Everyone looked about as they entered the largest room many had ever seen in their lives. Thousands of candles floated in the air or drifted about the room over four very long tables set lengthwise in the hall with a fifth, smaller table sitting crosswise on a dais towards the far wall. The other students were seated at the four longer tables, each in the same school uniforms as the first years, but with trim colors, ties, pins, and/or scarves in what must be the house colors. The fifth table all contained adults of various ages, demeanors, and in a couple of cases, species since one fellow was very short in appearance while another looked to be a ghost.
As Staros looked up at the ceiling and murmured about how well it was done, Hermione whispered, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History."
Indeed, the ceiling looked to not even exist as the appearance of the night sky was so realistic with shifting clouds and the stars shining brightly. Even the moon in perfect alignment with the current phase showed off to one side.
Everyone quickly brought their attention back forward as Professor McGonagall had stopped and pulled a four legged stool in front of the first years. On it was a rather battered looking, not quite pointed hat with a wide brim and almost as many patches as original material.
As the students looked at the rather ugly looking hat and all silently wondered what it had to do with the Sorting, the hat twitched and then seemed to split nearly in half as what could pass as a mouth began to speak, or more accurately, sing.
"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can top them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
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 steady 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 hall burst into applause as the hat finished. It bowed to the students, new and old before resuming its place looking as battered as ever, still and silent.
Professor McGonagall stepped up next to the stool and hat and pulled out a rolled parchment scroll. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbot, Hannah!"
As a pink-faced girl with blond pigtails stumbled to the front of the line and over to the stool, Ron whispered to the rest of them, "I'll kill Fred! He was going on about wrestling a troll and all we have to do is try on some hat!"
Staros and Harry smiled wryly at him as other students who heard nodded or giggled quietly, many sharing similar thoughts about persons who had told them some other version of the same sorting horror story.
About this time, the blond girl had sat down on the stool with the hat on. After a moment's pause, the hat spoke again, "Hufflepuff!"
The table on the far right wearing yellow and rose trimmings started clapping as the girl took off the hat, replaced it, and went to join what must be the rest of her house. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar off to one side wave merrily at her.
"Bones, Susan!"
"Hufflepuff!" was the call again.
"Boot, Terry!"
"Ravenclaw!"
This time it was the table second from the left, next to the Hufflepuff table and wearing blue and silver trimmings that clapped with polite enthusiasm and welcomed their newest member.
"Broklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but the "Brown, Lavender" became the first Gryffindor, and the table to the far left wearing red with gold trimmings exploded with cheers. Staros noted the two Weasely twins amongst the table's students.
"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became the first Slytherin. The table just right of them, wearing green and silver trimmings, clapped and celebrated like the others, but with more restraint and decorum. Harry had heard so many bad things about Slytherin, and from where he stood, many of them looked rather unpleasant and somber.
"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"
"Hufflepuff!"
By this time, the first years had started to notice that the hat wasn't shouting at random. Some students were declared almost instantly, while others, such as "Finnigan, Seamus," took more time. In Finnigan's case, almost a whole minute before the cry of "Gryffindor!" went up.
"Granger, Hermione!"
Staros watched bemused as the girl, who had continued a running murmur of things she had read about in her books, ran forward and eagerly crammed the hat on her head. When the hat shouted "Gryffindor!" Ron groaned aloud.
Harry was becoming increasingly nervous, worried about his sorting. Remembering back in primary school and how people would always pick him last, either to avoid annoying Dudley or because he was scrawny and little good at sport, he started to wonder what would happen if he wasn't sorted at all. What if he just sat there with everyone staring until Professor McGonagall snapped the hat off his head and said there had obviously been a mistake? What would he do?
Staros noticed Harry's increasing nervousness, but not knowing the cause, could do little to help the poor boy. 'He's like any other first generation. I remember Kyle finding out about his magic last year. Scared him nearly to death. Took father ages to explain it to his secretary and her husband, all the while me and Kyle were in the back room with Carcerous showing off tricks to keep the boy calm. Harry's never known about magic he said. Looks like some of the others are feeling the same pressure.'
Neville Longbottom was called, toad in hand, he struggled up onto the stool and the hat was placed on his head. The hat took a long time with Neville, but finally shouted out, "Gryffindor!"
Everyone had a quiet laugh as Neville, smiling widely, nearly took the hat all the way to the house table before he realized it and sheepishly brought it back to Professor McGonagall to place on "MacDougal, Morag."
