The Sorting Ceremony

[Artaxias Dragonslayer]

Artaxias stood with Alkestis and Frona, looking around at the group of students around them. They were all to be in the same year, it would seem, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. Hardly one to be frightened of crowds, he wasn't worried about blending in or sticking out too much, but it was slightly different to what he was used to back home. Whilst a large family, they were not school-sized. Through the alphabet, he knew that their names would be somewhere near the top, and he was rather grateful. He wasn't sure he could sit through all of this and manage to wait patiently. As his first cousin was called up, he squeezed her hand, wished her luck and she was gone and sorted.

As the alphabet dictated, he was next, and he left his last cousin to go and follow the first. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be sorted with them, or separately and work his own way - either way, they were in the same school and would see each other all the time anyway, so it didn't really matter. Right? Seated on the stool now, he closed his eyes as the hat was placed on his head, and waited.

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"You value hard work and fair play, but you still have a lot to learn. You'll do best in...Hufflepuff!"

 

[Ivory Faraday]

Magic interfered with technology, was what Ivory had been told, but the girl was yet to realise just how true that statement was. In her mind, it was likely similar to camping in the woods without any phone signal. So, as she stepped through the front doors of the castle, Ivory took a moment to glance at the smartwatch wrapped around her wrist, intending to check the time for the first time since she'd boarded the train, only to find it's glass screen completely black. She tapped it once, twice, confused as she'd only charged it a few hours before. It had plenty of life left in it's little battery, there was no way it could be flat already. She fiddled with it, frowning to herself for a few minutes while the headmistress spoke to the first years - but she was far too distracted to take in what was being said.

"Faraday, Ivory"

At this point, Ivory had taken to smacking the screen, as pressing every button multiple times hadn't worked, but the mention of her name was enough to distract her from her minor problem. Even with her lack of attention, it wasn't too difficult to tell that she had to make her way to the front of the room. With an intake of breath, the girl pushed through the group of first years and started her walk to the front, only now realising how out of place she was in the school. Her eyes wandered across the tables, then up toward the professors at the front. Their robes, their pointy hats - it was a drastic change to her muggle upbringing. The only people who wore clothes like that did so for dress up purposes. Taking her seat, she glanced upwards at the ceiling, mouth opening in a small o of surprise. As the Sorting Hat was lowered onto her head, the thoughts racing through her mind were focused on how they'd managed to project such realistic holograms of the night sky.

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"Gryffindor!"

 

[Wyatt Finch]

"Finch, Wyatt."

The eleven year old's name was called once. Then twice. Nearly thrice before he moved through the crowd. Normally the confident - borderline cocky - American never hesitated about anything but in terms of sorting he always felt that it would make possibly being a wizard that much more hole or finite. As much as he loved his life back home, he hated the idea of having to do everything in such a normal way. For instance... Why cook food rather than electrifying it with a wand? The boy wasn't sure if that was a prospect but electrifying things sounded like a good use of a gift to the muggle-raised child. The boy finally took his place sitting down and quickly the talking hat he'd been watching intently was put atop his perfectly messy hair. Now with it on all he could really think of was "Put me in the house that has the most fun." His original thought would be Gryffindor simply because being a lion sounded amazing instead of a bird or snake and especially instead of a badger. The others sounded pretty dull so that was all he cared to avoid. All else was semantics to him although he had a feeling his parents would disagree. Still the boy just cared about this so he sat excitedly watching the tables before him, wondering which one might be just that.

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"The most fun, you say? All of the houses can be fun, but there is only one house that'll work for you. That house is...Gryffindor!"

 

[Erasmus Forrester]

Erasmus stood quietly in the crowd, arms folded and waiting. Patience was something that he was still working on, especially in crowds - and there would only be one family member attending the school, anyway. As long as he wasn't entirely alone, he was sure that he could handle it. Saul would be around if he needed to talk to someone, and that was all he was worried about. He sighed as his name was called, and began making his move towards the hat. The wait had not been unbearable, considering his name, and it was of great relief to him. He had no idea of which house he would take, though he knew vaguely about them from his siblings that had gone to the branch in Scotland. He sat down on the stool and closed his eyes and the hat was placed on his head, willing it to hurry up so he could return to obscurity.

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"Ravenclaw!"

