Let the Sorting now begin!

The sharpness of Professor McGonagall’s tone jerked Dorcas from her reverie and pushed her to the brink of pure panic. She’d been so distracted by the sheer splendor of the Great Hall that she had almost forgotten that she would also be forced to cross the stage and be judged in front of all of her new classmates. She gulped when she felt the eyes of the students around her on her skin but tried to cover her fear with a smile. It came out more like a nervous grimace.

As she crossed the few feet to the stool, her stomach twisted into knots and she clenched her hands into tiny fists. She had no idea what her Sorting would be like. The Travers had only said that they expected her to join Slytherin, as had all the members of the Travers family for centuries. She wasn’t even what the other houses would be like or which she would fit into. It terrified her. What if she were put in the wrong place? The next seven years of her life depended on this moment. 

With this in mind, she straightened her back and fixed a confident expression on her face. However this hat tested her, she would pass. The confident expression flickered once the hat was slipped over her hair and a low voice began whispering inside her head. “Interesting…  another Travers… so many of the Sacred Twenty-Eight have been Sorted tonight.”

Dorcas mind raced. She only vaguely remembered Lucrezia mentioning the Sacred Twenty-Eight when she’d asked about the family, but hearing it being applied to her now grated at her nerves. I’m not like them. I’m not like them.

“Yes, I can see that you are different,” the hat responded into her ear. “But where to put you? You’re stubborn, that much is clear. You have a thirst to prove yourself. That ambition would do you well in Slytherin.”

The word echoed inside her head and she felt herself sink under the weight of it. Slytherin meant Benjamin. It meant the Travers. It meant being surrounded by the constant hatred and vitriol that she’d been forced into since learning about her true family. It meant pleasing them. It might even mean becoming like them.

“But, no, not Slytherin, not for you. Your heart is too kind and your mind too loyal. You’re brave too, if a bit foolish, and your compassion would be your ruin.”

Not Slytherin. Dorcas felt those words down to her toes and her heart was put at ease. If nothing else, this moment was clear evidence that she was not like them. She was something different, something better. Or so she hoped.

“Yes, yes, I think I’ve got it…”

And then, a shout so loud that it ricocheted off of the back walls of the Great Hall and echoed around her:

“GRYFFINDOR!”

Professor McGonagall lifted the hat from her head and Dorcas stood, her heart still thumping proudly in her chest. Her eyes focused on the table of cheering Gryffindors and as she took in their grinning faces, she felt at home for the first time since she’d been forced into the magical world.  A huge grin covered her face.

Gryffindor.

“FORTESCUE, FLORENCE!” Professor McGonagall practically bellowed, snapping the quivering young witch to attention. Florence had had no idea what her sorting was going to involve. Unlike many of her classmates, Florence had no older siblings to tell her tall tales of battles or torture. Additionally, she had been completely unable to pull any details out of her parents. Her mother had been a Ravenclaw in her days at school, while her father had been a proud Hufflepuff. In fact none of her family tended toward any particular house, and so Florence had no idea what the next seven years were going to hold for her.

Deep breath. Walk forward., she thought silently as she marched obediently toward the stool at the front of the hall. Shoulders squared and chin held high, she took her place atop the seat, as ready as she could ever be. The hat was placed on her head and she was shocked immediately by the hat’s words echoing in her own head.

“You’ll be just fine, Narcissa!” cried aunt Walburga.

“The Black family always has a place in Slytherin at Hogwarts” she noted proudly.

“…and if you don’t manage one…you can forget coming home for Christmas!” chuckled Cygnus before placing a hand on Cissa’s shoulder.

It was comments like these, often made jokingly in the Black household that would make Narcissa’s feel uneasy. She knew underneath the laughter and heartiness of the smiles, lay a cold truth. She could not disappoint her own.

When sorting day had finally arrived, her stomach had been twisted into a large bundle of nerves. She could hardly keep the cool, collected mask her mother had instilled in her over the last 10 years. Watching as the other first years bounced from foot to foot and whispered giddily to each other.

The anxiety of her fellow first years threatened to drive Narcissa crazy when at last, she heard her name.

“Black, Narcissa” read out a solemn voice.

The small blonde walked forward and sat upon the stool.

She looked out at all the students, silently praying she didn’t look as foolish as she felt as the large hat was placed upon her head. The thick material shielded her eyes from the crowd, making the experience feel far more intimate than it was.

“Ahhh…Miss Black…a member of the sacred twenty-eight” the hat spoke knowingly. Narcissa sighed in relief knowing not even a silly hat could be impervious to her pure blood heritage.

