Disclaimer: last time I checked, I wasn't the genius millionaire who wrote Harry Potter.

Another chapter! Thanks for everyone who reviewed my last chapter—I really appreciate it. I hope you like the new characters and Sorting Hat song. BTW- the idea marked with a * is from 'writergal24' (the idea, not the exact wording).

Fred, George, Lee, and Billie clambered awkwardly out of their boat as it crunched against the rocky cave bottom. It was very dim in the cave, and the only thing Fred could hear was the shuffling of about fifty pairs of feet as they scrambled to disembark from their own miniature vessels.

Hagrid's voice echoed all around the cave. "Alrigh' everyone, we're goin' up these stairs here." He withdrew a pink umbrella from a pocket inside his overcoat, and lit the end. The bright light illuminated an ascending passage lined with mirrors that Fred hadn't noticed before. Hargid waved for them all to follow, and they began to climb. 50 stairs, 100 stairs, 200 stairs… Fred lost count. They were panting by the time the stairs started to level out, and when he glanced over at Angelina, he saw that she was clutching a stich in her side.

"How much longer?" George called out to Hagrid.

"Not much," said Hagrid. "Just a few more…"

The stairs came out by the edge of a cliff that overhung one side of the black lake. The moon shone sufficient light for them now, so Hagrid put out his light. It was a beautiful scene. The cliff was perched right at the edge of the water, and a steep grassy slope to their left wound down towards the icy, windy shore. The horizon seemed to melt away into the water where they met, sparkling magnificently. The trees in the forest behind them shivered in the icy wind, but the castle stood still and silent in the ever darkening night before them.

They followed Hagrid as he proceeded up the marble front steps towards the castle's magnificent oak front doors. He banged on them three times. After a minute or so of nervous silence, the left door opened and a lady stepped out clad in green witch's robes and a pointed black hat. She had gray-green bespectacled eyes and a pointed chin, and despite her wrinkles and intense look, she was pretty. Her graying hair sat in a tight bun at the back of her head, and when she stepped out to greet them her high heeled green boots clicked importantly on the marble landing. "Good evening," She said, smiling faintly and looking down at them from the top of her glasses. She showed them inside.

The entrance hall was huge. It could have fit the whole of the Burrow at least three times over, and the ceiling reached up so far that Fred could barely make out the top; he supposed it must pass through all nine floors of Hogwarts. In front of them was another set of doors, through which they could hear the babble of hundreds of students as they sat anticipating the start of a new year.

The woman in green cleared her throat loudly to draw their attention from their surroundings. "Welcome to Hogwarts. I am professor McGonagall, and I will be your transfiguration teacher over the next seven years," She said. "Tonight you will be sorted into your houses, which are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. While you are here, your house will be like your family. Your successes will earn your house points; any rule breaking will lose your house points. The Sorting Ceremony will begin momentarily, and until then you will wait here." She pointed to a separate door off the entrance hall and showed them inside. Once they had all crowded in, she said, "I will be back to get you in a few moments," and closed the door after herself.

Once she was out of earshot, a tiny girl with dark pigtails called out, "What were the houses again?"

"Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw!" Fred shouted back to her.

A whisper came from a blonde girl next to Fred. "What's the difference, really? They're all just houses." She was speaking to a girl whom Fred knew through their fathers—Amber Sanderson. When the blonde girl turned, Fred saw that she was pretty, but that her eyes were cold and gray with no warmth in them.

George nudged him. "Listen, they've stopped talking!" And indeed, the chatter had ceased in the Great Hall. "She's got to be coming back soon," he said.

The door opened suddenly, and there stood Professor McGonagall. She cleared her throat again, and the room fell silent. "Form a line, please. And try to smarten yourselves up a bit." She threw an accusing look at Billie, whose robes were torn in several places, and at George, whose hand-me-down wand was visibly chipped and whose cheek was smeared with charcoal from their latest experiment. Fred and Lee sniggered.

"Follow me," she said. Professor McGonagall led them through entrance hall again, made sure they were in a straight, single file line, and flicked her wand at the double doors.

