AN: For the record, the Sorting Hat's song in this chapter is from one of the books. I didn't write it.
4 - The Sorting
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! Thas' righ' now. Follow me! Firs' years!"
Sean, Valerie and Asher made their way over to the large man in the brown coat. He was holding a lantern against the black sky, and was easily spottable.
"That's Hagrid, the gameskeeper." Sean whispered in Asher's ear. "He's known to have a pretty good relationship with Harry Potter himself."
The group of first years followed Hagrid to the edge of a large lake, and Asher noticeably paled.
"What's wrong, Asher?" Valerie asked, nudging him with her elbow.
"Oh, it's nothing. There aren't any fish in the lake, are there? They terrify me."
"Sorry, but there's more than fish. I hear there's merpeople and a giant squid in there." Sean laughed, pretending to push Asher in the water. Asher gulped.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid bellowed over the crowd of children, and the students slowly began to climb into the small wooden dingies lining the shore.
Valerie and Sean were in one boat together with two other students, one with short brown hair and a book clasped tightly to his chest, and another who was slightly more muscular with very short sandy brown hair.
Asher was herded into a boat with two girls and a boy. One girl had shoulder-length dark brown hair, and was smiling ear-to-ear. The other had freckles covering her face and neck-length blond hair. The boy appeared to be smirking, eyeing the other boats with disinterest. He had very thin, short black hair.
"Hello, I'm Elizabeth, but you can call me Liz." The girl with dark brown hair spoke up, in a foreign accent, her hand shooting out to meet Asher's in a firm handshake. The black-haired boy scoffed.
"I'm Asher. It's nice to meet you. I can't help but notice your accent, you aren't British, are you?"
She smiled, "Nope. I used to live in America with my dad. He recently married a witch from around here, and we moved over the summer. This place is extraordinary." She gasped, looking up at the large castle on the other side of the lake.
The boats pulled up on the shore, and Asher ran to catch up with Sean and Valerie, who were already beginning the trek up to the castle.
"Hey, how was your boat-ride?" Asher asked, running up beside Sean.
"It was pretty good. Thad, the one with the book, only told us his name, but Flint, the muscular one, wouldn't stop talking. They were both really nice though. Thad was reading 'Hogwarts, A History'. He seems pretty into it." Valerie grinned.
"Maybe he's muggle-born?" Sean offered up, gesturing to Thad, who was at the back of the group, looking around.
"I met a girl named Elizabeth, she was the only one who talked to me on my boat." Asher mumbled, as he pointed to the excited girl who was skipping up the pathway.
The group of students stopped in front of a large oak door, and Hagrid knocked three times. The doors swung open, revealing the very familiar figure of Asher's dad.
"The firs' years, Professor Wood." Hagrid gestured to the group of students, and Asher's dad scanned the crowd and caught Asher's eye. He winked.
"Thanks Hagrid, I'll take it from here. Good to see you again."
Hagrid left the group, and Asher's dad turned slightly, gesturing to the inside of the castle.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. The beginning-of-the-year feast will be starting soon, and we need to get you all sorted. My name is Professor Oliver Wood, and I will be your Transfiguration teacher."
Asher nudged Valerie and Sean. "That's my dad." The two of them looked between Asher and his dad, smiling.
"Now, I will lead you into the Great Hall, where the feast will take place. But before we can start the feast, we'll need to sort you into your houses. While at Hogwarts, your house will be like your family. You will live together in a dormitory, and will compete against each other for points. Doing things well, will earn you points, and rule-breaking will lose you points.
The four houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Each house has a noble history, and you should be happy with the Sorting Hat's decision. The hat's decision is final, and it always has reasons for putting you where you go.
The house with the most points at the end of the year wins the House Cup, a great honour. I hope all of you put forth an honest effort to win points for your houses.
I will bring you into the Great Hall momentarily, so I suggest you take a few moments to make yourselves look nice. It'll be in front of the entire school. Good luck."
Valerie turned to Asher and Sean. "Oh my gosh, I'm totally unprepared! What is Chase and his friends laugh at me?" She began to fan herself with her hand, Sean and Asher laughed.
"Relax, you heard Asher's dad, everything is going to be fine."
"Alright kids, get ready." Asher's dad placed his hands on the large doors, and looked over his shoulder. Each of the students looked back at him with beady eyes. He stifled a laugh, and pushed the doors open.
Professor Wood lead the large group of first years down the aisle in the centre of the room towards a large wooden table. On either side of the aisle were two large table, stretching as long as the room, with students eagerly watching them.