“A proud member at that” the hat spoke again reading Narcissa’s smug thoughts.

“Loyal, Ambitious, we mustn’t waste any time farther for it is plain as day to see where you belong…

SLYTHERIN!”

Sighing deeply, Narcissa could feel the weight of her nerves leaving her, perhaps her parents were right, being a pure blood always meant there was a place near the top for you. With removal of the hat, Narcissa could see the entire Slytherin table erupting in cheers. She cast one last look at the remaining first years who had yet to be sorted and waltzed off towards the sea of students in silver and green. She had found her place and knew it was one her family would not be disappointed in.

James felt the butterflies taking over his stomach, his whole body trembling with anxious excitement as he made his way through the remaining unsorted first years, not that many to go at that point. He thought of his new found friends, and seeked them out, looking at Sirius and Remus at the Gryffindor table where he was sure to join them soon enough.

Distracted in his longing, he missed his footing, not making it to the next step, but swiftly recovering before he could actually make a complete fool of himself. James turned his eyes back to Professor McGonagall, and rushed up the last few steps, adjusting his robes hastily, throwing her a cheeky smile, as he turned around to take his seat.

The hat never properly settled onto his head, and James could have sworn he heard a snort. If the hat had actual eyes, he was sure they were to be rolling, as barely a split second passed before it was announcing his house. “Well, you’re as easy as they come my boy… 

GRYFFINDOR!”

Jumping up excitedly, he all but ripped the hat off, as he rushed down to his house table, his new family, sticking his hand out and greeting people all the way down to his friends, where he finally settled down. He had finally made it, this was his new home.

“Snape, Severus" 

 And with that, every pair of eyes was on him. He had never felt more exposed in his life. He may as well have been nude and chanting the alphabet backwards, for all the embarrassment he was feeling as he slowly began shuffling towards the stool.   Lily had been sorted in Gryffindor. The reality of that fact was hitting him hardest now as he shuffled awkwardly in the direction of Professor McGonagall, hat in hand looking expectant? Impatient? Disappointed? He wasn’t sure. What was going through the minds behind all those sets of eyes? He shuddered under the scrutiny of it. Were they all hoping he would join them at their tables? Doubtful. Were they largely indifferent? Maybe. He remembered something his father had once shouted at his mother, as she was applying a shade of deep plum lipstick to her chapped lips while preparing for Bridge Night with a group of women she had met at the grocery store. "They only invited you for pity’s sake Eileen,” he had shouted drunkenly over the roar of the television set, “They might act all cozy to you now, but this time next week they’ll find a new charity to waste their energy on.” Severus slumped up to the stool and watched all the eyes disappear as the enormous hat was lowered on to his head, blocking the hall from view. “Ahhh,” croaked a raspy voice inside his head, “a very curious mind indeed.” Severus started at the sound of the hat reverberating in his skull, it felt invasive and he didn’t care for it.  "You needn’t worry boy, your secrets are safe with me,“ grumbled The Hat, "And a good many of them you have I see.”  Severus shifted his weight uncomfortably as he tried to shield his thoughts and memories from The Hat.  "Defensive are we? Rightfully so. And keen to shield yourself.“ The hat chuckled lightly, "You’ve got nerve and curiosity, and a razor sharp mind well suited to the house of Eagles.”  Severus’s heart dropped. Ravenclaw? Surely not.  "No indeed,“ chuffed The Hat, amused, "it won’t be Ravenclaw for you boy. The mind is there, certainly, but there’s something else too.”  The Hat let out an audible sigh.  "You would do well to remember that the value of a wizard is measured not simply by the purity of his blood, but the strength of his conviction and the measure of his mind,“ The Hat declared inside his head once again, "As it were, your path is clear, take heed and be warned, you will do quite well in-”  Severus lifted the brim of the hat and found Lily’s eyes in an instant. “SLYTHERIN!” Bellowed The Hat, and Severus lowered his gaze toward his feet as the Slytherin table erupted in cheers.  There would be no games of Gobstones with his best friend by the roaring fire of Slytherin Commons. No late-night study sessions. No emerald green tie around her neck, and here he thought girls loved matching things to their eye colours.  He knew. She didn’t want to be in Slytherin. He could just tell by the look on her face when she sat down at the table where that awful Potter boy was. He had seen that look before.

Nervously, Lily glanced at Severus. She wanted to be sorted, wanted to belong to a house that would establish a permanent tie between her and the wizard world, but she was afraid of where it would put her.

“Go on,” she murmured to herself. All eyes were on Lily as she forced herself to move her legs. She neared the stool and took a seat, fidgeting with her robes as the professor—Professor McGonagall, she remembered—placed the old hat on her head.

