Title TBD (story in writing) (snape's daughter)

Chapter 2 ~ The Sorting Hat Ceremony

The door swung open. A tall black-haired witch in a black and green robe stood there. It was Professor McGonagall. She was the transfiguration professor and head of Gryffindor.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," announced Hagrid. "Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." I was hiding behind Cho trying to not make eye contact with her, scared she would start talking to me since I was the only one she knew from the first years.

We walked into the entrance hall, which was huge. Stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling too high to make out. A marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. I know where most everything was in Hogwarts, but I spent most of my time either at Hagrid's Hut, the dungeons, or my father's office. I liked to avoid his office because it is very gloomy and has very little light down in the dungeons. Something about his office throws me off.

"Welcome to Hogwarts!" Professor McGonagall enunciated. "The start-of-term feast will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you must be sorted into your houses. While you are here, your house will be somewhat like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room."

"The four 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 you will earn points for your house. Rulebreaking will cost you house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup."

I know how the whole point system works, and Slytherin has won for the past 5 years. A part of me thinks I will be in Slytherin while the other part is confusing. Maybe Hufflepuff, I thought. Well, if I did get sorted into Slytherin, I know we would win the house cup, which is very exciting.

We all waited until Professor McGonagall would come back to let us in the Great Hall.

Then something happened. "What the --?" One kid gasped. So did the others around him. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another. It was the ghosts. I knew some of them, but I used to spend most of my time with Nearly Headless Nick, also known as Sir Nicholas. He was the most friendly and loved being social.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. Friar or 'Fat Friar' was the ghost of Hufflepuff. "My house you know." He said, winking at me. "Did he wink at you? Do you know him?" Cho had started with her questions, I tried to ignore her and thankfully Professor McGonagall had returned.

The ghosts all floated into the Great Hall. "Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told us, "and follow me." As I entered, I saw the splendid hall once again. Not a single thing has changed from the last time I was there. It was lit by thousands of floating candles over the four long tables where the rest of the students were sitting. The tables were laid with glittering golden plates and at the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. I saw my father on the corner of that table. Everyone, including all the other students, was staring at us as we walked up to the front of the hall. The ghosts along the side of the room were all waving at us. I looked up to see the ceiling and, like always, it looked like the sky outside. A velvety black ceiling with dotted stars.

At the top of the four-legged stool stood the famous sorting hat. The old hat opened its mouth and started 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...