Diara and Courtney stood in line next to a girl named Isadora Marshbank, and behind a boy named Nigel Patil, all of them wearing their new Hogwart's robes. Diara's bright yellow socks twinkled from underneath her robes when she walked. The robes had been something of contemplation during their journey as Courtney had wanted to figure out how they stayed closed with only the one button. Deciding that the robes were held closed by a charm had led to a lively conversation of using magic itself as the fabric and a foolish emperor, leaving the girls in stitches of laughter.
Yet now the ride was over and the girls stood in line to be sorted. The boy next to them, Nigel had been friendly enough when they'd met him and Topher Perkins on the train, the two laughing along about the unfortunate clothing choice of the emperor in question. Isadora, on the other hand, who they had also met, had been difficult to get along with. She and Fiend had not gotten along well, and the other girl had been adamant about blood superiority, been snooty to Courtney and indicated that Diara was odd in a very unfortunate way. Diara's temper was rapidly fraying with the girl—punching her on the nose was very appealing. That thought ran through her mind as Professor Slughorn, the Deputy Headmaster, placed a ragged hat on a stool. The hat seemed to gape open at a rip in the brim, and then it began to issue forth a song, to the surprise of the First years.
When the school was still new
A divide between Founders grew
Proud slippery Slytherin
Felt cunning deserved merit
And firm gutsy Gryffindor
Sought out the brave
Honest hardworking Hufflepuff
Believed in all
and ready-minded Ravenclaw
valued quick-wit
The four Founders each
Only preferred traits to teach
Between the houses four my task is you to divide
From unity the four houses are pried
This split between houses serves you not
For apart you are pushed and brought
Into disaster and divorce
And mights of cruel force
Hogwarts stand together now!
A shocked pause fell across the room, and then the student body belatedly broke out in clapping for the song, though there was also some laughter interspersed with the applause. There were some who clearly didn't think that the future the Hat painted was plausible. As the laughter and clapping died into fading echoes, Slughorn returned to the stool with a long scroll in his hand and began to call out the names of the first years.
Diara and Courtney traded nervous glances. The two had become fast friends and did not want to be separated. And what was that the hat said about separation and enmity? A chill fingered within Diara's soul: the Hat too believed that Dark times were coming. Yet the warning fell on deaf ears.
That thought was pushed aside, as the names of her fellow classmates captured Diara's attention and she listened to the flow of names and yelled affiliation. First was "Atkins, Roger" who was rapidly sorted into Ravenclaw. Roger was a boy with curly blonde hair that, like Potter hair, didn't seem tame. The hat slipped onto the head, and was held up by the hair, a moment passed and then the whole school knew that Roger valued book-learning. On and on the list went; Stuart Barber, Samantha Bloom and Sierra Blue were next and each was sorted into Hufflepuff. Diara thought that they seemed friendly and gave them a little wave as they headed toward their new table. Dexter Boon became a Slytherin and then Hope Cobbler and Samuel Chang became Ravenclaws. Baxter Coote became a Hufflepuff as did Marigold Dunleavy and Star Evans. Another boy was sorted into Slytherin—Vincent Crabbe, a chubby boy who nevertheless had a handsome face. It was at about the time of Vincent's sorting that Courtney leaned over to whisper to Diara, still standing together in line. "I'm coming up soon…and no Griffindors yet…what if there are none this year?"
Diara glanced at the hat, and then at her new friend. "Don't worry Courtney. You'll be the first." Courtney gave Diara a quizzical look, but then it was time for her name to be called and there was no more room for whispered conversations. As Professor Slughorn called out Courtney's name she trotted forward and plopped the hat down over her blonde hair, pushing it into her eyes giving her a vaguely Cousin It appearance. Sure enough, after a minute's deliberation, the hat called out "GRIFFINDOR" at the top of its lungs, and Courtney jumped up, shot a smile at Diara and hurried over to her new table—to large amounts of clapping. Among the cheerful noise none could be heard louder than a quartet of students—a handsome dark-haired boy who was howling wolf-like, a gawky boy with messy hair cheering out a few lyrics a Griffindor fight song, a sandy-haired boy who was tapping silverware together in a sort of mock drum, and a fourth small chubby boy chanting after the others. Courtney veered over to sit in an empty spot near those boys—after what her friend had said, she strongly suspected that one of those boys was Diara's brother.
Diara smiled at her friend, but had to hold back a groan at where Courtney chose to sit. She didn't need to see the future to know that the future was going to be chaotic. The seer continued to wait, with a growing degree of impatience as she was forced to stand next to Isadora. She just hoped that the sortings didn't take too long and that she wasn't stuck with the Marshbanks girl for the next seven years. For all she was a seer—sometimes Diara could only hope, because she didn't know the sorting results much at all. She only knew her own, and those of a few people who repeatedly had been shown to belong to her future—although she didn't know their names, only faces.
