The Barry Johnson Walter Series Book One: The Beginning

Chapter 7: The Sorting

Chapter 7: The Sorting

After stepping into the castle Barry looked around. The Entrance Hall was big. There was a big marble staircase that were opposite of the oak doors. There was also a Grand Staircase and other doors. To the right was double door to the right, which was where ll the first years were walking into. Barry, Alec and Ginny followed the, into the Great Hall, which was filled with conversations from the different House tables. .

The Great Hall was a large hall with four long tables where each House sat during each meal. There was a staff table in the front that sat at the front where the whole Zarcurus staff sat. The Great Hall's ceiling was covered with candles and enchanted to look like the sky above.

All the students were walking to the are between the four House tables and the staff table. After a few seconds all the first years were in the middle looking around the Great Hall. The Great Hall then became quiet and an old man sitting in the middle of the staff table stood.

He was a tall and thin man, with silver hair and beard and blue eyes. Barry knew very well that he was the Headmaster of Zarcurus. “Thank you all being so polite and quieting down,” he said. “Before anything is to happen in here the first years are to be sorted into their houses.”

Barry was looking along each of the tables to see if he could find Sam and Tim. It took him a few second but he found them. They were sitting at the second table. He smiled towards them and they both waved at him.

Barry then turned his attention back to the Headmaster. There was now a a stool that stood in front of the first years. “When I call your name, you will sit down on the stool. As soon as you sit down, the stool is able to determine what House you are best suited for, Aristoteles, Elgento, Ardesco, and Auris are your choices.”

The Headmaster then started calling off names and students were being sorted into their proper House. He was calling names off randomly, and Barry was anticipating for his name to be called. He was called halfway through, right after Eric Midler who had been sorted into Elgento.

“Barry Walter,” the Headmaster said. A low murmur went though the Great Hall but quickly died away.

Barry sat down on the stool. It was a few seconds before anything happened. “Ardesco!” a voice rang throughout the Great Hall. The table that Sam and Tim had been sitting at erupted into applause. Sam and Tim stood up with the rest of the table and welcomed Barry to the end.

It took a few minutes for the applause to die away. “Thank you all for quieting down once again,” the Headmaster said. “We know how exciting it must be to have someone like Barry here, and I hope everyone can get used to it. Now for the next student, Alecto Walter.”

Alec took a nervous step towards the stool and turned and looked at Barry, who was on the edge of his seat waiting to see where his bes friend would be sorted. He gave Alec a nod and he sat on the stool. “Ardesco” a voice rang through the Great Hall again.

There was applause for Alec as he sat down next to Barry, who had been clapping the loudest for Alec, aside from Sam and Tim. “Now on to Miss Ginevra Walter,” the Headmaster said.

Ginny sat down on the stool and waited to see where she would be sorted into. As soon as she sat down the mysterious voice rang through the Great Hall. “Ardesco!” Barry, Alec, Sam and Tim clapped as hard as they could for Ginny as she joined them at the end of the table.

As the applause dies away the Headmaster called up the next person.

“You know something?” Barry asked his friends.

“What?” Alec, Ginny, Sam and Tim asked together.

“I wonder how that stool works,” Barry said.

Sam and Tim shared this identical grin.

“What?” Barry asked over the noise of the applause the next person that was sorted got.

“Yea, something you wanna share with us?” Alec asked.

“Just that we asked old Brakenbury the same question every year,” Sam said.

“And if there’s one thing we learned about our Headmaster every year, it's that he I very good at avoiding the question,” Tim said.

“So then its some big secret to what makes the stool make the decision that it did?” Barry asked confused.

“I don't really think its a secret,” Tim said.

“But we have come close to finding out what makes it do it, every year,” Sam said.

“Its pretty oblivious how the stool does what it does,” Ginny said. “And it seems oblivious to. And it also makes sense.”

Barry thought to himself for a few seconds before coming to his senses. “I think I know how it works, as well,” he said as the table filled up with food.

He looked up to see that the sorting was finished and the feast had now begun.