Chapter 8: The Sorting

The Hogwarts Express halted in Hogsmeade station with a sad sigh of its wheels and billowed out trails of steam along the side and top, only for every door to fling open by a seventh year student and the bellowing voice of the gameskeeper to welcome the students in.

"First Years Line up over her'! Come on hurry up, Come On!" Hagrid's voice wasn't the only guiding factor for the first year Hogwarts students as he was currently towering over everyone that was currently passing by him. "Line up by pair, we'll need to load the boats as quickly as we can." The lantern that Hagrid held swung through the dark night, illuminating the path ahead, that showed a shimmering lake filled with shadows, not giving off its secrets underneath.

"We have to take a boat to the school?" Harry asked as he paired himself next to Ron and stood behind Neville and Ella who were keeping to themselves on the walk. "Just this year, after we get sorted, we get to take carriages that drop us off before the next first years." Harry felt confused why they would split up the transportation to the school by year but was soon distracted by loud booms that filled that night sky, covering the sheet of stars in smoke as fireworks exploded into giant words reading out,

Welcome To Hogwarts

James was walking behind Fred and George, being paired with Hermione once they found each other off the train and was briefly met with the group of students Hermione was becoming accompanied with. "So we can see fireworks first but the castle is hidden by some magical field so no one can locate it?" James felt this was rather dumb if Hogwarts location was supposed to be hidden, only to flaunt off with fireworks. "Well it's sort of hidden from most foreign countries but most of England knows where it is just from attending the school." Hermione replied back to James, who didn't seem to be paying any attention to her.

Soon they came upon docks that had boats sitting along each side with no oars on them or nearby. Each boat was soon filled up with four students each and began to pull themselves across the lake.

Their rather uneventful boat ride ended when they came upon the castle. First the silhouette of the castle showed before the lights came on and showed off the aged castle walls. Lights flickered through the windows and once again fireworks launched into the sky, welcoming the first years to school.

The rather small boat house could only fit four boats at a time and James' face changed to horror when he saw the never ending set of stairs they had to climb up to reach the entrance to the castle.

"You'd think wizards would be passed stairs at this point. Why spend the time uselessly walking up something when we could float to the top with magic?" James said as his group took their turn to exit their boat. "Why walk at all then with that logic?" Hermione said back to James."Exactly, I guarantee that we will learn a levitation spell this year and bet that we could use it to skip the stairs." James looked over at Hermione, who's face had turned slightly pink at James' words, and James realized he was already guessing right about this year's curriculum.

They climbed up a set of steps.

"Why not enchant the stairs to move on their own? I saw what the train could do with our trunks and that seemed like no problem." James tightened the straps on his bookbag, clinging it tighter to his back as he stretched it.

"I don't suppose they can use magic to solve all our needless problems. There's probably better things to be focusing on than making the stairs move." Hermione had to agree that the stairs were starting to cause her trouble, as the amount of books she was carrying weighed heavily on her back, but she wouldn't let it show. She would get used to it.

They climbed more stairs.

"You don't think they would torture first year students on their first day? We just got here and this challenge of the stairs must apply to our sorting in some way." James and Hermione had been silent while they both thought of any reason why they would have to climb this many stairs to get to the school.

More stairs greeted them as they turned off a small walkway that gave the students a small break from the never ending stairs.

"I get it!" James shouted as they continued to climb the steps. "The stairs themselves don't exist but only in our mind. Once we see past that, then they will end".

More stairs lined the final hill that led up to the castle.

"There's got to be a complaint system here. I'm going to find it, first thing when we walk in. Hell! I'll go tell my mother." James' forehead was covered in sweat and his mind was appalled at the dead end it had reached on conclusions to this… this…

"Welcome to Hogwarts!" said the lady who resembled the idea of a witch, except the nose.

"Finally! An Adult!" Yelled James as they stood on the steps inside the castle that stopped at a pair of big golden oak doors. "Do you know how many stairs we've just climbed! I think I need a hospital!"

Most of the students decided to take a knee and rest before eventual stairs greeted them again. Backpacks lay on the ground, relieving the backs of many students, including Hermione, while the adult witch stared daggers back at James.

