Hermione Granger and the Philosopher's Stone (Completed)

Chapter 7 - The Sorting

The door opened and Hermione found herself looking at a tall, thin witch wearing emerald velvet robes and black hair in a tight bun. Her face conveyed strictness, but Hermione could see kindness in her eyes.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall"
"Thank you Hagrid. I will take them from here"
Hermione remembered from her acceptance letter that Professor McGonagall was the deputy headmistress. She let them through the entrance hall, which looked similar to one of the tunnels at Gringotts, just with a ceiling so high up that you couldn't see it from where Hermione was standing. Torches were attached to the walls, giving much needed light and warmth to the shivering first years. Professor McGonagall led them into a small chamber, which really wasn't built for the number of people it currently housed. Hermione could only presume that they were near the Great Hall, as she could hear talking and the sound of cutlery on plates. Professor McGonagall stood by the door and cleared her thought. Silence fell on the room, and everyone turned to face her.

"Welcome to Hogwarts" she began "The start-of-term feast 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 as, 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 the 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 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 smarten yourselves up a bit as much as you can while you are waiting"
She glanced at Neville's messy uniform, Harry Potter's messy hair, and Ron Weasley's overall messiness.
"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly"

She left. Hermione heard Harry Potter swallow.
"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked Ron Weasley
"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking"
Hermione panicked. She had only learnt a few spells. What if they were the wrong ones? What use was opening doors in the middle of a hall. Talking generally stopped her worrying, so she talked non stop about the spells she had learnt. However, it didn't make her less worried at all, and when she stopped taking and turned to face Neville, she saw that he looked quite exhausted. When he smiled at her, it didn't quite reach his eyes, and he kept looking at a sandy haired boy, who was taking to a boy with dark skin and curly black hair, and sighing. She felt hurt. Why wasn't anyone talking to her? She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't notice about twenty ghosts walk into the room via the walls until one of them walked into her and she felt like she had been dunked in ice cold water. They were arguing about Peeves, who Hermione knew from her books to be a poltergeist. They started talking to some of the other children, with no response. She suddenly thought to ask them what the sorting test was, when Professor McGonagall returned, and made them go away.
"Now, form a line" said Professor McGonagall " and follow me"

Professor McGonagall opened the doors and led the first years into the great hall. Hermione gasped. Despite the irony, magical was the only word Hermione could find to describe it. There were four long tables, with benches on either side where the students sat. Lit candles were floating over the four tables, as well as the teachers' table at the end. Hermione saw Neville look up, and she did too. The ceiling was black, and was dotted with tiny stars. Whoever had placed the charms had done so very well.
"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside" Hermione whispered to Neville, hoping to impress him "I read about it in Hogwarts: A History"
But Neville just sighed again and stared at the floor