It was hopelessly too big. Lily lifted her hand to push it back, allowing her eyes to be uncovered, looking at the silent crowd of students. She saw Severus in the crowd of First Years and Sirius Black already sorted at the Gryffindor table. The hat on her head felt heavy.

Hmm, said an old voice in her head, unfamiliar but not at the same time. Yes. I can see quite clearly inside your head. You would do well in Slytherin, you know.

Lily glanced at Severus’s hopeful expression again. The guilt in her stomach grew. Surely she would want to be in the same house as her best friend? There was no doubt which house Severus was going into. With one three-letter word, Lily could be in the same house. She could spend her seven years at Hogwarts wearing green and silver and spending all the time in the world with her best friend.

“No.” she said. Keeping her voice at a whisper, she added, “Please not Slytherin.”

Not Slytherin? Oh, how Severus would react if he found out. Lily shut her eyes tightly. If not Slytherin, then where?

“Gryffindor,” she murmured. The house of bravery. The lion. “I’d like to be in Gryffindor.”

Gryffindor, eh? mused the hat. Yes, I could see Gryffindor in you as well. If you’ll refuse Slytherin, then it better be…

“GRYFFINDOR!”

Her heart soared. Standing up, Lily looked at the roaring Gryffindor table as Professor McGonagall lifted the hat from her head. She felt lightheaded, but thrilled, excited to see what journeys Gryffindor would bring her.

Lily couldn’t bring herself to glance at Severus until she was seated at the table. And when she turned over her shoulder to glimpse her best friend, the look on his face broke her heart.

A sudden and overwhelming panic set over her, as Marlene noticed the entire hall once roaring in conversation seemed to fall into a deafening silence, and she felt the weight of every set of eyes on her. Heart hammering in her chest, she toyed nervously with her necklace as she took slow, hesitant steps towards the stool. She closed her eyes, scrunching them tight before they even slide the hat over her head. She couldn’t handle everyone staring at her. Even the thought of it made her want to leap off the stool and make a run for home, she’d run all night if she had to.

Be brave. She commanded to herself as the hat slowly slid over her brow, covering her eyes. That’s what papa would do. He’d be brave, and wouldn’t show any fear, so neither will I.

Marlene gulped and her knuckles turned white where she clutched the stool for support, waiting for something, anything to happen.

‘Ooh, you are a tricky one, not like your family one bit,’ an unfamiliar voice whispered in her ear, making her heart jump into her throat. ‘Let’s see,’ the hat mused. ‘You have an eager mind, and creativity in spades, oh yes.’

Ravenclaw, Marlene thought, though she stayed silent, bobbing her head. Just this morning her father said he could see her being sorted into Ravenclaw, reminding her that there was more to intelligence than just reading and writing. She was a different kind of smart, and she did love music, and drawing. So if Ravenclaw was where she was meant to be, then that would be okay.

‘But, there’s more to you than that, isn’t there? You have a kind heart, and are no stranger to toil, plus patience abound. There’s also a burning desire to prove yourself, and ambition to succeed. Now this is tricky. Where to put you, oh where to put you? Creativity. Ambition. Patience… Ooh what’s this? Now that is interesting, very interesting indeed, I dare say we had to dig deep for you, but I see it’s all here. Now my choice is clear.’

“GRYFFINDOR!”

The hat’s clear voice rang out through the hall, and Marlene peeked out form the brim to see the thundering applause from her new house table. Stunned, yet elated beyond belief, she slid down before setting the hat back on the stool.

She couldn’t wait to write her father, and tell him… He’d be so happy. She wished she could see his face when he read that she’d been sorted into his old house. No doubt he’d tell Poppy and Nana McKinnon as soon as he could, and for once she couldn’t wait to get their letters, and read their notes of congratulations. Even if it took her all night she’d read them, and re-read them again.

Wandering down the aisle, Marlene took a seat at Gryffindor table. She sat between a couple of the older students, but across from her were two familiar faces. She hadn’t spoken to either of the boys, but recognized them from their own sorting. She offered them both an eager grin, and an awkward wave hello, before one of the older students nudged her to offer their congratulations.

He’d managed to stay calm during the walk to the castle but now it felt like a vice was closing around his rib cage. Trying to keep his breathing steady, Remus rushed forward to sit on the stool.

The hat dropped unceremoniously onto his head, covering his eyes almost entirely. A moment passed in darkness before a voice seemed to whisper in his ear and he jumped.

“Well now, this is difficult. Hmmm. You’ve a strong sense of loyalty and diligence, oh my, yes. A keen mind and plenty of resourcefulness, to be sure! Now where shall we put you?”