"I'm Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, now in a few moments you will walk through these doors and go through the sorting ceremony and be sorted into your houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Now while you're here, your house will be like your family. In triumph you'll be rewarded points, and in rule breaking, you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will win the house cup." A scuttle of applause met the end of McGonagall's speech then she turned and opened the doors, ignoring James' question.

"Fine, I guess that doesn't matter." James said, putting his backpack back on, and followed the scuttle of students into the great hall.

The Great Hall was already mostly filled with students sitting in huge groups at four elongated tables that seem to have different colored banners hanging above to represent their house. Where the banners were attached could not be seen as the ceiling to the Great Hall was dazzled with a night sky filled with starlight that was produced by floating wax candles.

Sitting in front of everyone, raised above the four student-filled tables, was the staff table which had thirteen tall chairs that were painted gold and each one- except for Professor McGonagall's- had a Professor sitting in it. Minerva thought if the late hour had some effect on the Potions Professor, who was currently slumped over in his chair, like a zombie.

In front of the staff table sat an golden pedestal with an owl engraved below the cornice. Some book that no one really ever read sat upon it as well but the nearby candles had covered the top with wax so that nobody was worried about the damaged book.

What was currently holding Minerva's attention at the moment was the old wooden stool that sat just in front of everyone and the sorting hat that sat upon it. The hat was older than time itself and had aged so much that its wrinkle lines resembled a face embedded in its fabric. Every year it would spout out some song about the four houses that would reach to blind ears, as every student was eagerly awaiting to see who their new housemates would be.

Currently the scroll Minerva was holding had been the longest one she'd seen in her many years of teaching at Hogwarts. Her first read through gave her some trouble, as some of the names were in languages she didn't know but a potion later and she could do her best to say what she could.

She stopped right at the three steps leading up to the staff table and turned around to face the students.

"Now before we begin, Professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words." She then walked over to the side to let everyone have a view of the headmaster.

"I would like to say that I considered every possible option in my thinking, and finally I have concluded the following. Trix are indeed for kids, thank you." Dumbledore gave a slight bow to the crowd and sat back down in his seat.

Not a sound followed the headmaster's words and the silence was only disturbed when the sorting hat decided to speak or rather sing.

Awakened from my slumber,

I call out to all of you.

Put me up on your head,

And listen to me spew.

For many of you their may be adventure,

For which Griffins will suit you best.

Though some may be more cunning,

To which the snake is bred.

There's books aplenty for ravens,

And drawing tasks for Puffs.

But When Things should keep you down,

Hogwarts will be there instead.

So come put on this singing hat,

For I will tell it all.

I will sort everyone!

Then go back home!

Applause followed the end of the song and Professor McGonagall took this as her sign to start the sorting.

"Abott, Hannah."

Hannah didn't realize that she would be going first. She'd hoped that there was at least somebody else ahead of her in the alphabet of names. She could feel the hundreds of eyes focused on her and tried her best not to shake while walking up towards Professor McGonagall. Next to the Professor sat a three pronged stool with a tattered old hat sitting upon it. Before Hannah reached the hot seat, Professor McGonagall removed the hat with a grateful lift and patted the flat wooden seat that was expecting its guest.

Hannah did her best to try and look composed as she sat down but she knew right away when the hat was placed on her head that everyone could see the color change in her skin and notice the shakiness in her hands.

MMmmm, Right. Right, I see a rather determined sense of knowledge, fair social skills, but no goals.

"What do you mean no goals?" Hannah thought back as the voice in her head started criticizing her without knowing her.

If I were to ask you to find me the nearest bathroom what would you do?

"Well I'd probably ask a Professor but I'd be more concerned about the fact that a hat needs to use the restroom."

There's your answer.

"Hufflepuff!" The hat shouted out into the crowd and was then removed from the head of Hannah Abott who was looking rather confused than excited for having joined her house.

"Brown, Lavender." Once again Professor McGonagall called out another name and a girl with tamed frizzy brown hair walked up to the raised dias and sat down upon the stool only to have the sorting hat placed upon her head.

