Hi. Here's your super-boring narrator today. It's me, apparently. Anyway, here is the fifth chapter (Oh, I got this far) and it's more on the Sorting Ceremony, duh. That's why it's called The Sorting Ceremony. Well, read it now, please, and to tell you frankly, PLEASE REVIEW!
P.S. Tell me what you think about my own composition of the Sorting Hat's song. Thanks!
~ joaleennicole
Chapter Five
The Sorting Ceremony
The first years followed Montmorte across the flagged stone floor. Lily could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right, but Montmorte was walking too fast that she didn't even have time to bother. Instead, the professor led them into a small, empty chamber off the hall. The room was so cramped that they stood rather closely together.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor Montmorte. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before that, you will be sorted into your own houses. It's very important for you to be sorted since while you are here, your house will be like your family here. You will dine with your house, attend classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.
"Now the four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has produced the finest witches and wizards that had contributed greatly to our world. While you are staying here at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you house points, whilst any rule-breaking will make you lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most number of points will be awarded the house cup. I hope that you can contribute to each of your own houses.
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes. I advise you to, er, fix yourselves up a bit. I will call for you if everyone's ready for you."
He regarded their smell for a moment. The girl who had been thrown with the fart bomb flattened her hair, which was sticking out in all places, and the Malfoy girl stood taunting the others, without even knowing that she's wearing her robes inside-out. She still looked green from the Puking Pastilles.
"I shall return shortly," said the professor. "Please wait quietly."
He left the chamber. Lily heard Hugo gulp nervously.
"I'm scared." said Hugo to Lily. "I'd heard that the sorting hurts. Well, Rose told me that, apparently."
"Relax," she said. "They wouldn't hurt us. Right, Lysander?"
"I wouldn't be sure about that. I've been told that we'll battle a troll with only our wands."
Hugo frowned. "And how do we do that without even knowing any spells?"
"Easy," said Lorcan. "Stick your wand into its nose, and then it'll start hitting itself on the head with its club. Well, unless you're still clinging to it."
What they said didn't cheer up Hugo a bit. In fact he looked even greener. Lily found Hugo's phobias quite amusing, but she couldn't help being phobic herself. She felt like passing out, and seeing the look on other first years' faces, she figured that she's not the only one. What if it's a test? Preformed in front of the whole school? But she doesn't know any spells yet — one mistake could lead to consequences. Her eyes kept darting to the door. Any second now, and Professor Montmorte would come back and lead them to their doom. The others were all shaking with anxiety, except for the twins perhaps, who were demonstrating their ideas about battling a troll.
"— now stick your wand into my nose." said Lysander.
"That's just gross!" exclaimed Lorcan. "You'll get booger all over my wand. Why won't you let me use your wand instead? It is your wand, and it is your nose."
"Oh, shut up, will you?" said Lily. "Can't you see that we're all nervous?"
The twins stopped acting foolish and acted nervous instead.
Then something strange happened that made her jump about a foot in the air. There was a booming sound, like an explosion that had been muted out by something. Several students screamed from behind her.
"That wasn't me," said Lysander apologetically. "I hadn't eaten anything since we have left."
"It's not me, either." said Lorcan, shrugging. "I went to the loo even before we made it here."
"I don't think it's either of you." said Hugo. "It's from above."
Involuntarily, they looked up.
"What the —?"
Lily gasped. A ghost wearing a ruff and tights streamed right through the ceiling towards them. He was shaking his head, which lolled around as if it might fall off at any moment. He seemed to be talking to himself.
"This is no good," said the ghost. "They couldn't do that. This whole ceiling might fall off. To cause such an explosion, with just moving a single statue? And the statue's made of metal!"
And he streamed right through the door as if they weren't there.
"Come, now." said a stern voice. Professor Montmorte had returned. "We are ready for you, students. Follow me. Move along now. And form two, straight lines."
He rushed out of the door without even waiting for them to form straight lines. They all ran out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors that led straight to the Great Hall. But before they even crossed it, Professor Montmorte halted them to a stop. A boy with sandy hair nearly bumped into Lily. The professor cleared his throat.
"Students," he said in a flat voice. "Haven't I told you to form two lines?"
They immediately scrambled around to form their lines.
"That's better," said Montmorte, looking pleased. "Come on, now. They're all waiting for you."
And he pushed the doors open.
Lily hadn't imagined a more splendid place than the Great Hall. It was lit with thousands of candles floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were lined with hundreds of golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers sat. Professor Montmorte led them up there, facing the other students, with the teachers right behind them. Lily felt nervous that her eyes lingered towards the ceiling, and gasped herself. The ceiling was dotted with many stars here and there, with the moon right among them. It reflected the sky outside.