 

[Thea Aston]

My brothers should be here, thought Thea, feeling lost in the crowd of students. Faust and Hank had both gotten heir Hogwarts letters, plus a few more from various other academies marking their acceptance into the school programs. Faust was fifteen now, though, and Hank only two years older than herself. Mother and Father had said they were to be home-schooled, and that was that- well, until it was Thea's turn. The owl had rapped at her bedroom window and she'd taken the tightly rolled parchment down to her parents without a word. She was sure it was to join the pile of discards, but to her surprise, they'd congratulated her and took her out to buy robes.

Thea was ... confused. Why was she being sent away? What had she done wrong? She out of all of them was the least likely to act up. Thea was hurt, frightened and confused. Father saw it, of course. He saw everything. 'It's none of your concern, Thea. Your brothers may join you if they are ready.' So she was ready? Is this why she was standing alone in a sea of people, ready to place a musty hat over her head and be told who she was going to be? It's all rubbish, thought the eleven year old as she watched the first students be sorted. Can't they see it's all nonsense? Houses mean nothing. They're acting like someone's just told them exactly who they are. No one could tell her that; only Thea knew her own heart, and no enchanted apparel was going to tell her where she belonged.

Unfortunately Thea was called to the stool soon enough, with the surname Aston. She didn't want to give the hat any hints as it slipped over her eyes. She kept her mind carefully blank, though it registered mild surprise that it smelt only of clean laundry. Must be an impervious charm; so many dirty heads have been under here. Sometimes she thought of such things, and for some reason Thea's worst nightmare before taking the train to school was the hat calling out that she was unwashed or flaky of the scalp. She knew she was not; Thea was immaculate, uniform pressed flat and buckled shoes shining, all done herself. Not a hair of her plait was out of place. She kept her mind on the state of her socks rather than the hundreds of eyes waiting for the hat to call out its verdict, and anything but the strange enchanted object rifling through her personality while idle thoughts drifted. She became rattled after the long silence, and clenched her hands together to stop herself from fiddling. The suspense was killing her.​

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"Houses mean nothing? Hmm...come back to me in seven years and tell me if you still believe that. Let's see now. Oh, I know where to place you. Better be...Ravenclaw!"

 

[Avery Allen]

Avery was here. It was her first and only chance to be in the spotlight. Okay well that was a lie, she planned to be in the spotlight multiple times, but hey as an eleven year old girl it was nice to finally feel like it was the first time. Her family had always kept her in the shadows or at least they always tired. It was difficult with so many siblings running around the house. But forget them! It was Avery's time to shine. She held her head held high and practiced to herself her mantras that she had learned when she attended yoga with her mother once. They calmed her even though she was too young to really understand exactly what their purpose or meaning meant.

However it did not matter to this young newly accepted Hogwarts student. She honestly was not thinking much. She didn't care who was sorted before her or what that little old hat or professor had to say. She did not care for them for a second. Instead she wanted her time. Ignoring all the other names, she was ready. She knew what she wanted...her chance. This was it. Pushing her curly and almost unruly hair out of her eyes she cursed her mother for not styling it right, or at least how she wanted it. What is magic even good for she thought angrily as yet another student got called up to be sorted.
Name after name seemed to come. Allen call it already She thought wondering why so many people had names before her. She was always second well at least that's how it always seemed in her family. This was different. It had to be. Adjusting her uniform and her charm necklace with her puppy's picture Toby on it, she heard her name be called.
Finally She thought letting out a sigh. Was it anger or relief? Even the young girl did not know as she walked towards the front towards a ratty hat that held her fate.
Sitting down, she again fixed her uniform and looked out at the crowd with a smile that shown confidence. She had learned this in acting class. Always smile never let them see you falter. She was using this to the best of her advance when her hair became a wreck as the hat was placed upon it. Seriously! she thought wondering why a more "updated" system that saved outfits and hair had not been accomplished. Her acting class would agree at least she thought so.

Her fate now was in this hat's hands.. or well thoughts.. or whatever. Too much thinking. Avery just sat there straight, an actors smile on her face as she waited.

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"Slytherin!"

 

[Marisol Woods]

Marisol stood nervously in the middle of the large crowd of her peers. She bit her nails uneasily, being new to all this, and wondered what would happen next. She relaxed a little as the Headmistress explained they would only have to put on a hat, but she feared it was just a trick and something worse was happening. Luckly because he last name was at the end of the alpahbet, she got to see all the other students go first so she knew what to expect by the time her named was called up.

Once she heard "Woods, Marisol" come from the talking hat, the small eleven year old walked up to the stool nervously and placed the old hat over her head. She didn't know much about any of the Houses of Hogwarts just yet so she had no opinion on where the hat should place her. She just hoped wherever she ended up would be the best place for her to excel.

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"Gryffindor!"