The Sorting Ceremony

The time has come now once again,
To greet you all in song.
New year, new friends, and all new faces,
In amongst the throng.

But who am I? The Sorting Hat!
I'm here to sort you all.
I'll tell you soon where you should go,
Be you great or small.

The bravest of you might become
Old Gryffindor's new pride.
Your bold, courageous housemates
Will always have your side.

Or Ravenclaw might better suit
Those clever of the mind.
Your wisdom will grow far here
if you're scholarly inclined.

In Hufflepuff the fair and true
Will find their closest friends.
A house made strong by working hard
To achieve their ends.

In Slytherin a cunning heart
Will see your goals succeed.
Your ambitions will be fostered
All subtle in your deed.

So try me on! I never bite
And hardly ever dither.
Your house awaits, as does the feast
So call the students hither!

Shale knew she should be amazed and excited at being on the other side of the world from home, but she just didn't have it in her to care. England, New Zealand, what did it matter? Her aunt had sent Shale and Eggy here in the hopes that being around more family would be good for them, but Shale found it hard to see why. She didn't find gloomy Eggy, or overly chirpy "Auntie Sye" any comfort, what use could more unfamiliar cousins possibly be? But she was here now, and that was that.

Standing with her nervous peers, Shale felt as though she was in a world of her own. Was she the only person at this ceremony who had no feelings at all about it? Hogwarts was just another place, in the end. Another place that wasn't home. She ignored the goings on around her as her future classmates began to be called up to the hat's judgement, watching passively. She supposed she would have to learn who these people were eventually, but it was too difficult to care right now. Eggy's name came before Shale's in the alphabet and she paid marginally more attention to her cousin's sorting, hoping they wouldn't wind up together. And then it was Shale's turn. Hearing her name she shoved her hands in her robe pockets, slouching slightly as she made her way to the stool. If there was anything that would have made Shale more uncomfortable than a hat reading her mind while hundreds of her peers gawked on, Shale didn't know what it was. As she sat down Shale glared silently at the hordes of students ahead of her, until the hat's brim slipped over her eyes, leaving her with nothing but darkness as she awaited her fate.

"Gryffindor!"

Jace smiled as he walked through the Entrance Hall and passed into the Great Hall of Hogwarts Castle. He had been thinking about this day for as long as he could remember and was beyond excited to get sorted into his house. He had absolutely no idea where he would be put, and honestly he didn't mind either way. He trusted the Sorting Hat to do its thing and knew at the end of the day he would end up where he belonged. With a smile he stopped at the front of the room and listened to the hat do its thing.

"Blade, Jace."

He had zoned out momentarily and before he knew it it was his turn. With a grin he approached the hat and took a seat, feeling a little bit nervous as it passed onto his head but felt the nerves drift away and turn into anticipation. Let's do this, hat. He thought to himself.

"Yes, let's see now. You've got quite the inquisitive mind and not lacking in ambition either. You would make a good Ravenclaw but a better ... Slytherin!"

Nova wasn't overly enthused about being at Hogwarts in New Zealand. She did miss her life back in America, and definitely would have preferred to have attended their wizarding school. Her mom was stupid for having moved them over just for a guy, especially when it didn't even work out. Still, they had a nicer house now - not that it mattered that much to Nova, seeing as she'd be at Hogwarts more than at home. It had been a quiet train ride to the school, and even though she wasn't happy to be there, she couldn't dismiss the feeling of awe when she saw the castle. It was magnificent. Nova couldn't even suppress the smile that grew on her face when she saw the sky of the Hall that they were in - the night sky.
When the lady at the front began to talk, Nova tuned in to listen. How embarrassing it would be if she didn't listen and then got something wrong. Then, a hat began singing. Nova raised an eyebrow, and looked around to see if anyone else was bemused by the situation. She could bet they had a better way of doing this at Ilvermorny than a singing hat. Still, Nova didn't think it would be a clever move to refuse to put the hat on - they must have their reasons for it, and the blonde didn't want to get kicked out before she even started.
Nova waited for her turn, being quite late on the list, almost everyone had been sorted before she went up. Sitting down, Nova took the moment to quickly see if she could find Eric at his table, before the hat slipped over her eyes and her focus changed.

