Sirius and James stood next to each other as Professor McGonagall stepped into the room where they were waiting to be admitted into the Great Hall. They were looking around, taking in everything they saw.
“Quiet now! Line up, please. Mr. Pettigrew, fasten your robes. Miss Malkin, put away that mirror. Mr. Potter,” she said, turning to James, “do something about your hair, please.”
“Would like to, Professor, but I never succeed,” he answered, and he noticed at once that he did something unusual. He looked at the face of the Professor and had the instant feeling that no one ever talked back to her. Well, as his mother used to say, there is always a first time.
They marched inside, and James felt every eye staring at them. An old three-legged stool stood in the middle of the room and a ragged hat lay on top of it. Looking at the teacher’s table, his gaze met the Headmaster’s eyes. Dumbledore looked straight into his eyes, and James felt as if the Professor was able to read his soul. He saw that Dumbledore’s gaze shifted and now was fixed on Sirius. James wanted to talk about this with Sirius, but saw that Professor McGonagall was looking right at him. He knew he would have plenty of time for talking later. Instead of conversing with Sirius, he looked at the other teachers. There was a tiny little wizard he found interesting. He looked away and saw someone standing in the corner. It was the big gamekeeper, who transported the first years here with boats. He wondered why he wasn’t seated among the teachers.
Professor Dumbledore rose to speak, and the chatter in the hall died away. He announced that the Sorting Ceremony would soon begin, and really it took off some seconds later with the Sorting Hat’s song. After the Hat finished, Professor McGonagall unrolled her parchment and read the first name of the list: “Ackerley, Flavia!”
A girl with long, jet-black hair stumbled forward and sat down onto the stool. The Professor placed the Hat onto her head and it barely touched it, a shout rang through the hall: “Slytherin!”
McGonagall read the next name, and a girl named Tamara Aiken became a Gryffindor. Two girls, identical twins, became Ravenclaws, and then came Sirius.
“Black, Sirius!” Professor McGonagall shouted, and with firm steps Sirius walked to the stool, took place, and waited for McGonagall to place the Hat onto his head. He sat there for almost three minutes before it shouted: “hmmSlytherin!”
Sirius couldn’t believe his ears when the Hat announced his destiny, and was still sitting on the stool for at least a minute, before standing up. He looked at James and then at the Slytherin table. He walked over to the table and went to the far end. James saw Bella grinning at Sirius, and saw that his friend’s anger almost got the best of him. Meanwhile the Sorting went on. Finally, Sirius sat down and followed the Sorting with mild interest. After he took his place at the Slytherin table, a nervous looking, red-haired girl, by the signs no doubt a Muggle-born, got sorted into Gryffindor.
Professor McGonagall was halfway down her list when she called: “Lupin, Remus John!”
James saw the friendly boy climb the chair, and McGonagall placed the Hat on his head. Before disappearing under the Hat’s brim, the boy shot a last look towards Sirius. Remus Lupin sat there for almost two minutes before the Hat could decide. Finally his verdict came: “Ravenclaw!”
Remus looked longingly at the Gryffindor table, and then back at Sirius, while the Professor cited the next person to step forward. Medley, Peony became a Hufflepuff and the Sorting continued. James watched as the crowd of the first years thinned, until there were no more than six of them: the round faced boy who had lost his toad, three nervous looking girls, a boy with greasy black hair, and himself.
“Pettigrew, Peter!” Minerva McGonagall shouted, and Peter hurried to the stool. He sat there only a moment, before he was sorted into Hufflepuff.
“Potter, James Avery!” James’s name finally came.
The Hat barely touched his hair before sorting him. Soon after that, he was sitting at Gryffindor table. James saw the Headmaster watching Sirius and then his gaze wandered over to James. The old man’s eyes glinted and the corner of his mouth twitched. James didn’t know that it would take him years to get to know what that smile meant. Meanwhile, the black-haired boy was sorted into Slytherin and went to sit opposite Sirius.
From the three girls two went to Ravenclaw and one to Hufflepuff. Finally, Professor Dumbledore rose to speak again.
“Well, welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! I am delighted to introduce you two new teachers: Arnaldo Este, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Furthermore, I’d like you to meet Branwyn Brandubh, our new Flying Instructor. And now, tuck in!”
Sirius was looking around; he had other things on mind than dinner. He was feeling miserable. Not only because he wasn’t in Gryffindor, but because his parents were right. He looked at the faces around his table and met Bella’s gaze. Sirius saw something there. He couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but it was there. He looked over at James, who shot him a comforting look and indicated that he should eat. Sirius did some reluctant movements with his fork, but then his plate disappeared. He wasn’t disappointed; he really didn’t feel like eating.
After dinner, the Headmaster rose again and gave his full speech.
