Ron Potter and the Next Generation by PEMDAS
Chapter Notes: What House will the Inseperable Duo be separated into? Find out...
Harry and Ron gasped: the Great Hall was even better than their fathers had described it to be! The walls were lined with purple, linen carpets, and the length of it was probably that of two Quidditch fields. Of course, that seemed like more like TWENTY fields to the first-years, who had to walk down the entire length of it to get to the front of the room. Elderly Professor McGonagall stood at the head of the room, holding the Sorting Hat. As the students arrived at the front, gathering off to the side, McGonagall began to explain the process.
Those who didn’t know how you were Sorted looked relieved as she spoke; others, like Harry, Ron, and Marilyn Malfoy, just stood with blank faces. Finally, McGonagall unrolled a piece of parchment, calling out, “Aubrey, Gregory!” A timid-looking boy stepped forward, sitting on the bench as McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on his head.
The hat was quiet for a moment, and then it shouted, “RAVENCLAW!”
As the Ravenclaw table burst into applause and Gregory Aubrey hurried off, many first-years jumped back in surprise at the Hat’s outburst. Those like Harry, Ron, and Marilyn, however, were wondering what had happened to the Sorting Hat’s song….
The Sorting was a strange experience for the boys, for they recognized a few names: a girl named Frieda Finch-Fletchey went to Gryffindor, as did Trevor Longbottom, while Wilson Macmillan went to Hufflepuff.
Following Wilson was Marilyn. She cockily strode forward amidst the hushed whispers issuing through the Great Hall at the mentioning of “Malfoy”, and it was no surprise when the Hat screeched “SLYTHERIN” before the brim of it reached Marilyn’s forehead. The Slytherin table cheered.
Only a few more to go until Ron’s turn…. “Norman, Haley” “ “Offenhouse, Meghan” “ “Porter, Emily” “ and finally “ “Potter, Ronald.”
The murmuring crowd went dead quiet at that name. Nervously fingering the wand in his pocket, Ron approached the Sorting Hat. He had hoped that the hat would put him in a House quickly, so as not to prolong his embarrassment and nervousness. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
“Ah,” the Sorting Hat said knowingly. “Another Potter. Well, I suppose you’ll be wanting to go to Gryffindor like your mother and father, correct?”
“Yes,” Ron said boldly, without hesitation.
“I see that your blood is of mixed line,” the Hat said. “One parent a pure-blood, the other a half-blood…you are a ¾ blood, my boy!”
Ron grinned. What’s a ¾ blood?
“But, no matter,” the Hat said. “A Ms. Hermione Granger was a Muggle-born, yet she went to Gryffindor, as well…but, of course, you’ve inherited some of your father’s Slytherin traits…”
Ron was undeterred by this remark. If he’d only inherited some of his father’s traits, and Harry Potter had been Sorted into Gryffindor, well…
“I see this has no effect on you,” the Hat said with a touch of surprise. “Well, as you wish…GRYFFINDOR!”
Ron grinned as the Gryffindor table burst into applause. He wished he could say he was relieved, but it was no such shock to be Sorted into the same house as all of his relatives before him. He glanced at his dad, up at the Head Table, who was grinning at him, before walking down to the Gryffindor table.
After Ron had been seated at the far table beside Trevor Longbottom, there were twelve more students left to be Sorted. Ron could tell that Harry grew more and more nervous as they approached the W’s: Timbale, Georgia went to Ravenclaw…as did Tuscal, Annabel…Washburn, Brianna went to Hufflepuff…and finally…
“Weasley, Harry!”
Harry stepped forward towards the stool. He looked slightly less confident than Ron had been, and as he sat down, he shivered as McGonagall approached him with the Hat. She placed it over his head, promptly dropping it onto him. The brim passed over his eyes, but before it even came to rest, it burst out: “Aha! Another Weasley finally passes through Hogwarts School! I know just where to put you…GRYFFINDOR!”
It was certainly one of the shortest Sortings of the evening…second to Marilyn, in fact. Relieved, Harry bounded down to sit on Ron’s other side.
As the last student “ “Zhou, Kelly” “ was Sorted into Ravenclaw, Flitwick came out and whisked the hat and stool out of the Great Hall. McGonagall went around the Head Table, standing in front of the headmistress’ chair. She cleared her throat, and began her speech.