"RAVENCLAW!"

The Sorting Ceremony was pretty questionable. Did they really expect a hat making a choice about your personality when you were eleven to accurately effect the next seven years of their lives? Sydney had some serious doubts, and stood frowning at the hat as it began singing.
She did have to admit the rhyming in the song was pretty clever, but the whole idea of some piece of clothing knowing her well enough to decide her schooling was stupid. Sydney resolved to ignore the dumb hat if it made any choices she didn't agree with. She barely knew what she wanted to do right now, so how was the hat supposed to know.
Crossing her arms, Sydney huffed as the sorting began, watching as the other kids in the hall were shuttled off to different, arbitrary tables ones by one. Tapping her foot, she was relieved when her name was finally called, ready to give the hat a piece of her mind, so to speak.

"Everyone needs the house that'll help them to achieve their goals. For you, that house is Slytherin!"

Ren wasn't overly excited to be away from home. A little relieved, maybe. He would gladly trade his energetic younger sister for the more laid-back Lily any day. He yawned, hands in the pockets of his robes. Why couldn't their last name be Abernathy or something? That would be easier. Then he wouldn't have to stand there and wait through the process of other kids being sorted.

He looked around the hall, spotting Lily and Elliot at the Hufflepuff table. He worked his way over as close as he could to the edge and managed to slip a note through a few kids over to his sister. He waited a few moments, smiling to himself as a small chocolate chip muffin was passed back to him. He knew Lily would come through.

He moved to the middle of the crowd and nibbled as discreetly as he could. Chocolate always made things better. He had just swallowed the last bite when his name was finally called. He wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his robes before sauntering up to the chair. He sat down. The only real thought he had was that he wanted to stay close to Lily.

"Gryffindor!"

Cyrus Baros walked into the Great Hall with the rest of his future peers. His purple eyes scanned the room eagerly. He took in everything he could imagine. After all, this was gone for the next seven years. He could not wait to see what house he would be put into. His mother was a Ravenclaw prefect in her time and his dad was a Slytherin Head Boy of his time. Cyrus didn’t know if leadership was in his skill set but who knows. Soon he heard his name. He marched up to the stool and sat down. He felt the hat on his head and he patiently waited to see what color he would be placed in.

"You're going to forge your own path in Hufflepuff!"

Emily wasn't particularly interested in the school aspect of this. The new experience seemed interesting, however. She held her open notebook in hand, making note of things she thought could be interesting. Being in the castle was breathtaking at the very least. She sketched things that caught her attention. The ceiling, the floating candles. There weren't really any people that caught her interest. She was intrigued by that talking hat, though. She sketched it as she waited for her name to be called. When it was, she shut her book before walking to the seat provided. The hat slipped nearly to her nose as she waited for its response.

"RAVENCLAW!"

Eric had a scowl on his face more out of habit than anything else. He tried to keep some distance between himself and his future classmates, not wanting to stand near anyone right now. He knew that if he bumped into someone and they said something, it was likely to turn into a fight. And even he didn't want that to happen in front of the entire school. He glared out over the students in the great hall, wondering where his stupid 'cousins' were. He had heard from his mum there was one in each house, so he knew that no matter where he went, he wouldn't escape them. Whatever, he would make sure he wasn't associated with any of them. They were all horrible, no matter what mum said.

