"Ah, you're both here." Dumbledore smiled, his twinkling blue eyes crinkling around the edges.
"Hello, Professor Dum-ble-dore." Espen spoke with a strong Norwegian accent, having to separate Dumbledore's long name into syllables to pronounce it properly. The Headmaster didn't seem to mind.
The best friends stepped out of the fireplace. Willow cleaned her glasses of soot with the cloth she kept in her pocket. Espen just shook his hair out with one hand, the curls bouncing back into place as soon as his hand retracted.
"Hello Espen, Willow. Welcome to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, gesturing around his room, "I don't believe that you would like to be sorted into your houses in front of everybody so it has been arranged for you both to be sorted right here. The Heads of the Houses have been notified to inform their pupils that they may have one or two students joining their house."
Professor Dumbledore was speaking quite slowly for the two foreign kids but they understood the gist of it. They would be sorted in the office instead of in front of everyone else.
"Which of you wishes to go first?"
Espen and Willow looked at each other, seemingly communicating telepathically, before Espen's smile widened and his back straightened. He gave a little hop as he turned back to Dumbledore.
"Me!" he grinned. Dumbledore nodded and motioned Espen forward to sit on a chair beside him. There was a crumpled hat on the chair, Dumbledore picked it up so Espen could sit down.
The hat was placed on his head and it sprang to life.
"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me," the hat sang.
Espen giggled, his hand automatically floating to cover his mouth, not to stop the sound, just to hide his open mouth. He didn't like his teeth, the crookedness of them made him look more childish than he was.
"You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
"There's nothing hidden in your head,
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
"You may belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
"You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
"Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning
Will always find their kind;
"Or perhaps in Slytherin,
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
To achieve their ends.
"So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands, though I have none,
For I'm the Thinking Cap."
Espen clapped, his leg bouncing though he wasn't paying attention to it. He noted in his head that the song was clearly made for singing before the ceremony; the part about putting the hat on didn't really make sense seeing as it was already on his head. But it didn't really matter, Espen enjoyed it. Willow did too, she just preferred to not show it.
Truth be told, both Espen and Willow only really understood about half of what the hat was saying. It was enough though.
"Hmm," the Sorting Hat started, Espen wasn't sure if it was out loud or in his head, "You're not the bravest in the bunch, are you? No matter, I can see so much loyalty. How admirable. I know just where you should go."
Espen waited in suspense, twiddling his thumbs in his lap.
"Hufflepuff!" the hat announced and a broad grin broke out onto Espen's face. The plain robes that he was wearing switched so they displayed the Hufflepuff emblem instead at the swish of Dumbledore's hand. His black tie painted itself with yellow stripes. He likes those colours, yellow looked good on him.
He returned the hat to Dumbledore and jumped up from the chair so Willow could sit down.
The hat appeared to be talking to her either really, really quietly or in her head (probably the latter). After a minute or so it yelled 'Ravenclaw' and Willow's uniform changed. Her tie was now blue and bronze.
She pushed her glasses up again as she stood up.
"Wonderful," said Dumbledore, "Now, your parents have informed us that you will need a bit of help with translating whilst you're here. We have only two students in this school that speak any Norwegian. We have also been informed that one of them is a friend of yours, Miss Bjornson. Luna Lovegood?"
Willow's light green eyes widened. Luna was someone she considered her best friend, after Espen of course. They were pen pals. The topic of magic had never came up in their letters, though. Probably because they both thought the other was a muggle.
"I'm afraid that the other student isn't....as pleased with the situation, Mr Hattestad. For you, we have Blaise Zabini," Dumbledore told him, "They should both be arriving in a few minutes. Would either of you care for some licorice whilst we wait?"
~~~~~~~
Quick author's note: Yes, I am aware that the Sorting Hat Song used in this chapter is from Harry's 1st year but I didn't want to make one up so....oh well 😂
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Soft // Blaise Zabini
Fanfic∆ "There's bravery in being soft." ∆ After cheerful Espen Hattestad and his smart best friend, Willow Bjornson, were taken out of the Nordic School of Magic by their parents and transfered to Hogwarts it was clear that they would need some assistanc...