"It's made so that we could see the heavens from above," said Montmorte, sighing heavily. Lily had noticed that he was holding a very battered, very old wizard's hat in his arms. Montmorte quickly regained his attention and placed the hat on a stool that he had set up without anyone noticing. He was so quick at handling things that you might have thought it impossible for him to have done so.
Just looking at the hat made Lily feel as if her legs had turned to lead. It was very old indeed, and she couldn't help but wonder what they are going to do with it. She stared at it and waited for something strange to happen. For a few seconds, the hall elapsed into great silence. Then the hat twitched. Its rim opened wide like a mouth — and the hat began to sing:
I am a hat, a wizard's hat,
A battered one you see.
But I can help for greater good.
Your worries can be free.
I am to sort you house to house,
I see through your desires.
Sit on this stool and put me on,
Cause I can be benign.
Brave Gryffindor admits you all,
The bravest felt so fine.
He thought that they could face all odds,
And all of them are prime.
Good Hufflepuff not ever picked.
She's vastly kind indeed.
In fact she knitted me by hand.
How kind and great was she!
Fair Ravenclaw from wild moor,
Sought those with greater minds.
She handpicked those who had excelled.
She was so fair and wise.
Great old Slytherin sought all those,
Who crave their hearts' desires.
Clever was great Slytherin.
He had a cunning mind.
Don't be afraid, go put me on.
The Sorting Hat is I.
Sit on this stool so you could see.
The Sorting Hat is I.
The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed three times and then became quite still again.
"I'm still nervous, though." whispered Hugo. "What if there are cobwebs in that hat? If there are cobwebs, then there are spiders."
"Spiders don't live in hats." said Lysander.
"But they live in cobwebs," said Hugo weakly. "Not hats."
Lily's nervousness faded a little. She was relieved that they're just going to try on the hat, but she did wish that they could try on the hat without everyone in the hall watching. James and Albus were out there, and she knew that James wouldn't miss a chance to tease her if she made a mistake.
Professor Montmorte pulled out a long roll of parchment from the sleeve of his robes.
"When I call your name, please sit on the stool and put on the hat so that you may be sorted." he said. "Anwhistle, Trevor!"
The small boy who bragged about his family manor back at the hallway stumbled out of line, put on the hat, and sat on the stool. The hat fell down over his eyes. A moment's pause and —
"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat.
The whole table at the left erupted into cheers as Trevor ran to join them. He sat in one of the seats and grinned merrily at the other Ravenclaws, who were clapping him hard on the back.
"Benson, Lee!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Lee tripped over his own legs to sit at the table on the right.
Professor Montmorte continued reading out the list. "Boot, Iris!" he called.
"RAVENCLAW!" said the hat. Iris scuttled along to sit right next to Trevor Anwhistle.
When "Brooch, Alfred" became the first Slytherin, the table on the far right burst into cheers. Lily saw Scorpius Malfoy (or so she thought it was him) muss up Alfred Brooch's hair. Lily thought that they were quite an unpleasant lot, since Scorpius was with them.
Sometimes, she noticed, the hat shouted out the house almost at once, but sometimes it took it a whole minute for it to decide. Lily almost at once had a horrible thought about this. What if she hadn't been chosen? What would her dad and her mum say about it?
"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!" Professor Montmorte called.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.
"Finnigan, Shaun" was the first to be sorted into Gryffindor. It was the table from the far left's turn to cheer. Lily saw James, Albus, and Rose run to meet Shaun as he nearly forgot to take the hat off.
"Greene, Alison" was sorted into Griffindor, too, but she was so weak-kneed that she nearly stumbled onto the stool and knocked the hat off. She was much too tiny compared to "Harrison, Vincent," who was sorted into Slytherin. Harrison's head was so large that the hat barely fit into his head. He gave the hat to "McDougal, Anthony" who was sorted into Slytherin, too.
The Malfoy girl, who was named Astoria, swaggered forward when her name was called. The hat barely touched her head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"
Astoria went to join her brother, who went to meet her.
The line was becoming shorter and shorter as names were called.
"Moon"…, "Nott"…, "Paige"…, "Parkinson"…, then "Peace, Cygnus" became a Gryffindor, and then, at long last —
"Potter, Lily!"
As Lily stepped forward, she saw James and Albus grinning from the Gryffindor table. She tried as hard as not to be nervous, stepping up towards the stool. She placed the Sorting Hat on her head, and it dropped down over her eyes until she saw only blackness.
