Disclaimer 1: This is fanfic. That means I do not own any of it. I just borrow it to play with for a little while and let people see the pathetic results if they really want to.
Disclaimer 2: I'm not making any money from it. It's just for fun.
Disclaimer 3: What isn't borrowed is all made up. None of this is real or most likely at all realistic. Please don't trust any of the information in here. Most likely you know more about whatever I'm writing about than I do.
Disclaimer 4: Attitudes, views and opinions expressed by the characters or in the story are not necessarily those of the author. Even when writing Science Fiction or Fantasy I do not tend to attempt to create perfect/better worlds in which everybody gets a happy end ... or whatever is best for them. Please accept that some characters will have a bad ending or be unhappy.
Disclaimer 5: I intend no insult to anyone. If I offend anyone I'm very sorry. Please understand that it was an accident as I tend to be very clumsy in these things.
Notes: Hm ... can't sort the children in alphabetic order of last names, if they don't know their last names, right?
Harry No. 5 and the Philosopher's Stone
Chapter 7: The Sorting Hat
Professor McGonagall led them to two doors in front of which stacks of neatly folded black cloth were waiting on two desks.
"Boys' robes are on the left, girls' on the right," she announced. "Your robe is marked with your name and number. Once you've found it, go through the door next to the desk and change. Leave your white transfer clothes in the changing rooms. They will be collected by the house elves."
"House elves?" Harry asked, but nobody was listening to him.
They were all too busy digging through the stacks of clothing and so Harry shrugged it off and followed the others to the desk.
The robes were very strange and Harry and Justin would not have managed to put them on, if it hadn't been for Ron and Draco who'd worn robes all their lives.
"There," Draco said pulling Harry's robe straight. "Now it looks right."
"Thank you," Harry replied. "Sorry we are so much trouble."
"It's nothing," Draco assured him. "We always have to do it for Vincent and Gregory, too."
"We're clumsy," Gregory explained.
"What do we do now?" somebody asked.
"I don't know," said another boy. "The nurse didn't say."
"She's a Professor," Draco corrected him. "Professor McGonagall, that half-giant man said."
"He's Hagrid," Harry explained. "He's the groundskeeper."
They stood around and looked at each other, but nobody seemed to be able to guess what they were expected to do now.
"I'll go ask," Ron offered finally.
He left the changing room, but threw the door open again only a moment later and shouted: "Come out again! We're supposed to come out!"
They did and found the girls already standing in a neat two by two line. Harry was just about to join them with Justin by his side when he realised that they'd made a terrible oversight!
"We forgot to fold our clothes!" he exclaimed and was about to rush back into the changing room when Professor McGonagall caught him by the arm and pushed him back into the line.
"You don't have to," she announced sternly. "The house elves will do it for you. Now follow me to the sorting ceremony."
She led them to yet another door, opened it for them and then counted heads as they passed her.
They ended up on a podium in a large hall in which other children sat at four long tables and a number of adults at a shorter table in the back of the podium. Harry looked around incredulously.
"Where is the rest of them?" he asked Justin who only shrugged.
"Rest of what?" Draco asked.
"Of the students, of the nurses, of the teachers," Harry explained.
"There are no nurses," Ron said. "We're big now and don't need them anymore."
"You're used to even more students?" Draco asked sounding very impressed.
"This is the most people I've ever seen in one place," Vincent agreed.
"Our primary institute had lots and lots more," Harry told them, but then Professor McGonagall called them to order and placed an old hat and a stool in front of them.
The hat sang a song and announced that it would sort them into their houses now.
"Smart hat," Justin remarked, but Harry wasn't listening.
Did this mean that he and Justin weren't going to be dorm mates after all?
"Anthony number 1!" McGonagall called and a nervous boy shouted "Here!"
"Don't reply when I call you," McGonagall said. "Come and sit on this stool."
Anthony did so and Professor McGonagall put the smart hat on his head. Then they all waited for a while until the hat shouted "Ravenclaw!".
"That is the Ravenclaw table," Professor McGonagall said pointing it out to Anthony. "Go and sit there."
He did and she called for "Blaise!" who was apparently numberless and was sorted into Slytherin.
Next came a girl called Daphne and a boy called Dean and then it was Draco's turn. He too was sorted into Slytherin and Harry and his friends applauded loudly to congratulate him.
The next boy "Earnie number three" became the first Hufflepuff and then Gregory followed Draco into Slytherin.
Harry's own turn came after a girl called Hannah. He walked up to the stool a little nervously, because so many people were looking at him and whispering excitedly, but the hat soon fell over his eyes and he couldn't see them anymore. That was more comfortable.
'Hummm ... difficult' a voice in his head said. 'Now which house to put you in?'
"Please, Mr. Hat," said Harry. "What house were my parents in?"
He'd been wondering that ever since he'd first heard of the houses.
'Ah, you know they are wizards then? Ah yes, I see. My condolences, I didn't know they were dead. You want to go into your parents' house then?'
"Oh yes!" Harry shouted and heard people laughing outside the hat.
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat announced and Professor McGonagall took it off and pointed to the table where the boy that had been sorted right before Draco was sitting.
Harry went and sat next to him.
"Hi, I'm Harry," he introduced himself.
"Hi Harry, I'm Dean."
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat bellowed again and a moment later Hermione joined them.
"This institute is much smaller than I expected," she told them. "But I suppose there aren't that many wizards, so it has to be small."
Justin unfortunately was sorted into Hufflepuff, but waved goodbye to them happily as he walked to his table and they were joined by a Lavender instead. Neville, the boy with the pet toad also became a Gryffindor and a little later Ron, whose name actually seemed to be Ronald, joined them as well. He wasn't happy to be separated from his old friends, but cheered up when Harry promised to be his new best friend and admitted that he knew Lavender and Seamus, another new housemate, as well.
When everybody had been sorted Professor McGonagall took the hat away and the headmaster said a few words. Food appeared suddenly out of nowhere. Harry ate his fill and then looked at the head table wondering which one would be his new teacher.
They looked very strange in their robes and one was even wearing a turban! The teacher all in black that the turban-man was talking to looked up suddenly and when their eyes met there was a flash of intense pain in Harry's scar, but it went away as quickly as it had come and Harry decided that he didn't need to report in sick and ask for a painkiller.
An older boy who introduced himself as Percival number 2 and was something called a prefect, which appeared to be a very important office, led them through a labyrinth of stairs and corridors to a place called Gryffindor tower where their dorms were.
Harry had a very bad dream that night, but couldn't remember it in the morning.