Disclaimer: I still don't own.

Even though we were dry, we could still part the crowd. It didn't take very long to reach Harry and Ron. "Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking." Ron was trying to explain.

A test? In front of the whole school? I'm pretty sure it wasn't a test though I wouldn't know for certain. In Nymphy's first letter, there were a bunch of ink blobs where she described the sorting. It was almost as if we weren't supposed to know, like it had been censored out. Whenever she tried to talk about it later, Mum or Dad would quiet her. It's good to know it wouldn't hurt. That was almost a fact. Fred would jinx George before he gave up the opportunity to frighten Ron.

Harry looked more anxious at Ron's comment. No one was talking much except Hermione Granger, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she'd need. I doubt she'd need any but the one to change her hair to its natural brown after I jinxed it to make her shut-up.

I was pulling out my wand, when something happened that made me jump about a foot in the air – Eloise screamed.

"What the -?"

We gasped. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance -" That must be the Fat Friar. He used to give Nymphy a good deal of trouble. He would follow her around, writing every single thing she did wrong down. It got to the point where Nymphy went to Professor Sprout to complain and was given a week's worth of detention because of the notorious list.

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves?"

"He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?" A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.

Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

Harry got into line behind a boy with sandy hair, with Ron behind him. Rigel stood next and he tugged me along. Eloise grabbed hold of my robes and followed after me. Together we walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

It was indeed a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting.

Professor McGonagall led the first years up the very center aisle, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at us looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. Hermione was whispering, "Its bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History."

It was almost like there wasn't a ceiling at all; the Great Hall could have just simply opened on to the heavens. Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.

I didn't want that thing anywhere near my head. It probably was infested with lice. I really didn't want to get that again. It had taken weeks to get rid of even with magic. Hopefully, we wouldn't have to try it on. Noticing that everyone in the hall was now staring at the hat, I stared at it, too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing:

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

You're definitely not very pretty or even sanitary for that matter.

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

Now we really need to work on finding a new hat. It would be extremely amusing to see the hat eat it self.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your 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,

Oh great, we did have to try it on.

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 Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs 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 their 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!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."

I doubt the teachers would let first years take on a troll. Most kids would probably panic and freeze up.

Harry smiled weakly.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moments pause "HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. I saw the Fat Friar waving merrily at her. If they still had me listed under the wrong name, I would be next. I took a deep breath before,

"Bones, Susan!"

Good it wasn't me. Mum seemed to be able to fix whatever the issue was.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Fred, George and Lee were catcalling. Professor McGonagall shot them a very angry look, her lips pursed into a thin line.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin.

I didn't have anything against Slytherins. I really couldn't after Mum was one but they looked like an awfully unpleasant lot.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!" He better be a good kid. Teachers typically called students by their last names and his was a real mouthful.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Sometimes, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus," the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head. Rigel nodded in her direction. "You sure you don't want to take my bet?" "No way!"

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Ron groaned. Rigel looked relieved and I was frustrated.

When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR,"

Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."

Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!" Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.

There weren't many people left now. "Midgen, Eloise."

Eloise took a deep nervous breath. She looked on the verge of hyperventilating. I gave her hand a squeeze. Eloise gave me a thankful look as she made her way to the stool. The hat slipped over her eyes, opened its mouth and shouted,

"Hufflepuff!"

The list continued on. "Nott"

"Parkinson"

A pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil" somehow got placed in two separate houses. I began to worry. What would happen if Rigel and I were separated?

"Potter, Harry!"

As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"The Harry Potter?"

The whispering had finally reached a stop when

"GRYFFINDOR!"

It was like something exploded. Harry set down the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindor table. It was the loudest cheer yet. Percy the meddling Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

Harry sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff we'd seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm and Harry grimaced. He looked back up at us. I gave him a smile and a thumbs up. He smiled and returned the sign.

We continued on until "Smith, Zacharias" became a Hufflepuff. I swore under my breath. There was no way I could stand 7 years in the same school as him, let alone the same house. "Thomas, Dean," a black boy even taller than Ron, joined Harry at the Gryffindor table.

"Tonks, Amira." Rigel pushed me towards the stool. I no longer felt brave looking at the hat. I closed my eyes to avoid the leering older faces. I let the hat slide over my eyes.

"Hmm. Interesting. I haven't had a Black in a while." Said a small voice

"What? Who said that?"

