AN: Thanks once more to everyone for posting their wonderful reviews! I'm glad people are liking the story, some of you made some comments that I'd like to respond to specifically, so I'll address those here before we get started in earnest.
Alix33: Lavender's mom very specifically gave her a run down of who and what she needs to look-out for. What better source of information for her gossip column than her own daughter after all?
Pulling into Hogsmeade station, Harry again started grappling with his anxiety about the situation. Even seeing the friendly face of Hagrid, who began to direct him towards a dock full of small boats, fails to truly ease Harry's worries. Fortunately, Hermione stays steadfastly by his side for the entirety of their journey, and procures the seat next to Harry's as they board the small boats.. Each boat could fit five students, in two pairs and then a single. Harry and Hermione take their place as one of the pairs, Neville and Hannah as the second, and a red-haired boy that Harry had previously caught a glimpse of on the train as the single.
"Why do you think they have us first-years on boats instead of in the carriages like the other students?" Harry asks the group at large. Hannah and Neville swivel slightly in their seats to look at their new friends.
"I-I think it's because of where we're supposed to go for sorting," Hannah says nervously. She's wrapped her hand in Neville's in an attempt to calm herself down. Whether or not it's succeeding, it is causing Neville to do a sublime impression of a tomato. Harry laughs internally at his new friend's struggle.
"Hogwarts: A History mentions there being some kind of sorting, but doesn't say what it is. I hope it's not a difficult test, I don't think I've studied enough," Hermione says, starting to shake in her seat.
"I don't think it would be a test, that would be pretty unfair for people like me who only just learned about being a wizard. Maybe it's like a personality quiz? A no wrong answers kind of thing?" Harry says, grabbing Hermione's hand. That seems to calm her down a bit, so Harry ignores the mild embarrassment he feels at holding a girl's hand.
"Now that I think about it, no one has ever actually told me how students are sorted," Neville says. "I know Gran and Uncle Algie had to have been sorted, but they've never told me how it happened."
"My parents haven't either, must be a secret so you can't influence the sorting too much," Hannah says, seemingly calmer. The hand-holding must be working.
"What are they sorting us into anyway? I'm still playing catch-up here," Harry says.
"There are four 'houses' at Hogwarts, where you dorm, as well as where you determine who you have classes with. They are supposed to be separated by personalities. Gryffindor is the house of the Brave, Ravenclaw the house of the Clever, Slytherin the house of the Cunning, and Hufflepuff the house of the Loyal," Neville says, counting them off on his fingers, as he spoke.
"Well, then Hermione's a shoo-in for Ravenclaw!" Harry says laughing. Hermione grips his hand tighter.
"I'm not that clever. I just really like books," Hermione says softly, seemingly sinking into herself.
"Well, wherever you get sorted, I'm sure you'll do great. As will Hannah, and Neville. You guys will do amazing!" Harry says confidently. He does truly believe that the three with him, as well as Tracey will do great. Their time together on the train had convinced them of that. What Harry was not so sure about was his own chances.
"Yeah, yeah. We're the best. You guys are annoying." The red-haired boy speaks up. "Let me tell you how it actually is. Gryffindor is the best house. All the good wizards come from Gryffindor. Ravenclaw is full of annoying know-it-alls, and all Slytherins are evil. Hufflepuff is where they send the worthless ones."
"That doesn't seem very nice. There have been plenty of great wizards from all houses, and not all Slytherins are evil." Hannah says, looking at the boy.
"Sure, keep telling yourself that." He says, before the boat magically begins moving, shocking the quintet of first-years; and they all sit in stunned silence as they watch the other boats also begin to move.
The trip across the lake started out eerily, with the lapping of the waves against the hull of their small boat being the only thing the five could sense, as night had fallen and the moon and stars was doing little to light up the dark waters of the Black Lake. Hermione had gripped herself tightly against Harry's arm, and he could see the faint outlines of Hannah doing the same to Neville. Thankfully, after a few moments, the lantern at the front of their boat lit itself, and Harry saw the seven other boats that had departed with them also alight. Looking up, Harry then saw the image of Hogwarts castle, illuminated against the night sky.