His attention was caught by the hat, as it started to sing. Eric turned his head and looked at it incredulously for a moment, then looked at the others in his year to see if anyone else was seeing this. Some seemed to have been prepared for this, others looked as surprised as Eric felt. Eric quickly scowled again, cursing his mother for not telling him about this. He knew it was probably on purpose. Her idea of a joke. After the song, the hat started calling names, then sorting them into the different houses. Eric had never thought much about how this must happen, but also didn't feel impressed by the reality of it. He glanced around, recognizing a few of the people he'd run into around Brightstone Village. He tried to shoot Nova a slight smile, but didn't think she saw him and quickly wiped the smile off his face before anyone could see. He scowled even more after that, just to make up for it. It didn't take too long for Eric's name to be called, and for the first time he wished he'd taken his dad's last name instead. He hated being associated with the members of his family who had never cared about his mum, his brother, or him at all. But he hoped it was a common enough name to get away with it. He headed over to the stool and sat down, his arms crossed in front of him as he waited for this dumb hat to yell something.

"Gryffindor!"

The day had finally come for Olivia to start Hogwarts and she was excited. She was glad she could leave behind her responsibilities and finally work toward her own ambitions. She would be able to put herself first, to be selfish for the first time in her life and boy was she going to be. The only downside was Olivia knew she would have to wait a while, she would be one of the last if not the last to be called. The girl waited as student after student walked past her to sit on the stool to be sorted. She watched as new Ravenclaws and Slytherins were sorted and wondered which of her parents footsteps she would follow in.

Finally after the herd had thinned it was her turn. Her name was called and Olivia made her way to the stool and had the sorting hat placed on her head.

"You would make a good Ravenclaw, you know? But, if you're sure about what house you'd prefer...alright, better be Slytherin!"

It was guaranteed that Chloe wasn’t excited. In fact, she had no idea how to feel about coming to Hogwarts. Her mother hadn’t prepared her and that meant that on the train the young girl had tried to do her best to read up on anything her mother had attempted to remember about the wizarding world. More importantly, about her first day at school, as soon as she got there. She hadn’t exactly spoken to anyone on the way here, too engrossed in the book and a little nervous about what she would find. Was the castle enormous and surrounded by a forest and mountains, like in the fairytale and fantasy books she read as a toddler? Were her future professors all dressed up with a pointy hat and weird shoes and had brooms, or was it just ordinary, like at her early years of primary school back in Singapore? Gosh, she hoped it wasn’t the former. She wasn’t sure she would get used to a complete change of lifestyle.

She had seven years at the school. Seven years to make sure she could fit in with everyone else, even those kids who might have been prepared beforehand because their parents were, in fact, magical, and as Chloe had learned about herself - not half bloods. It was a term she figured she would have to get used to around here. Calling herself a witch seemed ridiculous at this stage of her knowledge about the wizarding world. The witches the girl knew about were either Evil, Good or Wicked. She didn’t exactly want to find out in which one of those categories she belonged (if any). The eleven year old followed everyone else inside the great hall, and as soon as her eyes had taken everything in, she blinked a few times. It was a bit overwhelming - especially the stares of the many students all wearing different colours.

A woman at the front of the room began to speak and Chloe assumed she was the headmistress. It was nice to see a woman having this much authority, she thought to herself, and despite everything a small smile appeared on her face. She hardly spoke to her fellow yearmates as they chattered to each other in excitement, instead deciding to focus on the odd looking hat...as it started not to talk, but to sing. This could not confuse the girl any further. When her name was called, Chloe swallowed, not feeling nervous but instead wondering how on earth the Sorting Hat could dictate what ‘house’ she was to be in. She went up to the stool and took a seat, before the old thing was placed on her head - was this even hygienic? How did the hat even know her personality? Surely, if one were to think about it rationally, wasn’t she the only person who knew herself best? Right, Hat, just get this over with. Please.

"Of course you know yourself, but the magic in me helps me to see it all too, and see it better than you can right now. I know you don't think you belong here, but you do. And once you figure that out, you'll see that I've made a good choice for you. RAVENCLAW!"

"I won't drag this out for you. You're easy to place anyway. Better be...Hufflepuff!"

"You're a tricky one to place. Let me take another look. Oh...I see now...yes....yes....Slytherin!"

House?

"Helga Hufflepuff would be proud to call you one of her own. HUFFLEPUFF!"

