The Sorting
Immediately, the door swung open to reveal a tall witch with black hair smoothed into a neat bun on her head. She looked sternly at the first years, and said “Thank you, Hagrid, you’d better hurry to your place, I will take these from here.” She had a Scottish accent, and a firm, commanding voice. She pulled open the massive door to reveal a colossal Entrance Hall.
Adhara was impressed, it was bigger than most of the pureblood estates she was dragged to. The immense stone walls were lined with torches, and the ceiling was so high up Adhara could barely see it. There was a marble staircase facing them, which ventured up to higher floors they could not see.
The group followed the witch into a small chamber where Adhara started to feel the nerves she had ignored all day properly set in. She grabbed Sirius’ hand in hers and looked around nervously.
The tall witch turned to them and said, “Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonagall, the deputy Head Mistress, and the head of Gryffindor House.” James was on the other side of the chamber, but Adhara could still hear him whisper, “Go Gryffindor!” Professor McGonagall turned to him and Adhara saw her mouth quirk slightly up at the corners.
“I will thank you all to be quiet whilst I am talking. There are four houses, called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each of these houses have their own qualities and values, and all have a rich and noble history. The Sorting Ceremony will begin momentarily, where you will be sorted into one of these houses according to your qualities and what you value.”
“The Sorting is an important ceremony, as it puts you in something like family for your time at Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house’s dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.”
Adhara thought this was a rather stupid way to run a school, but she kept quiet, and continued to listen. ”Whilst at Hogwarts, you will have the chance to earn House Points with good behavior, but you may lose House points if any rules are broken, however, I hope that you will not allow this to happen. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, an impressive honour. I sincerely hope you will all be a benefit to the house you’re put into.”
“The Ceremony will begin soon, so do try to make yourselves presentable. You two,” She looked right at the twins, “Come here please.” The pair shared a look and walked towards her. “Follow me. You will need to be fixed up before your Sorting.”
They walked back across the Entrance Hall towards some double doors. They could hear the drone of hundreds of voices coming from inside, which worsened Adhara’s nerves even more. “Wait here.” Professor McGonagall said, and she marched through the double doors.
After a minute or two, the professor came back out with a shorter, kind looking woman, who approached them saying, “Oh dear me, what happened to you two?”
“We had a fight,” Sirius mumbled, looking at the floor ashamedly. The lady tutted, and asked their names. She waved her wand at their injuries and muttered some spells. A warm tingling sensation filled Adhara’s lips, and they were healed.
“Let’s dry you off as well, shall we?” she said, and flourished her wand, and a blast of hot air dried Sirius and Adhara completely, leaving them nice and warm. “Thank you, Poppy,” McGonagall said, smiling. “I’ll see you later.” The woman gently patted McGonagall’s arm, and turned back into the Great Hall.
“Right then, you two, after the Sorting Ceremony, wait back out here, and I will fetch you, so we can have a talk in my office, and maybe see your new head of houses. Now let’s go and fetch the others, so we may begin.”
They headed back to the small chamber, and the whole group followed behind. McGonagall stopped outside the doors and asked them to queue up in single file. Adhara slipped in between Sirius and some a tall blonde girl. Once everyone was settled, McGonagall opened the double doors and they all filed in.
As Adhara walked in her stomach churned with anxiety. Sirius was walking very stiffly ahead of her, his fists clenched at his sides. She held her head high, like her parents had taught her, and haughtily strutted up to the top of the Hall, where the teachers were sat.
She turned around to face the hundreds of students that were sat staring up at her, and the nerves worsened. Looking around the Hall she could see lots of her cousins at the Slytherin table, which had green and silver banners hanging down above it. That’s where she and Sirius would be sat soon.
She gazed around the room. It was lit by thousands of candles floating in the air above the tables. She briefly wondered what would happen if the wax dropped onto someone, but she supposed the wax didn’t actually melt or else they would have to replace the candles much too regularly.
The best part about the hall was definitely the ceiling, which was enchanted to look like the sky, which she already knew from reading ‘Hogwarts: A History’, but the sight was still very impressive. It must be a powerful spell to keep that illusion up for so long, and so well.
Most of the first years were peering anxiously around the Hall, or looking at the ceiling in varying degrees of awe. Lily’s mouth was agape staring at the sky, looking shocked. Suddenly a voice filled the room. It was singing.
Adhara had forgotten about the hat’s song in all her nervousness and excitement. She looked over at it where it was stood on a four-legged stool. It was a lot dirtier and more frayed than she had expected, and she didn’t really want to touch it.
The song it sang was about forgetting old prejudices and learning to love better, house unity, and about the qualities of each house. It was quite long, but Adhara listened intently, thinking the hat would be able to give good advice, as it had been around for so long.
Once the hat had finished, the room burst into loud applause and it bowed to each of the tables, before going still. Professor McGonagall said, “I will call your names in alphabetical order, and when you hear yours, please sit on the stool and place the hat on your head.”
Adhara felt queasy as McGonagall started to call names off a long roll of parchment she was holding. “Abbott, Katharine!” A blushing girl with dark hair sat on the stool with the hat on her head, which screamed “RAVENCLAW!” after a short pause.