MMMmmm, Right. Right, I see a true heart but also a blinded mind. Tell me, what can otters do that weasel can't?

"What? You can't be serious?" Lavender thought that Dumbledore's incoherent speech was just some joke that the younger generation didn't understand but now she was thinking that Hogwarts might be a school full of nutters.

Maybe if you dealt with the impossible rather than the now you would have been sorted differently.

"Gryffindor!" A small cloud of dust poofed out from the mid section of the hat while shouting its newest sorting and Lavender was only too happy to have the hat removed and to find her seat at the Gryffindor table.

"Bulstrode, Millicent."

The name rang out through the Great Hall, and a stocky girl with dark, tightly braided hair made her way up to the stool. Her expression was one of firm resolve, though her shoulders stiffened slightly under the weight of hundreds of eyes watching her every step.

Professor McGonagall placed the sorting hat upon her head and she closed her eyes and braced herself for whatever was to come.

Mmmm, stubborn, are we? And strong, too. Not just in body, but in will. Ah, there's ambition here, bubbling quietly under the surface. You seek respect, power—an identity.

"I seek to rise above my peers. Is that too much to ask for?"

No, no, but in search of power will come the downfall to your happiness. Are you willing to make that sacrifice?

"I would do anything." She thought back with a cold determination.

I shall take a great ear to your career.

"Slytherin!" A loud group of hisses joined the announcement and chuckles busted out from every table except the Slytherins. As Millicent sat down at the Slytherin table, she was greeted by everyone nearby, who all gracefully shook her hand till it went numb.

She could've been standing back at the altar with James staring back at her and it still wouldn't compare to the nerves she was feeling right now. Each time the hat shouted a house, the fork in her hand would gain an extra degree in its bend. She was dreading every second that was leading up to her boys being sorted.

"Ravenclaw!"

After everything James went through, she was going to have to watch her son go through the same thing, wasn't karma a fickle bitch.

"Slytherin!"

Her mind turned to Severus Snape, as it did from time to time ever since she accepted the position at Hogwarts. If there was anybody in the magical world that could do something to change her son's unlucky fate it would be him.

"Granger, Hermione."

If her readings have taught her anything, it's that at some point in everyone's life there comes fixed crossroads where your decisions can be predetermined so that your path is pushed into its correct path. If a hat could be this fixed point for the beings of the magical world that come here to school, maybe she could get a little information from this device and recreate it into something better. The hat fell over her eyes and she had an echoey voice in her head.

I would rather like to skip these questions in your head and just move on with your sorting.

"I think that's rather unfair, don't you?" She thought a little sarcastically.

If I would answer every question in your head we would be here until tomorrow morning and No, I will not elaborate on that.

"So I'm supposed to think that this magical hat doesn't hold any secrets about the wizard who created it or the powers that created you?"

Fine… One question, that's all I can spare but there will be a price to this and won't be revealed for some time, something bad.

"Deal. If one were to need an infinite amount of information, where would one look?"

Atlantis, should've thought harder about that.

"Gryffindor!" The hat shouted and Hermione's face turned a bright red.

James watched as Neville's name was called and saw the boy quivering in fear of the sorting hat. He couldn't help but wonder how his sorting was going to go, only to be brought out of his thoughts by the call of "Gryffindor!" from the sorting hat and saw Neville's face sport something of surprise.

James looked ahead of him at the staff table and noticed his mother's gaze pass by him and then over to a greasy haired man. The man did not look around anywhere but kept his gaze down at his silver goblet.

Pain having finally subsided from their endless climb from the stairs, James now took in the massive hall that he stood in. The tall windows showed the clear night sky which flowed seamlessly into the ceiling. Students sat on the edge of their seats trying to pry over taller students' heads to get a better view of the sorting.

Everything so far had been somewhat normal for what James expected of a magical school and couldn't help but feel a little better as the crowd around him lightened up as the sorting moved forth. James was pulled away from his thoughts as the name "Malfoy, Draco" was called out by Professor McGonagall.