"Oh, yes," said a small voice inside her ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. You have a great mind…very great mind. You can be sorted into Ravenclaw, perhaps, but a very fair heart indeed. Hufflepuff, perhaps, my dear? Or Slytherin? Cunning mind…a thirst for power. No, Gryffindor, since you have plenty of courage. My goodness — where should I put you?"
The Sorting Hat silenced for quite a time. It was pondering, perhaps, but Lily hadn't thought that the whole hall had gone into a weird silence. It was what she had feared. Perhaps she wouldn't be sorted after all. She gripped the edges of the stool. After a very long three minutes —
"Well, you'd better be — GRyFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.
She had the loudest cheer yet. James and Albus were hooting, shouting, "That's our sister! That's our sister!" Rose jumped up and down and waved her arms at her.
Lily nearly stumbled out of her seat. She placed the hat on the stool and went to sit at the Gryiffindor table, where the cheering was very hard. She went to sit between Rose and Albus.
"That was very long," said Rose. "Three minutes, at least. How come it took you quite a time?"
"I dunno. It just said that I can be sorted into any of the houses. It even reconsidered sorting me into Slytherin." said Lily.
"Congratulations, then," said Rose. "That you weren't sorted into Slytherin."
Lily looked up at the High Table, where the teachers sat. She recognized Hagrid, who was clapping the hardest yet, and a tabby cat sitting on a large gold chair. Lily was flabbergasted. A tabby cat? Sitting on a chair?
"That's Professor McGonagall," said Albus, seeing the look on Lily's face. "She's an Animagus — oh, you know, people who can shape-shift into animals — and she's our headmistress, too. Montmorte's our Deputy headmaster. He's also head of our house. And you may have met Simonoff already."
Simonoff was the most conspicuous. His pale blue eye even glinted from the distance. She actually wished that he'll get his glasses back. On the other hand, Lupin was there, too. He gave Lily a thumbs-up when he caught her eye. He looked like an overexcited schoolboy compared to Simonoff, who was scowling right beside him.
"I hope not," said Lily, lying.
And now there were about six people left to be sorted. Both of the Scamander twins, unfortunately, were sorted both into Ravenclaw. They both gave her thumbs-up and said, "There's still free time." as they brushed past her and sat at the table opposite. She was quite relieved that the Ravenclaw table was right next to theirs. There was "Smith, McGregor," who was sorted into Hufflepuff, and "Thomas, Drew," a black boy that was even taller than Rose. Drew Thomas joined her and Lily at the Gryffindor table. "Ulson, Sandra," who was sorted into Hufflepuff, handed the hat to Hugo, who was pale green by then. Hugo took it, sat on the stool, and placed the hat on his head. Like the Malfoy girl, the hat barely touched his head when it shouted, "GRyFFINDOR!"
Lily clapped loudly with the rest as Hugo collapsed into the chair right across from her, still looking green.
"I didn't know why it sorted me here," said Hugo. "But I'm assuming that it did that because I'm a Weasley."
"No, I don't think so." she said.
Hugo still looked unconvinced. "It's because it told me I'm a Weasley. Fred's here, too, you know."
He was right. Fred Weasley II, their cousin, was a Griffindor prefect.
They both looked up at the High Table. Professor Montmorte rolled up his scroll, tucked it carefully in his sleeve, and carried the stool away.
Then the tabby cat from the High Table leapt down over to the ground. Lily was stunned. At the cat's place on the ground was a rather stern-looking woman in emerald green robes. She had greyish black hair tied into a tight bun at the top of her head. Lily knew, from the way she regarded the students with great authority, that this was Professor Minerva McGonagall, the headmistress of Hogwarts.
Professor McGonagall stretched her arms out wide, as if she was excited to see them at long last.
"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!" she said. "Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. ("Oh dear," said James.)
"Now this is the start of a new beginning. You are back here to learn, and to learn you must do. Hogwarts is here to enrich you once again to gain new ideas and enhance your knowledge of our world and other worlds as well. In 1997, Hogwarts had perceived the most epic battle the world has ever known. Now in those days the world was enveloped in darkness and sorrow. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named plagued wizards and Muggles alike, and he governed —"
And that was all Lily could hear of McGonagall's speech. The professor backtracked and sidetracked to give the exact details of what happened in 1997, and she only caught the words "Voldemort," and "Harry," and "Dumbledore". She was too hungry to listen, and the others were, too. James was already groaning.
"She said a few words," he said. "But I see she included all the gory details."
His head drooped into his golden plate, and then he snored.
When McGonagall ended her speech ("I hope that all of you will enjoy this year at Hogwarts, and be as one with your fellow students. Thank you!"), the rest of hall erupted into applause. The others were either snoring or drooling or clutching their stomachs.
