I May have helped an Evil Wizard. (rewrite)

Sorting shuffle

The door swung open. A tall witch in emerald green robes and a matching hat stood there. She looked strict. Harriet made a mental note not to get onto her bad side no matter what she taught. She had an air of 'don't mess with me'.

"The Firs' Years Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you Hagrid. I shall take it from here." She said giving a curt nod. Her Scottish accent emphasized the power she obviously held. Nerves started to sneak up on Harriet.

The lady waved her hand and the door opened. The entrance hall was huge. Harriet guessed about 14m high. The stone walls were lit by many torches and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors. Harriet remembered reading something about trick stairs in Hogwarts; a History. She stared at the stairs trying to figure out which ones they were.

The group followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor, Harriet lagging behind a bit. They could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right. The rest of the school was obviously there. Harriet's nerves were getting worse. What if no one liked her?

"Welcome to Hogwarts." said Professor McGonagall, curtly. "The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats you will be sorted into your houses. The sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be your family."

She looked at them all pointedly. "You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in the house dormitory and spend free time in the house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has it's own noble history. I hope each one of you will be a credit to whichever house you're sorted into. While you are here your triumphs will bring you points, while any rule breaking will result in a loss of points. At the end of the year the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup."

The professor paused for a second, scanning them all.

"The ceremony will begin in a few moments. Please wait here." She swept back into the hall.

Harriet scanned all the books she had memorized during the summer in her mind hoping she coud find out how they were going to sort them. She remembered something about a hat and the founders. She also remembered something about wrestling a troll, but that was unlikely.

Wasn't it?

A few minutes later Professor McGonagall returned and led them into the great hall.

It looked beautiful and majestic. The cieling looked like the night sky outside, candles floated above the tables and there were huge stained glass windows of which the glass they were made of shone and sparkeled. At the end a four legged stool stood with a hat perched on top of it. A very old and shabby hat. The rip at the brim opened and the hat began to sing.

After the hat had finished singing, Professor McGonagall 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, "Abbot, Hannah."

A girl with blonde pigtails stepped forward and was sorted into Hufflepuff.

Bones,Susan also went to Hufflepuff. She had looked very pale stepping towards the stool.

Boot,Terry became a Ravenclaw along with Brocklehurst,Mandy.

Brown,Lavender became the first Gryffindor and was greeted with thunderous cheering

Bulstrode,Millicent was welcomed into Slytherin.

Flinch-Fletchley,Justin became another Hufflepuff.

Granger,Hermione went to Gryffindor along with Weasley,Ronald (the younger brother of the twins).

Longbottom,Neville also became a Gryffindor despite having the likeness of a ghost and shivering like an Arctic explorer without a coat.

Draco didn't even sit down before the hat yelled "Slytherin!"

Crabbe, Vincent and Goyle, Gregory became Slytherin aswell. Soon followed by Pansy and Zabini, Blaise.

Nott, Theodore became a Ravenclaw. He didn't look to excited as he walked to the table and sent a longing glance towards the Slytherins. Mabye he had a relative there?

Funally it was Harriets turn. The nerves hit her over the head with a baseball bat.

She froze.

Forcing one foot in front of the other she dragged herself forward to the stool. She kept her eyes firmly on the ground as she sat down.

The hats brim slipped over her eyes.

"Mmmm," said a voice. Harriet almost jumped out of her skin.

" Your smart for sure....Ambitious and loyal too.....brave aswell.....where to put you..." It continued, apparently unconcerned.

"Put me in the house that will benefit me the most!" Harriet thought. If she was going to learn magic she was damn well going to make sure she did it right. She was also terrified of making the wrong decisions, something she had picked up around the Dursleys.

"Very ambitious....and smart....very well then....SLYTHERIN!"

The last word was bellowed by the hat.

Harriet felt the hat being taken off to find that the hall had been shocked into scilence.

Draco started clapping along with his friends. The Slytherin table exploded with cheering and clapping whilst still keepin it's slytherin composure.

The prefects got up to shake Hartiets hand as did a few of the other students. Once she sat down she glanced at the high table and realized that the headmaster (professor Dumbeldore if she remembered correctly) looked rather angry. She hoped it wasn't at her. Mabye he was just hungry.

It became quiet once more and the sorting continued.

Once it was over, Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement.

" Welcome," He said," Welcome to another year at hogwarts. Before we begin our delicous feast I would like to say a few words. Nitwit, Blubber, odment, tweak. Thank you."

The whole hall clapped. Harriet turned to the prefect that was nearest to her in confusion.

" Is he... a little crazy?" She asked, carefully in hopes she wasn't overstepping.

"Yes." The prefect replied simply, "Potatoes?"

"Yes please. So who are all the teachers?" Harriet asked. 'And who do I need to avoid?' she added on mentally.

"From right to left," he began, "Hagrid : games keeper, has a strange obsession with dangerous magical creatures. Flitwick: teaches charms, head of Ravenclaw, generally trusting and nice to everyone. Sprout: herbology, head of Hufflepuff, occasionally gives out cookies as well as points." He shrugged and continued on.
"Then there's Kettleburn, who teaches care of magical creatures and Trilewany who you won't need to know about until your third year and has a habit of predicting death and decay wherever she goes." The prefect rolled his eyes. Shook his head and continued down the line.
"Then , McGonagall: Transfiguration, also head of the Gryffindor house, strict as can be, overall worthy of anyones respect. Quirrel: teaches defence against the dark arts and is also really jumpy, 'specially around creatures. Snape: potions, head of our house, also strict with a slight sadistic streak, loves taking points and knowing what's going on. Binns: History of Magic, a ghost, completely boring and never stops talking about the goblin wars. Hooch, flying lessons and Quidditch referee. She's cool. Just don't get on her bad side."

"OK." Harriet nodded, processing the information, "Thanks."

"Anytime. Your house is your family and you're one of us now." He frowned a bit, "I hope that wasn't too much to process."

"No," Harriet told him, "It was nice and short."

The prefect smiled at her and pushed a tray of desert in her direction before striking up a conversation with the person next to him.

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So, what should we call the prefect? I know there are cannon names but... I don't care. They don't fit.
Ideas?

XOXO, Drachma