Against All Odds - Harry Potter Male Reader Insert

The Sorting

Hagrid had barely returned his arm to his side when the door swung open, revealing a tall, older witch with a very stern face. She reminded Y/N quite a bit of Madam Eleanor.

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

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

The group of new students followed Professor McGonagall through the doorway and into a giant entrance hall, complete with torches and the most wonderous marble staircase Y/N had ever seen. She stopped in front of another grand set of doors and turned to face the kids. Behind the doors were the sounds of a very large crowd, presumably the rest of the student body.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "Before you take your seats and partake in the start-of-term banquet, you will each be sorted into your houses. While you are here, your house will be something like your family. You will sleep in your house dormitory, spend your free time in your house common room, and join the rest of your house for classes.

"While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose points. The house with the most points will be rewarded the house cup. Now, I suggest you smarten yourselves up as much as you can before the Sorting Ceremony begins. I shall return when everything is ready.

She turned and entered the Great Hall, where a swell of noise could be heard before the doors shut once more.

"Do either of you know how we get sorted?" Harry asked, his nerves evident.

"Fred and George told me it was some sort of test. Fighting a troll or something, but I think they were joking."

"It can't be that bad, they wouldn't have this many untrained witches and wizards trying to do something like that in front of a crowd. It would be a huge risk," Y/N reasoned. "But a test might make sense."

The crowd murmured with various other potential ideas, each more ridiculous than the last. Luckily, before they could get too out of hand, Professor McGonagall reappeared at the door.

"Form a line, please, and follow me," she said.

The students nervously did as they were told, all worried about what was to come.

What they found in the Great Hall was like nothing Y/N had ever seen. He had read several books about the castle, including Hogwarts, A History, but seeing it firsthand was completely different. Hundreds of students sat along four long tables surrounded by floating candles. Another long table was set perpendicular to the others at the end of the hall where the remainder of the teachers were. The famous enchanted ceiling that showed the sky beyond it gleamed with the many stars above and several ghosts made their way around the room. 

The group of first years were led to the front of the hall in front of the teacher's table. A lone stool with a pointed wizard's hat, clearly many years old, perched upon it. Nobody moved or spoke, they simply waited. Then the hat began to move. A rip near the brim opened and it launched into a small speech.

It claimed to be the Sorting Hat and spoke briefly about the different attributes that each house prized, claiming to be able to tell which house you belong in by seeing into your mind. 

Once the Sorting Hat had finished, the hall burst into applause. Under a lot of other situations, Y/N wasn't sure whether all of that could be considered a good thing, but it wasn't his place to judge.

"We've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered, clearly not sure whether to be relieved or angry at his brothers for lying.

"I told you it would be simple," Y/N muttered, eyeing the Hat which now stood motionless once more.