"Ah, I guess we can rule Ravenclaw out. Not too bright-"

"Hey!"

"You'd also cause too much trouble there."

"Thank you! Thank you very much!"

"I'd say Hufflepuff. You have strong loyalties but there is the issue of a certain Zacharias Smith."

"Yep, that might be a problem."

"That brings us back to bloodlines. Slytherin and Gryffindor. Ambition and Courage."

"How are we down to blood lines? Dad was a Hufflepuff."

"Your father was a cunning man. But I see that you're more like your mother. I always liked her. She used to stop in and visit. "

"Are you sure we're thinking of the same people here? Mum never mentioned you-"

I was cut off by the hat yelling, "Gryffindor!" I slipped off the hat and handed it to Rigel. "That hat's messed up." He raised his eyebrows like I wasn't speaking English. I doubt it made much sense. I walked to Gryffindor table and sat between George and Lee.

"And so the Lovely Lady joins us!"

"Oh shut up and watch your brother," Rigel said as he squeezed in between George and I.

It was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. Fred and George had their fingers crossed under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

I clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair next to Harry.

"Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley Pompously across Harry as "Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin.

Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

The golden plates were empty set on the tables were empty. I felt my stomach rumble.

"When do we get to eat?" I asked. The candy seemed ages ago.

"Soon squirt."

"Why are you calling me squirt?"

Fred shrugged and pointed toward the head table.

Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see us all here.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered.

"Wow! That was-" I began.

"Weird!"

"Bizarre!"

"Mad!"

"Odd!"

"I was going to say interesting. Do you have anything planned for later?"

"Nah! We lull the teachers-"

"Into a false sense of security. Can you pass the potatoes?"

"But there aren't any." Rigel nudged me. I looked down at the previously empty table.

The dishes were now piled with food. I had never seen so many delicious things together before. There was roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.

I took a bit of everything including the humbugs.

"That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak,

"Can't you -?"

"I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."

"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you - you're Nearly Headless Nick!"

"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy -" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.

"Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?"

Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted. "Like this," he said irritably.

He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed, and said, "So - new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable - he's the Slytherin ghost."

The Slytherin table had a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with what could only be silver blood.

"How did he get covered in blood?" I asked. It was everywhere. It seemed that some of the silver substance was even dripping on to the floor

"I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding - "

I grabbed some apple pie. The food here really was delicious. At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.

"Ahem - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins. New admiration welled up inside me.

"You've been to the Forbidden Forest?"

"Yeah, we'll take you there sometime if you like."

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you 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 very painful death."

"Is that a new rule?" Rigel asked.

Fred nodded. "I wonder if this has anything to do with what happened last year. What'd do you think George?''

"Nah! Flitwick was able to get that cleaned up right away."

"What happened last year?"

"Doesn't matter. We're about to sing the school song."

There's a school song. No one ever mentioned anything about a song. "What's the tune?"

"Funeral March."

Lee nodded up towards the staff table. A teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin was giving us menacing glares.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. The other teachers' smiles became rather fixed.

"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.

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, it was only Rigel, the Weasley twins and I left singing along to our very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when we finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

We followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. I had tried to follow the twins but the prat strode up and sheparded me out of the hall, saying it was "his duty to the school." We walked past paintings that we're all staring at Harry in awe. One irritated looking witch glanced at me and said, "It's like they're back again." I had no idea what that was supposed to mean. I contemplated this and nearly missed that twice Percy led us through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. We climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging our feet the entire way, when we came to a sudden halt.

A bundle of walking sticks was floating in midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him.

"Peeves," Percy whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves - show yourself"

A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.

"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"

There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross- legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.

"Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"

He swooped suddenly at them. Everyone around me ducked, Peeves swerved around me and went crashing into a suit of armor.

"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy. Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head.

He zoomed away, rattling coats of armor as he passed. I had a very strong feeling that Peeves and I would get along just fine.

"You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as we set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."

At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she said.

"Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. We all scrambled through it - Neville needed a leg up - and found ourselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. Rigel and I said our good nights and went in opposite directions. At the top of a spiral staircase, there were five four-poster beds hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Our trunks had already been brought up. I didn't want to talk much to the giggling girls in my dorm. I simply pulled on my pajamas and closed the curtains around my bed for the night.

A.N. A Special thanks to BookAddiction24 for her review.