The Sorting Ceremony: Y35

[Oakley Everett]

Oakley didn’t care about the sorting ceremony and she didn’t care to listen to rules. Every school she went to had the same rules, surely magically ones weren’t any different. She stood in front of the other students and waited for her name to be called. Her adoption was supposed to get finalized, but it was taking too much time. Oakley was starting to doubt it was actually going to happen and wasn’t sure how long she would get to stay at Hogwarts. Her foster dad’s promised that she would get to stay through her first year no matter what, but Oakley had a hard time believing it.

“Everett, Oakley”

Brushing her shiny blond hair back behind her ear, Oakley approached the sorting hat with caution. She had been told several sorting stories, but she realized she never thought about how it would feel when she got sorted. Oakley placed the hat on her head and took a deep breath. Maybe she would find a place that she felt like she belonged.

"You're more than a little impulsive. Hopefully you learn to temper that while still keeping your sense of adventure in...Gryffindor!"

 

[Dale Paterson]

Dale was excited about the sorting session or whatever it was called. They didn't have that at the school he was going to in America and since he had spent the last year homeschool, he was happy to see a bunch of other kids his age and older. As the headmistress began to talk about the Forbidden forest, Dale's ears perked up. It sounded like quite the adventure waiting to happen. He would have to listen and ask around if it was actually too dangerous.

"Paterson, Dale"

Hearing his name caught him off guard in his thoughts, but Dale strode to the hat with a grin. He placed the hat carefully on his head and awaited his fate. Would he be an honest badger? Perhaps he would be an adventurous Gryffindor? Whatever he got sorted into didn't matter much to him, he was just excited to be there at all.

"Gryffindor!"

 

[Luxen Silverback II]

Luxen had entered the Great Hall with mild curiosity. He wasn't going to reveal that he lived with Muggles if he could help it. His last name carried a weight of responsibility and it wasn't to be tainted. Instead he focused on his goal, to find Luthor Silverback and to learn more about his true family. He listened to the headmistress carefully and stayed silent as he waited for his name to finally be called.

"Silverback, Luxen!" rang across the Great Hall as Luxen walked forwards and placed the hat on his head. He didn't know what to expect but from what he had seen, the hat appeared to be alive which meant it likely had the ability to understand concepts. "I think Slytherin is the house for me, I belong in the house of my father, grandfather, and great-grandfather" Luxen didn't know if the magical cloth on his head could even hear without ears but it wouldn't be long until he would find out.

"You don't need to convince me. Slytherin!"

 

[Joey Froseth]

Joey was silent in the queue, listening to the whispers of her future classmates. Each taking bets on where they would land and some claiming for generations their family had been in one house. She didn't have that expectation on her nor the knowledge base to say where she belonged here. She barely knew where she belonged back home. So she listened as some of her peers spoke about the houses, to her Hufflepuff sounded the nicest place to go - especially when she heard the song. It only took her the briefest of moments to realize the song was from a hat. Her mouth agape, similar to a few other students who seemed as confused as she. Joey knew this was a magic school but on some level she thought it was perhaps a joke as this defied everything she knew about the world - even if it wasn't much yet. Joey certainly wanted to get to know more of this weird place so she watched and waited until it was her turn.

"Froseth, Joey."

She stepped forward and the crowd separated to allow her to pass until she found herself on the stage, now getting a close look at the tatty old hat. She thought that it needed a little bit of sewing to help it keep it's shape. Who knew how old this Hat was but a talking piece of clothing was probably valuable - unless every scarf or boot here also spoke. Still not wishing to hurt the feelings of a Hat she sat down on the stool and looked down, briefly wondering if a Hat had feelings? She hoped that she didn't have to worry about every piece of clothing in her closet getting upset if she did or did not wear it. The young girl really felt unease wash over her, giving her a bit of a stomach ache and wished this process would go quickly - although accurately. She could see it was important even if she did not fully understand.

"Hufflepuff!"