The ceiling was littered with floating candles, and Asher remembered what his dad had told him; 'It's bewitched to look like the night sky, the candles are a spell'.
The group stopped in front a stool at the front of the room, in front of the table full of teachers. Professor Wood nodded toward the woman sitting at the centre of the table, and she passed him a large scroll.
On the stool sat and old ratty hat. It had been patched up so many times, and was extremely worn out. As soon as Professor Wood stood back, it bent backward and began to sing.
A thousand years or more ago
When I was newly sewn,
There lived four wizards of renown,
Whose names are still well known:
Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,
Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,
Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,
Shrewd Slytherin, from fen.
They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,
They hatched a daring plan
To educate young sorcerers
Thus Hogwarts School began.
Now each of these four founders
Formed their own house, for each
Did value different virtues
In the ones they had to teach.
By Gryffindor, the bravest were
Prized far beyond the rest;
For Ravenclaw, the cleverest
Would always be the best;
For Hufflepuff, hard workers were
Most worthy of admission;
And power-hungry Slytherin
Loved those of great ambition.
While still alive they did divide
Their favourites from the throng,
Yet how to pick the worthy ones
When they were dead and gone?
Twas Gryffindor who found the way,
He whipped me off his head
The founders put some brains in me
So I could choose instead!
Now slip me snug about your ears,
I've never yet been wrong,
I'll have a look inside your mind
And tell where you belong!
The room broke out into applause, and Asher's dad cleared his throat, unrolling the parchment.
"Archam, Lily."
And so it begins.
The girl stepped up to the stool, and sat. Asher's dad placed the hat on her head, and after a moment… "HUFFLEPUFF!"
A table on the far left of the room, presumably the Hufflepuff table, began to cheer, and Asher's dad gestured the girl over to them.
A few more people were sorted, into each of the houses. The quiet girl from Asher's boat was sorted into Gryffindor, and he kept in mind her name; Janet.
"Baxter, Valerie."
Valerie stepped forward, and the hat was placed on her head. After a long, bated silence, the hat shouted; "SLYTHERIN!"
Valerie chanced a look into the crowd to see her brother, who was only smiling and giving her a 'thumbs-up'. She stepped down and made her way to the Slytherin table.
"Jenkins, Thad."
Thad stepped up, still grasping his copy of 'Hogwarts, A History', and sat down on the stool. "RAVENCLAW!" The hat shouted, and a look of relief swept over his features.
A large group of names were called, and the Sean was up. "RAVENCLAW!" was bellowed at the top of the hat's 'lungs' and Sean made his way to sit beside Thad at the Ravenclaw table.
The rest of the students were sorted, so that only Asher and the muscular boy, Flint, were left. Asher silently cursed his last name, being so late in the alphabet.
"Wilson, Flint."
He stepped forward, leaving Asher behind as the only student left, and sat down on the stool. The hat was barely on his head, before it shouted; "GRYFFINDOR!"
After Flint stepped down, Asher's dad grinned wildly, and some of the other teacher gave them both knowing looks.
"Wood, Asher."
With every eye in the room watching him, Asher went to sit on the stool, secretly hoping to be with one of the friends he had made. When the hat touched his head, all other noises were blocked out, and all Asher could hear was the hat speaking.
"Ah, much potential. Loyal, honest, persistent, intelligent. All fine qualities, but where to put you… I know," Finally, bellowing out it's last word, the hat shouted to the entire hall; "RAVENCLAW!"
The Ravenclaw table burst into applause, and Asher's dad was silently clapping beside him. Asher stood, and made his way over to sit across from Sean.
Professor Wood made his way behind the table, and sat down beside Hagrid at the end of the table.
The woman at the center of the table stood, and tapped her spoon to her glass before addressing the students.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. I'd like to say a few words. First, a word of acknowledgement to our first years, and good tidings for the year. I would like to mention that our gameskeeper, Rubeus Hagrid has informed me of an infestation at the Quidditch pitch, and as such, it will be closed until further notice."
The hall echoed with loud 'boos', but the woman tapped her glass with her spoon again.
"I'd also like to take this time to welcome our new Transfiguration teacher, Oliver Wood, who had kindly agreed into introducing the first years." She paused, as Asher's dad stood and waved at the students, who clapped for him. "He will also be the new Gryffindor head of house, and as such, will be coaching their Quidditch team."
Sean kicked Asher under the table, "Tough luck, looks like your dad is supporting 'the enemy'." He laughed, and Thad looked up from his book.
"They aren't all bad, you know." He mumbled, and Sean looked over to him.