Draco swaggered up to the stool as his name was called and barely had the hat touched his head when it called out, "Slytherin!"
Draco joined Crabbe and Goyle at the Slytherin table, looking all too pleased with himself.
"Marcus, Staros Aniken, Lord elect"
As Staros walked past Harry, he gave him a hopefully calming pat on the shoulder before walking up and taking his place on the stool. Several murmurs were heard about his name, many asking fellow classmates about the "Lord elect" thing and why he had been named fully instead of just first and last like others. The hat came down over his head and very odd feeling settled over him.
"My, my, what have we here?" came a voice in Staros' head.
"I assume you are the Sorting Hat?" Staros thought back.
"Yes, I am. I must say, we haven't had a titled Lord so young in a good long while. May I ask about the details?"
"Certainly," Staros replied before running through a short version of his naming, ascension, confirmation by the Queen, and his recent activities at the manor. During the recital, he could feel the hat sifting through his memories of the events and gaining greater detail, but not going off into areas Staros didn't describe. Suddenly, Staros was hit with a thought.
"You must be Alistair!"
The hat chuckled, "Yes, although I haven't been called that in a VERY long time. How did you hear of it? I was pretty sure everyone had forgotten my name."
"Grandfather told me about you. Plus some of our House portraits date back nearly to the founders and most everyone knew your name then."
"Ah, yes. Shame that the magical portraits were only just invented right before the founders passed. I never heard there were any done of them. I would have liked to have seen their influence on the school for these many years."
A little more idle chatter and the hat suddenly exclaimed, "What is this? I sense a strong magic in your mind! Explain yourself!"
"Alistair, this is a family secret. Tell anyone, and I swear upon my soul, I'll see you burned. You can see what I have, what it means. My family bears the weight of ages and we'll not have some hat tell us different. Swear to me that you won't say a word."
"What you carry is considered very dangerous, boy. Will it harm anyone here? Could it endanger the other students?"
"No. It has remained as it is now for three thousand years. There is no reason for that to change any time soon. I swear it, upon my magic."
"Very well, for now I shall remain quiet. The first sign of trouble, and I am telling the Headmaster, however. I cannot be party to anything that will endanger the school."
The whole conversation taking mere moments, but some few were surprised to see a brief flash that signified a magical oath being sworn. Professor McGonagall was facing the wrong way and didn't notice, but Professor Dumbledore did, as did Professor Snape and a couple of the students. Most didn't really see it, either facing away or at bad angles with the lighting. Dumbledore frowned for a moment, wondering what was the cause, while Snape's face remained as impassive as it had been all evening. Then the hat called, "Slytherin!"
Staros took off the hat and handed it to Professor McGonagall. Walking over to the Slytherin table, he noticed the look of hatred shot at him by Ron, but waved it off as a schoolyard rivalry thing and therefor unimportant. He waved to Harry, who waved meekly back, a look of nervous confusion on his face. Staros sat down at the table, across from Daphne and Tracey and some distance from Draco and pals, amidst congratulations and the muted clapping that had heralded other Slytherins.
"Moon, Lance" followed, then "Nott, Theodore"… "Parkinson, Pansy"… a pair of twins, "Patil"… "Perks, Sally-Anne"….
"Potter, Harry"
Harry jumped at his name being called. When Staros had been put in Slytherin, he had zoned out for a moment thinking about things he had been told about the house and what he knew about Staros. The other boy was polite and well mannered, but not stuck up; he was funny and had a sense of humor similar to Harry's and wasn't cruel; and he was the first person to talk to Harry his own age that didn't run away because of Dudley, or stare at him in awe like he'd seen some of the other students who knew his name did.
As he walked forward, he heard whispers break out all over the hall.
"Potter did she say?"
"THE Harry Potter?"
The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was a room full of people craning their necks to get a look at him. Next second, he was looking at the inside of the hat's brim wondering what would be next.
"Hmmm," said a voice in his head. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either, although you've been forced to keep low there. There's talent, plenty of talent, yes. I see a thirst to prove yourself, but a lack of solidarity. Hmmm, no real ties to others. Where to put you, I wonder? I don't suppose you'd mind if I go a bit deeper do you?"
Harry had no idea what this meant, but assumed the voice was the hat and it was looking over his mind. "Will you be looking at my memories?" he asked somewhat afraid of the things that might be seen, be found out.
