~3~
"Alright, good evening!" says Professor Fern, "I am a professor at this school, I teach transfiguration and I am the head of the house of Slytherin. I am also the deputy headmaster of this school, so if you have to say something to the headmaster say it to me and I will pass it on."
Hongjoong looks around the room, it is completely silent, no one says a word, it's like the sound had been sucked out of the room. Seonghwa is standing behind him, peering over his shoulder. Professor Fern takes a few more steps down the stairs, his shoes clicking against the stone of the stairs.
"Everyone will be sorted in a house, they're Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Gryffindor, and Hufflepuff!" he says, he is now halfway down the stairs, where he stands still, "The sorting head will sort you in just a minute. Sterling, you can go and take a seat at the table," he adds.
Sterling nods and makes her way through the second pair of big double doors. Hongjoong catches a glimpse of the great hall through the double doors, he sees four rows of tables, and all of the children at each table wear a different color tie and bow. At the front of the hall is a table that is placed horizontally, this is filled with what Hongjoong assumes are the teachers.
Professor Fern turns his head up as if expecting something, Honhjoong follows his gaze and sees ghosts, not just white blobs, they look like actual humans, but... see-through. He lets out a gasp, Seonghwa turns to look at him, "Never seen a ghost?" he asks.
Hongjoong shakes his head, "Only on Tv." Seonghwa chuckles, "I've seen a ghost one time before today, it was at our old house, we actually moved because of the ghost, it was a poltergeist."
Hongjoong turns to look at him, "I never realized that ghosts could actually be real like I knew that magic was, but even so. Ghosts just seemed one step too far."
Seonghwa opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by de double doors flinging open. Professor Fern claps his hands, "Now, follow me inside and stand in a line between the middle two tables! And please cease the chatter a bit." The man turns around and walks back up the stairs, his shoes clicking on the stairs. The children all slowly follow the man up the stairs
They enter the great hall and Hongjoong hears gasps all around him, so he follows their line of sight to the ceiling, the ceiling looks like the sky outside; dark with millions of twinkling stars.
He gets distracted from the ceiling when he hears the talking of hundreds of other children, he looks away from the ceiling and looks around the giant room, The room is filled with people. Each table is almost all the way full. He can feel the eyes of hundreds of people on him. While he logically knows that they're not all looking at him, it still feels like they are.
At the front of the group, Professor Fern continues walking forward in long strides. the new students shuffling after him. Seonghwa is walking next to him, his gaze is also surveying the rest of the room, but he doesn't seem nervous, quite the opposite actually, he seems to be relaxed. Finally, Fern comes to a stop next to a stool with an old hat on it, his hand makes swipes through the air, and where his hand was just a second earlier is now a floating piece of paper.
Professor Fern clears his throat, and the entire hall falls silent, "The sorting will begin now, I will call your name out, first your last name, then your first name, and you will come up here. Sit down on the stool and I will place the sorting hat on your head." he looks at the scroll and calls out the first name, "Asp, Lucas!"
A short boy with jet-black hair steps forward, he makes his way to the sorting hat with small steps. He slowly sits down and the hat gets placed on his head by Professor Fern. The hat is silent for thirty seconds, and when it shouts out, "Hufflepuff!" the boy gets up to cheer from the yellow table, he has a shy smile and slowly shuffles to the table.
"Atkins, Chloe!" shouts the professor, a girl a little taller than her peers, walking forward, she has an elegant air around her, with blonde hair, which falls to the middle of her back. She makes her way to the stool and sits down, the hat isn't on her head for longer than ten seconds, "Ravenclaw!"
They make their way down the list until they reach the K's, Hongjoong starts getting more nervous as the minutes pass, next to him Seonghwa smiles at him, "Don't worry, I'm sure it will be okay." He smiles at Hogjoong, and the smile is so sincere, something Hongjoong isn't used to from home, that it makes him feel like crying, just a bit.
"Kelly, Vera!" a girl with short black hair walks forward, she sits down on the stool, and has a confident smile on her lips, "Gryffindor!" The Gryffindor table lets out a loud cheer, just like they had done for every other Gryffindor.
Professor Fern looks back at the list, "Kim, Hongjoong!" his lips curl in an unfamiliar way around his name, but Hongjoong understands that it is his name. He looks up at Seonghwa, and the boy smiles at him. Hongjoong breathes in and slowly makes his way to the few people standing in front of him. He lowers himself down on the stool, and the hat gets placed on top of his head. The hat falls over his eyes, making it so that he can't see anyone in the hall.
"Mmh, Kim Hongjoong," Hongjoong scares by the voice in his head, but the hat continues on undisturbed, "You're a fantastic leader, which is a fantastic trait for a Gryffindor, but that's not quite it. You are also incredibly intelligent, so it could be - no that is also not it. You are very self-driven and ambitious, better be SLYTHERIN!" The hat shouts the last part out into the hall. The Slytherin table gives a cheer, which is quieter than the cheers of the other table but still welcoming.
Professor Fern takes the hat off his head and gives him a tiny smile. Hongjoong gets up from the stool. He makes his way to the Slytherin table and sits down next to another first-year, Jacob de Boer. The boy gives him a smile and holds his hand out, "It's a pleasure to meet you, I am Jacob!" Hongjoong takes his hand in his, "I am Hongjoong, pleased to meet you."
Hongjoong thinks for a minute, but he has never heard that last name before, and he has spent most of his time in England, and a little bit in Korea when he was younger, so he asks, "Where are you from?"
The boy smiles at him, "I am from the Netherlands, but there isn't a school for people with magical abilities there so." Hongjoong nods at that piece of information and turns back to the front of the hall when he hears a last name with an O, which means it is almost Seonghwa's turn.
"Osborne, Emily!" a girl with two braids makes her way to the stool and sits down, after forty seconds the hat shouts, "Ravenclaw!"
"Park, Seonghwa!"