The castle was truly breathtaking, the ancient structure standing as a singular monolith atop a large hill, seemingly impossibly tall against the flat surroundings. Light poured from its many windows and Harry was absolutely awestruck..
The boats began to congregate in a small grotto before an older woman began to direct them off of the boats and into a small crowd in front of a large set of doors.
"Hello all of you. I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Here in a few moments you will be led into the great hall, where you will be sorted into your houses. Your house will be like your family here at Hogwarts, and you will be required to sit with your houses at the various event feasts throughout the year, including tonight. I will be calling you alphabetically to sit at a chair below the head table in the Great Hall, which is beyond these doors. You will be sat on the stool and I will place the Sorting Hat upon your head. It will look into your mind and determine if you are to be in Courageous Gryffindor, Brilliant Ravenclaw, Ambitious Slytherin, or Loyal Hufflepuff. The hat alleges it has not missorted a student in its history, although it will admit that some students may have fit well in more than one house. Your individual sorting may take anywhere from a few seconds, to several minutes. I myself took nearly six, as it couldn't decide if I was better suited for Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. In the end it decided I was to join the house of the lions, and I am now their head of house. Now, please line-up as I call your names.
Professor McGonagall then called out our names alphabetically, and had us line up as such. We then stepped into the Great Hall and marveled at its immense size. The room was absolutely massive, maybe a quarter of a kilometer long and 50 meters wide. Four long tables sat, with a banner at either end of them. One red with a golden lion on it, Gryffindor spelled in golden letters, the next yellow with a badger on it, Hufflepuff spelled in black letters, the third a royal blue with a bronze eagle, Ravenclaw spelled in bronze letters, and finally a green banner with a silver snake, Slytherin spelled in silver. Above the tables were hundreds of candles, floating in the air, yet never seeming to drip wax, and further above it was the ceiling. The ceiling itself, Hermione was saying to a student next to Harry, was bewitched to look like the night sky, and Harry clearly saw the Half-Moon peeking through the clouds in the ceiling, so there was at least some truth to that statement. Harry was nearly too awestruck to notice that the line had stopped moving, nearly bumping into the girl in front of him, Sally-Anne if he heard McGonagall correctly.
"Now we will begin the sorting. Hannah Abbott, please come sit on this stool." McGonagall says, gesturing to a three legged stool sitting directly above the heads table. In her hands was a large floppy hat, with a tall conical middle and a circular brim surrounding it. The hat itself was horribly tattered and ragged despite its leather construction, several large gashes can be seen in the hat itself, with many more having been obviously patched over the ages.
McGonagall places the hat on Hannah's head, and it appears to deliberate with itself for a few moments before declaring loudly: "HUFFLEPUFF!" Hannah looks relieved, and sits the hat down on top of the stool, before walking to her new table, where a space has been provided.
"Susan Bones?" McGonagall calls up the next student, a girl who he hadn't seen on the train, but Hannah had mentioned being her best friend. She too was sorted into Hufflepuff.
Terrence Boot is next and is the first to be sorted into Ravenclaw, and then after him is one of the girls Harry met in the train compartment where he found Trevor, Mandy Brocklehurst, who is also sorted into Ravenclaw.
Lavender Brown from the same train car sits on the stool, and is horribly excited when the hat yells that she is to be in Gryffindor. Immediately after her is a particularly ghastly looking girl named Millicent Bulstrode, who is sorted into Slytherin, and with that all four houses have at least one new member, although there are still thirty-four more students to be sorted.
Michael Corner and Stephen Cornfoot, two boys Harry hadn't met were sorted into Ravenclaw, and then after them was another boy Harry hadn't met, Vincent Crabbe. Crabbe was a very large boy and didn't look very friendly, he was sorted into Slytherin.
Tracey Davis is up next and Harry is excited to see where his new friend would be sorted. If she ended up in Hufflepuff alongside Hannah and Susan, then Harry might want to end up in that house himself, since he would have two of his new friends with him, and if Susan was anything like what Hannah had said, a third soon following. This thought however never came to fruition as Tracey was sorted into Slytherin house, and went to take her place with the snakes.
Kevin Entwhistle was sorted into Gryffindor, Justin Finch-Fletchley into Hufflepuff, and then Seamus Finnigan into Gryffindor. Harry had not met any of these three boys, but figured he was likely to become close with at least one of them, as they'd be sharing a room unless Harry was sorted into Slytherin.