Nöel was ready for his adventure on Hogwarts. Together with his sister and brother he stepped on the train. Beaubelle would go to her last year, but he was glad that he could still see her on the school and ask for advice if he needed. Liam would only give advice about how to flirt with a girl or something but Noël had no intention for that. He was fine with making friends with girls, but kissing that sounded terrible. When the boy arrived at the castle he looked around with a smile on his face. The castle was so big from the outside and he was wondering how many rooms there would be inside. He followed the group to a big hall what was called the Great Hall and they had to walk to the front. He noticed Beaubelle and Liam sitting at their house tables. It would be nice if he would be together with one of his siblings, but he had many cousins around the school too. In every house there was one he knew. Many students before him where getting called and they had to go to the front and a magical hat would tell them in which house they would be placed. Noël had no idea where he would end up, but he was sure that the hat would know what would be right. A magicial hat was really interesting and Noël was wondering how many students the sorting hat had sorted and how old it would be.

When it was his turn he walked to the front and sighed one time. He wasn't nervous for the result, but just understood that this was a real important moment in his life. And a new beginning to something. His parents would not see him as young anymore, he was now big too and would be doing his thing here on the school with no parents nearby. Though he would miss them too, since he was really close to his family. But he could see them in breaks he knew. The brown haired boy got the sorting hat on and waited for the result..

"Gryffindor!"

There were so many people. Tres didn't know when the last time she saw so many children all in one place was, but the room was filled with so much energy that it was hard for the new first year not to get jittery with excitement. She'd initially been nervous to leave the comfort of her own room, the piles of toys were she knew she always kept them, but leaving her two muggle siblings and mom meant that she was finally just as special as her oldest sister. They were the girls that stood out in the family, and while Tres had always looked up to Uno, she just knew that this meant their bond was going to be closer than ever before.

As she made her way up to the little stand at the front of the castle, she looked around in awe at the decoration and the lights, the outfits the teachers were wearing, and just everything. It stood out against anything she'd could have ever imagined in her head. Her eyes darted around the room to look for the green table. She knew that one of course. Tres hadn't been fully educated to know exactly what each house was or what it meant, but the brunette was just glad to be back in the same living quarters as the Slytherin. When her name was called, the youngest digit was called up to take a seat, a large overgrown hat placed on her head which she thought much suited older people than her, and waited to be told that she belonged here.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Zeke was thrilled to finally be heading to Hogwarts, the last couple of years had sucked with him being the only one of his siblings not at school. It was a shame that he was starting his Hogwarts journey as Hayden was graduating but as he was the most serious of their siblings perhaps his absence wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. As happy as he was to get to spend more time with his siblings over the coming year Zeke had been quick to move away from them once he had been on the train, he wanted to make a name for himself and establish his own group without being known as Gwen or Caspian's little brother.

Once at the castle Zeke and the other first years were herded off separately from the rest of the students and soon found themselves at the entrance to what Zeke assumed was the Great hall. There was a lot of nervous and exciting energy in the air as students speculated what house they might be in. Zeke didn't know, his siblings so far had filled each house bar Hufflepuff but he had a feeling he wouldn't be the one to don canary. Soon the chatter stopped as the doors opened and they made their way inside, one by one they were taken up to the stool and had the sorting hat laid on their head. It wasn't tooo long before Zeke's name was called and he took his place on the stool. His mind went blank as he didn't know what to focus on his thoughts on. Hopefully his lack of a coherent thought wouldn't default him into Hufflepuff.

"Gryffindor!"

Lucky couldn't believe he was finally at Hogwarts. It had seemed for a while there September had got further away with each day, not closer, but it had finally arrived, and he was actually here. Yes - he was a Hogwarts student now, all grown up and going places in the world. Nothing could stop him - not parents, not his annoying tattletale siblings - nobody! He glanced around at the other kids as they stood at the front of the hall, waiting to be called up to the sorting stool. Lucky wasn't sure where he was going to end up. Probably Ravenclaw, he figured, for his super smartness, or Gryffindor for his nerve and courage. Maybe the hat would even see something sly him and put him in Slytherin. He hadn't thought much about Hufflepuff. It seemed to him like the house for sissies, and he was definitely not a sissy. Oh no.

