Grindelwald's Burden (Books 1-7)

3. 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.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall." said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." McGonagall said.

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

They first years followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Y/n, Harry and Ron could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right, the rest of the school must already be here. Professor McGonagall however showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." said Professor McGonagall. "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." She began to announce.

"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." Professor McGonagall explained now. "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 your house points, while any rulebreaking 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."

"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 Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair and Y/n made sure he covered his right eye with his hair again.

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

She left the chamber. Harry swallowed. "How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked Ron.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but 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.

Y/n looked around the room now to see and that all the other students looked terrified. No one was talking much except Hermione Granger, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she'd need.

'Well we all prepare in different ways I guess.' Y/n thought to himself before he turned to look at the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead them to the great hall.

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

Y/n and the others turned their heads to see 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..."