Chapter 5- Sorting Ceremony
"Welcome to Hogwarts." she greeted us with a smile
" My name is Professor McGonagall Now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates."she went on gesturing to the doors standing behind her "But before you can take your seats you must 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, They are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, 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 honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours"
"Trevor!" Neville shouts out of no where and jumps forward, but i soon notice that he grapped a toad that was standing beside the woman's foot , i guess that was the toad we have been looking for
anyway he seemed happy until he noticed that she has been staring down at him and he mumbles a sorry as he backs away , she speaks again " The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily" with that she turned around and left
" It's true then, what they're saying on the train. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." someone said in the crowd and whispering spreaded among all the students , but i recognized the voice it belonged to non other than the annoying boy from the train ,wait a second did he say Harry Potter! with no second thought my eyes started scanning the crowd , until they fell on him and the word escaped my lips before i could stop it "Harry"
his head snapped in my direction and a surprise expression appeared on his face as i made my way to him "Alex" was all he said
"i thought i wouldn't see you again" i said standing directly in front of him
"me too, how have you been?" he asked
" fi..." i was cut off by that annoying dumb boy "you know her" he said venom dropping from his voice as he looked me up and down , i turned to him and was about to walk to him and teach him a lesson about ho to talk to me but a hand grapped me , i turned back around to find that it belonged to Harry who shook his head at me , so i just sighed
"anyway back to what's important This is Crabbe, and Goyle" he introduced his two friends "and I'm Malfoy...Draco Malfoy" he said as he came and stood between me and harry
a laugh came from a red-headed boy standing beside harry causing Draco to turn to him with a glare "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask yours. Red hair, and a hand me down robe? You must be a Weasley."
he turned back to harry saying "Well soon find that some wizard families are better than others, Potter, you Don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort" he said the last part as he looked from the red-headed boy to me , but only getting a glare from both of us, seriously this boy was getting on my last nerve
"I can help you there" he extended his hand to Harry , who looked down at it and for a second i actually thought that he was going to shake it , but instead he looked back at him saying "I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks."
he glared at harry but then turned his glare at me when i said "you heard him , go ahead and leave before you humilate yourself any further , if that even possible " i ended my words with a smirk , causing him to galre even more and if looks could kill i swear i would have been six feet under by now
the woman returned and and smacked him on the shoulder with a paper. He retreated with one last glare before moving out of the way
" We're ready for you now." she said and She lid is through two large doors and into the Great Hall, there were four long tables with many kids, as well as floating candles but when i looked at the ceiling there was non instead it looked like the clear night sky with the sparkling stars and it was marvels
" It's not real, the ceiling. It's just bewitched to look like the night sky. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History" a voice said from behind which belonged to non other than Hermoine , did she have to ruin the moment i started looking around as we made our way to the front , but stopped as my eyes fell on cedric , who smled at me and mouthed 'good luck' , i smiled back and mouthed a 'thank you' we had finally reached the front were the woman from earlier stood with a four-legged stool and a pointed wizard's hat in top of it , but that didn't really make sense what were we suppose to do
"All right, will you wait along here, please? Now, before we begin, Professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words." sh explained then , PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE stood up from the table behind her " I have a few start of term notices I wish to announce. The first years please note that the dark forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch" he signaled to ragged old man with a cat with red eyes standing at the double door we just entered through "has asked me to remind you that the 3rd floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you"
when he sat back down the hat suddenly twitched. A rip near the brim opened
wide like a mouth -- and the hat began to sing:
"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffis are true And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again
"so that's the surprise a talking hat" i whispered to myself and turned to where i saw Cedric and mouthed 'seriously' he just laughed in return causing me to shake my head at him
"When I call your name, you will come forth, I shall place the sorting hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses. "
"Abbott, Hannah!" A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the
hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moments pause
--
"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.
The table on the right where Cedric was sitting cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table.
"Bones, Susan!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next
to Hannah.
"Boot, Terry!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws
stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.
a few more names were called but i didn't pay much attention until hermoine's name was called
"Granger, Hermione!"
she almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.
"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat, Hermione jumped off with a smile and made her way to the Gryffindor table , where she was welcomed with claps and cheers
"Malfoy, Draco" he sauntered up proudly. The tattered hat nearly freaked before touching down on his head and shouts "SLYTHERIN!"
Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.
when i looked around ,i noticed There weren't many people left now , just a few including me and Harry turning back to the hat i saw snape staring at me put when he found that i noticed he turned his gaze the other side, weird
"Miller, Alexandra" i was caught off guard when my name was called , i was so nervous but didn't show it as i walked with my head held up high to the stool and sat on it , when the hat was put on my head a voice immediately appeared in my head "hmm... i see a trouble maker we have here , a cunning one too , not a bad mind either , really loyal to those you care about , brave , so brave standing up to the weak i see , you would fit in any of the houses , but we have to choose let's see cunning and proud maybe slytherin ... but again there is this bravery and the urge to do any thing to protect those in need ... so i believe it beeter be ...