Anthony Goldstein found himself sorted into Ravenclaw and took his seat beside Michael before Gregory Goyle was called up to the hat. Goyle was a lot like Crabbe, in both size and demeanor, his sorting into Slytherin began to severely decrease Harry's desire to become a member of that house, even if Tracey was there.
"Hermione Granger," Mcgonagall calls, and Harry's breath catches itself in his throat. Hermione's placement was something he was very worried about. He and Hermione had become fast friends and Harry had little desire to see their friendship end. In some small part of his mind, Harry believed that he should be in the same house as Hermione, no matter what.
The wait for Hermione's sorting had become unbearable for Harry, he was certain he had been standing here for hours waiting for the hat's results, when in actuality he had only been there for a few minutes. Hermione had successfully caused the first true hatstall this year, and that was something to take notice of. After seven whole minutes, the hat finally spoke a word that filled Harry's entire body with determination: "RAVENCLAW!"
Compared to Hermione's sorting, Daphne Greengrass, who the hat also had a minor amount of trouble deciding where to put, was near instant as she was put with Tracey into Slytherin. Tracey had mentioned that Daphne was her long-time best friend; and Harry was happy that they would get to be together.
Two more students Harry had yet to meet: Wayne Hopkins and Megan Jones were both sorted into Hufflepuff. Then came the chinese girl Harry had met on the train: Su Li, who ended up joining Hermione in Ravenclaw. She had seemed friendly enough, and Harry hoped they would have the opportunity to become friends.
Neville Longbottom was next, and Harry was excited to see where his new friend would end up. From Harry's estimation of the boy Neville was hardworking and loyal, which would have made him a shoe-in for Hufflepuff house, but there was this fire inside Neville that Harry knew needed to be stoked for him to truly become great. The hat seemed to agree, as the loud declaration of "GRYFFINDOR!" surprised even Neville who quickly got up and ran to his new table, forgetting to leave the hat behind. He quickly ran back and put it on the stool, his face showing it's Gryffindor pride by turning a bright scarlet.
Following Neville was a girl Harry hadn't met, a Morrigan MacDougal who found her spot in Gryffindor alongside Lavender and Neville. Ernie MacMillan was another stranger who found himself in Hufflepuff.
"Draco Malfoy," McGonagall says, and Harry's attention firmly focuses itself upon the stool again. Draco's sorting was, to Harry, almost nearly as important as Hermione's as Harry most certainly did NOT want to be in the same house as the blond boy. His initial meeting at Madam Malkin's robe shop had not left a good impression, and hearing Tracey, Hannah, and Neville's experiences with the boy made him desire to deal with him even less. Thankfully, Malfoy's sorting was near instant as if the hat itself had no desire to sit on Malfoy's head. The cry of "SLYTHERIN!" erupted from the hat, and Draco strutted like a peacock over to his new table.
Roger Malone was up next, yet another stranger who found himself at the rapidly growing Hufflepuff table. Lily Moon found herself sorted into Gryffindor and took a seat near Lavender.
Theodore Nott was the first boy sorted into Slytherin that Harry did not immediately have a poor opinion of, he seemed like a perfectly normal boy, and Tracey had mentioned playing with him in the past, although gave no indication of whether or not he was a good friend or anything.
Pansy Parkinson followed Nott's Slytherin sorting with one of her own, and while she seemed to have a sour face, Harry hoped that she would be a nice new friend for Daphne and Tracey.
Padma Patil was next, the loose-haired Indian girl from the train, and Harry watched on eagerly as she was sorted into Ravenclaw, and took her seat beside Su Li and Hermione. She seemed nice, from Harry's brief interaction with her, and he hoped that she and Hermione would get along.
Parvati Patil followed her sister and found herself placed in Gryffindor. After her was Sally-Anne Perks who joined Hufflepuff.
"Harry Potter." McGonagall calls out, and Harry's breath hitches in his throat. He walks up and sits down upon the stool, and the Sorting Hat is placed upon his head.
