Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and events from J.K. Rowling's wonderful Harry Potter books. I am writing this for my own enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of readers. Anything you recognize belongs to JKR. The rest belongs to me.
Chapter 8: The Sorting Ceremony
Hagrid led the students up what seemed like an endless flight of stairs. Lily figured there had to be at least 500 steps. Her legs were feeling like jelly before they finally reached their destination. Lily noticed that the walls were adorned with torches which flickered across the stone walls. She thought it odd considering she was used to electricity and had assumed magic would be more modern than her Muggle home. An older woman was waiting to greet them. She had on tartan robes and her dark hair was pull back into a tight bun.
"Welcome to Hogwarts!" she said. "I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress. Shortly I will be leading you into the Great Hall for the welcoming feast. Before the feast all of you will be sorted into one of four houses, either Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin." She explained a little about the houses and how the students would live with and have classes with their house-mates. Most of the students were looking at each other nervously, wondering how the sorting would take place. Lily recalled Dorcas' comment about levitating the tables, feeling rather inadequate around so many students who had grown up with magic.
Professor McGonagall motioned for the students to follow her through two giant doors. They opened into the Great Hall, which was aptly named. There were four long wooden tables stretched along the length of the room. The older students were already seated. Most watched the new students as they paraded between the tables toward the front. A few others were laughing and chatting, catching up on their summer apart. At the front of the hall and up a few steps was another table which seated the staff. Alice poked Lily in the arm and pointed up. It looked like their was no ceiling, just the night sky. The stars winked down at the students from behind a few clouds. "I heard the ceiling has been enchanted to look like the sky outside, no matter what the weather," whispered a girl behind Lily. Lily gaped at the ceiling, no longer feeling that living in the castle would be inferior, despite the lack of electricity.
The students stopped at the front of the hall. Up the steps in front of the staff table sat a wooden stool with an old tattered hat. Professor McGonagall watched it expectantly for a few moments while the hall became silent. The first years gave each other questioning looks. All of a sudden the hat moved and Lily noticed the brim opening and closing as it broke out into song. It sang about the history of the four houses and its founders and about the qualities of the students belonging to each house: Gryffindor - bravery; Ravenclaw - intelligence; Hufflepuff - loyalty; and Slytherin - ambition. At the end of the song everyone applauded.
"When I call your name, please come and sit on the stool. I will place the hat on you which will then sort you into your house," called Professor McGonagall.
Lily heard Dorcas huff out behind her, "I can't believe it! That's it? Just put on the hat? I am going to kill my brother!"
"Abbott, Daniel" A short boy with curly brown hair nervously sat on the stool while Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head. After a moment the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Several cheers came from one of the tables as Daniel smiled and took a seat.
"Black, Sirius" Sirius made his way past the students. On the way he bumped into Marlene and muttered something which Marlene took to be an apology. He sat on the stool with the hat for a good minute during which he turned and glared at one of the tables off to the side. After another minute the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" The students at the table to the side looked shocked but not unhappy while there were several loud cheers coming from another table, presumably the Gryffindor table. Sirius had a large grin on his face as he took a seat at the table.
Lily waited nervously while students got sorted into their houses. Professor McGonagall then called out, "Evans, Lily". Lily had a lurching feeling in the pit of her stomach as she sat on the stool. What if the hat didn't put her in a house? What if there wasn't enough magic in her? Would they send her home? She felt the hat get placed on her head.
"Ah, Lily Evans," the hat whispered into her ear. "You are a very intelligent girl. You would be well suited to Ravenclaw. While intelligence is a strong quality in you, I sense something more. You will have to draw upon your courage and make some difficult decisions, both during your years at Hogwarts as well as after you graduate. You have a pure heart and a brave soul. Yes, you would be best placed in - GRYFFINDOR!"
Lily let out a gasp of relief. She hadn't realized she had been holding her breath. She walked toward the cheering table and glanced at back at her friends. As she did this she noticed Potter staring at her with a big grin on his face. She smiled back and turned to the students in her house. She sat down next to Sirius.
"I am so relieved! I thought for sure they'd send me home," breathed Lily.
Sirius barked out a laugh. "What are you talking about? They wouldn't send you home!"
"Maybe it was silly but I couldn't help it. Being a Muggle who suddenly becomes a witch makes it all hard to believe, especially now that I'm here. I thought the hat wouldn't see any magic in me and that I would have to go home," said Lily. She smiled at Sirius and added, "Anyway, I'm glad I know someone in my house already. I hope Alice makes it into Gryffindor, too." Lily looked up the table and noticed the red-headed girl she had met on the train who had the Head Girl badge. The girl caught her eye and smiled.
