I Solemnly Swear

Chapter Three

The boat had landed and the four boys climbed out. Following Ogg, they walked into Hogwarts' large hallway. Sirius was shocked by the size. He had seen many large homes, including his own, but this was truly impressive. The doorways themselves were at least 6 times bigger than Sirius himself. After being raised in a fancy, rich lifestyle, Sirius knew that whoever created this castle had spared no expense.

At that moment, a tall, young woman with her hair in a severe bun came up to the group of eleven year olds. "Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall," said the newly named Professor. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your houses will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with your house, sleep in your dormitory, and spend free time in your house's common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most house points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few moments in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you try to smarten yourselves up here before I take you." Her eyes seemed to land on Potter's hair and the boy Lupin's shabby robes. Sirius didn't try to change anything as that would look like he had something wrong with him. Blacks didn't have anything wrong with them. Once everyone had finished their needless fidgeting, the Professor beckoned them with her hand and started walking towards the large doors in front of them.

Sirius trailed behind the professor like everyone else. Beside him, the boy Potter was shaking. Sirius hoped it was with excitement and not fear. If it was fear, well, Potter would most certainly not be allowed to be Sirius' acquaintance.

The group went through one of the large doorways and into an even bigger room. Sirius assumed this was the Great Hall. There were five tables inside the room. Four of the tables were filled with students, each table having a different colour. On the far left of the room, the students wore yellow on their school uniform. Sirius assumed they were Hufflepuffs; his parents always described them as "horrible, mudblood-loving, yellow wizards." The students who sat at that table looked a little too smiley and kind. Sirius could've sworn one of them winked at him. How dare they have the nerve to do that! He was a Black for Salazar's sake!

Next to them were the Slytherins. There, Sirius could see all of his family smiling at him, as if they were already welcoming him into their ranks. His cousins, Andro and Cissy, were there waving. Bellatrix, their older sister, had just finished her time at Hogwarts and was already on her way to becoming a mad witch. Andro, however, was by far his favorite cousin. Although she was a Slytherin, she had shown him they were able to choose their own path, however small those choices were. Next to them was Lucius Malfoy, who Sirius' parents had said Uncle Cygnus and Aunt Druella were thinking of marrying Cissy off to. From what Sirius had seen from him at the galas he was forced to attend, Malfoy was a right old git who was not good enough for his kinder-than-most-Black-cousins, Cissy. Andro had laughed and agreed, though she had told him not to use such 'foul' language.

After the Slytherin table, there was a table full of blue dressed children. Sirius assumed this was the Ravenclaw table, as Potter had gone on and on about the red and gold colours of Gryffindor. With all three other houses out of the way, it left the last table to be Gryffindor. It was full of students sitting in red and gold uniforms, just as Potter had described it, and all of them were talking around and joking instead of listening to what was going on at the last table.