McGonagall sat back down. Everybody cheered, perhaps because they liked her speech, or perhaps because it was the start of the banquet.
"Well, that's better," said Albus. "Care for roast beef, Lily?"
Lily's mouth fell open. She hadn't realized it, but the platters in front of her were filled with mountains of food. She hadn't seen this too much food in only one table. It was filled with everything: from roast beef to roast turkey, mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, lamb steak, beef steak, pork chops, lamb chops, ham, treacle tart, Yorkshire pudding, chocolate pudding, Black pudding, all sorts of puddings, peas, carrots, celery, gravy, ketchup, peppermints (which she hadn't dared touched since she's allergic to them) and all other dishes and delicacies it all had to offer.
She piled her plate with nearly everything and ate spoonful after spoonful. It was all delicious.
"Tastes good?" said the ghost in the ruff she had seen back in the chamber. "It's been ages since I had eaten."
"Care for some?" offered Lily, who dared not to be rude.
"Oh, no." said the ghost. "But I do miss it. The last thing I ate before I died was leftover lamb chops. They don't taste good. Haven't I introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, at your service. Dead for nearly four hundred and fifty years, and resident ghost of Griffindor Tower."
"Oh, I know you!" said Shaun Finnigan. "You're Nearly Headless —"
"Oh, yes. Nearly Headless Nick," said Nick impatiently. "But I do prefer to be called Sir Nicholas. Chopped in the neck fourteen times but haven't even chopped my head off properly! It would be better if I could join the Headless Hunt if not for this,"
He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder like a hinge. They could see a little sinew and skin connecting his head to his neck, like tape. Nearly Headless Nick sighed and flipped his head back the way it had been.
"Well, then," he said, coughing. "Welcome, new Gryffindors! Here to bring glory to our house, I assume? We've been winning for countless of years now, haven't I said that?"
"No, not quite." said Shaun Finnigan.
"Well, I guess I should be skipping the feast and head over to check on the statue at the third floor. It's a nuisance, I tell you."
And Nearly Headless Nick floated away out of the Great Hall.
Soon, everyone was done with supper. Lily scraped the remains of the chocolate-banana cream pie she had for dessert. Then, all the food was gone. Professor McGonagall stood up once again.
"Now for a few words." she said. The hall fell silent.
"First years should know that the Forbidden Forest is in fact, well, forbidden. Older students should remember that as well, especially those who want to earn three detentions in a row."
Her eyes flashed towards James, who sank down into his seat.
"Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch, wants to remind you that no magic is permitted in the school corridors. He also made a list of items that are not permitted to be used during our stay at Hogwarts. These items include everything from… Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. The lists are posted in each of the house dormitories.
"And finally, Quidditch trials will also be held in the second week of the term. Anyone who is interested in playing for their house teams should consult Mr. Oliver Wood. That's all. Now, off you go. And, Miss Boot," she said, eying Iris Boot with great uncertainty. "Please remove that large ornament on your head. It is very distracting."
Iris Boot removed the large butterfly clip she had worn on her hair.
The Gryffindors followed Fred through the chattering crowds, out the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Fred was thrilled to see Lily again — the only times they saw each other was when Lily visits her uncles' shop — and he was fun to talk to, for a prefect. And, for a prefect, he got into detention more than that of James, which was a lot.
Lily dragged her dead feet up the staircase. She was so tired and full that she hadn't been aware of the paintings whispering and pointing at her and the others. Fred, chatting happily with no one else listening, led them through narrow doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hidden tapestries. Then, they came into a sudden halt at the end of a hallway, in front of a painting of a fat lady in a pink dress.
"Here we are," he said. "The Fat Lady."
The Fat Lady frowned when she heard what Fred had called her. "Password?" she said in a sharp tone.
"Wilderbarrow." said Fred. The portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in a wall. They all scrambled through it, and found themselves in the Griffindor common room — a cozy, round room, complete with a fireplace, a hearth rug, and squashy armchairs.
Fred directed the boys through one door to the dormitory and the girls through the other. Lily, too tired even to say goodnight to Hugo, clambered up the spiral staircase towards the top where, at long last, they had found their beds. Their trunks had already been brought up. Lily pulled on her pyjamas and sank into the lowest bunk of the four-poster. She closed her eyes, and instantly gave in to sleep.
But what was that statue in the third floor? Everyone knew, but confused as well.
Look out for the next chapter: Flying Lessons
Okay. Maybe it's a little boring. It's long, yes, and it's boring. I just wasted my time, I guess. But please scan through and tell me if it's okay. It might be boring, but so full of ideas. Eheheh. I want you to review, by the way. Thanks a lot!
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