My Tale {Book One in the Hermione Granger Series}

Chapter Eight

I got into the line, behind a brown-haired girl, and we walked out of the chamber, back through the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led us first years up there, so that we came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind us. The hundreds of faces staring at us looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candldlight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver.

Mainly to avoid everyone's faces, I looked up and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. I read about this in A History of Magic, I thought before whispering "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History"

I looked back towards Professor McGonagall, and she silently placed a four-legged stool in front of us first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. The hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. I looked at it, thinking it was very old. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing:

"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.

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 might 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 patient 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 folk 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 a Thinking Cap!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" I heard Ron whispering to Harry. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."

Trying on the hat was a lot better than doing a spel, but I did wish I could have tried it on without everyone watching, I thought, hopefully I'm in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause - "HUFFLEPUFF!" shouts the hat. The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. I saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her. "Bones, Susan!" "HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah. "Boot, Terry!" "RAVENCLAW!" The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. Perhaps it was my imagination, after all I had heard and read about Slytherin, but I thought they looked like an unpleasant lot.

I was starting to feel nervous now; I would be sorted soon. "Finch-Fletchley, Justin!" "HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat called. I noticed that sometimes the hat shouted out the House at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus," sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!"

This is me, I thought. I almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly onto my head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Yay, I thought before going to the Gryffindor table to watch everyone else being sorted.

When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."

Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"

Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.

There weren't many people left now.

"Moon" . . . , "Nott" . . . , "Parkinson" . . . , then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil" . . . , then "Perks, Sally-Anne" . . . , and then "Potter, Harry!" As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall. "Potter, did she say?" "The Harry Potter?" All of the people inthe hall were craning their necks to get a good look at him. I saw Harry grip the edges of the stool. He's taking a while, I thought, just before the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindor table. He was given the loudest cheer, and two red-haired twins that looked like Ron were shouting "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff we'd seen earlier. The ghost pattend Harry's arm and I saw Hagrid giving him a thumbs-up.

And now there were only four people left to be sorted. "Thomas, Dean," a Black boy even taller than Ron, joined Harry at the Gryffindor table. "Turpin, Lisa," became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. He put the hat on and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

I clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair next to him.

"Well done, Ron, excellent," said another red-haired boy who was across from Harry as "Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

I looked down at my empty gold plate. I hadn't eaten much today.

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NOTE: I DO NOT OWN THE PLACES, CHARACTERS AND IDEAS OF THE HARRY POTTER SERIES. THEY REMAIN THE PROPERTY OF J.K.ROWLING.

Dedicated to IceyQuidditchTiger (whose name was changed to KatrinaxWasxHere) for being such.an amazing reader and friend, and also being the first to comment, as well as encouraging me to update more and write longer chapters. THANKS for you enthusiasm!