Albus Potter: First Year

Chapter Two: The Sorting

Albus stared at Neville, no Longbottom, he corrected himself. That was another thing he would have to get used to: Neville being his teacher and not a kindly uncle-like figure. Neville was decked out in his best robes and surveyed them critically. He opened the huge doors wide, ushering them in. Albus had been here once before, but the site before him still impressed him. The entrance hall was huge. The great marble staircase rose in front of them, and torches lit the stonewalls.

Professor Longbottom led them across the hall. They could hear the muffled sounds of hundreds of voices coming from behind another door. Albus supposed James and the other students were all in there. Nev-Professor Longbottom directed them into a small empty chamber, and once they were all gathered around and paying attention, addressed them.

'Welcome to Hogwarts! The start of term feast will begin shortly. Before that though, we need to sort you all. As many of you know, Hogwarts has four houses: Hufflepuff, Slytherin, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Each house has its own proud history and you will be an asset to whichever house you are placed in. While you are here, your house is your family. You will have your classes with your housemates and also live with, sleep with and eat with them. At the end of each year, one house is awarded the House Cup, a great honour, and it is your responsibility as students to try and earn as many points as you can for your house...and try not to loose to many.' Longbottom paused as he looked around the crowd of first years.

'The Ceremony will start shortly. I suggest you prepare yourselves.' With that he turned and left them standing there. Everyone seemed to start muttering at once.

Rose asked him how her eyebrows were. Albus assured her that they were fine. 'Thank Merlin for Vicky...Imagine getting up in front of the whole school with no eyebrows!' Katherine laughed, and said she could have started a new fashion trend.

They stood around, getting more nervous as the seconds ticked by. Rose smiled reassuringly at Albus, who was dwelling on what house he would be in. He really didn't want to be in Slytherin. His whole family was in Gryffindor and Uncle Ron always went on about how evil Slytherins were. He was secretly afraid, no matter what his father had said, that everyone would hate him if he were a Slytherin.

'All right,' said Neville as he came back into the chamber. 'If you will please form a line and follow me.'

The new students dutifully did what the professor told them. Albus found himself behind the blonde boy that Uncle Ron had pointed out at the station. He didn't say anything to him. The boy looked even more nervous than Albus. They walked though a short passage way and came out into the Great Hall, facing all of the other students. Albus drank in the sight. He had been here before, but he had never seen it looking so beautiful. Thousands of glittering candles floated in the air above the tables where the rest of the students were sitting. Albus spotted James grinning at him from the table on the far left.

Albus' attention was quickly brought back to the forefront, when Neville - Professor Longbottom brought a four legged stool with the legendary Sorting Hat on it and placed it in front of the first years. There was complete silence in the hall.

The hat twitched, the brim rippled and then the hat began to sing:

A thousand years or more ago,
Two witches and two wizards,
The greatest of their Age,
All came together,
With one idea in mind
To gather all together
Those who needed teaching
And give them a feast of the mind
Those founders four the
Greatest of their age,
Each valued virtues of their own
'Now where do you belong?
Try me on, and we shall see
If you are brave of heart
Like bold Gryffindor,
Always ready for a fight,
Here you might find your heart.
Or perhaps with sweet Hufflepuff,
where dwell those loyal and true,
You will find your due.
No not yet? How about clever
Ravenclaw, to extend the Powers of the mind?
Or perhaps you belong in Slytherin
Noble, ambitious and cunning.
But who knows yet?
You have not tried me on.
Now trust in me, for I know best
Where your true home lies.

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. Professor Longbottom stepped forward with a long piece of parchment.

'When I call out your name, please step forward and place the Sorting Hat on your head,' he said. 'Abbott, Quentin!'

A small boy with messy blonde hair gasped and ran over to the seat, jamming the hat on his head. It slid over his eyes. The hat deliberated for a moment before shouting-

'HUFFLEPUFF!'

The table on the right cheered, as Quentin grinned and made his way over to them.

'Alderton, Mary!'

'SLYTHERIN!'

The table on the far right roared, and Mary dashed over there with a wane smile.

'Aubrey, Bernard!' also become a Slytherin and 'Bagman, Natasha' joined Quentin Abbott at the Hufflepuff table. 'Bagnold, Lucy' became the first Ravenclaw, followed straight away by 'Belby, Marcia.'

