Chapter 5
Chapter 5
The door swung open, and behind it stood a tall, black-haired, elderly sorceress with a stern face. She was dressed in emerald green robes and a black pointed hat that I had seen many wizards wear.
- Professor McGonagall, here are the freshmen. - The giant reported to her.
- Thank you, Hagrid. - she nodded gratefully at him, and thus I immediately recognized two new names for myself.
- Freshmen follow me! - The woman ordered us in a stern tone, and then turned to lead us somewhere.
We found ourselves in a huge hall, the ceiling of which was not visible. Numerous torches burned on the stone walls, and in the middle was a beautiful marble staircase that led to the upper floors.
We walked on a cobblestone floor. At one point, as we passed one of the many doors, I heard the sound of many voices. Apparently that was the "Great Hall" my mother had told me about.
But to my surprise, Professor McGonagall didn't take us there at all, but into a small empty room. It was cramped for so many freshmen, so we had to huddle together, breathing down each other's necks....
- Welcome to Hogwarts. - Professor McGonagall finally welcomed us.
- The banquet for the beginning of the school year will begin soon, but before you sit down at the tables, you will be divided into faculties. This is a very serious selection procedure, because from now until graduation, your faculty will be your second family. You will study together, sleep in the same bedroom and spend your free time in a room specially assigned to your faculty.
- There are four faculties in the school: Gryffindor, Puffendui, Clawton and Slytherin. Each of them has its own ancient history, and outstanding wizards and sorceresses have come out of each. While you are at Hogwarts, your successes will earn your faculty prize points, and points will be deducted for each violation of the order and rules established, on the school grounds. At the end of the year, the faculty with the most points wins a competition between the faculties - this is a huge honor. I hope each of you will be a worthy member of your family. Oh yes, before I forget. After you reach the lounge of your faculty, the Headmasters will have to give you a school card. As you may have noticed, it's a big one, so you can easily get lost in it without a map.
- The selection ceremony will begin in a few minutes in the presence of the whole school. In the meantime, I suggest you get your thoughts together. I'll be back here when everyone is ready to meet you. Please be quiet. - Professor McGonagall walked to the door and exited.
At the same moment a whisper rose amongst the freshmen, all wondering how the selection process for the faculties was going to work.
- Listen, everybody, my brother told us that we're going to have to go through some tests. - George spoke up at this point.
- Yeah, he said it's really painful. - Fred added.
The faces of almost all the freshmen turned pale with fear, but I held back my laughter. Those two buffoons were lying. However, it was the freshmen's own fault for not asking their parents for any information.
- Hyahahahaha. -An incredibly obnoxious laugh sounded at that moment. Everyone raised their heads at once and saw a flying man in colorful clothes.
- Hey, what are you doing here? - He flew over to us with an infuriating smile on his face.
- Ahhh, giggles, I'm a BEEP! And from this day forward, I will be watching your behavior! - I didn't like this clown's behavior right away. I immediately realized that it was a poltergeist, which is often mentioned in books. And I was about to pull out my wand to try to banish him with a couple of spells, but then I heard Professor McGonagall's stern voice.
- Get out of here, Peeves, don't bother us! - When Peeves heard her voice, he immediately flinched and flew away through the walls.
- Line up and follow me! The selection ceremony is about to begin. - She commanded, and we quickly followed the woman's instructions.
As we left the small room, we crossed the hall we had been in when we entered the castle and through the double doors we found ourselves in the Great Hall.
Just as my mother had told me, the Great Hall was incredibly beautiful. It was lit by a large number of candles that floated in the air above the four long tables where the senior students were already seated. The whole ceiling was occupied by the night sky, studded with bright stars, which was marvelous in its beauty. At the end of the hall, at an equally long table sat the teachers. Professor McGonagall, under the gaze of the upperclassmen, led us to this table and ordered us to turn our backs to the teachers and face the upperclassmen.
Hundreds of faces appeared before me. Some of them were watching us with interest, and some were talking animatedly with friends they hadn't seen all summer. Among them I found a few familiar faces; they were the children of my father's friends, but I was not interested in them. Only one person caught my interest, my cousin Nymphadora Tonks, who was five years older than me.
However, I wasn't allowed to admire her for long, because at that moment there was a muffled sound, to which I immediately shifted my gaze.
As it turned out, Professor McGonagall had placed a chair in front of our row, and on it a rather old and worn pointed hat.
From my parents' stories, I knew very well that it was a distribution hat. When I looked away from it and looked around, I noticed that everyone was looking at it attentively, and there was complete silence in the hall. As I turned my gaze back to her, the hat moved. The next instant, a hole resembling a mouth appeared in it, and she sang out:
I may not be pretty to look at,
But don't judge me too harshly.
For I'm the smartest hat in the world,
# No matter what you say
♪ Hats, hats, hats, hats, hats, hats, hats ♪
I'm prettier than I am
But if they were smarter than me
I'd eat myself for lunch.
♪ I can see right through your thoughts ♪
You can't hide anything from me.
Put me on and I'll tell you,
# Who you're destined to study with
Perhaps Gryffindor awaits you,
where brave men study.
Their hearts are full of courage and strength,
They're noble, too.
Or maybe Puffendu is your destiny,
Where no one is afraid of labor,
Where all are loyal and faithful,
And patience and perseverance and persistence.
And if your brains are in order,
You've been drawn to knowledge for a long time,
You've got the humor and the strength to chew on the granite of science,
Then your path is to the Claw table.
Maybe Slytherin is where you'll find your best friends.
To find your best friends.
Where the cunning go to their purpose,
No shyness in their ways.
Don't be afraid of me, put it on,
And I'll tell you your fate more surely
Than anyone else can.
You're in good hands
♪ I may be armless, alas ♪
But I'm proud of myself.
As soon as that awful song was over, the whole hall gave a unanimous applause. The hat bowed gratefully, to the best of her ability, to all four tables. Her mouth disappeared, she fell silent and froze.