Chapter 6: The Sorting
The door opened to reveal a tall, stern-faced, black-haired witch wearing emerald-green robes. She looked like the sort that one shouldn't cross.
"The firs-years, Professor McGonagall," stated Hagrid.
"Thank you, Hagrid," replied Professor McGonagall. "I will take them from here." She opened the door up. They all stepped in and Cassia looked around. The Entrance Hall was so big that she was sure that the Dursley household could fit in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was so high to even make out, and a magnificent marble staircase that was facing them led to the upper floors.
They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. There was the drone of hundreds of voice from a doorway to the right, so the rest of the school must be in there.
Professor McGonagall showed them in a small empty chamber that was off the hall and they crowded in, standing rather close together.
Cassia looked around.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your hour dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.
"The fours houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."
It looked like her eyes lingered on Neville's cloak, she looked at Ron's nose, and looked right at Cassia. Cassia looked down to see her tie and skirt was straight, but she noticed how her right sock was lower than the left.
"I shall return when we are ready for you," replied Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." She left the chamber.
Cassia crouched down and pulled up her sock. She looked at Ron, "So, how are we sorted in our house?"
"Some sort of test, I think," said Ron. "George said it hurts a lot and Fred said something about wrestling a mountain troll."
"Wrestle a mountain troll?" asked Cassia, in a shrill voice. "I can barely wrestle Aunt Petunia and Piers."
"You wrestled Malfoy very well," said Harry.
"That was because I surprised him," Cassia said.
"I think they were joking," Ron said, "Maybe it's some sort of test."
Cassia nodded, "Great." She hadn't even practiced magic. She barely knew magic. How can they expect her to do a test?
As she was panicking, she heard screams and someone shouting, "What the—?"
She saw about twenty pearly white and slightly transparent people file out of the back wall. They glided across the room, talking to each other and hardly glancing at the first-years.
A fat little monk was saying, "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance—"
"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves?" a ghost wearing a ruff and tights asked. "He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost—" He noticed them, "I say, what are you all doing here?"
"New students!" exclaimed the Fat Friar, smiling at the first-years. "About to be sorted, I suppose?" Cassia nodded. "Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house, you know."
"Move along now," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."
The ghosts floated away through the wall.
"Whatever house we end up in," Cassia said to Harry, "Promise me that we'll get along regardless."
"Promise," said Harry.
"Now, form a line and follow me," Professor McGonagall told the first-years.
They followed the professor out of the chamber and Cassia was feeling nauseous due to nerves. She made fists and dug her fingernails in her palms. She stood behind Ron as they walked across the hall and through a pair of double doors.
The room was lit by thousands and thousands of candles, all of which were floating in mid-air, over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. There was glittering golden plates and goblets on the tables. At the front of the hall, facing the students was another long table was where the teachers were sitting. Dotted among the students were the ghosts.
Cassia looked up to see the ceiling, but saw the velvety black sky, that was dotted with stars. She knew that it was enchanted to look like the sky.
Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool in front of the first-years and then placed a pointed wizard's hat, which was patched, frayed, and looked filthy. Cassia stared at it, wondering why it was brought out.
A rip near the brim opened wide, like a mouth, and it proceeded to sing about four houses. It sang about how Gryffindors were known for their bravery, daring, chivalry, and nerves. Hufflepuffs were known for being just, loyal, patient, and unafraid of toiling. Ravenclaws were known for their intelligence, wit, and ready minds for learning. Slytherins were known for being cunning, ambitious, and using everything to achieve their means.
After it finished, the Hall started applauding. The hat bowed to the four tables before it became still again.
"So we've just got to try on the hat! I'll kill Fred!" said Ron.
Cassia wasn't sure. She didn't feel daring and she didn't have nerves. She also didn't feel cunning, though she was ambitious enough to want to leave Number 4. She did love learning and she wasn't afraid of working hard.
Professor McGonagall stepped forward, now holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted."
"That sounds a little unhygienic," Cassia muttered.
"Abott, Hannah!"
The girl from the loo on the train stepped forward, put on the hat and sat down.
There was a pause and the hat shouted, "Hufflepuff!"
Cassia clapped along with the rest of the Hufflepuffs that was at the table on the right.
The Fat Friar waved at Hannah.