“And now that we are fed, I would like to bring some rules to your attention. The Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to every student. Mr. Swift, our caretaker will present the list of forbidden activities between lessons at request. Jinxes, hexes and such are not allowed in the corridors. Quidditch Tryouts will be held on the coming Friday. Everyone wanting to participate should apply to their Head of House or to Miss Brandubh. And now, we will sing the school song!”
Sirius almost laughed at the reaction on the faces. Even the teachers couldn’t hide their true feelings. The gamekeeper left the room swiftly, and when Sirius looked at Bella, he saw that she didn’t like the prospect of singing either.
After the song ended, the students filed out of the Great Hall. James lagged behind and signalled Sirius that he wanted to speak to him.
“We meet here at half past eight. I want to tell you something!”
Sirius nodded and reluctantly followed Bella and the other Slytherin Prefect to the dungeons where their dormitory was located.
“The password is: Nocturnus venit,” she told them and then threw a piercing look at one of the first years. “And don’t forget it; I don’t want to change it a lot. And under no circumstances are you going to tell someone the secret password! Do that and you’ll have to bear the consequences!” She looked at Sirius incisively. “Good. Get in then and settle,” Bella told them, before stepping into the Common Room.
Sirius hated the place even before seeing it, and now he loathed it. It looked a great deal like his home. He went into his dormitory, which he shared with other two Slytherin boys, unpacked his trunk, and then sat down, thinking about his situation. He looked at the clock on the wall and hurried out of the room cautiously, trying not to make anyone suspicious.
“Where are you going, Black?” Bella asked, noticing him striding out.
“I forgot my hat in the Great Hall. I want to go back for it,” Sirius explained.
“Go on, then!” she said and ushered him out.
Sirius arrived a bit out of breath; James was already waiting for him. They looked at each other without a word, and that moment really sealed their friendship forever.
“Are you disappointed?” James asked with concern.
“I’m outrageously angry! Bella knows something, and that means there is something to know.”
“But what?”
“Maybe the Hat was bewitched or¯” he speculated, but was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.
“The Sorting Hat cannot be bewitched. I’ve read it in one of my new books,” a girl’s voice imparted. They wheeled around at the same time and spotted a little girl standing there, clasping a hat to her chest.
“Who are you?” Sirius asked alarmed, but then saw the crest with the lion upon the red-haired girl’s robes and sighed with relief. He didn’t know why, but he imagined he had nothing to fear of where a Gryffindor was concerned.
“My name is Lily Evans,” she introduced herself. She stretched out her hand hesitantly, but Sirius didn’t take it.
“What are you doing here in the night?” he inquired.
“I left my hat in the Great Hall,” said Lily withdrawing her hand, but Sirius looked at her befuddled after she told him this. Had she been to the dungeons? But that surely cannot be!
James looked around apprehensively and then glanced at Sirius. Sirius nodded, he understood the nonverbal signal.
“What are you planning to do?” Lily asked.
“Evans, you stay out of it!” James ordered her.
He later told Sirius that this was the sentence that most bothered him in their seventh year. For everything else he could forgive himself, but he could’ve kicked his younger self for not taking the opportunity to be friends with Lily Evans. Lily looked hurt; she glanced at Sirius once again, but then strode off, never looking back.
“That was rude, I know. But we could be spotted, and I wanted her out of the way,” James explained.
“You mean, out of trouble,” Sirius corrected him.
“Yes, that too. She is¯”
“You like her?” Sirius interrupted him.
“I barely know her, Sirius. And now back to our¯” he started, but then heard the unmistakable sounds of two people drawing nearer. He pulled Sirius into a shadowy corner.
“Albus, I always know when I see a true Gryffindor. And Sirius Black was- is a Gryffindor! I pride myself with never failing to predict who will become a new Gryffindor. There was something foul!” she cried out.
“Only in Sirius’s case?” the Headmaster asked back.
“Well, to tell the truth I was disappointed to see Mr. Lupin in Ravenclaw, but I guess he can live with that. But Slytherin instead of Gryffindor, Albus? And he already got a friend, that Potter boy. We have to do something.”
“We could never sufficiently prove it, Minerva. I certainly will do everything in my might, but I deem that there is no sure way for success. The boy himself would be able to do the most.”
“You mean acceptance and integration?” McGonagall asked back, barely withholding her anger.
“No. Fight for it, of course,” Dumbledore told his Transfiguration professor and looked back at the corner, where Sirius and James were standing, looking at each other with utter bewilderment on their faces.
“What was that?” Sirius finally asked.
“A signal. You have to fight, and I’ll help you,” James offered at once.
“It will be hard,” Sirius mused aloud.
“Dumbledore said ‘fighting’, Sirius. I guess fighting is hard. I’m on your side, mate,” James assured him.
“Thanks,” he gratefully accepted the offer.
Both of them returned to their dormitories, after agreeing that they would see each other the next morning in the Great Hall.