"Ah yes, Harry Potter. Let's see what's inside this head of yours. Hmm… a cunning and keen mind, and a brave and loyal heart. Seems as though you would do well nearly anywhere. Perhaps Slytherin would be best for you, to help you subtly develop your skills." The Sorting Hat says in Harry's mind.
"I don't want to be in Slytherin, I want to be in Ravenclaw," Harry thinks to the hat.
"Ah yes, the loyalty you are showing to your friend, that Granger girl, is admirable, perhaps Hufflepuff is your place then." The hat says, probing deeper into Harry's mind.
"Would my loyalty not be better suited to being with my friend?" Harry asks smugly in his own head.
"There's the Slytherin again, using your guile to influence my decision." The Hat says, chuckling slightly.
"Would it not be more cunning to hide amongst those who don't expect it?" Harry asks, attempting to whittle down the hat's resistance.
"Awfully brave fighting me like this. Perhaps Gryffindor then." The hat says.
"While being with Neville would be nice, I think it will be much braver for me to be placed in a dorm with people I don't know yet." Harry says, realizing that the statement is an absolute stretch, but he's getting desperate.
"I'm pulling your leg young one. While you would do great things in any house, your dedication means quite a bit. Perhaps you'll be the one to start putting an end to the house rivalries. As it stands, it better be..." The hat says in Harry's head.
"RAVENCLAW!" The hat screams out loud. Harry stands up, and places the hat back upon the stool, before walking to the Ravenclaw table and taking his seat next to Hermione.
Harry only knew one of the remaining eight students to be sorted, and that was the red-headed boy who was on the boat with him, who's name was apparently Ron Weasley. Oliver Rivers was sorted into Hufflepuff. Sophie Roper was sorted into Gryffindor. Alice Runcorn was sorted into Slytherin, Zacharias Smith into Hufflepuff. Dean Thomas was sorted into Gryffindor, and Lisa Turpin joined Harry and Hermione in Ravenclaw.
Ron Weasley found himself sorted into Gryffindor, and Harry was now glad that he had managed to avoid being sorted there, as Ron didn't seem like a very nice person. The final student to be sorted was Blaise Zabini, and he was sorted into Slytherin.
After the sorting concluded, there was a brief pause in proceedings while an old man at the head table prepared himself for a speech. "For those of you who are joining us for the first time, welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I am your Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, and for those of you who have been with us before, welcome back! There are a few announcements I must make before we begin our feast, but I promise they will not take too long. As per normal, the Forbidden Forest is just that, forbidden for students to enter. Along with that the third floor corridor on the right hand side is off-limits for those who do not wish to die a most gruesome death. With that, I have but a few words to say: Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, Tweak. Thank you."
Harry, despite his confusion, was very excited when the feast appeared before him, it was more food than he had ever seen in his life, which was pretty impressive when he considered just how much Vernon and Dudley ate. Harry filled his plate with some of the delicious looking food, and took the time to listen in to the various conversations going on around him. Several of the older students were mentioning about how Quirrel used to be the Muggle Studies teacher, and were surprised that he had taken the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, despite it supposedly being cursed. They however were proud of the Ravenclaw alumni, as that now meant that more professors at the school were from Ravenclaw, as Quirrel's Muggle Studies replacement, Professor Sikander, was also a Ravenclaw.
After the feast, Harry and the rest of the first years are escorted to Ravenclaw tower by the prefect Penelope Clearwater. "Unlike the other houses, Ravenclaw tower requires you to solve a riddle to enter it. Being of the house of the intelligent, you should not have issues solving these riddles, but for your first year you may request assistance from other Ravenclaw students. Please watch."
Penelope uses the bronze eagle knocker on the door and it animates like one of those singing bass fish and asks: "What happens only once an eon, twice a week, and never in a month?"
"The letter E," Penelope says quickly, and with that the door swings open revealing a large circular room.
The room itself is carpeted from wall to wall, with small brown brick sections in front of two fireplaces on the east and west walls. Entering from the south wall opposite of them is a large statue of a pretty woman wearing a modest dress and a tiara. The statue itself appeared to be bronze, and stood roughly nine feet tall. On either side of the statue were a set of staircases, one labeled "Boys" and the other labeled "Girls. Spread throughout the room were several couches and comfortable chairs and cushions, each one having a small bookshelf or table next to it. The walls were covered in even more bookshelves, with several of those wheeled ladders affixed to them.