Unsure if he was actually meant to reply, Remus couldn’t help but feel like he wasn’t actually any of the things the hat had described him as. His mind kept going back to his conversation with Sirius on the train, when they’d talked about just wanting to be with your mates and be happy. And how he’d wanted to be brave.

“The courage is there, my boy! It is only a matter of placing you among those who will bring it forth. Well, if that’s the case, the answer is clear: GRYFFINDOR!”

Sirius swallowed and approached the stool. Trembling slightly, he sat. Narcissa caught his eye from the Slytherin table and smirked at him. He looked away. He caught Remus and James’ eyes just before the hat was lowered onto his head, obstructing his vision.

“Ah! Another Black” said the hat in his ear. “Interesting. Very interesting. Now where to put you? You’re a loyal boy with a loyal heart, I see. And clever, oh yes. Very clever indeed. You have a flair for chivalry and bravery as well. Hmm… very interesting.”

Sirius wasn’t sure what to think. Loyal. Clever. Brave. Defining traits of every house except for Slytherin, according to Remus’ descriptions on the train. But… he was a Slytherin… all Blacks were… weren’t they?

“Not all Blacks” replied the hat. It could, evidently, hear his thoughts. “And no… no. Not Slytherin for you.”

Sirius felt his stomach churn. He felt his heart climb into his throat. Not Slytherin. Not… not Slytherin.  Not Slytherin. He didn’t understand. His ears were ringing.

‘But my entire family is in Slytherin’ he thought at the hat.

“Not so. And even if they were, you are not a Slytherin. And now – where to put you?”

Sirius’ ears continued to ring, his head swimming. His entire foundation, everything he’d been told, was profoundly shaken.

“You are loyal and clever, yes. Very loyal and clever. But your bravery, your resilience, your daring and nerve… those will serve you well. Yes. Better be…”

And then, for the whole hall to hear:

“GRYFFINDOR”

Gryffindor.

Gryffindor.

Not Slytherin.

Gryffindor.

Professor McGonagall removed the hat from his head. Sirius stood from the stool in a trance. He couldn’t hear the cheers from the Gryffindors. He didn’t notice the pulsing silence from the Slytherins. Somehow he found himself sitting at the Gryffindor table. People were patting his back, but he didn’t feel it.

Gryffindor.

Alice started to panic as soon as she heard her name, there were so many faces watching her. She took a deep breath and tried not to trip over her robes as she approached the stool.

She sat down and the hat was placed upon her head. She heard a small voice in her ear.

“Ah ha, hmm, hmmm, very well,

“Loyal, hard working, and witty,

“You’re an easy one little missy.

"I can feel your heart and see your mind,

"And know that you are just and kind.

"I see the joy and love within,

"And that you are sharp as a pin,

"Time is short, I know enough.

"Your house, is HUFFLEPUFF!”

Alice breathed a sigh of relief, and grinned at the applause from the rest of her new housemates. She jumped off the stool gleefully and ran towards them. Some bigger children laughed and whooped as she sat on the bench, others pointed at her head. She waved nervously.

“You forgot about me, I thought you were bright,

"Put me back, I’ve got more children to sort tonight.”

The voice came from above her, she gulped and hesitantly looked up. She had run off with the Sorting Hat still on her head! She blushed beetroot red as she ran back to McGonagall, and hurriedly took her seat.  

Prewett, Molly!

Molly stumbled up to the sorting hat as her name was called. She had to stand on her tip toes to get up on the stool and Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head.

“Hmmm..Oh a pure blood I see! Salazar would have love another member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight in Slytherin…” The sorting hat whispered in Molly’s ear. Molly didn’t know what the Scared Twenty-Eight was but she knew that many of her extended family was sorted in to Slytherin and those family members frightened the young girl a good bit when ever she was around them. Molly closed her eyes tight. If the hat saw fit to put her in Slytherin she would bite her tongue and be a proud Slytherin and prove that not all Slytherins were scary and mean. The hat chuckled at that and paused for a second.

“We have a brave one I see, and a proud Lion’s heart as well…That does it…”

“Does what?!?” Molly panicked a bit she was unsure where the hat was going to put her now. Maybe the hat was just going to kick her out of school all together!

“GRYFFINDORE!”

Molly was surprised at first by the hat’s loud voice as it shouted out her new house name. Professor McGonagall lightly nudged Molly off the stool with a guiding hand pointing her to the Gryffindore table. Molly got her footing and walked over to the table that was clapping madly just for her. She sat down next to a red headed boy and smiled over at him. “Hi, My name is Molly.”