Next was “Bates, Molly” then, “Bennet, Isaac”, and finally Professor McGonagall shouted, “Black, Adhara!”
She thought she was going to be sick as she walked towards the stool, trying not to make eye contact with Bellatrix and Narcissa. She picked up the dusty hat, sat on the stool, and placed it on her head. It fell over her eyes, leaving her in the dark. She waited for the clawing feeling but none came.
A small voice in her ear abruptly started to talk. It sounded old, and wise, “Mmmm another Black. Similar to the rest, but with the potential to change. You would be good in any of the houses, best in Ravenclaw probably. Ahh- but your family’s opinions are too important to you. Very Hufflepuff trait that. Slytherin then, I suppose. Shame. Although, you will still be great, I think.”
“SLYTHERIN!”
The table burst into applause, and Adhara walked down there. She sat near her cousins, and saved a space for Sirius. “Black, Sirius!” McGonagall called after she had sat. Adhara’s eyes followed him as he walked towards the stool. He looked pale and ever so slightly green. The hat slid over his eyes, and they waited. It was two long minutes before the hat shouted, “GRYFFINDOR!”
Adhara felt the colour drain from her face. She couldn’t have heard that right. Glancing over at her cousins, she saw that she must have, as Narcissa looked comically shocked and Bellatrix was glaring so hard at Sirius, she was probably hurting her eyes.
Sirius’ hands were trembling when he placed the hat back on the stool and walked with his head down to the Gryffindor table, which was half-heartedly clapping. Adhara couldn’t bring herself to watch the rest of the Sorting, so she was just staring down at the table’s wood grain.
If she had been watching she’d have seen Lily walking nervously up to the stool. She gently placed the hat on her red hair. She jumped when she heard the voice in the ear, “Interesting. You have a bright future ahead of you, that’s for sure. Now where would be best for you. Very talented- yes- and ambitious too- ah- but muggleborn, so not Slytherin I suppose” No! Let me be in Slytherin, please! Lily thought.“That would be a bad idea, I’m afraid, you would be bullied mercilessly. Almost no chance you do well.” But I want to be with Severus, I don’t care about stupid bullies. “Hmmm, that’s very brave of you… I wonder… yes.”
“GRYFFINDOR!”
Lily stormed off the stage to the Gryffindor table, where Sirius was sat looking extremely dejected. She was fuming! That stupid hat put her in the wrong house! She could easily be ambitious and cunning if she wanted to.
Professor McGonagall kept calling names until she got to “Lupin, Remus!” He stumbled up to the stool and placed the hat on his head. It sank over his eyes, and he heard it’s voice in his ear. “Ooo a werewolf. Not had one of those in a while. Very brave of you to come here. Ah but you have a thirst for knowledge, very Ravenclaw. Also wanting to prove yourself… but no- not Slytherin. Hmm comes down to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor then doesn’t it… I think…”
“GRYFFINDOR!”
After Remus came, “Meadowes, Dorcas!” “McKinnon, Marlene!” “McDonald, Mary!” “Nott, Elijah!”, then “Pettigrew, Peter!” Who tripped over his own foot walking to the stool, nearly falling on his face. His face was a bright tomato-red when he slipped the hat on.
“Hmm… interesting. Quite cunning, a huge need to prove yourself, but without the courage to do so… but bravery is one of your main values. Very interesting… Where would you like to go?” Gryffindor. Not Slytherin. I’d be bullied mercilessly there. “Yes, probably. I suppose in the right environment you might become braver… alright then,”
“GRYFFINDOR!”
After that was “Potter, James!” He was so excited he couldn’t stay still, and he shifted around the stool before dropping the hat onto his head. “Ooo, another Potter… I remember sorting your father. I think you already know where you’re going. Although you would do well in Hufflepuff if you wanted?” Nooo! Griffindor!! It’s sooo the best. Wait, you remember Sorting my father? That’s so cool! You’re like an elly-fant. They’re a muggle animal, I went to see one at the zoo once. It looked so weird, with a big long trunk and- “Yes, yes, you’re exactly like your father, your brain runs at one hundred miles an hour. So many different thoughts.” I bet I could go that fast on my broom, I’m very fast. I want to be a Gryffindor chaser- “Alright then, into Gryffindor you go!”
“GRYFFINDOR!”
There were a few names after that, including Kingsley, who went into Gryffindor, and Emmeline, who was now a Ravenclaw. The greasy boy, Severus Snape, was put into Slytherin, and slunk into the seat across from Adhara.
Adhara vaguely heard her cousins talking about Sirius next to her, but she was so exhausted she didn’t care. She just wanted to eat and then sleep. She saw an old man with an immensely long beard stand up. That must be Professor Dumbledore.
“Everyone, welcome or welcome back to Hogwarts! Before we begin the feast, I’d like to say a few words.” Adhara groaned, and put her forehead on the empty golden plate in front of her. “And here they are: Bubble! Foppish! Flabbergast!” He giggled. He was clearly just as crazy as her parents had said. “Thank you! Enjoy!”