"This is your common room, as you can see we have many bookshelves full of various reference volumes here. If there is a book you need to reference for any of your classes this year, you should be able to find it here and not need to go to the library. This should hold true for most of the core subjects throughout your time here, although your electives or self study may require you to find material in the library. On the lectern in front of the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw is a book that lists the highest point scorers in the house; do well and you can get your name entered into it! Now you all will be sharing your dorm room with your other year mates, separated into boys and girls. You'll be in this dorm room for your entire seven years here, so don't be afraid to make it your own without destroying it. Boys will be on the third floor, and girls will be on the second. Your things should already be in your room, so go and get comfortable. You should report to breakfast no later than 7:30 in the morning to eat before receiving your schedules. Welcome to the house of the eagles!" Penny says.
Harry walks up to his room and finds that his trunk has been set at the foot of the bed to the immediate left of the door. Harry also sees that Hedwig's cage and perch has been set up next to the window by his bed, and the snowy owl is currently preening herself upon it.
"Hello girl, you doing okay?" Harry asks, reaching out to stroke the bird. She accepts the pets, gladly rubbing her head against the boy's hand. She gently nips at his fingers, and Harry provides her with an owl treat, which she gobbles down gladly. As Harry finishes spoiling his bird, the other boys in his dorm begin talking.
"So, you're THE Harry Potter?" One of the boys says, Harry turns around and recognizes him as Stephen Cornfoot.
"I'm the only Harry Potter I know." Harry says, sighing. This was bound to happen, so Harry believes it is best to get it over with. "Yes, I supposedly defeated Voldemort as a baby, no I don't remember it. I'd rather not talk about it as the only thing I'm aware of from that night is that I lost my parents." Harry says angrily. He doesn't really mean to be mean, it's just hard to think about. "Sorry, it's just frustrating. I don't mean to be so cross with you all. I just found out I'm a wizard a month ago, but apparently everyone else knows about me."
"I see, well I'm sorry to have brought it up then. That answers my follow-up questions about those books anyway. Let's start over. Hi! I'm Stephen Cornfoot, of the Elder House of Cornfoot. It's nice to meet you. You can call me Steve if you like." Steve reaches out his hand and Harry shakes it. Steven is a thinner boy with sandy blond hair who stands several inches taller than Harry himself, with freckles below his brown eyes.
"Harry Potter, a pleasure." Harry says, smiling. This is nicer.
"I'm Terrence Boot, you can call me Terry!" Terry says, waving hello. He's a bigger reddish-brown haired boy with brown eyes. He's the tallest boy in the room by a few inches, and stands nearly a full head over Harry himself.
"Michael Corner," he says, lifting his fingers off of his arm in a small wave. He's the shortest boy in the room, with shoulder length black hair that curls at the ends. He's thinner than even Steven, but not overly so.
"Anthony Goldstein," The final boy says, he almost looks like a blonde Terry, although is roughly the same height as Harry, and not Terry's gargantuan size.
"So, were all of you guys born into Wizard families?" Harry asks, hoping to gain some insight into his new dorm mates.
A series of yesses flow through the room, and Harry for a moment feels pretty isolated, being the only Muggle-raised boy in his year.
"I grew up in the muggle world, so I don't really know much about life here. What do you guys do for fun?" Harry asks, he feels as though he shouldn't when all four of them have their eyes light up at the same time.
"Quidditch!" They all say in unison. Anthony takes point, "Quidditch is THE sport here in Britain, Ireland, and Scotland. It's played on brooms and there are 4 positions: a keeper, three chasers, two beaters, and a seeker." Anthony then goes on to explain the standard rules of the game and Harry listens intently. "Alongside the House Cup for points earned and lost in classes, there's also the Hogwarts Quidditch cup, which is given to the team with the most wins at the end of the school year. Every house has a team, and every team plays each other once, so six games a year. The teams here normally don't allow first years to try out so I'm gunning to try-out next year."
"Same," The other three also say. Harry's found himself surrounded by Quidditch nuts.
Well, at least they can teach him about the game.
AN: That'll do it for Chapter 3! See you in Chapter 4: First Day, Fast Friends.