And It Began

the sorting

James, Sirius and Peter followed McGonagall down to a staircase where all the other first years were standing, waiting, fumbling wildly with their robes, looking nervous. McGonagall stood in front of them and eyed the three boys as they took their place among the others.

Peter was noticeably trembling, obviously very frightened about what awaited him on the other side of the gargantuan double doors across from them. James and Sirius, however, had large grins plastered on their faces.

This would be a fun year.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall, her lips pursed into a thin white line on her face. She was not helping to calm the nerves of the first years before her. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded that house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly."

McGonagall left the hall, leaving behind her a growing buzz of fright as the students all asked what she meant by "smartening up." James and Sirius both turned to each other to begin a conversation, completely relaxed about the Sorting that lay ahead of them, or at least, not choosing to show their nerves, when the boy whom they had rescued on the train ride made his way over to where James, Sirius and Peter were standing near the top of the stairs.

"I just--" he said nervously. "Um, hi."

"Hello," said James.

"Hiya," said Sirius.

Peter nodded, still looking shaken.

"I wanted to thank you for, um--doing what you did back there on the train." He was looking at his feet. "I, uh--I wouldn't have been able to, um--"

"Don't think on it, mate," said Sirius, slapping the boy on the back. "I'm Sirius, by the way. Good to meet you."

The boy shook his hand and said, "Remus."

"James."

"Peter."

They all shook hands with Remus by the time McGonagall walked back in the room, her emerald-green robes billowing out behind her as she took long strides towards them.

"We're ready for you, now," she said dramatically, the hint of a smile playing on her lips. "Form a line and follow me."

James got in line behind Sirius. Peter was between him and Remus, who was leading the four from behind a slimy looking, hook-nosed boy. They followed McGonagall through the double doors and into the Great Hall. James had trouble suppressing his amazement at the splendid room. It had four long table with students seated in front of empty golden platters. Millions of candles were floating in the air above the tables, casting a golden glow in the room. Looking up, James noticed that the Great Hall had no ceiling and instead opened up into the heavens. Stars were sprinkled against the velvety blackness of the night sky.

"What happens when it rains?" whispered Peter from in front of him.

"It's not real," said Sirius, also looking up. "It's just enchanted to look like the sky. Andromeda told me about it."

James didn't ask who "Andromeda" was and instead looked before him, beyond the long line of first years waiting to be sorted. McGonagall had set down a four-legged stool and set on top of it a very dirty hat.

"I'm not letting that touch my hair," James heard Sirius mumble. "They couldn't even wash it once a year for us?"

"It was Gryffindor's," whispered James, not able to take his eyes off the hat.

A silence enveloped the Hall as everyone's eyes were starring at the hat when it twitched. A large rip at the bottom opened and the hat did something that James was least expecting.

It began to sing.

Though you're sad the summer's gone,

Don't shed a single tear;

Don't cry, don't bray, don't yawn,

Dear Hogwarts will endear.

A thousand or more years ago

A group of Founders four,

Built a castle on this mount

To create a wizard core.

The witches and the wizards

Came pouring in by hundreds;

Some of them were pure-blood,

And some of them were druids.

The Founders took in students

Who earned their faith and trust.

Gryffindor and Slytherin,

Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff.

Great Godric took the daring,

The chivalrous, the bold.

If you were one brave at heart

Then Gryffindor extolled.

Happy Helga was the second,

She accepted all who came.

Loyalty and trust will prove

That Hufflepuff's your game.

Rogue Rowena; a witch to meet,

She knew what she was doing.

A witty mind will find their kind,

In the Ravenclaws of learning.

Sly Salazar chose the sneaky,

He never hesitated

Between a man filled with fluff,

And a man who's educated.

So slap me on that head of yours.

This song will end erelong.

You'll find that I can read your mind

And tell you where you belong.

The Hall burst into applause and a few Gryffindors hooted as Remus let out a long whistle of air in front of Peter. He seemed relieved that all they had to do was try on a hat for a few seconds.

The hat bowed to each of the four long tables and became very still as McGonagall stepped forward holding a long scroll of parchment. As the Great Hall fell quiet, she spoke to the first years.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." She peered down her nose at the first name, frowned, and said, "Adams, Douglas!"

A tall, lanky boy with sandy hair and freckles stepped up and sat on the stool. Professor McGonagall set the hat on top of his head. It was so big, it fell right down over his face so no one could see his eyes. The hat seemed to be thinking for a moment before--

"HUFFLEPUFF!" it shouted.

The Hufflepuff table applauded as Douglas Adams ran to sit next to a short Hufflepuff girl who whispered to him loud enough for James to hear over the clapping, "You know, there's a Muggle writer whose name is Douglas Adams."

Professor McGonagall called, "Black, Sirius" and he went up, walking confidently to the stool before sitting on it and smirking at the Slytherin table before his face was hidden by the dirty wizarding cap. The hat was on his head for a while and just when James was beginning to wonder what was taking so long, the hat opened its brim and screamed, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Cheers exploded from the Gryffindor table on the far right of the Hall and Sirius gave James the thumbs up as he took a seat next to a cute blonde girl who seemed to have just started her second year. Murmurs were issuing from the Slytherin table but were quickly extinguished by the cheers that "Brown, Elton" earned after having just been sorted into Slytherin.

James let his mind wander and his eyes soar across the Great Hall when McGonagall called up "Evans, Lily."

He watched her make her way to the stool, her chin held proudly in the air and her red hair swaying slowly, shimmering gold in the candlelight.

"That's a Gryffindor if I ever saw one," he muttered to himself, and sure enough, only a few seconds after the hat had been set on top of her head, the hat shouted out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

James was starting to get anxious. He saw her sit across from Sirius, her red hair cascading down her back. He tore his gaze away and instead focused on the names that McGonagall was reading, but they just entered one ear and left the other. His brain was occupied with the pretty red head sitting at Gryffindor table next to an empty spot that maybe he could snatch.

The hat had just sorted "Lovegood, Lancelot" into Ravenclaw when "Lupin, Remus," was called up, and he walked unsteadily forward, his face a faint shade of green. He sat down on the stool and James could have sworn that McGonagall gave him a pitying look before hiding his face underneath the hat. Remus was on the stool for such a long time that people were actually starting to murmur in suspicion. No one had taken this long with the hat. He was clutching the stool so hard, his knuckles had become white.

After what seemed half an hour, Remus was sorted into Gryffindor and he joined Sirius at the table between a few other new Gryffindors.

Much too soon, McGonagall called, "Pettigrew, Peter," and Peter went stumbling up and McGonagall set the hat on his head. It fell right to his shoulders. James held his breath. He would be next, he knew it. His face started to turn red as Peter took a significant amount of time under the hat as well.

"GRYFFINDOR!" yelled the hat and James closed his eyes.

Here it came.

"Potter, James!"

Bingo.

He took a deep breath and walked forward, forcing a smug smile on his face and strutting confidently up to the hat. It seemed to approach to him in slow motion, as if the moment it touched his head, he would blow up. He sat down on the stool and took another shaky breath.

The Sorting Hat had barely touched James's head when it screamed out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

James blinked a few times before casually taking a victory walk to the table. The cheers of his fellow classmates was drowned out by his own solitary rejoicing.