Four long house tables came into view, each seating nearly one hundred students, all of whom watched them as they proceeded towards the fifth and final table. This table was filled with teachers who sat patiently under thousands of little floating candles and lanterns, watching them eagerly. In the very center of the teachers was an old man with a long, silver beard. He sat in an ornate gold and red chair, and smiled warmly at them all with twinkling silvery eyes. Dumbledore. Fred knew him from the Chocolate Frog cards and the cover of several books that he was supposed to have read.

As they walked, someone pointed to the ceiling and said, "Wow, look at that!" The ceiling was an exact copy of the sky outside—a dark, midnight blue dotted with clouds and stars. Fred had heard of the ceiling before; his very first letter from Bill had included not only a very detailed description of it, but a picture, too. High above them on the walls were several identical arched windows that gave a clear view of the grounds and sky surrounding them. The floor before the new first-years was raised up three stairs, and Professor McGonagall proceeded up them to face the students. Beside her stood a thee legged stool with a very frayed and dirty hat upon it. Everyone else in the hall was looking at it silently and expectantly, so Fred did too. Suddenly, a rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and the hat began to sing.

Many and many a year ago,

When Hogwarts School began,

The founders four selected all

Their favorites for their clan

Wise Ravenclaw did value those

Pupils quick and smart.

Bold Gryffindor, he only chose

Students brave at heart.

Sweet Hufflepuff did then believe

Those faithful were the best.

For Slytherin, the ambitious

Were better than the rest.

But now that they are dead and gone,

Tis' I who doth decide,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat;

I'll tell where you reside.

The hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. Fred, of course, already knew what house he'd be in. His whole family had been in Gryffindor, but he sincerely hoped that Lee and Angelina would be in Gryffindor too. There was a slim chance that he would be sorted into another house, but he doubted it very much. The atmosphere in the crowd was very excited, though a few people near him were chewing on their nails in nervous anticipation.

"Now, when I call your name, you will come forward and put the sorting hat on your head to be sorted into your house," said Professor McGonagall as she picked up the sorting hat in her right hand, and a roll of parchment in her left. "Bobrovnikov, Kimberly."

A tall, thick girl with a long nose walked up to the stool and sat down. The sorting hat was placed on her head, and after a minute, the rip near the brim opened again and it shouted "SLYTHERIN!" The table to their left erupted into applause and the other tables clapped politely. Fred thought absently that her life was probably ruined.

"Boury, Alixe," Professor McGonagall called. Fred recognized the girl tiny girl immediately; it was she who had asked about the houses in the waiting room.

She skipped up to the stool and jumped backward onto it. Her toes didn't reach the halfway to the floor, and there was a collective 'Awww….' from the crowd as the Sorting Hat slipped down past her nose. She swung her tiny feet as the hat decided where to put her. Finally, it shouted "RAVENCLAW!" She looked delighted as she ran off towards the table on the far right, her black pigtails flying behind her.

"Chai, Chris,"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Coit, Amanda,"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Billie Davis, the boy who had ridden with Fred, George, and Lee across the black lake, became the first Gryffindor, and the table of the far left applauded him. Delgado, Steven, and Diggory, Cedric, became Hufflepuff, but a girl by the name of Elaine Embry became the first female Gryffindor. Jett Fraser and Simon Greene became Ravenclaw, and Griese, Nicolas was deemed Slytherin.

The girl Fred had overheard in the waiting room turned out to be the girl Angelina disliked, Fiona Horan. When her name was called, she flounced up to the stool and sat down placidly, tucking one of her blonde locks behind her ear. The Sorting Hat had barely touched her head before it shouted "RAVENCLAW!" The table on the far right clapped loudly, and Fred found himself feeling rather bad for Alixe as Horan went to sit by her.

After Horan came Hunter, Austen (Gryffindor) and then, "Johnson, Angelina."