 

[Tiziano Edogawa]

Tizi stared at the roof of the great hall, marvelling at the swirling patterns. He was surprised by it, since he wasn't used to seeing that. Normally his mother never let him near any of the cool things and he was almost certain that the only reason he was allowed at school was because his siblings were already here. He didn't really mind all that much though, because he loved his siblings and he wanted to get out of the house a little bit. His Papi had told him to count to ten when he feels overwhelmed, cover his face and breath. Tizi didn't always get anxious, but when he did it was usually because of big things like this. His Dad didn't really get it, but they were al supportive of him at least and none of his family judged him for anything.​

As he stood quietly, keeping his breathing exercises at the front of his mind, Tizi waited to hear his name and grinned when he finally did. He was a little unsure of his feet as he walked and he kept whipping his head around to find the encouraging faces of his siblings and cousins. He waved at each of them in turn as he found them and sat quietly on the stool, shrinking into the hat as he looked at all the faces of the strangers he didn't know.​

"Better be... HUFFLEPUFF!"

 

[Rai Mckenna]

Rai Mckenna rolled his eyes as he stepped into the Great Hall. As much as he was happy to be here, arms linked with his two brothers, he wasn't a great fan of the eccentric ways the castle liked to tell everyone it was magical. Okay, there was magic, so what, it wasn't like this was the first time he had ever seen magic, though he supposed this was probably for the benefit of the people who had no magic in their families, poor creatures. Sighing, he waited as people's name were called and rolled his eyes again as he was the first of his brothers to go first. He looked pointedly over at Sawyer then and shrugged. Guess he was going first. He stepped up the stairs and sat on the stool to wait and see what house he would be placed in.​

"Slytherin!"

 

[Sawyer Hayes]

Sawyer sighed as he stood with his siblings. It would be a long wait he knew, but then again, his opinion of that didn’t matter anyways. The boy shrugged and rolled his eyes as Rai went ahead. He just really wanted this over with and sit down - it didn’t really matter which house he ended up in of course. He was here to learn, not to mingle and socialize. His name was called and he wasted no time in getting to the front and having the hat placed on his head. Sawyer would really feel a lot better when this whole thing was over.​

"This'll be quick, don't worry. For you, it's...Ravenclaw!"

 

[Ladon Laspas]

Somewhere amongst the anxiously peeping heads of eleven years old, Ladon was staring in awed wonderment, unable to keep his attention at one particular spot. The light in his eyes was much more than a mere reflection of the hundreds flickering flames of floating candles, swarming the air of the immense hall. He was accustomed to human magic for over a year now but he was still witnessing things for the first time, especially since he had set his foot on that steam engine that brought him to his new school. His new home.

He never expected to feel that another place could be his home other than the forest he grew up. Nor regard humans as his family. But maybe this vast castle could eventually make him to feel that he belonged somewhere. A year of living under foster care and enjoying comforts that he didn’t even imagined before, wasn’t enough to make him feel that he actually had a family. The boy felt surprising relieved that Hogwarts was a boarding school.

Ladon followed unconsciously the group of first years that he was part of, as it moved past the long tables of older students. Even when they reached the other side of the hall, his attention was drawn skywards at the enchanted ceiling that was displaying a dusky sky of fading colors and the first couple of twinkling stars. He only focused on what was really happening when the Sorting Hat began talking. Even though he was thoroughly informed about the ceremony by his co-passengers, it was still peculiar to witness the animate object having a voice and a catalytic role in the whole process.

Soon names were called alphabetically and Ladon realized that at some point he was also going to step out of the crowd’s comfort zone and walk over to the exposed tool. He then realized that a girl next to him had been staring intensely at his face. He turned away his gaze before she did and unconsciously he raised his left hand to touch the scar on the left side of his face. Deep-green serpent scales were extending from beneath his left eye, up to the side of his face, temple, all the way to the left side of his forehead, covering his skin. A scar he had ever since he was born and never felt uncomfortable about it for as long he was living in the forest. That changed ever since he started living among men. People were staring at him rudely, sometimes he could notice disgust or fear in their eyes. At those moments he wished he could simply vanish back in his beloved forest and see no soul again.

The moments were passing painfully slow. Ladon clenched his teeth when he realized that he was going to hear his name soon. In a way he had mustered long ago, he took a long deep breath and casted off the fear in his mind. As he exhaled, his name was called. With determination in his grey eyes, he stepped out of the group of remaining unsorted students and walked towards the stool to take a seat. A moldy scent tingled his nostrils as the Sorting Hat was placed on his head. He avoided to look at the crowd before him and instead looked upwards at the rim of the Hat that was visible. Which house he would prefer? He had no favorite but perhaps his serpentine scar was making him a fitting candidate for Slytherin house.