Gryffindor" the hat shout and i found myself releasing a breathe i didn't know i was holding , i make my way to the table and was greeted by the same cheers and clapping as hermoine and shaking hands with a couple of them , looking around i noticed Cedric clapping for me as well and we just exchanged smiles
a couple more names were called but i didn't pay any attention again until Harry's name was called
"Potter, Harry!"
As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little
hissing fires all over the hall.
"Potter, did she say?"
"The Harry Potter?"
Harry made his way to the stool looking as nervous as ever but when he turned around and sat down our eyes met and i gave an encouraging smile , which he returned with a weak one before the hat was placed on his head
it stayed quiet for a while as everyone waited for the hat to declare the name of the house that Harry will be joining
"GRYFFINDOR!" on that a smile form on Harry's face and the whole gryffindor table stood up cheering for him , as he made his way over sitting beside me after shaking hands with a couple people , the rest of the other first years were sorted in the four houses and then Professor Dumbledore stood up saying "Let the feast...begin." with that Food magically appears on all the tables, and the hall is filled with awe and chatter.
"wow" i hear Harry say from beside me , but i'm too caught in the amazement myself to comment
soon enough we start eating
"Say, Percy, who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" Harry asks out of no where
"Oh, that's Professor Snape, head of Slytherin house." percy the boy sitting on the other side of me answers
"What's he teach?"
"Potions. But everyone knows it's the Dark Arts he fancies. He's been after Quirrells job for years." he answers , causing me to wonder why Harry has a sudden interest in him , but i push the thought away
"hey that was nice commedt you gave Malfoy earlier, i don't think we met probably i'm Ron weasley" the red headed boy sitting across from me says "Alex Miller and it was nothing beside he deserved it" we both share a laugh and Ron having just finished a chicken wing, reaches into the bowl for more, and a ghostly head pops out
"Ahh!" Ron pulling his hand fast
"Hello! How are you? Welcome to Gryffindor." the Ghost says , but then Numerous ghosts come pouring from the walls, sailing along
"Hello, Sir Nicholas. Have a nice summer?" Percy says from beside me
"Dismal. Once again, my request to join the headless hunt has been denied." the Ghost said as he started to leave
"Hey, I know you! You're Nearly Headless Nick!" Ron spoke
"I prefer Sir Nicholas if you don't mind."
wait a second how could he be nearly headless and as if Hermoine read my thoughts she asked "Nearly headless? How can you be nearly headless?"
"like this" he said and grapped his head and pulled it to the side. His head is hanging on just by a thread, a sight i wouldn't want to see ever again
*********
soon enough we were done with our food and were following Percy who was showing us to our Dorm
"Gryffindors, follow me please. Keep up. Thank you." he said , as we headed up a small stair case
"This is the most direct path to the dormitories. Oh, and keep an eye on the staircases...they like to change." he explained , but instead of listening to him i moved my gaze around admiring the place it was really magical and i mean literally , there was lots of pictures where the people in them walking and talking , the stairs would change every once and a while and much much more
when i came out of my thoughts i noticed that i lost Percy and the others great , so i turned around to search for them only to pump into someone
"ouch" i whispered rubbing my head
"we have got to stop meeting this way" i didn't need to look to know the owner of the voice and i could feel the smile in his words
"totally agree" i replied , we share a laugh before he speaks again "congratulations on joining gryffindor"
"thanks"
"so if i might ask what are you doing wondering around all alone?"
"well i kind of got lost , you wouldn't happen to know where Gryffindor comon rooms are , would you?"
"well i do and i would love to show you around before taking you there if you like?" he offered
"well that would be perfect"
"then shall we"
"we shall" i replied with a smile
**************
"so what did you use to do before coming to Hogwarts?" Cedric asked
after a while of wondering around through he had showed me lots of places around the school, mostly where the classes were but it was really fun ,we didn't even feel as the time flew by and it was getting late , so now we were heading to the Gryffindor common room
"well , i was home schooled most of my life, so i spent alot of time just sitting at home and my parent aren't exactly wizards ,but they are okay, so my life wasn't really that exiting , but i used to play soccer, my mum used to say i was the best player she ever saw, but again i use...."
"hold on for a second , you're a muggle born?" he cut me off by his question only making me confused
"what's a muggle?"
