Sasha Jackson & The Trials of the Pendragon

Chapter Five: The Sorting Ceremony

The door creaked opened and Hagrid told them to wait in the corridors that led into the Great Hall and await further instructions. Finishing his job leading Sasha, Rowan, and the other students to the castle, Hagrid went to join the rest of the staff and students without them. All of the students started chatting to each other excitedly.
"I can't wait to be sorted into our Houses," Rowan whispered to Sasha. "Can you?"
"I guess so," admitted Sasha softly. "But I'm still nervous about this 'Sorting'. My parents wouldn't tell me and said that it was a surprise for me to find out."
"Yeah, my parents were pretty vague on details too," Rowan said with a shrug.
"So, you two don't know either?" said Tonks as she and Tulip both stepped next to them. "Well, that's so reassuring, isn't it?"
Tulip giggled before she said, "At least, it'll be surprising for us and hopefully exciting too."
As the four of them had started to fall silent, the others had started talking again.
"I heard that Sasha Jackson is here," a boy said.
Once everyone saw who was talking, the chattering started up again, but it seemed that everyone had the same topic in mind now. They wanted to know where Sasha was. Sasha felt herself blushing fiercely and inched closer to Rowan, who looked at her with sympathy.
"Is that true?" one girl asked.
"The Jackson's Sister is here?" someone else asked.
"Where is she?" the boy asked. "I'd like to meet her."
"I think this is her," a nervous blond-haired boy at Sasha's left side had said. "Right over here — am I right?"
In that moment, Sasha felt like crawling into a hole. Sasha didn't want this kind of attention all at once and, from the looks of it, neither did Rowan. The entire group of first years gawked at Sasha as if she was something to look at in the zoo, and Sasha had never felt more awkward and nervous in her life — which was saying something.
But to Sasha's immediate relief, a woman professor had stepped into the room and watched them with an intensely firm green-eyed gaze. She had a tight bun of whitesh-blonde hair on the top of her head, emerald green robes, and a look that demanded attention. She cleared her throat when she said, "Hello, and welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall and I will be leading you into the start of the year banquet in the Great Hall in a moment for the Sorting ceremony. There, you will be sorted into one of four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin. These houses will be your family during your stay here at Hogwarts, and we expect you all to be a benefit to them all. You will help your house throughout the year by representing them well in the hopes of earning honor and house points, and you will try to avoid breaking the rules at the cost of dishonoring your house and losing house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the House Cup — a great honor at Hogwarts. Now, wait here a moment and try to make yourselves presentable. I will be back in a moment when we are ready for you."
When she left the room, the chattering started up again.
"How do we get sorted into the Houses?" Rowan asked Sasha.
"No idea," said Sasha with a shrug.
"Did you knew your brother?" a boy asked curiously.
"No. I was too young to even remember him." Sasha flinched after she remembered his mysterious disappearance. "My parents had never told me about him till the last minute." Sasha raked through her memory to remember anything about her parents mentioning her brother, but nothing came up. "But I wish I could just meet him. Just once."
A lot of the students could see the sadness, loneliness, and love going through Sasha. But they don't know how to help her. Rowan gave Sasha a sidelong hug and Sasha's mixed up emotions calmed down a bit. One by one, the students started gathering around Sasha and started to stay behind her, showing their silent comfort and support towards Sasha.
At that moment, Professor McGonagall walked back into the corridor with an expectant look. She told them that it was time for them to attend the Sorting Ceremony and they were to walk into the Great Hall in an orderly fashion and listen for further instruction. As they lined up and the doors opened into the other room, Sasha instantly began to worry. Sasha wasn't sure if she was going to be completely accepted into the House, she's afraid that she might be another outcast and be neglected once again. As Sasha's part of the line got into the Great Hall, Sasha looked back nervously at Rowan and she gave Sasha a reassuring smile. Sasha took a deep breath and her eyes grew wide when she saw the room in its entirety.
The Great Hall was enormous. There were two long tables on each side of the line the first years walked along, and every student was looking directly at their group. Above them there were several small candles floating in the air to light up the room. On the far side of the room, just above the four long tables, there was a table with several adults, most likely the professors, who were facing toward them. One thing that really stood out to Sasha was the presence of what seemed to be ghosts floating around the Great Hall. Most of the first years began to whisper to each other about it for a moment, but they didn't seem to faze the older students. It didn't take Sasha long before they were standing just below the professor's table with Professor McGonagall in front of them with a single stool sitting beside her that had a large, old-looking hat on top of it. The quiet murmuring among the students instantly stopped once they were all standing in a semicircle around Professor McGonagall and the stool.