James was surprised to see the evasive boy walk lazily up to the stool, only to stand by as McGonagall raised to place the hat on his head. Before Draco sat, there seemed to be some kind of reluctance to his action, making his sit look more like a desperate attempt to hold in a fart. The sorting hat barely touched the top of Draco's head when the blonde haired boy fell over instantly unconscious.

Everyone at the staff table arose from their seats and all the students started to speak in quick murmur's while trying to keep their eyes attached to the unfolding situation. Dumbledore was somehow at the side of Draco before McGonagall had time to react.

"Oh dear." The soft voice broke over the waves of whispers and Dumbledore had picked up Draco and started to head out of the Great Hall. "Not to worry, please continue while I see to Mr. Malfoy". The oak doors creaked open and then shut, then McGonagall broke the silence with a call of another student.

"Malone, Roger".

Now down to just a handful of them, Harry was starting to compose himself for his own sorting. He had seen what each house was composed of whenever the name was called and the difference in cheering for each house.

"Potter, Harry".

The stool could've used a cushion, as his legs aked from their climb and had been standing for what seemed like an hour while waiting to be sorted. Also Harry was feeling rather warm too with his robes and school uniform on and the provided light didn't help the temperature as they were torches, along with candles and high placed emergency lights.

The sorting hat was soon placed upon his head and he was shocked to hear a rumble of an echo in his head as the hat talked to him.

Ah, Harry Potter. I wondered when I was going to be sorting you.

"You know about me?" Harry thought as he closed his eyes to keep the stares of other students out of his own.

I know many things but I do you that your name has been mentioned under my brim once before now.

"By who?" Harry asked.

By whom, you mean. And I cannot say, I can only do my purpose and sort you into your appropriate house.

"Well we better get on with it."

Quite, I sense undying loyalty to your brother James and I can see sparks of friendship with the Weasley boy. These make it clear for me your choice but something else has my attention. Tell me, do you respect authority figures?

"I respect people who do the right thing, just because you're in charge doesn't mean you can't be an idiot."

As I thought, just like your father but would you rather fall in line with your fellow classmate when things get tough or will you be defiant and stand on your own?

Harry paused before answering back, he had thought about his actions at the orphanage and the trouble he sometimes caused him and James. "I would fall in line with my classmates and try to strive together, rather than be a problem."

Maybe not the same. I am curious to see what comes next, if he will have the same traits or be something different.

Harry tried to think of what the sorting hat had just said but was cut off from thinking by the shout of "Hufflepuff!" and the following roar that came from the Hufflepuff table. He made his way over to his house table and was patted on the back by over fifty different hands as he tried to sit down.

Harry looked up at the staff table, at his mother, and saw her smiling brightly back at him.

"Potter, James."

James just figured he got a preview of what his sorting was going to be as he figured that family members got sorted into the same house as each other. As he approached the stool and was evidently closer to the staff table, he could see his Professors better, that he would have this year.

Out of all the Professors sitting there, only one caught the attention of James. It wasn't because he was abnormally short, or looked like he was older than time itself, No. It was because when James looked at the man, he couldn't help but feel a sense of Déjà vu, as if they both had met before but the man was normal in any sense of way to leave a lasting first impression.

Before James could dig further on this new sense, he had reached the stool and sat down, awaiting the sorting hat to be placed on his head.

Do not worry, Draco Malfoy was not hurt because of me.

James hadn't really noticed that he still was wondering about the accident that Malfoy had had when he was called for his sorting but figured since they were at a magical school, they would have magical healing.

I'm having a hard time placing you in a house. You seem to like adventure but do not seek it, your plots of revenge are nonexistent, and you seem to think little of what people think of you. Very much your own person I must say.

"Tha-thank you." James did not know whether to take that as a compliment or as an insult.

I think we can rule one of the houses out for sure but placing you in one of the other three would seem to have different outcomes for your future. PIck one, ambition, power, or friendship?

"Well friendship, I think that's pretty obvious to anyone" Harry said thinking it was an easy choice.