The hat noticed the fear spike and worried about the cause. "Only if you let me," he replied. "By the way, my name is Alistair, young Harry. I sorted your father and mother you know." The hat was trying to be reassuring to the lad while skimming through the highlights of Harry's immediate memories.
"Well, ok then, I guess."
Alistair noted the lack of real trust in that statement and took it for face value. Diving deeper into Harry's memory, he skimmed over some of the things Harry let him see, noting the darker ones and fearing that the ones he wasn't allowed were worse. A few he was sure Harry didn't mean him to see. Then there was… something. Alistair didn't know how to describe it, but it sat off in one little corner of Harry's mind, just sitting there. Having already had one student carrying around something odd, and having seen many strange things over the centuries of Sortings, Alistair hesitantly prodded the "something." A few trickles of memory flowed from it, but they obviously weren't Harry's. Not knowing what else to do, and fearing causing damage, he worked with Harry's subconscious to seal that area away until Harry was older and could look into it on his own.
"Well, Harry, it seems Hufflepuff is out. You show the qualities for loyalty, but the lack of a trustful foundation to build on won't help you there. Any of the other three houses would take you and you could do quite well in them. What do you think?"
Harry was surprised that his opinion was asked, a first in all his years that he could remember. Thinking quickly, he went through all he knew about the houses, which wasn't much admittedly, but decided that Slytherin was probably a bad idea.
"Not Slytherin? Are you sure? You could be great you know, it's all right here in your head. Slytherin will help you to greatness, no doubt."
"No, I think everyone would freak out. Where were my parents sorted?"
"Your parents, eh? Your father and mother were both Gryffindor. I had a hard time with your mother. Her mind was so brilliant, I so wanted to put her in Ravenclaw. But her tenacity! Her drive and confidence! I couldn't let such qualities go to waste in the House of Knowledge."
"I think… I think I should go there. Follow their footsteps. I know so little about them."
Alistair could tell that his charge was on the verge of an emotional break from all the stress this day had put on him, plus this Sorting had taken enough time already.
"Ask to speak with me anytime you want and I'll tell you some things about your parents. Just let Headmaster Dumbledore know. In the meantime, I think you should go to… Gryffindor!" The last word was not in Harry's head, but shouted out for the whole hall to hear.
Harry shakily took the hat off and handed it back before walking over to the Gryffindor table. He was so distracted by the conversation with Alistair he hardly noticed how the Gryffindor's were clapping and carrying on more wildly that they had done for any other student. The Weasely twins were dancing a jig shouting, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"
Harry sat down opposite the ghost with the ruffles they had met earlier and was greeted with a ghostly pat on the shoulder, leaving him feeling as if someone had dropped him in a bucket of ice water. As he looked around, ne could see the head table better and noted Hagrid on the one end, Professor Quirrelll, still in his strange turban, whom he had met at the Leaky Cauldron, and he recognized Dumbledore from his chocolate frog card.
Looking over to the Slytherin table, Staros caught Harry's eye and raised a cup to him. Harry picked his up and raised it back, a wry smile on his face. Staros shrugged and smiled back before turning his attention back to the other students being sorted. There were several more, a "Thomas, Dean" who got sorted into Gryffindor was noteworthy as being the only black skinned student amongst the first years, plus being rather tall. A pretty little thing, "Turpin, Lisa" became a Ravenclaw. And then it was "Weasely, Ronald's" turn. Ron looked a bit green by this point, and walked rather unsteadily to the stool. After putting on the hat, Ron's Sorting was graced with the only other unique event amongst them all by being the only one the hat spoke aloud to, for all to hear.
"Another Weasley!" the hat said. "How many more are there of your family?"
"My sister, Ginny," squeaked Ron. "But she's too young!"
"Hah! So I'll see her another year. Very well, let's get in over with… Gryffindor!"
The look of relief on Ron's face quickly turned back into fear as Professor McGonagall had to nudge him off the stool and take the hat from him while he all but ran from her to the table and sat next to Harry.
A little while later, the Sorting was complete with "Zabini, Blaise" being the last student and made Slytherin. The Italian lad made his way over and sat next to Staros, nodding in reply to Staros' greeting and bowing slightly to Daphne and Tracey.
A few moments later, Professor McGonagall had taken her seat at the head table and Headmaster Dumbledore had risen from his. He was smiling as he walked to a small podium behind the table, looking quite pleased with the new students.