Fred bit his lip. They could still be friends even if they weren't in the same house, right? She squeezed her way through the remaining crowd and walked up the three stairs to the stool. She sat down, and Professor McGonagall set the hat on her head. Angelina looked excited and nervous as she tapped her foot anxiously against a leg of the stool. She pressed her lips together and shot a nervous glance at Fred. After about three minutes, the rip opened and shouted to the whole hall, "GRYFFINDOR!" Fred applauded especially loudly for her as she ran off to the table on the far left.

Right after Angelina was Lee. He stepped out from the crowd and sat down.

Fred whispered to George, "Ravenclaw, you say? I don't think so. You'd better have your money ready."

George huffed.

This time, the Sorting Hat was much quicker at making its decision. "GRYFFINDOR!" it shouted, and Lee winked at them as he ran off after Angelina.

"Pay up, bro." Fred said, nudging his brother as they clapped. George slipped him the money and Fred counted as a two more people were sorted.

The minutes ticked slowly by, and by the time Fred's name was called, he was rather bored with watching everyone else. He thought it was time for the first prank of the year. He nudged George and said loudly, "Go on, Fred. It's your turn."

George gave him a funny look, and then he realized what Fred was trying to do. "Right!" he said. "That's me," and he sauntered up to the stool. Professor McGonagall put the hat on George's head while he sat there with a stupid smirk on his face.

*After a minute, the sorting hat opened its mouth, but instead of calling out one of the four houses, it screeched in a very irritated way, "How about I sort the REAL Fred Weasley?"*

The hall erupted into laughter as George got up and tossed the hat to Fred before Professor McGonagall could get it herself. She looked about ready to breathe fire as Fred came up and put the hat on himself, but she couldn't do anything other than mutter their detentions under her breath. Fred laughed, glancing up at her thin mouth and flushed cheeks.

As Fred sat waiting to be sorted, he looked out into the sea of people, looking for his brothers, Percy and Charlie. He found them easily, sitting at the Gryffindor table (the only redheads for a mile around). Charlie looked thoroughly entertained, not to mention proud. Percy, on the other hand, looked mortified. His face was bright red and he was trying to hide from everyone behind his goblet. The hat suddenly shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" to the crowd, just like all the Weasely's knew it would.

Professor McGonagall whipped the hat from his head rather harshly and he stood up and flashed him a furious look. He gave one quick wave to the applauding crowd (some of whom were still laughing) and made his way over to the Gryffindor table. He sat next to Lee and across from Angelina and Billie. Austen had gone further down the table to sit with Elaine and Ivy Larsen. George was sorted into Gryffindor, of course, and when the final two (Witt, Roland, and Young, Cashel) had been sorted into their respective houses, Dumbledore stood to say a few words.

"A lovely evening to you all," he said, "and welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Before we all become too absorbed in our delicious feast, I have three announcements to make. Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you all that the Forbidden Forest will remain off limits to all students for obvious reasons; a rule which I hope will not have to be repeated this year. But on a far happier note, I am very pleased to welcome our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Edel Donovan!"

He gestured jovially at a very young teacher (she couldn't have been more than thirty) with short brown hair and a cheeky smile. She waved at everyone a little too enthusiastically, and almost elbowed Professor McGonagall in the face. There was a polite little round of applause that didn't last long; it seemed Professor Dumbledore had one more announcement to make.

"And this year, Professor Rain will be taking the post of Head of Ravenclaw House!" He said, and clapped along with the rest of the school as a very tall, disproportionate woman stood up near the end of the staff table. Her posture was a little too straight, with her broad shoulders and straight figure, which gave her a slightly menacing look. Her face was flecked with the trace of badly hidden age and Fred could clearly see from his position at the front of the table that her eyebrows went up a little at the ends. Her hair was voluminous and light brown with blonde and gray streaks flowing down it, and baldly in need of a wash. She smiled a wonky, crooked smile at them before settling herself back down in her seat.

"And now," said Dumbledore, his light blue eyes twinkling, "let's eat!"

Suddenly the golden plates filled with delicious looking food, the goblets were brimming with pumpkin juice, and chatter spread like wildfire across the hall.

FYI-that song took like two hours to write, so you'd better review. I hope you liked it!