The Other Witches

6. Sorting

The five of us walk uneasily up the stone steps with the crowd of first years. We're so much taller, so we stick out like sore thumbs. A few of the first years look at us with curious faces and begin to whisper. They're not very good at whispering, because I can hear a lot of what they're saying.

"So they're going to be separated....don't look like anything special..."

"Hmm...I bet that one's going to be a Gryffindor.....can't see any of them being Slytherin, though...."

"Which one's the Gryffindor again?....Oh, that's the Ravenclaw.....right....."

This is getting really annoying. They talk like we're not even here. Lucy and Von look pretty ticked as well. Von seems this close to yelling, "Hello? We're RIGHT HERE, you know!"

Just then, a stern-faced woman in a dark green robe approaches the top of the stairs. Professor McGonagall. I've seen hundreds of pictures of her.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. In a few minutes the Sorting will take place, and you will be placed in your respective houses. Your house is your family. Good behavior merits house points, but rule-breaking will lose points. The House Cup is awarded at the end of the year to the house that has the most points. I hope you will all be respectful students, whichever house you are in," McGonagall finally finishes her spiel. "Ah, it looks like they are ready for you."

As if on cue, the double doors swing open, revealing a massive hall filled with students. Four long tables stand parallel to each other, and one stands along the front wall. The students and staff all turn to look at McGonagall leading us down the aisle in the middle of the tables, carrying a large stool with the fabled Sorting Hat sitting on it. She sets it down in front of the staff table.

And then, in one of the most bizarre moments of my life, the hat begins to sing. It tells a story of four great wizards and witches who dreamed of a legacy in teaching children to use magic. It describes the virtues that were valued by the founders and the way that children are sorted. During the final verse, I noticed that things start to get creepy.

...Oh, know the perils, read the signs,

The warning history shows,

For our Hogwarts is in danger,

From external, deadly foes

And we must unite inside her

Or we'll crumble from within.

I have told you, I have warned you....

Let the Sorting now begin.

The hall erupted with applause as the hat closed its mouth, but I could hear some of the students whispering nervously and looking around. McGonagall, who seems totally calm, produces a scroll of parchment. It unfurls in front of her with a flick of her wand.

"When I call your name, please sit down on this stool to be sorted into your house. Altara, Jane?"

A blonde-haired first year walks up to the stool and the hat slips over her eyes as it is placed on her head. The hat folds a little, as if in concentration. After several seconds it proclaims,"Right. I know where you go. RAVENCLAW!"

Jane walks nervously to the Ravenclaw table, where she is greeted warmly by the older students. McGonagall calls, "Bellington, Lauren?"

Lauren sits down gingerly on the stool. The hat starts talking again.

"Hmm....tricky....you've got talent, but also an eye for inner beauty....there's definitely a place for you....I know.....HUFFLEPUFF!"

Lauren is swallowed into the sea of Hufflepuff students as McGonagall calls out, "Demille, Luciette?"

The hat slides over Lucy's curly, brownish-black hair and knocks her glasses off. "Ahhh...here is a fiery soul....an independent spirit.....GRYFFINDOR!"

A Gryffindor boy tosses the glasses at Lucy, and they get tangled in her hair. She smiles as she sits down, but her dark brown eyes are livid.

As "Farlend, William" and "Flaxon, Alexandria" are both sorted into Slytherin, my mind begins to wander. What could the hat be trying to say when it foretold danger and warned us to unite? And is it the foes we should be worried about, or is it....

"Glasswater, Eliza?"

The stool is a little short for a thirteen-year-old, but who am I to complain? The hat slips over my eyes and I see blackness. Then I hear a voice in my head. "Hmm... a girl like yourself is hard to place....an ample amount of bravery....plenty of ambition....you'd make a good Gryffindor..."

No, please, I think desperately, I'll never be as brave as any Gryffindor ever was. I'll never live up to the name Gryffindor. Please, no....

"You are strange in thinking that way," the hat replies,"therefore.....RAVENCLAW!"

The Ravenclaws cheer as I settle down next to Jane Altara, and turn once again to the stool in the front, where "Haptelline, Lucas" becomes a Gryffindor. And I kind of zone out until I hear "Nova, Ella?"

Ella's short hair disappears under the hat's brim. "Ahh, this is complicated.....but I know where to put you.....HUFFLEPUFF!"

Ella smiles broadly and goes to join Lauren at the Hufflepuff table. Lucky ducks.

My stomach grumbles softly. Darn, I forgot to eat on the train. My brain goes a little fuzzy but snaps back at the name "Winsleigh, Siobhan".

"Now you are a strange one.....your carefree exterior hides secrets.....a hidden ambition.....SLYTHERIN!"

There's applause from the Slytherins as Siobhan joins the table.

A Ravenclaw boy leans over and asks, "Were you friends with those girls, the ones who you were talking with?"

"Were? I still am!" I whisper indignantly

"Well, I'm just saying," he replies, "that tensions are stretching to the breaking point between the houses. You might want to be careful. Things get awfully violent in the corridors sometimes...."

"I don't care," I say carefully, "They're my friends, and no house separation can change that."

I didn't know how separated they really were until the next day.

Hello Wattpandas! My punctuality is definitely not the best, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

-RedV