For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth — and the hat began to sing:
"I may not be pretty at first sight,
But look inside and see something special.
With a quick look, your mind is an open book.
If you place me on your head, I'll find where heart desires.
If you are brave in heart and soul,
Then you'll belong to Gryffindor;
If you are loyal and just,
Then you'll belong to Hufflepuff, so true;
Or if you are clever in mind and wit,
Ravenclaw is for you;
Or if you are sly and ambitious,
Slytherin shall come to you.
Put me on! I'll help you find a place to belong!
For I am a Hat of Thought!"
"Welcome to the Hogwarts Sorting Ceremony," Professor McGonagall announced. "One by one, each of the first year students will be called to be seated by the Sorting Hat into one of the four Hogwarts Houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. When I call your name, take a seat on the stool."
"Copper, Ben!" McGonagall called.
The nervous blond boy stepped forward out of the crowd of first years and his face filled anxiety when he sat down on the stool to see everyone staring at him. Professor McGonagall placed the large wizarding cap on the top of his head, and Sasha was shocked when an inquisitive face suddenly formed on the front of the Sorting Hat.
"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted.
One of the four tables with the red highlights, presumably other students in the Gryffindor House, began to cheer loudly once the hat announced her house. Considering all of the strange events that happened since finding out they were a witch and wizard, Sasha knew she shouldn't have been that surprised to see that a hat could talk, but it still made Sasha jump when it yelled out the name.
Following Ben Copper, several other students were called to take their turn getting sorted into the four houses. One of the first faces Sasha recognized who got sorted was Penny Haywood, who was sorted into Hufflepuff — the House of the Loyal. Next, Sasha recognized Merula Snyde, who was immediately sorted into Slytherin, the house known for having witches and wizards with very strong ambitions. Not long after she was sorted, Sasha heard her own name called.
"Jackson, Sasha!" Professor McGonagall read.
When Sasha's name was called, there was immediate murmurs and whispers that went across the room that instantly made her feel nervous. Sasha slowly stepped forward towards the stool. She caught Rowan's eye, who smiled at her encouragingly.
The last thing Sasha see before the hat dropped over her eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at her. Sasha waited.
"Hmm," said a small voice in her ear. "You seem to be an almost perfect combination of all four houses, which is incredibly rare — you're equal in your intelligence, bravery, loyalty, and ambition. Which House do you want to be in?"
"I don't know," whispered Sasha's telepathic voice. "I want to find my true self, but I always have trouble of figuring out where I belong. I just need the courage to find it."
"You are quite brave to admit it Sasha," said the small voice. "Good choice for you to admit something you're not. That brother of yours probably needs some lessons from you." Sasha could almost sense the hat smiling as he said, "You could do that Gryffindor House some good with that wisdom of yours, and show what Gryffindor is really all about."
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat suddenly shouted so everyone in the room could hear.
Without comprehending fully what just happened, Sasha quickly made her way over to the Gryffindor table once Professor McGonagall took the hat off of her head. A massive applaud and cheer came from the Gryffindor table, but Sasha saw Professor Dumbledore and Rowan clap more fiercely than the others. Sasha sat next to Bill who was seated next to her. Bill gave Sasha a warm smile just as they heard Rowan's name called.
"Khanna, Rowan," Professor McGonagall called.
Everyone grew silent again as they all looked forward to watched Rowan get sorted. Just as Sasha's turn did, Rowan's turn took a few moments to figure out where she belonged. She had a sudden gut wrenching feeling when Sasha realized that there was a possibility that she could be sorted into a different House and not be able to see each other as much. Sasha didn't know what she'll do if she was separated from Rowan. Sasha looked up in surprise when the hat shouted,
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Rowan quickly joined them over at the Gryffindor table and it took another moment for the table to be silenced so that the ceremony could continue. Sasha placed a hand on top of Rowan's hand and gave her hand a slight squeeze, Rowan beamed at Sasha. The remainder of the students were quickly sorted into their respective houses once they were finished. Not long after the last ones were sorted, the ceremony came to a close. Once it did, the entire room became silent when an elderly man in a purple cloak stood up in the center of the High Table. Without any questions, Sasha instantly knew that this was Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of the school.
"Welcome to Hogwarts!" Professor Dumbledore said. "Another year of witchcraft and wizardry lies ahead! It is my obligation to inform the new students and remember the old ones that the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden to all students."