"Oh, don't tell me Thad here has a crush already! Who is she, point her out to me!" Sean nudged Thad's elbow, and he seemed to have gotten the attention of the other first years at their table, as two of them joined in.
"Oh dear Thaddy-kins. We've been your best friends for years, you should've told us!" A blond boy, who Asher briefly remembered his name to be Levi, spoke up. The curly-black haired boy opposite to him, Julian, spoke up too. "Yeah, is it that Allison girl? She wasn't too heavy on the eyes."
"Oh can it you two. And it's not a crush. I'm eleven, which means I'm too young to be thinking those kinds of things."
The group of them took their attention off the blushing Thad to look back up at the Headmistress.
"I would also like to say that the girl's bathroom on the second floor, as usual, is off limits to all students. That is all. Please, enjoy your feast."
The large dishes in front of them suddenly had food appear on them, and Asher's eyes went wide. Everything looked so delicious, and Asher was fighting back the urge to eat everything in sight.
Clearly Sean, Julian and Levi had other plans, as they were quickly grabbing all the food in sight. Thad grabbed for a small piece of bread, and continued to read.
Soon enough, Chase was herding the first year Ravenclaw students down a corridor toward a large room filled with stairs. Asher glance up, and noticed that some of the staircases were moving about the different floors.
"Keep and arm on the stair-cases, they like to change. Ravenclaws, keep up."
Sean and Asher were at the back of the group, following behind a small group of boys. Asher tried to remember their names, as he would now be rooming with them for the next seven years.
There was Levi and Julian at the front of the pack, laughing and bugging Thad, who was still trying to read his book as he followed closely behind Chase. Behind them were two boys; Noah, a tanned boy with sandy brown hair and blue eyes, and Logan, a scrawny boy with bushy black hair and glasses. Behind them were Elizabeth, still smiling ear-to-ear, and two other girls, both blond, Julia an Alexis.
Chase led them, followed closely by the group of Gryffindor first-years and their prefect, to a fork-in-the-road, and on either side were two spiralling towers.
"The left tower is Gryffindor tower, and the right would be us, Ravenclaw."
Thad stood waiting at the bottom of the tower, as each of the Ravenclaw first-years began climbing the steps. Asher checked back when he climbed the first few steps, to see him watching the group of Gryffindors go toward the other tower, still clutching his book.
Asher sent him a knowing smile, and he blushed, running past him and up the Ravenclaw tower.
At the top of the spiralling stairs, Chase stood waiting with the other first-years in front of a large door. Chase tapped the knocker on the door, and it spoke.
"A murderer is condemned to death. He has a choice of three rooms – one is filled with a raging fire, one is filled with armed assassins and the third is filled with lions that haven't eaten in three years. Which is the safest for him?"
"To get into the Ravenclaw common room, you need to answer a question. It'll change every so often, so it'll be a challenge sometimes. Anybody want to answer?"
"The room with the lions." Thad replied instantly, "they'd be dead if they didn't eat in three years." And the door swung open. The first years looked at Thad briefly before entering the room.
It was huge.
There were dark blue carpets and drapery in the room, covering the stone floors and large arched windows. To the right there was a fireplace, surrounded by a circle of couches and chairs, and straight ahead there was a group of table surrounding a large blackboard. To the left was another set of stairs, seemingly leading to the dormitories.
"This way," Chase motioned for the first years to follow him up the stairs. The first door they encountered had a large roman numeral of 'one' on it, and Chase smiled.
"This is you. In this door to the right is the boy's dorm, and same with the girls on your left. Further down the hall," He gestured to the walkway past the door, "Are the other years. If you need anything and I'm not in the main room, check my dorm, number six. Otherwise I'm somewhere in the castle. Don't be afraid to ask anybody here, I'm sure they'll be more than happy to help."
Just then, a group of older student began walking up the stairs. They waved at the first years, and sent Chase a look. The short-brown-haired boy at the front of the group walked up to Chase and hugged him, placing a chaste kiss to his lips.
"It's good to see you again, Chase." The boy grinned, blissfully ignorant of the first years watching their every move.
"Hmm, likewise Damon." Chase glanced at the first years. "Oh! Guys, this is Damon; my boyfriend and captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. He plays Keeper."
Damon waved at them, and they all waved back. He turned back to Chase.
"I'll be waiting in the dorm, don't be up too long." He spoke, before placing one last kiss on his lips and walking down the corridor and into another room.
"Have a good night guys." Chase stated, before blushing and turning to walk toward his dorm. Levi and Julian sent each other looks, and the group of first-years entered their dorms.
Once inside, Levi spoke up.
"We have class tomorrow, don't we?"