'Black, Simon!' Albus held his breath as his new friend stepped forward. Simon was looking even greener than when they had gotten out of the boat. He stumbled towards the stool and hesitantly placed the hat on his head. It was a few moments before the hat shouted -

'GRYFFINDOR!'

Looking relieved, Simon walked over to the Gryffindor table on shaky legs. James, Thad and Nate all thumped him on the back.

'Blane, Lucretia' became another Slytherin and 'Bones, Alexander' joined Simon at the Gryffindor table. A tall blonde girl named 'Bruhn, Etta' also went to Gryffindor, while 'Bulstrode, Belvina' was made a Slytherin. She looked rather scary, Albus thought.

Albus was really starting to get nervous now. He studied the Slytherin table, wondering if he could possibly fit in there. Mary Alderton looked rather pleasant, but Lucretia Blane looked downright nasty. Or perhaps that was just due to the ghost she was sitting next to.

He glanced back over at the Gryffindor table. James, Thad and Nate were busy whispering to Simon and Etta Bruhn. Victoire was sitting further up the table. She caught Albus' eye and smiled reassuringly at him. Looking around he spotted more Weasley cousins at the table: Victoire's younger sisters - Arienne and Odette, and Uncle Percy's two sons Fabian and Gideon. Next to Odette was a misty silver figure, who, from James's rather vivid descriptions, Albus gathered to be Nearly Headless Nick. Gideon was smirking at her.

Albus shook himself and turned his attention back to the Sorting.

'Malfoy, Scorpius!'

The blonde boy next to him walked forward. Albus was relieved to note that he didn't seem to be the only one who was shaking. The boy, Scorpius, took a deep breath before placing the hat on his head. It took the longest time yet before finally shouting,

'RAVENCLAW!'

Scorpius emerged from under the hat extremely pale and sick looking. The handshakes and slaps on the back that he received as he joined his new house didn't seem to be making him feel any better.

'Nelson, John...O'Connor, Steven...Osborne, Cecil...Parkinson, Marius...'

It would soon be his turn. He hardly listened as 'Penrose, Phoebe' became a Ravenclaw, and then a pair of twins 'Pince, Agathe' and 'Pince, Isla' went to Slytherin and Ravenclaw respectively.

'Potter, Albus!'

Albus took a deep breath. This was it. He forced his legs, which felt a lot like jelly, to move and took the hat from the waiting Professor Longbottom who smiled encouragingly at him and murmured 'Good luck, Al.'

'Ah, another Potter,' came a voice in his ear. 'My, you are hard to place. You could do well anywhere, you know.'

Not Slytherin, not Slytherin, Albus thought desperately.

'Are you sure? Better be GRYFFINDOR!'

Albus breathed a sigh of relief as he took the hat off. Professor Longbottom beamed at him and he could hear James yelling before he was swamped with Potter/Weasley hugs and congratulations.

Albus relaxed and watched the rest of the Sorting with pleasure, feeling immeasurably lighter than he had in weeks. He couldn't wait to write to his parents and let them know. Katherine, the girl from the boat went to Ravenclaw. He cheered along with the rest as Rose joined him at the Gryffindor table, quickly followed by 'Wood, Jessica.'

Professor Longbottom put the Hat and stool away after 'Yu, Zan' became a Hufflepuff.

Quiet came over the hall again, as a small witch with flyaway grey hair and a sprig of ivy pinned to her hat stood up.

'Welcome back to another year of Hogwarts! To all our new first years; a special, warm welcome! I am Professor Sprout, Headmistress of this school. Before we begin our marvellous feast, I would like us all to offer thanks to the hard-working elves of Hogwarts!' She paused and gestured to a large group of elves standing to the side who Albus hadn't noticed before. As one they bowed, and with a tremendous crack, all disappeared.

'I have a few announcements to make, but they can wait until after the feast. Enjoy!'

And with that, food suddenly appeared, so much that it made the tables groan with the weight of it. Albus thought it looked almost as good as Grandma Weasley's cooking.

For the first few minutes, everyone was concentrating too much on eating to talk much. After they'd eaten their fill and the puddings had appeared, talk turned to introductions and their families.

Simon wasn't the only Muggle-born. There were also two girls, Etta Bruhn and Aisha Kader who had not known anything about magic until Neville had visited them. Rose and the other three girls, Moira Finnegan who Albus had met a few times before; Jessica Wood who told Albus she had met him once at a Quidditch match but didn't expect him to remember as he'd been arguing with James at the time and hadn't paid her any attention (Albus belatedly apologised); and Elladora Graves who Albus didn't seem to be connected to in any way, promised to help them acclimatise to the magical world if they needed it, Rose proudly informing them that her own mother was a Muggle-born so she knew all about it.