"Valentine, Lucky."

Was that a snicker Lucky heard? It didn't matter - soon everybody would know how awesome he was, and his name would just make him that much cooler. He wore it proudly, like a badge, and his chest actually puffed up a bit as he stepped up to the stool and took a seat. As the hat was lowered onto his head he suddenly began to panic. What if the hat dug too deep and saw that memory of his dad convincing him to jump on a lily pad and thought he was a sissy? Oh, Merlin - now he was thinking about it. This was terrible! He forced himself to think instead about the time he'd managed to down a whole strawberry milkshake in one go without throwing up. That was sure to impress the hat.

"You're certainly no Hufflepuff. The right house for you is...Slytherin!"

The contrast between Hogwarts and Sully's primary school was crazy. Trade in sports fields and picnic tables for vast sweeping lawns and an honest to god castle. Sully couldn't shake the feeling like he was in the opening of a movie or a video game as he and the other new kids were swept into the great hall. The feeling doubled as the sorting process was introduced and a talking hat was placed in front of them. Sully grinned widely at how cool it all seemed, the idea that a magic hat was going to be able to read his mind and put him on a school team or something was just so cool. He couldn't wait to tell his little brother about all this, he knew he'd appreciate it.

As the crowd thinned about a bit, Sully spotted the kid, Daintree, from the diner and flashed him a thumbs up. It was a little reassuring to spot someone familiar in the crowd. Sully had no idea there were so many magic kids in the country till he'd stepped into the hall and there was a suddenly a whole school of them. When his name was finally called, Sully tried to keep his cool, smiling confidently at the rest of the crowd as he sat down and the hat was lowered onto his head.

"Gryffindor!"

Abraxus stood in the middle of the huddle of students. His black hair and ice blue eyes peered around at the students around him. Boredom laced his mind. But none the less he smirked up at the Headmistress, he was ready. Ready to show this School what he was made of. As if in response to his thought, he felt it. The magic. Tingle through his body to his finger tips which were shoved into his robes pockets. Anticipation was raw in his mind. But on the outside he remained stoic and confident. His mother, a Ravenclaw, smart and cunning. And his Father a Gryffindor, bold and adventurous. To say he was the their child was an understatement. He was the perfect outcome of their traits. And as he heard his name being called, he knew he was going to achieve great, great things. Whether the school liked it or not.

After his name was called, Abraxus was ready. His smirk deepened as the other students gazed upon him. He walked gracefully and confidently through the crowed, and soon enough he was there on the stool, looking out into the crowd of students. He knew they involuntarily gasped at his eyes. Everyone did. With the confidence he had and the tingle in his fingers, he listened. This was it, for his destiny was about to be set in stone. And with one last breath, the Sorting Hat was upon his head. He was ready, but was the sorting hat ready for him? It felt as though time went slow, like his body was frozen in time. Until the Hat said his house, with the boom of his voice. Abraxus heard it loud and clear.

"You'd do well in Slytherin, but you already have ambition. Gryffindor wouldn't do you any good. Intelligence is there, but yes, yes, YES, you have a few lessons left to learn. Better be... RAVENCLAW!"

Hattie could not believe she was finally at Hogwarts with all of the other people her age. It was bizarre to her that there was such a place as Hogwarts. The castle, as they approached it, looked spectacular in the moonlight and Hattie was excited for all of the adventures ahead. She wondered how many times she would get lost in the place and this did not frighten her at all. She was sure that the castle was probably one of the most safest places and so getting lost would be the least of her worries considering there was so much of it to explore and she was eager to do so. Nonetheless, the girl stayed close to her year mates as they finally entered the castle and walked through the entrance hall to where the two giant double doors would lead them into another room to get sorted. Soon enough, they opened and revealed the Great Hall in all its glory. This would be where she would eat all of her meals at her house table and the fact that it was so pretty made the simple thought of that exciting. All of the students sitting at the tables looked much older than her and she couldn't help but be intimidated by them. She suddenly felt so small as she followed everyone through to the other side of the hall where a single stool sat with a tall dusty hat upon it. This must have been the sorting hat and Hattie beamed at it. She almost told the person next to her but the hat started singing and she didn't have to. Hattie stood beaming at it the whole time. She admired its wisdom and the fact that it had sorted so many people into their correct houses in the past. It even sorted her father, and her aunty Georgiana, and in a moment it would finally sort her and she would find out where she truly belonged.

