Demigods at Hogwarts

Chapter Eleven: The Sorting Ceremony

Calypso's POV
After saying goodbye to our new friends, we walked over to the large man who was calling for first years and the exchange students, A.K.A., us. When he saw us he smiled, and greeted us.
"'Ello! You must be the exchange students. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts," he said, cheerfully. We smiled back at him and introduced ourselves.

When all of the first years had come over, we left the station to get to Hogwarts. Leo was holding my hand, and I could see the ash and oil all over him through the darkness. He's gonna get loads of weird looks, I thought to myself, smiling.
"Leo, you're covered in grease and ash, and you haven't even been in a forge or anything," I say.
"Sorry, Sunshine," he replies.
"Well, you might want to try and clean yourself up before this sorting ceremony Hermione told us about," I mutter to him under my breath.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Do you think that I could go to the loos first?" He asks.
"Maybe, or you could 'fall' into the lake and get Percy to dry you off?" I suggest, remembering Hermione explaining about the boat trip we would be taking across the lake.
"I think I'm gonna go with the toilet idea," he replies.
"You could, but good luck getting it all of that way," I say, smiling.
"Well, I only need to get it off of my hands and face, I'm not wearing the other clothes, now I'm in the uniform," he whispered.
"OK. But I still think the lake idea is good," I say back.
"You only want me to do that so you can see me fall in the lake, don't you, sunshine?" He asks, smiling.
"Maybe," I whisper back.
"I have an idea. In the boat, I can reach over the sides and wash my hand in the water, and rinse my face of with my hands," he says.
"And I can push you in," I add hopefully.
"No. That isn't part of the plan," he says and I pout. "You'll get in trouble, Sunshine," he adds.
"Fine," I say unhappily.

As we walk around a corner, I gasp, as I see the massive castle. It is beautiful.
"Wow..." I say, staring at it. Across a massive lake, the gigantic castle stands, held above the water on a small, rocky cliff. The moon is suspended over it, occasionally clouds pass over it, blocking it from our view. The lights in the castle are reflected in the simmering lake. It truly is breath taking.

We climb into the boats, around four of us in each. I was in a boat with Leo, Hazel and Frank. As we floated along, Leo started washing his hands in the water and lifting water out of the lake to was his face. Soon, the oil and ash was gone, but his face was dripping wet. In front of us, as we were sitting on the second little bench in the boats, Hazel was looking sea sick and Frank was rubbing her back comfortingly. In the boat next to us, Annabeth was talking on about architecture so quickly I couldn't understand her, making me giggle to myself.

Soon, we reached the other side of the lake and clambered out of the boats onto the land. We walked up many flights of steps and as we got closer, I felt anxiety and excitement building up inside me, bubbling up as we got even closer, but I couldn't quite tell what I felt the most out of the two emotions.

Finally, we reached the castle, and I could feel nervousness overtaking the excitement as I looked up at the massive castle. We walked inside and I gulped as l looked around. We walked up another flight of stairs and a lady wearing green robes took us from there and introduce herself as Professor McGonagall, headmistress if Hogwarts. She led us through the castle and I jumped when I saw the pictures moving. Get it together, Calypso. I scolded to myself. There are eleven year olds doing this and they aren't freaking out!

We reached a large set of double doors and I knew that this is where we would be sorted. Inside my chest, my heart was a prisoner, banging at the cell walls trying to escape. Professor McGonagall turned around and started to explain.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. 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 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 smart yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting," she explained to us.
"I will return when we are ready for you," she said. "Please wait quietly." I started to run my fingers through my hair, my hands shaking with the nervously. Leo took my hands in his and said,
"Calypso. Stop worrying. It'll be fine, don't worry," I smiled at this and kissed his cheek. I heard I few first years 'aww'-ing at this, others saying 'ew.' I laughed and rested my head on Leo's shoulder, waiting. I saw Annabeth trying to flatten down Percy's messy hair, making me chuckle to myself. However, she didn't seem to be getting anywhere with it.