'Are you related to Susan Bones?' Moira asked Alexander who nodded enthusiastically.

'Yeah! She's my aunt,' he said, looking shyly at Rose and Albus. 'Not the most famous connection in the year though.'

Rose sighed. 'Ok, just to get this out of the way right up, Harry and Ginny Potter are normal people. So are Hermione and Ron Weasley. They are just normal parents who nag us to clean our rooms and stuff...just normal stuff...normal parents...' Rose trailed off as they all stared at her. 'What, they are! Tell them, Al!'

Albus just shrugged. Jessica Wood stared at him.

'But your mum is the best player the Harpies have had in centuries. She was amazing. And I am thoroughly blaming you for her premature retirement!' They all laughed. Jessica continued, 'I want to be just like her when I grow up...well apart from the retiring to have mini-Potter's...'

'What about you, Herbert?' Albus asked the ginger haired boy opposite him, changing the topic. Herbert looked a bit startled to be addressed by someone with such famous parents.

'What? Me? There's nothing special about me.'

Rose rolled her eyes. 'Well what d'you usually get called?'

'Er...Herbert.'

'I'm sorry, but I refuse to call an eleven year old Herbert, maybe when we're 60. Herb fine with you?' Moira chimed in.

'While we're on names, you can call me just Ella. Please.' Albus grinned at Elladora and nodded.

'Elladora, Herbert and Albus Severus,' he paused as the other first years digested his full name. 'What were our parents thinking?'

Etta giggled. 'Oh I don't know. It's not as bad as Gertrude Gudgeon. Gerty Gudgeon.'

Herb grinned. 'Or Scorpius. I think that trumps Albus Severus combined.' Albus laughed along with the others and glanced over at the Ravenclaw table where Scorpius Malfoy was still looking exceptionally pale.

'He doesn't look too happy,' he murmured to Rose. James overheard him.

'Of course he isn't. His whole family's been in Slytherin. He's probably dreading the Howler his dad is going to send him!'

The puddings disappeared and Professor Sprout rose again. The hall fell silent.

'Attention please... Thank you. Just a few notices before you go to you dormitories. First years should note that the Forbidden Forest is called that for a reason, and is out of bounds. Mr Filch would also like me to remind you all that magic should not be used in the corridors or between classes. The updated list of banned objects can be found on Mr Filch's door. Please check this if you are unsure.

'Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. All interested persons should contact their House Captain or Madam Hooch. Thank you for your attention. Good night to you all.'

There was a great clattering and scrapping as the students all began to rise and make their way out of the hall.

'Gryffindor first years! Over here!' Albus and the other first years followed the call to an older girl with long brown hair and a shiny prefect badge on her robes.

'All here? Good. I'm the fifth year prefect, Jennifer Widenose. If you have any problems you can come to me, or any of the other prefects. Oi! Tony!' She directed this last to a tall boy with black hair who seemed to be trying to sneak away. 'Get back here! First years, this is the other fifth year prefect (although I don't know how), Tony Fitzgerald. I would suggest you come to me before him, 'cause he's a useless git, aren't you Tony?' The boy called Tony just smiled meekly and ducked back into the crowd after a quick wave at the first years. Jennifer Widenose huffed and then led them out of the Great Hall and up a myriad of stairs and corridors until they came to a stop before a great portrait that Albus instantly recognised at the Fat Lady from his father's stories.

'The password is Phoenix feather,' Jennifer said as she led them through the portrait hole and into the Gryffindor common room. It was a cosy room with lots of nice squishy armchairs and a roaring fire in the fireplace. She directed the boys through one door and the girls through another.

The four boys climbed the stairs until they reached a landing with a door that said 'FIRST YEARS'. Four four-poster beds were waiting for them, with their trunks already arranged. Albus quickly found his and pulled out his pyjamas. He'd meant to write to his parents to tell them all about the Sorting, but suddenly found himself too tired and decided to do it the next day. He climbed into bed, and glanced over at Simon in the bed next to him. Simon grinned.

'Great food, eh? This place is amazing...'

Albus agreed and was going to ask Simon if he'd noticed the ghosts but fell asleep almost at once.