The doors creaked open, and a tall woman wearing dark green robes and a tall hat stood before them. She had a very stern face, and the girls at the front of the group took a few nervous steps backwards.
‘Firs’-Years, Professor McGonagall,’ said Hagrid.
‘Thank you, Hagrid. I’ll take them from here.’
She pulled the door open and ushered them inside. They found themselves in the Entrance Hall, which was bigger that any indoor space Sirius had ever seen.
‘Welcome to Hogwarts,’ said Professor McGonagall. ‘You will shortly be sorted into houses, before the start-of-term banquet begins. You will have classes with your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend your free time in your common room. The Hogwarts houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. While you are in Hogwarts, your success will earn you points, and your misbehaviour will lose your house points. By the end of the year, the house with the most points will win the House Cup.
‘Any questions?’ she asked in a clipped voice. No one answered, though there was an increase in the amount of shuffling around. ‘Very well, then. We shall come back for you when we are ready to begin The Sorting.’ And she left through another door.
The group stood huddled together, waiting in silence. After what seemed like an eternity, the door swung open and professor McGonagall appeared again.
‘Form a line,’ she said, ‘and follow me.’
James looked over at Sirius, shrugged and joined the line heading out of the chamber and into the Great Hall.
The Great Hall was absolutely gigantic. It had four long tables full of students, and the ceiling, much to James’s astonishment, was not a ceiling at all; instead he could see up to the sky, which was now dark with heavy clouds. Occasionally, lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the dim lighted hall. Noticing the dim lighting, James looked around and saw hundreds of lighted candles floating in mid-air.
The first years stopped right in front of the hall, across a shorter table where James assumed the teachers were dining. Professor McConagall turned around to face the students, and James noticed for the first time that she was standing beside a three-legged stool on which stood a really old wizard’s hat.
‘The Sorting will now begin,’ announced Professor McGonagall to the hall, to which polite applause followed. James looked around in confusion, but everyone seemed to be looking at the hat, so he did too. Seconds later, the hat stirred, and a long rip near the brim opened, like a mouth. Much to James’s astonishment, the hat began to sing.
'Welcome, welcome to Hogwarts
Where the great and powerful dwell
If you’re wondering which house you’ll be
Give me a moment, which house is whose, I’ll tell
For those who might belong in Gryffindor
Courage and bravery must be your core
Those who dream to be in Hufflepuff
Must be loyal and be made of good stuff
To be a student of Ravenclaw
Is intelligent without flaw
And if your house is Slytherin
Ambition and cunning from within
So come up here; don’t be afraid
I don’t eat little kids
Come put me on top of your head
And I will tell you where to sit!'
The whole hall broke into applause, at which the hat wiggled a little, as if taking a bow. After the applause had died down, professor McGonagall pulled a scroll of parchment from inside her robes.
‘When I call out your names, you will sit on the stool and put the hat on your head. When it shouts out which House you are in, you may join the respective tables.’
‘Adison, Mandy!’
A skinny girl from the back of the line walked up to the stool and sat, putting the hat on her hear. She was obviously shivering from head to toe.
‘Ravenclaw!’ shouted the hat. Mandy pulled the hat off her head and went to join the Ravenclaw table.
‘Arden, William!’
‘Hufflepuff!’
‘Bell, Kenneth!’
‘Griffindor!’
Then-
‘Black, Sirius.’
James patted him on the back as Sirius made his way to the stool, struggling to show no sign of emotion. He slowly sat on the stool, and pulled the hat onto his hat. Then he waited.
‘Aha,’ whispered a voice in his ear, but it might as well have been a shout considering the fright it gave Sirius. ‘Aha, another Black, is it? Well, I suppose you want to be put in Slytherin, too?’
Sirius shut his eyes at the question, all the time in his mind thinking, ‘No!, I don’t want to go to Slytherin!’
‘No?’ asked the hat knowingly. ‘Well, where shall we put you then? You have an extraordinary mind, you know, and yes, very talented. A strong sense of adventure, I see. Well, if you’re sure you don’t want to go in Slytherin, I’ll just have to put you in… GRYFFINDOR!’
Sirius opened his eyes, aware that his heart was thudding rapidly in his chest. He got up from the stool, and walked towards the table on the right where the occupants were clapping for him. He could see Andromeda’s face, and he hurried to join her, relief washing over him as he realised that he was finally free from his father’s grasp.
*
James heaved a sigh of relief when Sirius was announced a Gryffindor. Contrary to how he’d been acting, he was aware of Sirius’s background. In fact, he’d even seen him a few times at the parties his father took him to sometimes. Sirius Black, the first son of the 15th generation of the Black Family, a family infamous for its Pure-Blood obsession. Every Black was expected to be sorted into Slytherin at birth, and anyone being sorted into other houses would be considered a disgrace to the family.
He could sense that Sirius was different, though, from the very first moment he shook his hand on the train. The fact that he had appeared hesitant and unsure about being at Hogwarts had surprised James very much. He had expected a Black to be bold, arrogant and snobbish; pretty much like Lucius Malfoy.
