Neville Longbottom- The Boy Who Lived

The Sorting Ceremony

This chapter has been dedicated to TanyaDiva for her awesome book cover:) All rights belong to her :) This is the next chapter, please don't forget to vote and comment because it means a lot to me <3 also this is up for the Watty Awards, so please vote, it only takes a second. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think <3 <3

Chapter 7- The Sorting

“Three to a boat!” The gruff voice called. Once we got closer, we realised that the voice was coming from a very large man. He was about twice the size of me, with huge shaggy brown hair, almost like a lion's mane. His dustbin lid sized hands were pointing towards little brown, wooden boats. My small podgy hands were still holding onto Hermione's, so I pulled her over to the boats. She seemed nervous at first, but I gave her a smile and her face softened, her worry lines smoothing out. Grinning, we were the first to climb into the boats, and the giant man looked over at us and smiled encouragingly. As soon as everyone was in, the giant waved a pink umbrella and said loudly, “Onwards!” And the boats jerked forward. I had heard all about the giant squid, and I knew Hermione could too, but we couldn't see it. I could see that Hermione was slightly dissapointed, so I made a promise to myself, I would take her to see the giant squid. “In a second, you will get your first glimpse of Hogwarts! And mind your head.” We all ducked to get under the curtain of moss up ahead, and then I saw it. Hogwarts. The hige castle imposed a shadow over the lake, making it quite cold. But the feeling of being home at last overpowered the cold. It warmed me from the heart, but made me miss my parents. If they hadn't of died, then this wouldn't feel so homely. But living with Gran, it's enough to make anyone be happy to leave. Don't get me wrong, I love Gran, but she is a bit overbearing sometimes, and brings me down a lot. I had zoned out, thinking of Gran and my parents, when a slight tap to the arm caught me off guard. I suppose you could say I was a little weak at heart, as I jumped at the touch and fell out of the boat. Flailing around under the water, I was starting to lose oxygen and panic, when a slimy arm pushed my back and I flopped onto the bank. I rolled over and saw Hermione looking shocked, yet looking at me like I had just produced a miracle, with pride. A massive pair of hands pulled me up off of my back, and put me on my feet. “Righ' now tha' we are all off the boats, le' me introduce myself. I am Rubeus Hagrid, the grounds keeper here, but you can call me Hagrid.” Striding past all of us, Hagrid raised his fist and knocked three times on the large wooden door. As they opened, another figure, but a normal sized one, was behind them. She stepped into the light, and her stern face showed me one thing. She was not someone to cross. “The firs' years, Professor.” Hagrid said politely, his voice oozing with respect.

“Thank you Hagrid.” She motioned her hand towards the large room beyond her. Slowly, all the first years shuffled in, with Hagrid up the rear, closing the door behind him. “Now, I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and the Head of Gryffindor house. In a second, you will be taken into the great hall where you will be sorter into four houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. This will be like your family, all wrong doings will lose you points, and your achievements will gain you points. The house with the most points at the end of the year will win the house cup. If you could wait here,” She indicated to a little chamber to the left of the great hall, “And I will come and get you in a few minutes.” We filed into the chamber, and everyone dispersed off into to small groups and chatted about houses. I saw Harry and his friend Ron talking in the corner. I listened in for a minute, wondering what Harry was telling Ron. “I want to be in Gryffindor, where the brave dwell at heart. My Dad was in there and so was my Mum.”

“Oh, well my whole family has been in Gryffindor, but I am worried that I won't be. Fred told me we have to do a really hard test, and I don't want to be embarrassed.” Ron said, but had already gone red, even his ears had. Hermione clicked her fingers in front of my face to get my attention.