"Longbottom, Frank" was sorted into Gryffindor. As he scrambled off the stool he tripped down the stairs to the base of the Gryffindor table. The table at the end of the room broke out into loud laughter. Sirius glared at them.
"Sirius, I noticed you glaring at them when you were being sorted. Which house is that?" Lily asked.
"That would be Slytherin. I can't think of a single person I ever respected or liked from that house, except maybe my uncle. I am the first person in my family not to be sorted into Slytherin. My parents are gonna have a field day with that one," Sirius muttered darkly.
"Lyons, Alice" was called and Lily turned toward the sorting where Alice sat nervously awaiting the decision. "GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat and Alice happily sat next to Lily.
"Malfoy, Lucius" called Professor McGonagall. The blond boy who had attacked Lily the day before strode up to the stool and sat down. The hat barely touched his head before it called out, "SLYTHERIN!" Sirius noticed James glaring at Malfoy as he took his seat at the Slytherin table.
Lily was about to say something to Sirius when Professor McGonagall called out, "McKinnon, Marlene." Marlene strode up to the stool and sat down confidently. Lily noticed a strange expression on Sirius, like he was trying to keep from smirking. She thought it strange since a minute earlier he had been glaring at Malfoy.
"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Marlene smiled but before she stood up she felt strange. She reached up to her face when she felt a tingling sensation. The hall suddenly became silent as they saw whiskers and a lion's mane form on Marlene's face. Her fingernails grew long, curved, and pointy like a cat's. She cried out in horror as a few students started to chuckle, two of which were Sirius and James. Lily looked at Marlene and back at Sirius as she heard Professor McGonagall starting to yell.
"How in Merlin's name did this happen?! WHO is responsible for this?!" bellowed the deputy headmistress.
A tall elderly man at the center of the staff table stood up. He had purple robes with stars and he had half moon glasses perched on his nose. He turned to a woman who sat a few seats down his table and asked, "Poppy, would you mind taking this young lady to the hospital wing?" The lady stood up and hurried to the sobbing Marlene. The lady ushered Marlene out a side door. The man in the purple robes then turned to Professor McGonagall. "Minerva, if you please, the sorting."
Professor McGonagall pursed her lips glancing at the door where Marlene had exited before calling out, "Meadowes, Dorcas." Dorcas looked up in fright. She had to be practically dragged to the stool and held down while the hat was placed on her head. She did not want what happened to Marlene to happen to her. After a moment the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Dorcas, in great relief, ran to the Hufflepuff table amidst their cheers.
"Parkinson, Liam" was sorted into Slytherin.
"Pettigrew, Peter" sat on the stool for quite a while before being sorted into Gryffindor.
"Potter, James."
'So that's his first name,' Lily thought.
The hat barely reached his messy hair before it shouted out "GRYFFINDOR!" He came down to the Gryffindor table and sat across from Sirius.
A few more students were sorted while Sirius and James started looking eagerly at their plates. "Can't they hurry this along? I'm starving!" growled Sirius.
"Snape, Severus" was called and a skinny boy with long greasy black hair was sorted into Slytherin.
"Vance, Emmeline" was sorted into Ravenclaw. Lily and Alice were glad to both be in Gryffindor however they wished Dorcas and Emm could have been sorted with them as well.
"Zucker, Zinnia" was sorted into Hufflepuff and the hall erupted into cheers.
The man in the purple robes stood up again and the students quickly hushed. "To the new students, welcome to Hogwarts! To the returning students, welcome back! I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. I have much to tell you, however there are more pressing matters." He waved his hands and the plates on the tables filled with food. Sirius howled in relief as he started to pile the food onto his plates.
Lily had difficulty deciding what to eat because there was such a vast selection of food. She finally settled on steak and kidney pie. As she served some onto her plate Alice wondered out loud how Marlene was doing. As she said this James coughed as he choked on his pumpkin juice. He and Sirius exchanged a quick glance.
This glance did not escape Lily. She turned to Sirius and asked, "You know how that happened to her, don't you? I saw you laughing."
Sirius turned to Lily with innocent puppy dog eyes. "Lily, I have no idea how that happened to her. I'm sorry that my laughing bothered you. I just got caught up in the shock of it all."
He was about to turn back to his food when Lily grabbed his arm and stared into his eyes. He saw an intensity in her deep emerald eyes and felt the need to break eye contact however he couldn't. It was like she was searching his eyes, no, actually searching his mind. She finally let go of his arm and said, "You're lying." This was not a question but a statement.
