Applause and whooping (from somewhere suspiciously close to where James and his friends were sitting) received the Sorting Hat's song. Rose was feeling slightly faint. Her hands were clammy, and she wished the Sorting would get over quickly, and she would be able to put all the stress of being Sorted behind her. She barely registered the names Professor McGonagall was calling out - she only focussed when she heard a familiar name. Macmillan, Ruby, Ernie Macmillan's daughter, was sorted into Hufflepuff, which was expected. Each House whooped and whistled when a new first year was added to their ranks. There was a slight hush in the noisy Hall when Professor McGonagall called out, "Malfoy, Scorpius." Not everybody was too fond of the controversial Malfoy family, who had a history of being for or against Lord Voldemort, the Dark wizard who had terrorized the wizarding world for more than twenty years, before Uncle Harry defeated him in the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998. The entire Malfoy family had been in Slytherin, and PRIDED themselves on having a family history of being pureblood Slytherins, so it came as a huge shock to everyone in the Great Hall, when the Sorting Hat rested on Scorpius's platinum blond head for barely a second, before it proclaimed, "GRYFFINDOR!"
There was dead silence in the Great Hall. The Gryffindors were too shocked by the Sorting to give the newcomer their usual boisterous welcome. Even Professor McGonagall was so bewildered that she forgot to take the Sorting Hat off Scorpius's head, and seemed to recover herself only when he pulled it off himself and handed it to her, jumping off the stool and walking towards the Gryffindor table. It was only then that it seemed to dawn on the Great Hall that for the very first time, a Malfoy had been Sorted into Gryffindor, and a buzz of conversation and stares at the furiously blushing Scorpius ensued, till Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and called out the next name.
Rose was so shocked that she had let go of Al's hand. She knew that her parents and Uncle Harry had been bitter rivals with Draco Malfoy at Hogwarts, and Granddad Weasley with Lucius Malfoy at the Ministry, and she'd always had the impression that the Malfoys were rather...slimy. "There must be a mistake!" she whispered to Al, her eyes wide. He shrugged, to her surprise. "The Sorting Hat can't make mistakes. What if it puts someone from a Gryffindor family into Slytherin? It could happen..." he trailed off, looking slightly green. Rose was so busy gaping at him that she got a start when Professor McGonagall called out, "Potter, Albus!" Rose noticed that several members of the staff smiled at his name. Al looked ready to fall off the stool in a dead faint, but he regained his energy when the Sorting Hat, after just grazing his head, yelled, "GRYFFINDOR!" Rose screamed and cheered for Al as he got off the shaky legs and shot her a relieved grin. The Gryffindors were giving him their loudest welcome yet. Rose noticed Scorpius looking curiously at Al, and she narrowed her eyes. Al, however, didn't notice. He sat with James and his rowdy friends, and watched the rest of the Sorting with a big grin on his face.
Half an hour later, Rose was the solitary first year left to be Sorted. Professor McGonagall called out, "Weasley, Rose!", and Rose could feel everybody's eyes in the Hall boring into her. She kept her eyes on the floor as she walked towards the stool. Professor McGonagall dropped the Hat lightly onto Rose's flaming red hair, the same colour as her face before it half vanished under the Hat. She heard a nastily nasal voice in her head (or was it around her head?) say, as she stared at the blackness of the Hat's underside, "Oh, no doubt about this one!" And then the Sorting Hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"