Then that will be your downfall is your trust in your friends. If you choose power then it would have been Slytherin and your greediness for power. If not power then your own ambitions would drive you through Ravenclaw to a life of loneliness and sadness. But you choose what you thought was a lesser of two evils and one house you didn't even fall into.

"Gryffindor!"

James took off the hat and felt a great jolt in his gut when not being sorted into the same house as Harry. The Gryffindor house table on the other hand couldn't have been happier with the result and most of his new fellow housemates banged their fist against the table as they cheered for James.

James found himself a seat between Hermione and the Weasley twins and tried his best to keep his gaze down and away from his brothers and mothers own gaze. He couldn't tell if they were looking at him but he tried to focus back on the sorting and noticed only Ella and Ron Weasley left.

"And so concludes the first half of the sorting ceremony." Dumbledore stood behind the owl pedestal and gaze down at the students through his half moon spectacles. "I would like to announce that this year will be the first in a great step in Hogwarts history. Today we welcome magical beings into our school of every kind." With a wave of his hand the oak doors at the end of the hall swung open to admit in another hundred or so students.

Ghosts began to float among the tables, Giants peered in from the windows outside, young centaurs filled in by twos and showed off their long glittering hair, and fairies flew down from the clouds that floated above the students and left behind a sparse trail of dust behind them. Most of the students looked around in awe but the Slytherin table made a show of not expressing any emotion by the new arrivals to the castle.

"And with this new step come additions to our traditions. Some of our students have a different way of being sorted and some have predetermined ways that require a bond to be made with another student." Glances were traded across the Great Hall at this statement.

"We shall continue with the sorting hat and finish with the flight of the fairies, Thank you." Dumbledore strode back over to his seat and grabbed his goblet to wetten his throat preventing the parched feeling he was feeling.

Dumbledore did pride himself on the languages he did speak but even some of the names that Minvera read would've given him trouble and he could speak Mermish.

One after another, he watched the sorting hat rise and fall onto more students' heads and couldn't help but smile all the while.

Finally it had come time to start the flight of the fairies, so Dumbledore arose from his seat again and looked across the Great Hall at the overly packed house tables and needed to remind himself to extend the tables before breakfast tomorrow.

"Finally we come to a close and shall have the fairies sort themselves. The parents of the students who have been chosen have been notified about the choosing before the start of term to help prepare for the bond."

The students all traded stares with each other as the mass of white glowing fairies rose into the sky and started to change into certain formations. Nothing that could be defined as an image but more of a composed formation that was getting ready to descend upon the hall.

Row after row descended upon the students and one by one a fairy sat upon one of the students shoulders. Some students gave an audible "awe" as the fairy changed their glow from white to match the house of the student whose shoulder they sat upon.

Soon the air was emptied of flying fairies until the last row with only two floating side by side were left. Most students had picked up on the fact that no Gryffindor student had been chosen by any of the fairies and the first years were the only ones shocked while the upperclassmen looked on at the ceremony with disgust.

The last two fairies made their way down from the sky and flew down towards the Gryffindor table and one sat upon the shoulder of James Potter and the other sat down on Ella Weasley's shoulder.

"And so begins another year here at Hogwarts. Before we start with our feast, I have a few reminders to… remind everyone of. Firstly, we have closed off the right hand corridor on the third floor for construction and ask that every student stay away for their safety. Second, Mr. Flich has asked me to remind you that the list of prohibited items has been updated and posted outside his office, which now contains over five-hundred items. And Thirdly, Outside grounds curfew is one hour after nightfall and anyone caught outside by a Prefect or Professor will lose points and privileges for their house. Let's dig in." Dumbledore waved his hands over the crowd and plates of food appeared across the tables.

Before Dumbledore began to eat his own dinner, he took one last look over the Great Hall and noticed Harry Potter staring up at him. He raised his goblet to the boy and saw him smile back before returning to eat and talk with his new friends.

AN: Well... It get's rocky towards the end. Struggled to get through this chapter but got it finished. My chair gave out while editing this and kinda just put me in a done mood. I don't when the next chapter will be done but the holidays and stuff, I could use a good week alone writing.