He looked at the Slytherin table. It's too soon to tell, but Sasha assumes that they're not very fond of following the rules. A lot of them simply roll their eyes, but some actually snickered in response.
"Our world is now at peace now that Lord Voldemort is gone." Sasha saw a bunch of students frowning or flinching with the sound of You-Know-Who's name. "The cause of his defeat was young Harry Potter, the son of the famous Aurors, James and Lily Potter."
One of the teachers with black hair, pale skin, and in black robes had caught Sasha's mournful, empathetic gaze. Sasha noticed he he looked rather distressed after hearing Professor Dumbledore's words. As if he noticed her gaze, Sasha noticed his eyes staring straight into her eyes. There's an indistinct frown upon his face, but Sasha tried her best to hold his black-eyed gaze. He looked at her with such intensity that Sasha feel as if he's reading her mind.
"In a few years, young Harry is sure to join us. But until then, I hope we enjoy ourselves in these times of peace," Professor Dumbledore continued, making Sasha break the eye contact with the teacher as both looked at the headmaster. "Now, let's delight ourselves in this incredible feast!"
With the wave of his wand, plates full of food suddenly appeared on all the tables in the Great Hall. Everyone began to cheer and hardly anyone was hesitant to get started with filling up their own plates. Up until now, Sasha didn't realize how hungry she had gotten. But she felt as if somebody was watching her, Sasha looked around and didn't see anyone staring at her oddly.
Sasha started placing some spaghetti and shrimp on her plate, while her goblet was filled with fruit juice. While Rowan had placed some Indian food on her plate and red cherry juice in her goblet. Charlie had placed some chicken and mashed potatoes on his plate, while his goblet was filled with juice too.
"I didn't know you like spaghetti," Rowan stated to Sasha.
Sasha gave a small smirk to Rowan before she said, "There's a lot of things you have yet to know about me, Rowan."
"You're mysterious," Charlie said with a bright smile. "You and I will get along just fine."
"Umm..." Sasha looked between the two in confusion, but she began lowering her guard a bit. She tilted her head at her two new friends. "Thank you?"
She suddenly felt a wave of cool air. Sasha looked up and was surprised to meet the eyes of a man ghost in ruffles. The ghost patted her arm, giving Sasha both the sudden and reassuring feeling she'd just plunged into a cool spring lake.
"Hello Lady Sasha," murmured the ghost.
"Are you Sir Nicholas?" Sasha said curiously. "Ghost of Gryffindor Tower?"
"That's right milady." Sir Nicholas looked at Sasha with a gentle smile.
The desserts disappeared as Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet and the whole entire hall had fell silent as they all looked at him.
"Ahem — just a few more words now that we are fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you." Dumbledore's light blue eyes twinkled in the warm golden light. "First years should note that the Dark Woods is forbidden to all pupils, unless without grownup supervision. A few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." Sasha shuddered when she saw the grumpy caretaker and his cat standing at the corner. "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." Sasha saw him nodded to a spiky, white haired woman with sharp yellow eyes. "Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch." Dumbledore silently caught Sasha's eye, making her flinched back in surprise. She didn't noticed the worried and concerned looks from the professors, Gryffindor's Heads, or Perfects. "Lastly, if you come across anything odd from the usually oddity in Hogwarts, let your professors know. Now, off to bed you lot!"
Their Perfect, Angelica Cole , had started leading the Gryffindors first years through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the outside marble staircase. Sasha was more alert and awake to see that the people and animals in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed by. They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Sasha was just wondering how much farther they had to go when they came to a sudden halt.
At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.
"Password?" she said.
"Caput Draconis," said Angelica, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room covered in shades of red and full of soft armchairs, tables, and a bulletin board where school notes, ads, lost posters. Sasha saw that there were many windows that looked out onto the grounds of the school, and a large fireplace dominated one wall. The mantle of the fireplace was adorned with a portrait of a lion. As she continued to continued to look, Sasha could see that the walls were decorated with scarlet tapestries that depicted witches and wizards, but also various animals.
They found their beds in their dormitory: five four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pajamas and fell asleep in their beds. Sasha's roommates were Rowan Khanna, Pippa Macmillan, Skye Parkin, and Miranda Proulx. The four of them had fell asleep almost instantly as soon as they had laid down on their beds.
Sasha was already in her deep blue nightgown and was looking at the sightings outside from the window, with only Hamish by her side. Sasha gently stroked the feathers of her eagle-owl with a thousand thoughts in her head. She didn't have her brother to help guide her path, but Rowan might be able to help her. She soon fell asleep with the new sense of hope that she hadn't felt in a long time.