The sorting
The doors flung open and a waft of warm food met all the first year's nostrils. The whole hall was lit with floating candles and twinkling stars in the enchanted night sky. There were two rows of long tables all decorated in different colours, one decorated in green and silver, another in burgundy and yellow, the third in black and yellow, and the last in royal blue and bronze. There were approximately two hundred students at each table but about fifty spaces left for clueless first years to sit in. At the front of the great hall was a shorter, but still long, table on a slightly raised platform, going across the short side of the hall instead of along like the other four.
Every table had plates upon plates of scrumptious food such as roast potatoes and full chickens. As well as full plates there were also empty plates waiting to have food dolloped onto them. Next to every plate was a goblet full of gillywater and several pieces of silverware, three forks- all various sizes, knives- also all different sizes- and one spoon for dessert. The teachers all had a gold goblet each, significantly bigger than all the students' goblets that were made out of glass, and unlike the students, they all had butterbeer in theirs.
In front of the teacher's table, there was a small stool that looked at least twelve years old with a hat placed on top which looked well over two hundred. It was an old witch hat that had been patched up many times before, its ribbon around the base of it old, dull and lifeless, but somehow made the hat look more presentable than it would if the ribbon were to be missing. The rim of the hat was floppy and the top was pointed and bent over to the right. It looked all wrinkled and sad and looked like it had a face, that looked old and permanently angry.
One by one a first year would be called up by Professor 'Minerva' McGonagall and would sit down on the stool to get sorted into their house by the sorting hat.
The first person to be sorted into a house was Elizabeth Trainer, she got sorted into Hufflepuff- the house of yellow and black.
"Pettigrew, Peter," Professor McGonagall called out for the blonde-haired boy to be sorted into his house that he soon found out to be Gryffindor.
The next person was a young wizard called Felix Jones and he got sorted into Ravenclaw for his smart and witty qualities.
Professor McGonagall called up a few more students after that and the sorting hat sorted ten of them into Hufflepuff, eighteen into Gryffindor, twelve into Slytherin and another ten into Ravenclaw. For every student, the sorting hat took about two or three minutes to decide what house they belonged to and then announced it to the rest of Hogwarts.
About half way through the ceremony, a boy with unruly brown hair and a charming smile was called up. He truly looked as if he had not a care in the world and sure made all the other first years that were still waiting in anticipation feel more at ease seeing how light heartedly the young boy was taking all of it. He sat down comfortably on the stool, adjusting his glasses, and waited while looking out upon the many gazing eyes. The professor placed the hat on the boys head slowly as the hall fell silent and within two seconds of having it on his head, the hat shouted:"GRYFFINDOR!"
The boy went to the Gryffindor table and took a seat next to the second person that was sorted, saying something encouraging to him before high fiving a random forth year sitting opposite him and the boy.
A couple more students were sorted into their houses and then Professor McGonagall called up a boy with long, black hair and a devilish smile. He strode up to where the stool and hat was and sat down, grinning at his audience. Professor McGonagall then picked up the hat by its point and lowered it down onto the boys head so it just sat above his eyes.
He was a very handsome young lad that looked very smart and proper however had a sense of informality about him that made him look clearly easygoing and troublesome. He had grey eyes and was dressed in the same uniform as everyone else except the tie was draped around his neck and onto his shoulders -not tied, his top shirt button was not done up and his shoes were shined very well, not to mention they looked very chunky and heavy, not at all like sensible school shoes.
The hat took about five seconds to decide what the obvious choice for this young gentleman and it was now time for the results. The whole hall was silent as they watched the hat move around on the young boy's head. This was the moment...
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted and the whole hall erupted into cheers. The young boy smiled gleefully as he saw his new house waiting for him, the house of courage, chivalry, and determination. It was only once he was seated that he spared a nervous glance towards the Slytherin table and the peering eyes shooting daggers at him. He quickly looked away, slightly less giddy and confident and waited for the next name to be called from the list.
After him, there were a couple more students until there would be none left to sort. Professor McGonagall continued to read out the names from her piece of parchment until there was one name left
"Lupin, Remus," Professor McGonagall called out from the bottom of her piece of parchment.
A boy with Amber coloured eyes and a long silver scar across his face walked up sat down rather caressly. His robes were all untucked and messily put on and about one size too small as he was rather tall and lanky for his age, his hair was messy and was covering a small fraction of his eyes. He sat there fiddling with the already tattered sleeve of the second hand uniform he was wearing, looking as if he would rather be anywhere but in the hall with people observing him. Professor McGonagall then placed the hat on his head and after about five minutes of thinking, the hat decided to place him in a house that it thought would fit him best.
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat yelled revealing the last house member of Gryffindor this year. Everyone cheered happily as the young boy joined the table decorated in burgundy and yellow.
After that Professor McGonagall sat back down and an old man with a long, white beard stood up and walked to the front of the hall and stood behind a golden lectern and started talking, "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!
Thank you!" He said as his annual welcome speech to all the first year's.
Every student then applauded and started scooping food onto their plates and eating it. Remus Lupin and the black-haired boy were both sitting next to each other as well as the two other boys who seemed to already be friends. They were all stuffing there faces with food when the boy with the glasses decided to speak.
"Hi, I'm James and this is Peter" he introduced himself and the boy next to him, gesturing between them with an eager smile in the direction of the other two boys.
"Hey, I'm Sirius" the Black haired boy replied, looking up at the other two and smiling infusiastically at then both
The other boy remained silent for a second before mumbling "Remus" without looking up from his meal and not making any effort to greet them further.
The other three boys chatted among themselves for the rest of the feast, all excited about starting a new school and making friends, Remus occasionally offering a forced reply or nod to the prying boys. Eventually everyone's plates cleared and it was the end of the meal.