After Courtney a couple girls were sorted into Ravenclaw: short Xiao Mei Fong, and plump and brunette Flora Fortesque. Rufio Garner was sorted into Slytherin—Diara thought that he looked proud and stubborn even from a distance. And then, finally, Courtney wasn't the only new Griffindor; Arnold Harkass joined the Griffindors with a big grin on his face, followed by a rosy-cheeked Grimelda Harper. Benjamin Heinz was sorted into Slytherin, along with Isadora Marshbank (to Diara's relief—no seven years spent sharing a room with her! Diara did a bit of a happy dance, bouncing on the balls of her feet, to be rid of the girl!). Claudia Johnson, Jessica Miller, Nigel Patil, Topher Perkins and Elijah Little were sorted into Hufflepuff—that house was rapidly filling and Diara briefly wondered how Hogwarts accommodated fluctuating numbers of students in each year.
Aleshia Payne was sorted into Slytherin, and immediately sat down talking with Isadora. Diara wrinkled her nose—and then reached her hands up and straightened her glasses. It was almost her turn to go forward. Octavius Pepper joined Shield Merrythought, the most recent Griffindor sorted at the table, and Diara started walking forward even before Deputy Headmaster Slughorn called for her. He observed her walking for a moment, eyes lingering on his hair, and then chuckled, calling out "POTTER, DIARA." When the school realized that somehow the first-year who had walked forward before her turn, realized that it was in fact her turn, there were whispers and a few strains of laughter across the room.
Diara let the hat settle upon her head, and a voice sounded quietly. Somehow Diara knew that she was the only one who could hear this voice, just as she hadn't heard the hat talking quietly to each of the students before her. "Hmm, interesting, interesting. Cunning. Oh yes, you're a sneaky one to trick your brother, aren't you Potter? Loyal as well, and determined. But that doesn't really define you. And intelligent, but …not for knowledge's sake itself, no…Ahhh yes, and courage, courage to change what you know but others can only dream of…Hmm, what is that you say?"
"We both know where I'm going. May I join my House now?" Diara was tempted to smirk slightly, one side of her mouth turning up in a grin, as the hat broke out in laughter inside her head. "Oh aye, we both know where you're meant to belong: GRIFFINDOR!" A happy grin on her face, and the cheers of her brothers friends and the first years in her ears, Diara bounced over to her seat, knocked her knuckles on James' head, and sat down between Courtney and Grimelda.
The next person, Terry Puddifoot, to be called forth by Slughorn also became a Griffindor, as did Gawain Robards and Nancy Robins. Janus Pye, brothers Aaron and Adam (who were clearly not twins, identical twins at least) Savage, Kenny Ward, and identical twins Leo and Loki Urqhart all joined Ravenclaw. Sirius sputtered something unintelligent about the 'Claws getting all the sibling sets this year. Diara had laughed when Remus had countered, "Must be in the blood—too bad there's nothing useful in yours—just pranks!" It seemed that all of the Hufflepuff students had already been sorted into their houses, as the other students all went into Slytherin; Adrian Raicher, Barbie Summers, Simone Trimble, Glenda Twilfitt, and Mercedes Vane.
As Professor Slughorn put away the stool and hat, a man stood up at the head table, only a few streaks of red remaining in his silver hair. "Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts. For now, let us listen to the growling of our bellies and assuage the beast within. Then we can listen with our ears—after we eat!" With that the tall old man clapped and food appeared in golden platters on the table. Diara and the other students around her dove into the food. Once her plate was full with a slice of quiche, a bit of a meat pie, and a collection of roasted and boiled seasoned vegetables and potatoes, Diara got to know her fellow students as she ate.
Courtney, whom she'd already met, was a Muggleborn witch who'd grown up in Surrey. She had a good sense of humor and had always been interested in stories of magic, and was very excited about all things Hogwarts. Terry was a Pureblood witch; already Diara was learning that there wasn't much sense to be made from her. Bold yes, brainy no. Nancy was a halfblood, her father having been a wizard, but her parents had divorced when she was a child. She seemed to be fairly intelligent, and found Diara to be very interesting study; Diara wasn't sure how she felt about her 'mystery' pulling this girl toward her. Grimelda blushed easily, but glared and was feisty. "Arnie" seemed to enjoy teasing Grimelda in particular, but then, the boy clearly was another in the tune of the Marauders. Gawain and "Merry" seemed to already know each other and were in serious talk about whether they could organize a scavenger hunt across the school on the weekends. Octavius was listening in on that conversation, and suggested that they try to learn their way around the school as they do so. Listening to the various conversations around her, Diara knew that she had a good home in Hogwarts. Courtney was to be one of her good friends, and Grimelda another (though she knew Courtney and Grimelda were likely to argue a lot). Gawain and Merry would be great friends as well.
All in all, Diara felt optimistic about the upcoming year.