Selene Walker and the Sorcerers Stone (Book 1)

chapter 3

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross. Selene smirked as she remembered having to talk to this particular witch about James and his friends. 

"The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid. 

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." She pulled the door wide. The Entrance Hall was so big you could have fitted the whole of the Walker ranch and house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble stair case facing them led to the upper floors. 

Selene took in the sight of the castle as they followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Selene could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right – the rest of the school must already be here– but Professor McGonagall showed the first-years into a small empty chamber off the hall. 

They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously. Selene could feel a jolt of excitement coursing through her. 

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "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. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house 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 points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair. 

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said ProfessorMcGonagall. "Please wait quietly." She left the chamber. 

Harry swallowed. "How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked Ron. 

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking." Ron says.

"Oh please. You just put on a hat" Selene scowled. Harry and Ron look over at her questioningly.

 She looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified too. No one was talking much except Hermione Granger, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learnt and wondering which one she'd need.

Selene lets out a squeal of surprise seeing a rat, which wasn't really a rat but a black mouse, beside her foot and tries to back away from it only to loose her footing and fall back off the stair that she had been standing on. Harry jumped in alarm hearing the squeal and looked over just in time to see Selene fall backwards into a girl with red hair. 

The red haired girl groaned as she looked to who pushed her. She saw Selene who had fallen down onto the steps.

Selene adopted a look of pain as pain shot through her leg and up her back. The girl picked herself up into a squatting position next to her with a concerning look. "Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you?"

Selene looked up to see who spoke. Harry and Ron had knelt down beside her as well.

They could see a haunted look in her eyes. Harry and Ron panicked a little seeing the look in her eyes.