Oh well, he grinned to himself, there’s bound to be one black sheep in a family, even the Black family.
‘Evans, Lily,’ called out the grim Professor. The red headed girl in the boat with them earlier walked forward, her head held high as she passed Lucius Malfoy, who was whispering something to a boy beside him, smirking. James rolled his eyes, disgusted with the gesture, which James guessed was meant to intimidate the girl. She must be Muggle-born, then, for Malfoy to act that way.
‘Gryffindor!’
Considering he was from a pure-blood family, it’s quite strange that James had been totally ignorant about Hogwarts. The truth was that his father had not wanted to tell him anything. ‘Finding everything out for yourself is going to be part of your education in Hogwarts,’ he had said. ‘Believe me, you’ll find out more about Hogwarts than any other student there. You’ll need some help, of course, which I’ll be giving to you before you leave. Don’t worry about it, you’ll do fine there.’
Recalling the conversation with his father, James remembered the brown package his father had thrust upon him before he boarded the train. That must be the ‘help’ his father had been talking about. He wondered what it was. His father had been very secretive about it.
‘Potter, James!’
James jerked himself from his train of thoughts, and walked up to the stool. Oddly enough, he did not feel nervous anymore, just an uncomfortable feeling from having so many eyes on him. He sat on the stool, took the hat in his hands and slipped it onto his head, flattening his untidy black hair.
‘Potter, Potter…’ whispered a voice in his ear. James nearly yelled in shock, but managed to restrain himself from letting out any noise. ‘Yes, a great mind, very great, if I do say so myself. A Pure-blood, huh? A long ancestry in Gryffindor. I suppose that’s where you want to go? Courage seems to run in your veins. Very well, then… Gryffindor!’
James took the hat off his head, grinning in a relieved sort of way and slipped into the seat beside Sirius, who was already holding up his hand for a high five. He looked around the table and realised for the first time that he was extremely hungry. Being nervous must have used a lot of his energy, he thought. There was golden plates and goblets on the table, which were really beautiful but would have looked better with food on them.
Perhaps because he was so preoccupied with his thoughts of food, he did not pay much attention to the rest of the Sorting. He only raised his head when he heard a familiar name or two. Finally, after ‘Snape, Severus’ was sorted into Slytherin (Malfoy, too, had been sorted into Slytherin), Professor McGonagall carried the stool and the sorry-looking hat out of the Great Hall. At the High Table, Professor Dumbledore (who, of course, everyone knows) got to his feet and a hush fell upon the Hall.
‘Welcome to yet another year at Hogwarts!’ he said, beaming around the Hall. ‘I have a few things to say, but before that, let’s tuck in!’
The Hall broke into hearty applause, and the noise level increased. James looked in front of him and noticed that the golden plates and goblets were laden with all sorts of food. Without wasting any time, James leaned forward and began piling his plate with a little of everything.
*
Sirius leaned back on his chair, eyeing the treacle pudding in front of him wearily. He would have wanted to finish that along with the other dishes he had just swallowed, but he wasn’t at all sure if he could do that without bursting his robes. Just as he decided to take just one last bite, the pudding vanished, along with every other leftovers on the table.
Another hush fell upon the Hall as Albus Dumbledore stood again. He cleared his throat for attention, and spoke aloud. ‘Now that we are full and happy, let me first remind you of the few rules that you must remember to follow. No wandering into the Forbidden Forest, no spells in the corridors, and please, no vandalising the stone gargoyle outside my rooms.’
‘We would like to welcome a new member of the staff, Professor Orsino, who will be teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Orsino is a man of great experience and knowledge, so I assure you that last year’s fiasco with Professor Greyish will not be repeated.’
Sirius leaned over to Andromeda and whispered, 'What happened with Professor Greyish?'
'Shhh!,' she hissed back. 'I'll tell you later, it's quite funny, really.'
‘Very well, I will stop prattling like an old man now so that you may fulfil your wished of lying in your warm beds. Good night!’
Sirius got up from his seat and followed a Gryffindor prefect who had taken command of the First-Years. They were directed up to Gryfindor Tower through about a dozen staircases, finally coming to a stop in front of a portrait of a fat lady dressed in pink.
‘Nutcase,’ said the prefect clearly, and the portrait swung open to reveal a door. The First-Years scrambled inside, where they found themselves inside a cosy circular room with a large fireplace at one side, and two doorways leading off the room.
‘This is the Gryffindor Common Room,’ he said to the group. ‘You may spend your free time here. Up there’- he pointed to the left doorway- ‘is the boys’ dormitory. The girls’ are on the right.’ Then the prefect went back through the portrait hole, mumbling something about seeing the Headmaster about some new rules.
As Sirius settled himself in his bed a few minutes later, feeling full and warm, he smiled thinking that finally, something was going right in his life. That was the last thing he remembered before he fell into a deep sleep the smile still on his face.