Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (DISCONTINUED)

The Sorting Hat

"Heads down!" The man yelled as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them tight underneath the castle, until they reach a kind of underground harbor.
"Oh, you there! Is this your toad?" The man asked.

"Trevor!" Neville cried, holding out his hands. They clambered up a passageway in the rock , after the man's lamp.

They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"

The man raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door. The door swung open at once. At tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," the man said.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was gigantic. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircases facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. They 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 close together than they would usually have done, peering around nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall spoke. "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 classes with the rest of your Houses, 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 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 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 on Neville's cloak, which we fastened under his left ear and on Ron's smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair. Alexandria parted her hair and braided it into two plaits on either side of her head.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," Professor McGonagall continued. "Please wait quietly. She left the chamber.

"How exactly do they sort us into Houses?" Harry asked Ron.

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

Harry looked around anxiously and saw everyone else looked terrified, too. No one was talking except Hermione Granger, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which she'd need. Harry began to become more nervous.

"Don't worry, Harry," Alexandria said, tying her hair. "Not everyone knows magic by now, as we said before you're not alone. I don't think it's a test, most of us don't know spells or haven't practice them."