed feeding, he said, "He could've – would've probably killed me!" He said it quietly, not wanting to rouse any of his peers form their own dinnertime rituals.

"We're sorry, Harry!" Hermione said, now near tears at hearing the seriousness of the situation.

"We panicked, mate!" Ron cut in, "Didn't you want to run for your life? That guy's terrifying!"

"You still abandoned me!" Harry raged.

"Well, to be honest, we thought you'd be right behind us…" she said, now sounding as if something was not quite so clear. "What actually happened?"

Harry told them about Sectumsempra.

"WHAT?" shouted Ron.

"Hush, Mr Weasley." said Professor Flitwick as he trotted past.

They waited for him to take his place at the staff table before continuing their conversation.

"Harry! You used that spell?" whispered Hermione, astounded.

"Why, mate?"

"I dunno, it just did it after Impedimenta didn't work…"

"Hang on, Impedimenta? How did it not work? Did you get nervous and mess up the spell?" Ron asked.

"Umm, well no. It didn't affect him… well okay, it was slightly weak cos I was hesitant, but then he dared me to attack him harder, so well, I did."

They stared and Harry carried on.

"I don't know! It just came to me! I just did it! He made me so mad, I wanted to kill him!"

"Insane! That's mental!" Ron couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Hermione just sat dumbfounded and utterly perplexed.

"This has been one hell of a day." Harry sighed, putting his head down on the table.

"Let's talk about this later; the hall's getting a bit crowded." Hermione pointed out.

It was. Usually at dinner, everyone came in at different times and as a result there was always plenty of space. Now all of a sudden, the whole school seemed to be coming down. Ginny came to sit next to Harry and pecked him on the cheek. He felt a bit better.

"Good first day?" she asked, brightly.

"Uh, well…" Harry started.

"What?"

"I'll tell you later."

She raised an eyebrow but dropped the subject.

"So, have you heard the news?"

"Hmm, what news?" Ron asked, sitting up suddenly, hoping for some gossip.

"There's going to be a second sorting ceremony on now."

"For whom?" asked Ron and Harry together.

"Wow! You two are so dull sometimes! The Shinigami of course!" Hermione exclaimed. Ginny nodded.

"But, me and Ron met some of them today who said that they'd been sorted already into Gryffindor."

"Really?" said Ginny in wonder.

Harry continued telling them about their awkward free period but the hall was called to attention by Professor McGonagall who was standing at the end of the hall at the teacher's table tapping her glass with her fork.

"As some of you already may know, this evening we are conducting a second sorting ceremony for our special, foreign friends at their request. As all of you already know the procedure, we shall proceed."

Professor Sprout brought out the old, withered hat and set it on its usual stool. The doors of the Great Hall opened and in walked the Shinigami. There were more new ones. Each captain, clothed in white, was accompanied by their respective vice-captains at their side. Hisagi was not with a captain and walked in the middle alone. Harry also noticed that Captain Ukitake was absent. Poor guy's still in the hospital wing he thought. Captain Kenpachi was there, Harry turned his head away as he passed. The lower ranked officers were at the rear of the line. They strode between the house tables and lined up at the front – the vice-captains stood behind their captains. The sorting then began.

"Captain Genryūsai Yamamoto." Professor McGonagall called.

This was a captain they had not seen. He had headed the line of Shinigami with a grey haired vice-captain. He was extremely elderly looking, with a bald head and a long white beard and moustache. There was a big X-shaped scar on his forehead and he walked with a wooded walking stick.

"Their Dumbledore I'll bet." Ron whispered to Harry across the table.

The ancient captain stepped forth confidently, sat on the stool and allowed Professor Sprout to place the Sorting Hat on his head. No sooner had it touched his skin, the hat yelled,

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table erupted into applause as usual and the captain got up and took his place back in the line. His stern expression had not changed the whole time.

"Gin Ichimaru"

The sly-faced captain sat on the stool and Harry shivered as the hat slid past the man's eyes leaving only his everlasting, creepy grin was visible. The hat paused for a minute before making its decision, which was,

"SLYTHERIN!"

There was clapping though not so enthusiastic as what Captain Yamamoto got.

The ceremony continued and the results were as follows:

Kuchiki Byakuya – Hufflepuff

Hitsugaya Toshiro – Ravenclaw

Kenpachi Zaraki – Slytherin

Chōjirō Sasakibe – Hufflepuff

Abarai Renji – Gryffindor

Matsumoto Rangiku – Ravenclaw

Yachiru Kusajishi – Slytherin

Hisagi Shuuhei – Gryffindor

Madarame Ikkaku – Gryffindor

Yumichika Ayasegawa – Ravenclaw

Kuchiki Rukia – Hufflepuff

The hat was removed and Professor McGonagall made one final announcement.

"As a special treat for you the staff has asked our guests if we may observe one of their training sessions."

Expressions of interest arose.

"We will pick two names at random and the ones chosen will engage in friendly combat so that we can watch how duels are performed in the Soul Society."

This seemed to excite the whole hall, everyone looked up towards Shinigami eagerly.

A bowl was brought out and Professor McGonagall tapped it with her wand. After a moment a piece of folded parchment flew out towards the ceiling and as it floated down, she caught it and unfolded it.