Ronald Weasley and the Mysterious Magical Rock

The Singing Hat

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She looked really strict. Even now, I could feel her piercing eyes sweeping over the crowd looking for mischief-makers.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall, said Hagrid.
I immediately recognised that name. This was the head of Gryffindor House. Fred and George had told me that she was strict and had the eye of a hawk. It was hard to get anything past her. 

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here," said Professor McGonagall, pulling the door wide to admit the first-years into the entrance hall. I gasped. The entrance hall was the biggest room I'd ever seen. Not to mention, the grandest. The walls were lined with flaming torches, and the ceiling was so high you could barely see where it ended. At the end of the hall stood a majestic marble staircase. I could hear the sound of hundreds of people chatting earnestly to each other. I fidgeted with my robes nervously as Professor McGonagall led us to an antechamber just off the entrance hall.

"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," I started to worry. All the Weasleys ever had been in Gryffindor. What if I was sorted somewhere else? What if I was sorted into stinking Slytherin?

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, 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 rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most pints will win the House Cup, a great honour. 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."
Professor McGonagall finished her long speech and briskly left the room. I wondered why they would have to smarten themselves up. Fred and George had said something about a test and something that hurt a lot. And then they'd have to fight a troll or something.

I anxiously fiddled with my robes, tugging and twisting the material. Everyone looked uneasy, except for Hermione Granger, who just wouldn't shut up about all the spells she knew. 

Then, something strange happened. Around twenty translucent people had floated into the room through a wall. Half the people screamed. The other half stared in stunned silence. They floated across the room, talking about someone called Peeves. I recognised this name too. Fred and George had said something about a poltergeist called Peeves. By what they had said, and how the ghosts were talking about him, I wasn't sure if I wanted to encounter him at all. 

The ghosts suddenly noticed the huddle of students looking nervously up at them.

"New students!" Exclaimed a ghost who introduced himself as the Fat Frair, smiling. "About to be sorted, I suppose?"
A few people nodded, silently. 

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

"Move along now," said Professor McGonagall, who had just re-entered the antechamber, "The sorting ceremony's about to start."
I gulped nervously. What kind of horrible task did they have to do to get sorted? 

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall instructed, "and follow me."

My stomach lurched, and the first years and I nervously followed Professor McGonagall through a set of double doors into the Great Hall. 

If I had thought the Entrance Hall was grand, it did not compare to the splendour of the Great Hall. It was lit by thousands of floating candles, and four long tables stretched across the hall, where the rest of the school were sitting.  At the top of the hall was another long table, where the teachers were sitting. I noticed more ghosts floating about the hall, and when I looked up at the ceiling, I saw that it was black, and dotted with stars.