THE WITCHING HOUR ➸ h. potter

5 - the school

The door suddenly opened. A tall, black-haired woman in emerald-green robes stood there. Minerva McGonagall! She was the woman who had come to my house and explained everything about Hogwarts and being a witch to me. I had liked her a lot and knowing she would be at Hogwarts gave me an immediate sense of relief and safety.

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

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

She pulled the door wide open. The entrance hall was so big that I could have fit the whole of the our house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones I had seen at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to really make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing us seemed to lead to the upper floors.

We followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. I could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right — the rest of the school must already have been here — but Professor McGonagall showed us first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. We had to crowd in, standing rather closer together than we would have usually done, peering about at the surroundings 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 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. I saw 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. I swallowed.

"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."

My heart gave a sudden jolt. A test?! In front of the whole school? I didn't even know any magic yet! What on earth would I have to do?

I really hadn't expected something like this the moment they arrived. I looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified, too. That made me feel a bit better.

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.

I tried hard not to listen to her. I'd never been more nervous in my life, ever. I kept my eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead us all to our dooms.

Then something happened that made me jump about a foot in the air, and I heard several people behind me scream, as well.

"What the f — ?!"

I gasped. 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 any of us. 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 —"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost — I say, what are you all doing here?"

A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed us.

Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at all of us, "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely. I just stared.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar, "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice, "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."