"You are ambitious, no doubt, but it's your desire for knowledge that pushes me to put you in...Ravenclaw!"

 

[Sidon Stratis]

It felt surreal to be walking down the Great Hall of Hogwarts. Sidon had read extensively about the school's history and he had also heard stories from his father who was once a student here himself. Not to mention the hours he had spent playing the Hogwarts professor when he was younger, supposedly teaching charms and potions to his family's house elf. At eleven years old, Sidon might have changed his mind at becoming a Hogwarts professor but he certainly was excited to become a student.

The boy could barely contain himself.He really wanted to share information he knew about the ceiling enchantments and the castle's age with the other unsorted students around him. At the same time, he didn't want to sound like an arrogantly smart person so he kept his mouth shut. He wished he could have brought with him his camera that was practically the extension of his hands but he was going to have all the time he wanted the next few days to explore and capture images of the castle.

Sidon wasn't nervous at all about the ceremony. He only hoped he would be sorted at his father's house. The boy believed that he had the typical traits that made a Gryffindor but he was afraid that his habit of just knowing things, could hold sway over the final result. As students were summoned to wear the Sorting Hand and many of them left for the Gryffindor table, he wondered if he was going to be roommates with them. Regardless of the outcome, he really wanted to become the top house points earner and help his house win the house cup.

A few kids were left when his own name was called.

"Stratis Sidon!"

The dark haired boy walked eagerly towards the stool and smiled at the hat before taking a seat. As it was placed on his head, he thought to test if he could really communicate telepathically with the worn hat and to what extend it could read his mind.

"I know you now know my deepest secrets..." he began thinking, alluding to the fairy eggs he had accidentally smuggled in the school.
"...but be aware that I know your true age and that you also reuse the same song after a few years." he added and hardly contained the rascal smile on his face.

"Everyone knows I'm as old as the founders of the original Hogwarts and then some. You act as if it's a secret. Now if you want to know a secret, you'd try to figure out how old the magic is that keeps me working. That's old. But keep on smiling and smile your way to...Gryffindor!"

 

[Roxas Edogawa-Mckenna]

Roxas had been prepared for this for a while. He knew he would be going either to Hogwarts or to Beauxbatons, because that was where both of his parents had gone, but since he was in New Zealand he knew it made logical sense that he would go to the New Zealand magical school. His brothers went first and then it was his turn. He wasn't nervous, Roxas didn't get nervous about this type of thing and really, how was he supposed to get nervous about this sort of thing when he was used to stress. People didn't worry him, their reactions did and with Riku and Rai by his side, he knew there wasn't going to be any trouble. Hearing his name, Roxas rolled his shoulders and squeezed Sawyer's arm slightly before stepping up onto the stage and sitting on the stool. Well, here goes nothing.​

"Hufflepuff!"

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou - she didn't like her first name very much - was incredibly excited and nervous about all of this. Despite living with her magical aunt and uncle for the last couple of years, she didn't really know anything abut magic as they steadfastly refused to educate her on any of it. She was sure they loved her, but they were either incapable or unwilling to show her such and so often found herself alone in their home, or at the very least, lonely, even if she was sitting down to dinner with them. She once heard them mention how much like her father she was, but she never knew him and so found it difficult to decide how much truth was in the statement. Still, she was curious and eager to find a connection to the life she knew nothing about, a connection to her biological father that she could explore and learn more about. Her mother was scared of her and thought her nothing but a freak, but surely something this beautiful could not be bad? Religion spoke volumes about the hideous nature of beauty, but Mary Lou always thought of beauty as nothing more than elegance and grace, beauty was something in everything and she didn't see how it could ever be bad. When he name was called, she nervously gripped her robes, something she wasn't sure she would ever get used to wearing and immediately stepped up onto the stage with the little stool. She didn't like stools, they were too hard to sit on in a lady like fashion, but she gave it her best shot as she waited patiently for what was going to happen next. When words floated into her head though, she screamed.​

"Shhhh...I'm trying to think. Oh, that's nice. Mmhmm... Hufflepuff!"