“Welcome, all, to Hogwarts School!” she said, which was met by loud cheering. “Congratulations to our first-years for making this term our biggest ever, with over 1, 300 students! Now, down to business:
“As always, the Forbidden Forest is “ as insinuated by the name “ forbidden to all students, unless under the counsel of a staff member. Any student caught breaking this rule will be expelled, no exceptions.
“Also, our caretaker, Argus Filch-” She gestured to the raggedy old man, who was lurking in a corner and stroking his ancient cat, Mrs. Norris. “-has added another item to this year’s banned items list: Invisibility Cloaks. As in the past, any student found with any of the 1,435 items on the list will have it confiscated and will serve detention for two weeks.”
As she spoke, Ron noticed the caretaker glaring at him. He leaned over to Harry. “We’ll be sure to not let Filch get my dad’s, huh?”
Harry stared at him, incredulous. “You BROUGHT it?” he hissed. “But I thought Uncle Harry forbade you from bringing it!”
Ron glanced at his dad up at the High Table with a smirk. “Like that was going to stop me!”
“…Quidditch tryouts will be held when notified by Team Captains, who should post a notice on their House’s message boards in their respective common rooms. As always, first-years are not allowed.” She gave a meaningful glance at Ron and Harry as she said this. Up at the High Table, however, Harry Potter only looked bemused.
“Now, we have two new additions to our staff this year,” McGonagall said, which made everyone sit up straight. They had all seen Harry up at the High Table, of course, and wanted to know what he was teaching.
“First, we have Professor Ramona Janssen, who will be your Arithmancy teacher in the light of Professor Vector’s retirement.” She gestured to the squat little witch, who received a small amount of polite applause.
“Second, we have, as has been the case for the past thirty-plus years, a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I introduce to you, although he probably needs no introduction, Professor Harry Potter!”
A roar of cheers met this announcement, and Harry grinned modestly and waved. Someone at the Hufflepuff table sent up a shower of sparks that formed the words POTTER RULES, although they were later reprimanded for it.
“Okay, that’s quite enough,” McGonagall said after five minutes of this. “Now…with all that being said, you may dig in.”
To everyone’s delight, food magically appeared in front of their very eyes. Ron and Harry each grabbed a plate and piled it with everything they could reach. They ate and talked at the same time, resulting in a few very messy faces. “Good thing Mum’s not here,” Harry said, sending a shower of mashed potatoes into Ron’s face. “She’d be telling me off for eating so much junk!”
After about a half-hour, when everyone had eaten their share, McGonagall stood up again. “Students will now be dismissed to their common rooms. First-years, follow your prefects; they will show you where to go.”
There was a loud scuffle as everyone pushed back their benches to get out of the Hall. “First years, this way! First years!” came a voice from Ron and Harry’s right: a tall, burly prefect was walking over to them, who immediately put out his hand. “Gregory Daniels. You’re Ron Potter, right?”
“Yep!” Ron said, shaking his hand. Once Gregory was done shaking hands with what he considered royalty, he led the way out of the hall and up the stairs. It took a while to reach the seventh floor amidst the huge crowd pushing and shoving each other, and Ron and Harry were separated a few times. However, they finally made it, and once Gregory had said the password “ “Yeti droppings” “ they all entered the Gryffindor Common Room.
Ron and Harry marveled at the place: it seemed large, but nice and cozy at the same time. As various people either went up to bed or went into their favorite spots to play or chat, Ron and Harry just stood for a minute, unsure of what to do. “I suppose we should go up and unpack?” Harry suggested. Ron nodded, and they went up the boys’ staircase to their dorm.
Their stuff was already on their four-posters when they arrived, and they were both side-by-side. Ron unzipped his suitcase to find, to his sudden surprise, that it was empty. He was a bit disturbed for a moment before remembering that he had placed his Invisibility Cloak on top. He removed it, stowing it safely in the chest at the foot of his bed before changing into his pajamas.
After he had done so, Ron began customizing his area. He placed posters of the England Quidditch team up on the wall. Then, he sorted his clothes into his chest in an organized manner, in contrast to Harry, who had inherited his father’s organization skills, as well: the crammed clothes protruded slightly from his cousin’s chest.
Finally, he crawled into the four-poster. Harry was already snoring away, but Ron sat up for a moment, just wrapped up in the happiness of it all. He was at Hogwarts! He was in Gryffindor! His dad was a teacher! And, best yet…his cousin was there, with him! The excitement of it all, as well as the food from the feast crammed into his belly, made him so drowsy that he couldn’t stay awake any longer. He fell backwards, fast asleep before his head hit the pillow.