"Wha-, Lily, how do you…what?" Sirius stammered.
"You're lying. You may be a first year like me however it seems you already know some magic," Lily answered plainly. She turned to James. He was glancing at her nervously. "You were in on this, too, weren't you Potter?"
He glanced at Sirius, who shrugged. "I, erm, I, uh-"
Alice interrupted him, "I can't BELIEVE you did that! What on EARTH would possess you to embarrass her like that, in front of the entire school no less?"
Sirius finally found his voice again. "Do you know what she's done to us? She's been trying to start some crazy rumor about me and James here! We just needed to teach her a little lesson. And what harm did it actually do? We just charmed her so that she would show the characteristics of the house she was sorted into. There's no harm in a little Gryffindor pride!"
Alice was about to yell at him again when the hall became quiet. They noticed Professor Dumbledore standing again. The students listened as he discussed how classes would begin the next day. He also warned students that the Forbidden Forest was indeed forbidden. He also introduced the caretaker, Mr. Filch, a cranky looking man standing to the side with a long-haired tabby cat at his feet. Dumbledore explained about a list of illegal items outside of Filch's office.
"There are some staffing changes this year. After the unfortunate incident with the charmed flobberworms last year," his eyes moved toward two sixteen-year-old boys at the Ravenclaw table, "Professor Grubbly-Plank has decided to retire. Professor Kettleburn will take over the Care of Magical Creatures class. As for Defense Against the Dark Arts, I am sad to say that Professor Hall was in an unfortunate accident over the summer while working for the Ministry. We have yet to appoint a new professor however I assure you that the Board of Governors for the school will have someone appointed this week."
He then asked the prefects and Head Girl and Boy to escort the first years to the dormitories.
The red-headed Head Girl approached them and introduced herself as Molly Prewett. She and the Gryffindor prefects led them up several staircases. The students were warned to pay attention to the staircases as they liked to move around. Some of the stairs were trick stairs as well. Suddenly Molly stopped outside a large portrait of a fat lady wearing a gaudy pink dress.
"Password?" asked the portrait, scanning the group of new students. Lily had to do a double-take to see if the portrait had actually spoken to them.
"Dungbombs," replied Molly. She turned to the other students. "Please remember the password, otherwise you will not be granted entrance into Gryffindor tower. Do not divulge the password to anyone else."
The portrait swung open and the students climbed through a hole into a warm and inviting room. It was large and had several desks and tables for studying. There was a fire roaring and several large comfortable scarlet chairs with gold pillows waited invitingly for people to settle on them.
"This is the Gryffindor common room," explained Molly. "The boys will follow Mark up to their dormitory," she said while indicating a 6th year student with a prefect badge. "Girls, please follow me."
She led them up a narrow staircase and stopped outside a door that said, 'First Year Girls.' She opened the door and led them into a room that contained three large beds with scarlet bedding. They looked inviting to the girls, who were exhausted.
Lily noticed her trunk was placed in front of one of the beds. She turned to Molly. "Where's Lancelot? He's my owl."
"He's up in the owlery. I can show you where that is tomorrow if you'd like," Molly replied.
Lily smiled and said, "Yes, thank you." She wanted to write to her family and tell them about all the fascinating things she had seen so far. Molly wished them a good night and left to find her friends.
"Lily?" questioned Alice as they dressed in their pajamas. "Back in the Great Hall during dinner…you seemed so sure that Sirius was lying. How did you know?"
Lily thought for a moment. "I'm not sure, exactly. I've always been good at knowing when people lie, especially when I get a good look at their eyes. Here, at Hogwarts, it just seemed stronger. I just didn't have a doubt about it."
Back in the boys' dormitory, James, Sirius, and Peter introduced themselves to Frank. James looked around the room and asked, "How come there are 5 beds when there are only 4 of us?"
"Maybe there were 5 people here last year," suggested Frank, as he pulled a pair of pajamas out of his trunk.
"Maybe," replied James. He looked at Sirius, who had been brooding since dinner. "How do you think Lily figured us out?"
Sirius flopped on his bed and looked at James. "I don't know, but it was really strange. She just looked into my eyes and saw the truth. I think she's nice and everything, but there is something odd about Lily Evans."
Thanks to my reviewers. Once again, I posted my responses in the review section.
Though I have been inserting little clues here and there, this is the first chapter where I felt I could start part of the mystery storyline. Things will take an interesting turn at the end of the next chapter. That's all I'm gonna say for now, because I want to see some more reviews!
Cheers!
MsNorris