"Ashcroft, Sage!"
The brown haired boy from the boat stepped over, sat on the stool, and placed that hat on his head.
"Hufflepuff!" the hat called and the Hufflepuffs clapped once more.
Susan Bones, the girl that Cassia talked to on the train at the loo, became a Hufflepuff too. She recalled a mention of the Bones family being killed by You-Know-Who.
A Terry Boot became a Ravenclaw and a Mandy Brocklehurst became a Ravenclaw, too. Lavender Brow became a Gryffindor and Millicent Bulstrode became a Slytherin.
A Justin Finch-Fletchley and a Megan Jones became Hufflepuffs and a Hermione Granger became a Gryffindor. Neville Longbottom took a little while, but he became a Gryffindor while Morag MacDougal became a Ravenclaw. Malfoy became a Slytherin where his friends Crabbe and Goyle waited for him at the table.
Ernest Macmillan, Roger Malone, and Lily Moon became Hufflepuffs while Theodore Nott became a Slytherin along with Pansy Parkinson. Padma became a Ravenclaw and her twin Parvati became a Gryffindor. Sally-Anne Perks and Oliver Rivers became Hufflepuffs and then:
"Potter, Harry!"
Cassia and Harry glanced at each other. Cassia was supposed to be first, but maybe Professor McGonagall saw Harry's name and called it.
Whispers suddenly broke out across the hall.
"Potter, did she say?"
"The Harry Potter?"
Harry stepped forward and had the hat placed on his head. Cassia made fists and dug her fingernails in her palms, out of nerves. She was next. Where would she go?
After a bit of time, the hat called out, "Gryffindor!"
Cassia clapped, which was drowned out by the Gryffindor table, who was giving Harry their loudest round of applause. She heard the Weasley twins shouting, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"
Harry sat down next to the oldest Weasley boy, sitting across the tights-wearing ghost.
When the applause died down, McGonagall called, "Potter, Cassia!"
Cassia went over and sat down.
"He has a sister?" she heard someone whisper.
"Do you think she has a scar, too?"
The hat covered her eyes as it was placed on her head.
Please, I need to be with Harry, Cassia thought.
Hmm, a voice said in her ear. Really?
Yes, he needs me, Cassia thought.
Interesting, said the hat, very interesting.
What's interesting? Cassia asked.
That loyalty you have towards him, the hat replied.
He'll get bullied, thought Cassia.
No, he won't, the hat said.
He'll get in trouble without me there to rein him in, Cassia said.
He'll get in trouble without you, regardless, the hat said. Your loyalty and protectiveness is a trait that belongs to a different house than Gryffindor and you're extremely hardworking. Your talents would be wasted in Gryffindor. I know a house that's suited for you.
Which house is that? Cassia asked.
"Hufflepuff!" the hat suddenly shouted.
It seemed like the Hall went silent at that. The hat was removed from her head and Cassia looked at some stunned faces, Harry's especially. There was an explosion of cheers from the Hufflepuff table as they started cheering loudly.
That was a joke, Cassia thought as she got up. She went to the Hufflepuff table, which quieted down. There were a lot of grinning faces as she went there.
A brown-haired boy wearing a 'P' badge came over, grinning widely. He took her hand and shook it madly. "I'm Prefect Gabriel Truman, welcome to Hufflepuff."
"Thanks," said Cassia, sitting down at the table, next to Lily Moon.
Cassia's heart was still beating rapidly, but she was calming down. She looked over to see that Harry was shocked. She looked at the table to see Hagrid was grinning at her and she noticed the Professor Quirrell from the Leaky Cauldron was wearing a large purple turban. She couldn't recall if he wore that before.
A black boy named Dean Thomas became a Gryffindor, Lisa Turpin became a Ravenclaw, Ron Weasley became a Gryffindor, and another black boy named Blaise Zabini became a Slytherin.
Cassia looked down at her plate. That was over and done with. She ended up in Hufflepuff.
"Are you okay? You look ill," said Lily Moon.
"I'm fine," Cassia said, "Just nervous."
Lily nodded.
Dumbledore stood up from his chair in the middle. He beamed at them all and spread his arms out. "Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat down and everybody clapped and cheered.
