Harry Potter and the Original Tribrid

Chapter 5 - Sorted

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there.

"The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall."

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here," said the professor, whom Hope remembered from the letter to be the deputy headmistress.

She pulled the door wide. The Entrance Hall was huge. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches. The ceiling was too high to make out. A magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. From the buzzing of conversations from a doorway to the right, Hope knew the rest of the school was already here. Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would 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. 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 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.

"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. Hope could see Harry nervously trying to flatten his hair.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." She left the chamber.

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" Harry asked Ron.

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

"Of course, he was joking," muttered Hope under her breath. "Only an idiot would believe otherwise." Ron heard her and shot her a look. Hope glared right back and he shrank away.

Besides Hope, Hermione had started to whisper about all the spells she'd learned. Hope wanted to tell her to relax but thought better of it. Sometimes, it is better to let things play out.

Hope tried to figure out how they would be sorted. From what she could tell from everything she had heard, the houses were about respecting different qualities in students. It must mean that whatever the test, it would be for their personalities, not anything related to their magical capability.

Hope was snapped out of her train of thoughts by screaming around her. She looked around her and saw ghosts gliding towards them from the back wall. Hope was slightly surprised to see ghosts here. She knew about the afterlife but she had never seen someone who had willingly given up on their chance at one. Some of the ghosts were irritated at seeing the students where they apparently were not supposed to be, while others were excited. They were asking about what house the students wanted to be in when they were interrupted by a sharp voice.

"Move along now," said Professor McGonagall. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

The ghosts dispersed and Professor McGonagall turned to the first-years fully.