The Sorting Ceremony
September, 1971
So, apparently, Sirius was just as much of a talker as James, and either of them let her get some sleep before getting to Hogwarts. He mumbled a lot and was always looking at the door like someone were to walk in and take him. She didn't blame him if everything she had heard from her family was true. The Black family wasn't just any wizard family, they were like wizard royalty. All so curated to the last detail, so perfectly conducted, and from what she had heard her dad say, great supporters of the blood-purity nonsense.
When they got off the train, it was already dark. One of the prefects—a tall and skinny Gryffindor—guided them into the edge of the Dark Lake, where some small boats waited for them. They drove them to the other side. Eleanor had been looking for Lily, but it was dark enough that she could barely see. Hogwarts stood high and mighty before her, like an old castle. She wondered how many lives had stood before her, how many stories—she wondered about her story too.
Inside, there was an old woman waiting for them at the end of the stairs. She was pale, and her black hair was nearly grey. She wore an emerald green robe and a matching pointy hat. "You are here, at last. I was starting to worry you may have lost the first- year students, Longbottom."
"Of course not, Professor McGonagall."
"Very well, welcome to Hogwarts. I would introduce myself, but Mr.Longbottom seems to have taken care of it." She spoke to the first-years "In a few moments, you will pass through these doors and the rest of your classmates. But before you take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Now that you are here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points, and if you break any, you will lose them. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the House Cup. The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily," and with that, she opened the door and started walking.
They followed them inside. There were four big tables that spread across the room, each with its own house flag. There was a spell on the rooftop that made it look like the night sky, with the stars shining more than ever. It was breathtaking. "I read it's supposed to mimic the night sky regardless of the weather," Sirius whispered, more to himself than anything else. "Even if it rains."
At the end of the room, the teachers were sitting at their table, and in front of them, in the middle of everyone's attention, there was a wood stool with an old, dusty black hat on top. "The Sorting Hat," she breathed.
"The what!?" A blonde girl, besides her question, frowning slightly. She had to be muggle-born, Eleanor thought; everyone in the wizard world knows about the hat. Professor McGonagall stood beside the stool with a parchment scroll in her hand. "Now I will call your names in alphabetical order, when I do, you will come up and be sorted, then sit at your house's table, understood? Very well, let's begin. Arnold, Simon"
And like that, student by student, they began to get sorted into the houses. For everyone's surprise, Sirius got into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin, like his family. Two girls at the Slytherin table glanced at him—one was a blonde and the other had pitch-black hair. If looks could kill, Sirius Black would have dropped to the floor at that very moment. Eleanor grew fearful. She hadn't really thought about which house she wanted to be in. They were all good, she supposed, but if she got into Slytherin, her dad would have a heart attack, let alone her brother. But worse than that, what if she didn't belong in any house? She tried to think about something else, anything to calm her fears.
"Next, Lupin, Remus," McGonagall called, and the boy she had seen on the platform sat on the stool. He seemed to be playing brave, but Eleanor noticed he had grown a few shades pale. The hat stayed in silence for a few seconds before saying, "Gryffindor!". Lily went soon after him, also in Gryffindor, and the rude boy in Slytherin. The line was growing shorter and shorter, and soon enough, it was her turn.
"Potter, Eleanor"
She looked at James one last time before she started walking. He gave her a confident smile and made a gesture reminding her to breathe. She sat down, and McGonagall placed the hat on her head. "So what do we have here?" the hat said. His voice was old and higher than she imagined. "A Potter! Who would have seen that coming? Isn't your dad like fifty?" Aren't you like a thousand? "Oh, you are a feisty one, aren't you? And I thought you would be great on Ravenclaw. You are very clever and creative; you would thrive there. But you would achieve greatness in Slytherin." Eleanor glanced at her brother in the crowd. She didn't want to disappoint him. No, please no "But then again, I can't help you if you won't help yourself. I think the best fit for you will be Gryffindor!
She let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding. James smiled at her and cheered along with the Gryffindor table as she walked towards them. Her hands were still shaking when she sat down between the muggle girl she had talked to before and the boy she had seen, Remus. Not long after that, James sat there too, with a really pale-looking Sirius. Dumbledore, the headmaster, stood up from his seat at the professor's table and gave a welcome speech. He was so old and so powerful. It was said that he was the most powerful wizard alive. With the feast in front of her, she couldn't really pay attention to him, and before she knew it, the speech was over and they could begin eating.
"My father is going to murder me." Sirius breathed. He hadn't even put food on his plate. He looked back to the Slytherin table where the girls were still watching him. "That is if my cousins don't do it first. They're mental"
"Oh please! It's not that big of a deal," James answered, his mouth full of food.
"Two hundred years of tradition, now broken because of me. They'll disown me.".
"Damn, two hundred years?" The girl beside her asked, "Gosh, that's a long time. You should be proud you shook things up a bit."
"I'm sorry, you are you?"
"I'm Emma Lang. Nice to meet you. Now, can someone explain to me why the hat spoke inside my head? It was so freaky.”
Eleanor laughed slightly and explained the magic behind it. Emma was indeed muggle-born, but she was nice—not that Eleanor had anything to compare it, she hadn't met any before—and she was very straightforward. It was like the words had barely formed in her mind before she said them. Before she knew it, Emma and she started becoming friends through the course of that first dinner. Once they all finished, Frank—that was Longbottom's first name, apparently—walked them to their common room. Thankfully, it was on the same floor, because Eleanor was so full she might have thrown up.
He stood in front of the portrait of a very fat lady who just stared at them.
"Here's the entrance to Gryffindor's common room." Frank said, "You tell her the password, and she'll let you in. If it's the wrong one, she'll start screaming like a mad woman."
"That's very rude, young man. I sing beautifully," she complained, looking up and down.
Emma gasped "The paint can talk? I'm gonna pass out."
"Anyways, before I forget, Remus Lupin, McGonnagal wants to see you. Her office is down the hall." Eleanor frowned. Why did she want to talk to him? Was he already in trouble? "The rest of you, follow me.".
Everyone began moving, except her. She looked at the boy, now walking to McGonagall's office. She had the unshakable feeling something wasn't right, she just didn't know what.
"Ellie, are you coming?"
"Yeah, just give me a second, James." Her brother looked at her, confused. "He didn't hear the password; someone should stay and make sure he is alright."
"I'll stay," he said, stepping closer to her. "You go inside."
"Ok, goodnight, James."
"Goodnight, Ellie," he said, smiling at her. That kind of fraternal smile that's filled with love: "We made it. No accidents, no problems; you’re welcome."
She smiled back, and then she went inside the common room. It was big and cosy; it had a fireplace, and there were pillars between some of the bricks, marked with names and scribbles. I had so many chairs and tables, some by the windows, others randomly placed. But what drew her the most was the warm velvet sofa and the chairs near the fireplace. At the foot of the stairs, Lily was standing, waiting for her.
"Hiya"
"Hi. Look, apparently we are in the same dorm-room, so I was thinking, whatever between your brother and Sev, it's their problem, not ours. Deal?”
"Yeah, deal"
"Great," Lily smiled, locking arms with Eleanor as they walked up the stairs. "Let me introduce you to our roommates. I warn you, one of them has a real character."