Cassia wasn't sure if she should laugh or applaud him. She settled for clapping twice. Cassia looked down to see that the dishes in front of her were now piled with food. There was roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and mint humbugs.
"What is it?" asked Lily.
Cassia realized her mouth was open. "I just never saw so much food before." She took some roast chicken, bacon and steak, chips, and some boiled potatoes. She began to eat and almost sighed at how delicious everything was.
When dinner was eaten, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean. A moment later, the puddings appeared. There were blocks of ice-cream in every flavour that Cassia can think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, rice pudding…
Cassia helped herself to strawberry ice-cream and a chocolate éclair.
"I'm a pureblood," Sally-Anne Perks said, sounding proud.
"I'm Muggleborn," said Lily, "How about you?"
Cassia was thrown off by Sally-Anne and Lily looking at her. She started, "Oh, I know that my mum came from Muggles and my dad was from a wizarding family."
"Oh, so you're a half-blood," Sally-Anne stated.
"Okay," Cassia said, confused.
"Yeah," said Sally-Anne.
"I'm a Pureblood, too," Ernest said.
Cassia was beginning to feel sleepy, looked at the High Table. She saw Hagrid was drinking from a goblet and Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell was talking to a teacher with greasy looking black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin. He looked at Harry and then he looked straight at Cassia.
They seemed to lock eyes and Cassia looked at away to look at Gabriel Truman. "Who's that talking to Professor Quirrell?"
Gabriel looked at who Cassia was talking about. "Oh, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions. He wants Professor Quirrell's job. Professor Snape knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts."
"Why does he know a lot about the Dark Arts?" asked Cassia.
Gabriel shrugged, "I think that's a secret he wants to keep to himself and Dumbledore."
Cassia nodded and looked at the High Table. She looked at a dumpy looking witch with grey hair under a old looking pointed hat. She was smiling widely and talking to a little wizard. The witch turned, spotted Cassia and waved at her. Cassia waved back and turned to Gabriel.
"Who's the professor that waved at me?" Cassia asked.
"That's our Head of House, Professor Sprout," Gabriel said. "She teaches Herbology."
Cassia nodded, "Okay."
At last the pudding disappeared and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet, making the whole Hall go silent.
"Ahem—just a few more words now we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First-years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."
Dumbledore looked somewhere over at the Gryffindor table.
"I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year; the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."
What kind of school is this? Cassia thought. She looked at Gabriel, who looked grave. She asked, "Is he joking?"
"Probably not," Gabriel said. "It's odd, because there's usually a reason why we're not supposed to be somewhere. The forest's full of dangerous beasts."
What type of school is this? Cassia thought again.
"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. He gave his wand a little flick and a long golden ribbon flew out of it. Cassia's mouth dropped as the golden ribbon rose high above the tables and it twisted itself snake-like into words.
"Everyone pick their favourite tune and off we go!" said Dumbledore.
The school started singing a song and Cassia looked at the High Table again. Professor Snape was looking at her again. He had a strange look on his face and Cassia stared back. She was the one who looked away instead.
Everybody finished song at different times. The Weasley twins finished singing to a slow funeral march, with Dumbledore conducting their final lines with his wand. When the twins finished, he was the only who clapped the loudest.
"Ah, music," Dumbledore said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"
The Hufflepuff first-years followed Gabriel Truman through the chattering crowds, and out of the Great Hall. He led them to a door that was on the left hand side of the marble staircase. He was speaking, "Now, there are a few things you should know about Hufflepuff house. First of all, let's deal with a perennial myth about the place, which is that we're the least clever house. Hufflepuff is certainly the least boastful house, but we're produced just as many brilliant witches and wizards as any other. Want proof?
"Look up Grogan Stump, one of the most popular Ministers for Magic of all time. He was a Hufflepuff – as were the successful Ministers Artemesia Lufkin and Dugald McPhail. Then there's the world authority on magical creatures, Newt Scamander; Bridget Wenlock, the famous thirteenth-century Arithmancer who first discovered the magical properties of the number seven, and Hengist of Woodcroft, who founded the all-wizarding village of Hogsmeade, which lies very near Hogwarts School. Hufflepuffs all. Our emblem is the badger, an animal that is often underestimated, because it lives quietly until attacked, but which, when provoked, can fight off animals much larger than itself, including wolves."