"A non magic person" he answered simply
"then yes , i guess i am, is that a bad thing?" i asked looking at him , actually feeling worried , what if it was , then what , would people start treating me different ? would he? what about Harry and the others? no longer being able to move i stopped in my spot just staring at thin air as i kept listening to him talking
"no , not at all , yeah some wizard families thinks that they are better everyone else just because they are pure blood they think less of the muggle born, they say that they don't deserve to get the gift of magic or to even be accepted at Hogwarts but the truth is those people actually disgust me they don't really get to say who is worthy or not , they don't get to do that..." he trailed off finally noticing that i was no longer following him , but just standing there frozen at my place
" hey " he said ,making his way back to me and stopping right in front of me " don't you even think for one minute , about what they think or believe, do you hear me?" he pulled me in to a huge and continued " they aren't even worth the thought , you're better than they are , i might not have known you for long but i can already tell that you would make a great witch one day and then you would prove them all wrong and i would be right there by your side to tell you ' i told you so' okay?" i couldn't help but smile at his words , he really is a nice guy , yeah we didn't know each other for long but i trusted him so much that he felt more like a brother to me , when we pulled apart the smile was till on my face and i saw as it made it's way on his face too
"thanks" i whispered
"what are friends for?" at that my smile grew bigger
"we should keep going it's getting late and it wouldn't be good getting you in trouble on your first day would it ?"
"yeah , let's go" and we continued walking
"so what's soccer?" he asked ,i thought he was kidding but when i looked at his face , i noticed the confused expression he had
"you're not kidding, you seriously don't know what soccer is do you?" i questioned and he simply nodded , oh my god
"wow it's just like the best sport ever" i exclaimed
"never heard of it" he replied raising his eyebrows
"you have got a lot to learn" i started laughing and soon he joined as well and it was like nothing even happened ten minutes ago...
****************
"Password?" the woman in the picture asked ... again, we were now standing in front of a large painting , which lead to the Gryffindor , the only problem was we don't have a clue what the password is and everyone in the school was probably sleeping by now
"great"
"Alex , i'm very sorry , i forgot about the whole password thing" he apologized for the thousand time
"Cedric it's fine , no need for apologizing , but i think that you should head back to your own room , i don't want to get you in trouble"
"and just leave you here standing here , no way"
"i want stay for long there must be someone who's still out here" i replied hoping it was true
"no , everyone is probably sleeping by now or at..." he explained but was cut off by a third voice
"Cedric Diggory , what brings you here at such a time?" it actually seemed as if two people were speaking in unison , but who ever they were it looks like they haven't noticed me yet
"should have guessed you two would still be up , probably getting yourself in more trouble" Cedric said turning his back to me so he could look at them
"we..." one of them started
but the other one finished "in trouble"
"pfft" they said this together so my best guess they were twins and when i took a step to the side , i was confirmed right as two red headed boys stood in front of us both looking so similar
"so what brings you here Diggory?" THEY QUESTIONED
"Well , That's Where I Come In" I Interpreted and Both There Heads Snapped in My direction as they finally noticed me
"hey George isn't this one of our first years?"
"yeah, what are you doing up so late?" the one who i believe was George asked , but before i could answer the other one cut me off " what are you doing out here with him? you might get in trouble"
"well first of all , stop talking to Cedric this way , second i was never in at first place and third i am not afraid to get in trouble" i said looking him straight in the eyes a smirk on my lips
"looks like we got a feisty one" he said , his eyes never leaving mine as he copied my smirk
"so can you too get us inside i didn't really catch the password"
"well not as long as he is here" George said as he glanced at Cedric" causing me to roll my eyes at him
"Cedric, i think that you should go now ,i'll be alright from here" i turned to him giving him a reassuring smile
"okay , see you around" he said returning the smile
"yeah"
after he was out of sight i turned back to the due "anytime today would be great"
"yeah sure" they made there way to the painting
" Password?" the woman asked them
"Caput Draconis" they replied simply and she nodded at them and the painting opened to reveal a gape in the wall
"follow us" they said at unison and started walking , with me not far behind ,until we come to a huge room decorated with simple furniture mostly colored by red and gold
"Welcome to the Gryffindor Common Room. so the Boys' dormitories, upstairs and down to the left. Girls, the same on the right. your belongings have already been brought up." one of them spoke , i think it was George
"so why were you out there at first place?" the other one said as he laid on the couch
"like i said i was never in , i got lost when Percy was showing us here , and Cedric lead me here, but as i didn't know the password i was stuck outsides util you two showed up , so thanks"
"any time , i'm George weaselly and this is my twin Fred" the one standing said as he held his hand out for me to shake and i gladly did
"Alex Miller"
"any way , it was nice meeting you , but i should be heading to bed , see you two " i was heading to were they told me the girls dorm was
"didn't take you as one to do what should be done" he called after me
"never said i was" i called back as the same smirk from earlier made it's way on my lips ...