As the sorting began and people started going up to sit on the stool in alphabetical order Hattie couldn't help but want to try to guess where she would go. Gryffindor was for the brave, Slytherin was for the ambitious, Ravenclaw was for the intelligent, and Hufflepuff was for the hardworking. Hattie liked to think she was all of those and suddenly became anxious that the hat would be unable to sort her, or would at least have a hard time doing so. She wanted to ask someone around her whether or not they knew of someone who was unable to be sorted, but her name was called and so Hattie had to quickly make her way towards the stool. She sat down tentatively, watching with wide eyes as the hat was placed on her head. She knew that the hat could hear her thoughts and spoke to it in her head as soon as she could. "I know you're smart and all, but sort me into where you think I would belong the most, if you can. Is it possible to be unable to sort anyone? I mean, it's quite hard to think that, with all of the different personalities in the whole world, everyone fits into either of the four houses. Also, do you remember my dad? He was a Ravenclaw. And my aunty? She was a Gryffindor. I think I could fit into both houses somehow, but I guess it's your job to decide, so please place me somewhere good."[/I]

"Don't worry. Everyone gets sorted in the end. That's my job! But don't worry, you're not difficult to sort. I already know just where you belong and that house is...RAVENCLAW!"

Violet was excited to literally be standing in the school she always wanted. Now Violet can finally attend school and not be bored at home while her siblings are enjoying their time at school. Violet was amazed how big the place was, there were literally a lot of stairs and corridors. Violet wondered how she will be able to find her way to classes without getting lost and also wondered if the school has a gigantic library enough for her to keep borrowing books until she graduated. Suddenly the doors opened and now she was in the Great Hall. Violet was shocked at the beauty of the Great Hall and saw so many students who were older than her. Suddenly, Violet felt anxious. She did not like a lot of people looking at her when the sorting hat calls her name. Sure she is probably talkative, but only to a few people. When she saw her siblings waving at her and giving her the thumbs up, Violet immediately calmed down, knowing that her siblings were there. When the sorting hat started to sing, Violet cannot help, but be excited knowing that tonight she was finally able to be sorted to the house she belonged to. As the sorting hat started to call students to come to the front, Violet cannot help but wonder which house the hat will place her. Her sister was in Hufflepuff, her 2 brothers were in Gryffindor, and her other brother was in Slytherin. “Well I know that I am really a hardworking person and loyal to my friends and family, but I am also ambitious and when I set my eye on something, I will do whatever it takes to get it. I am not that brave compared to my siblings. I am maybe a little smart since I have a passion for learning. I don’t think the sorting hat can place me anywhere because I have a little bit of everything.” As Violet kept wondering how the sorting hat will sort her, suddenly the sorting called her name: “Violet Grace Smith!” Immediately Violet made her way to the sorting hat and sat down and a professor placed the sorting hat on her head. Violet can see her siblings smiling at her and she then smiled back. Violet then talked to the sorting hat: “I don’t know which house you will place me because I have a bit of everything, I am a hard-working person and loyal to my family and friends. I am ambitious, when I set my eye on something, I will make sure I will do everything in my power to get it. I might be a bit brave, but not as brave as my siblings. I think I am a bit intelligent and I always had this passion for learning new things, but I trust that whichever house you put me to, it will be the house I really belong to and will thrive for the next 7 years of my life.”

"You do have a little of each of the houses. All of the students do, but one of those qualities outshines the rest. One of those lets me know just where to place you and it's... RAVENCLAW!"