That explains it, Cassia thought, remembering how she attacked Malfoy because he insulted Harry.
As Gabriel spoke, they had walked down a flight of stone steps, ending up in a broad, brightly lit stone corridor that was lit by torches. There were paintings, but it mainly consisted of cheerful paintings of food.
He had led them to a nook that was on the right-hand side of the corridor. There was a stack of barrels there.
Cassia wasn't impressed by the sight.
"The entrance to the common room is concealed in this stack of large barrels. Tap the barrel two from the bottom, middle of the second row, in the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff', and the lid will swing open. We are the only house at Hogwarts that also has a repelling device for would-be intruders. If the wrong lid is tapped, or if the rhythm of the tapping is wrong, the illegal entrant is doused in vinegar," Gabriel explained. He took out his wand and tapped the barrel two from the bottom, in the middle of the second row. He tapped his wand in the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff.'
The lid of the barrel swung open revealing a tunnel.
"Now, you have to crawl inside where you get to the coziest common room of them all," Gabriel said.
Cassia was sure that crawling sounded like a bit of an inconvenience, but she just wanted to get to bed already.
So, she crawled inside the barrel with the others and crawled along the stone passage floor. It took a few minutes, but she emerged into a warm circular room. It was low-ceilinged, felt earthly, and welcoming.
There were lots of yellow hangings, burnished copper, and overstuffed sofas and armchairs that were upholstered in yellow and black. There were small circular windows that provided a vista of rippling grass and dandelions. There was a large, honey coloured, wooden mantelpiece that had carvings of badgers on it. Above the mantelpiece was a portrait of a red-haired lady. There were plants hanging from the ceiling and plants on the windowsills.
Gabriel motioned to two big round doors on the wall. One door said: First-Year Girls and another said: First-Year Boys. "The doors are enchanted so that when boys try to get in the girls' dormitories, the doors won't open. Girls aren't allowed in the boys' dormitories and vice versa."
The first years went to the dormitories and opened them. There was another tunnel and they had to crawl through them, entering into another stone circular room. There
There were six four-poster beds blocked off by yellow curtains, which were open. The beds were covered with patchwork quilts and furnished with wooden bedsteads. There were bedside tables next to the beds. Copper lamps were casting a warm light and there were copper bed warmers hanging on the walls, in case someone had cold feet. There was a round door off to the side that was open, revealing a sink, shower stall, and toilet. There were even yellow and black towels on a five-tier rack. Their trunks were placed in front of the bed. Harvest's cage was on Cassia's trunk, near the wall. Harvest looking through the cage door and had the most disgruntled look on his face. Cassia went over to him. "I'm so sorry, Harvest. I didn't mean to leave you like that."
She set the cage aside and opened her trunk, pulling out her pyjamas, which was a white-and-red polka dotted button-up shirt and sleeping trousers. She pulled the curtains back and got dressed.
She went over and opened up Harvest's cage, who still looked disgruntled.
"Hey, Cassia," Susan called.
"What?" asked Cassia.
"I heard that you and Harry went to live with Muggles," Susan said. "How was it?"
"Terrible," responded Cassia.
"Oh," said Susan looking confused.
"I mean, just the ones that I live with. And my cousin's friends," said Cassia.
"How were they terrible?" asked Hannah.
Cassia didn't want to explain the situation, considering they were strangers. She settled with the basics, "My cousin gets brand new clothes, Harry gets our cousin's hand-me-downs, and I get clothes from a second-hand shop. Harry and I never celebrated our birthdays, and we were lied to about how our parents died. Now, please don't ask me anymore questions about our lives with the Muggles." She closed Harvest's cage and went to lie down in her bed. She closed the curtain and pulled back the patchwork quilt. She tucked herself in and lied back on her pillow. It was the most perfect pillow and blanket that she ever had. Harvest cuddled up to her side purring and kneading the quilt with his claws.
"Hogwarts is the best school ever, so far," said Lily.
"I think so, too," Cassia said.
"Good night, everyone," said Megan.
"Good night," the other girls called.
With that, Cassia managed to fall asleep.
A/N: I know all about how the founders thought that girls were more trustworthy than boys, but I figure, with how Hufflepuff is all about fairness, it would be fair if girls weren't allowed in the boys' dormitory.