Harry Styles and the Sorcerer's Stone

Chapter 7: The Sorting Hat

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.

"The firs' years, Professor Gomez," said Niall.

"Thank you, Niall. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Bieber's house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor Gomez across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right - the rest of the school must have already be here — but Professor Gomez showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would sexually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor Gomez. "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 have classes with the rest of 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, your triumphs will earn you house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most house points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. 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."

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Liam's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Shawn's smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor Gomez. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber. Harry swallowed.

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked Shawn.

"Some sort of test, I think. Rami said it hurt a lot, I think he was joking."

Harry's heart gave a horrible jolt. A test? In front of the whole school? But he didn't know any magic yet — what on earth would he have to do? He hadn't expected something like this the moment they arrived. He looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified, too. No one was talking much except for Ariana Grande, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she'd need. Harry was tried hard not to listen to her. He'd never been more nervous, never, not even when he'd had to take a school report to the Bieber's saying that he'd somehow turned his teacher's wig blue. He kept his eyes fixed on the floor. Any second now, Professor Gomez would come back and lead him to his doom.

Then something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air — several people behind him screamed.

"What the —?"

He gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance —"