CHAPTER 06 THE SORTING CEREMONY

Forming two lines, one for the girls and other for the boys, about 200 students followed Professor McGonagall.

Professor McGonagall stopped in front of a big double shutter door. Through which cheerful noise of kids and adults could be heard. Even though the noise inside the door was cheerful, it could not be told the same for outside it.

The nervousness in the new students increased as they neared the Great Hall. As Professor McGonagall opened the door, many of the students could be heard swallowing their saliva.

As they followed the Professor, the students were dazzled by what they saw, things that they had never even imagined before. Thousands of lit candles floating on the ceiling of the wall and that wasn't even the strangest thing, the hall didn't even have a ceiling but instead it had a beautiful clear night sky showing millions of stars, dazzling upon them. And to emphasize it even more, the Grindleflies were flying about them glittering here and there with multiple colours.

Then on the ground, what they say was a long hall which looked like a cathedral with multiple ribbed vaults. Under which 4 rows of long tables were arranged, on which the students dinned on. And at the end of the tables was another long table that faced the student. All the teachers were seated on them.

Professor McGonagall led the students up to the front.

All the senior students were pointing and laughing at the new students. Some who were older siblings called out to them, teasing and laughing at them. To avoid them all the new comers fixed their eyes on the ceiling.

"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History." whisper came out of two girls who were shocked looked at each other, and giggled at each other. One was non other than Hermione Granger and other was a black-haired girl who Ezzy had never seen before. She had long wavy dark hair that reached up to her hips, as her hair was tied up to a ponytail, she looked clean and simple.

Looking at the pair of girls Ezzy thought, 'Well that's a new turn of event.'

Just then they had reached the front of the hall, in front of them stood Professor McGonagall who was gesturing them to stop with her hand. Behind her were two stools, on one was a pointed wizard's hat and to its right on another stool was a crystal orb which was on a red velvet cushion.

As they stopped, a blond-haired boy, about 16 years old came in front near the new students, followed by couple of students who looked like his assistants, placed a camera in front of them.

The blond-haired boy spoke to Prof. McGonagall, "Prof. McGonagall, If it's alright, can we start taking pictures from here onwards?"

"It would be quite alright, Mr. Adams." Said Prof. McGonagall gesturing towards the students and looking around her robes if its alright.

"Smile now you lots, this gonna be on the front page of the school's weekly newspaper!", Adams said to the new students with a big smile on his face.

Hearing him some of the new students started to give poses, and some just gave a smile thinking rather not take a risk of making a fool out themselves.

*CLICK* *FLASH*

*CLAP!* *ROAR!* the older students clapped and cheered the new students for their arrival.

"Yes, yes, settle down now, the photos will be taken all along the ceremony, so better not delaying the sorting ceremony any further on." Said Prof. McGonagall taking out a roll parchment from her robe.

"Alright, settle down everybody…. Before we begin our ceremony, I present everybody the sorting hat." Prof. McGonagall said pointing towards the hat.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!" The pointed witch hat sang, and at end after finished singing it gave out a big sign as if it was relieved after finishing the song.

All the students whether new or old, staffs all applauded after the hat finished the hat.

After a moment when the applauses died down Prof. McGonagall came forward with a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, come forward and place your hand on the crystal orb. When the orb starts to glow, you'll find the affinity that your magic is more inclined to. If it glows red then it's fire, blue then water, white then air, and if its brown then earth, which are the basics but there are others that have been seen in the history of Hogwarts quite often which are, if its bluish white then ice, yellow then lightening, golden for light and if green then plants. But having these affinities doesn't mean you are only limited to them. We witch and wizards are capable of using all types of elemental magics, this ceremony is only to know which affinity is your speciality, and to guide you through our school journey." explained Prof. McGonagall.

"Abbot, Hannah!" she called out after a moment.

A little girl who was near Hermione nervously came out of the crowd, and slowly went towards the stool which held the orb. She nervously looked at Prof. McGonagall who spoke, "Slowly place your hand on the orb" when the girl reached the stool.

The girl gently placed her hand on the orb, the orb started to glow and slowly the brown colour started to glow really brightly.

"Earth!" Prof. McGonagall said, "Ms. Abbott, now sit here and when the hat is put on your head, you'll find out your house."

Looking at light that Hannah just created the students were murmuring among themselves. Ron then whispered, "She must certainly is Hufflepuff, no need to test."

"What? How did you know?" Ezzy asked Ron.

"Well, she had earth's attribute. Duh!" Ron said.

"Does attributes really affect the choice for houses?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, Fred told me about this. Hufflepuffs mainly have plant attributes." Said Ron.

"I don't know, it might be wrong." Ezzy shrugged.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the sorting hat shouted.

"See!" Ron told the both.

"Then what about other houses?" Harry asked.

"Fire for Gryffindor, Water Ravenclaw and ice for Slytherins." Ron explained

"Ice? Not air?" Ezzy asked.

"Yeah, all the Slytherins have ice attribute… Weird right? May be that's because they have cold personalities." Ron shrugged

Some grumbles came from behind Ron hearing his words, which he just ignored. But to which he gave a smile feeling proud of himself.

Another person was already sitting on the stool. And again, the sorting hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The sorting ceremony went for quite moment as there were many students.

"Granger, Hermione!" Prof. McGonagall called out.

She went forward trying to hide her nervousness, she gently placed her hand on the orb and the orb start to shine, the light started to shine brightly, red and then golden.

"Fire and light", Prof. McGonagall announced a little loudly as she was the first student who had double attribute till this moment of the ceremony. Applause and whistle started to come.

Hermione smiling went to sit on the stool, sorting hat was then put on her head. After a moment the hat shouted, "Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindor table broke out of cheers and applause.

After the cheering died down, Prof. McGonagall who still had a small smile called out, "Knight, Ezekiel"

'Finally!' thought Ezzy, then he slowly walked towards the orb and placed his hand on the orb. The orb slowly started to shine light green light, brighter and brighter, it didn't show any sign of stopping. The light got blindingly bright so he took out his hand.

The crowd started to murmur. As for Ezzy's case, he was having hard time seeing because of the bright light, so he didn't think much about it.

"Plant", said Prof. McGonagall, "Now be seated on the stool, Mr. Knight."

Ezzy, rubbing his eyes slowly sat on the chair.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat said even before it touched his head properly.

Gryffindor table broke out of another applause and cheer.

Ezzy stood from the stool with a smile, then looked at Harry and Ron, from whom one gave a nervous smile and another gave a thumbs up. Then walked towards the Gryffindor's table, and sat on the right of Hermione.

"Hello Hermione, we meet again." Ezzy said to Hermione.

"Yes" she answered, "How did you feel when you were up there? I was so nervous up there, so scared I would get poor affinity."

"Well, it wasn't, was it? You even got double affinity. Quite the magic genius, ey?" Ezzy told Hermione.

"Fire and Earth", They heard Prof. McGonagall announcing the affinity.

Ezzy and Hermione looked towards the boy who was shocked out his mind. It was Neville Longbottom, looking all dazed out, sitting on the stool, hat on his head.

"Gryffindor!" it shouted.

Again, another round of applause broke out of Gryffindor table.

"Wah! Another double affinity!" someone from Gryffindor shouted.

"Look! Even McGonagall has a smile on her face." Another one pointed out.

Neville, who looked like he would cry any second came near Ezzy and Hermione.

"Ezzy?" called out Neville

"Yeah Neville?" asked Ezzy

"Is this for real?" asked Neville.

Ezzy and Hermione looked at him confusingly.

"I… I thought I was a squib…" a tear fell off his right eye then from the left, "And… and now I have two affinities and… I'm a Gryffindor?"

He bit his lower lip and covered his mouth and then continued, "I'm so happy right now…"

Ezzy stood up and placed his hand on Neville's shoulder, "Yes you should be happy, I told you, didn't I? You will be an excellent wizard, no doubt about that."

Then he helped Neville to the bench, between him and Hemione.

It took quite a while for Neville to calm down. Through that time multiple students had already gone to their respective houses, including Draco Malfoy, who had double affinity of Air and Ice, bragging about it in the Slytherin table.

"Potter, Harry", Prof. McGonagall called out.

The Hall became pin-drop silent. No one even dared to breathe louder, afraid to lose their sight of the wizarding world's hero.

Harry slowly went towards the crystal orb, and gently placed his hand on the orb.

It started to shine. The lights left everybody shocked. The orb gave out three different colours, First bluish white, then Red and then yellow.

For a moment people couldn't take in what they saw.

"Iii…. *Uhhum* Ice, Fire and Lightening" Prof. McGonagall announced.

When all of them, came out of their stupor, a flood of noise fell on the hall. Flashes of camera started to go off, the Great Hall became a chaos.

The old man on the staff table rose from his seat, took out his wand and just pressed it on his throat.

"Silence!" effortlessly the old man's voice became so loud, everybody had to cover their ears.

"Mr. Potter, on the stool please." Prof. McGonagall told Harry.

He sat on the stool, when the hat was kept on his head, it spoke, "Difficult, very difficult"

It took quiet a moment between the hat and Harry who were mumbling to one another then suddenly the Hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Ezzy was already ready, covering his ears, knowing the degree of shout the people of the Gryffindor house were about to make.

And there it was, a cheer so loud the goblets on the table started to resonate.

Harry slowly came down to the tables, shaking every Gryffindor's hand, getting praised. He sat right opposite, facing Ezzy.

It took quite a moment for people to calm down, but this time no teacher, tried to stop the cheer, even some of them were chattering and clapping their hand. And as for Prof. McGonagall, she was smiling ear to ear, maybe it was the only day anyone has ever seen her this happy throughout her teaching career in Hogwarts till this date.

"We got Potter! We got Potter!" The Weasley twins couldn't stop shouting.

After quite a long time the noise died down, and the sorting ceremony continued. Many went to Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, only few got into the Gryffindor compared to others.

Only three students were remaining, one was Ron, Blaise Zabini and other was a girl who was talking about the enchanted ceiling with Hermione.

"Weasley, Ron", Prof. McGonagall called out.

Ron who looked really nervous had sweat on his forehead. Sweeping it off with his sleeve, walked towards the crystal orb and placed his hand on it. Red light started to shine brightly.

Then he sat on the stool and the hat shouted, "Gryffindor!"

Till now, all the students were already tired of shouting so applause was all he got.

"Hmmph! Quite discriminating" mumbling this Ron sat next to Harry.

A hand on his head and other on his shoulder, Fred and George patted Ron and said in unison, "Great job getting on Gryffindor, Ronikins."

"Thanks", Ron thanked them with a big smile.

"Welcome to Gryffindor", they continued.

"And Good", said Fred

"Luck", said George

"We", said Fred

"will", said George

"make", said Fred

"your", said George

"life", said Fred

"a", said George

"LIVING HELL!!!", both the twins said in unison and left to their respective seat.

The smile on Ron's face disappeared and shaking his face and looked to the front.

"Yelkrava, Suhi Ololar", Prof. McGonagall called out.

People started to murmur and whisper after hearing her name.

Suhi slowly and elegantly walked towards the orb and placed her hand on the orb. The orb slowly started to shine, at first the orb shined a red colour then slowly changed into blue.

"Fire and Water" Prof. McGonagall announced.

Again, murmur and whisper started, as people were shocked that she didn't have ice as her affinity instead she had fire.

Then she slowly sat on the other stool where the hat was put on her head.

A little moment later the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

All the people were left shocked, then woke up hearing Hermione's clapping, then Ezzy, then the whole Gryffindor.

Suhi slowly came down and sat next to Hermione.

Ezzy was just very confused why people were being like this. He had no idea why and what people were gossiping about, she was completely new.

'Is her family like Malfoys and Blacks? Or any other death eater's family?', thought Ezzy.

So, he asked Neville, "Hey. Neville, am I missing something? Why are people behaving like this?"

"Oh, it's nothing bad, it's just that Yelkravas are a fallen royal family, but still very influential family. They haven't done anything bad perse as they have never taken part in wars, its just... It's just that they are a very proud Slytherins. It's said that they are the direct descendants of Slytherin." Neville answered.

"Oh, okay thanks." Ezzy said to Neville.

Saying that he took another look at Suhi then on to others. There were about 30 more new Gryffindors this year, which included Liam also.

'Come to think of it, Frank was in Ravenclaw if I am correct.' Thinking that he looked towards the Ravenclaw.

And there he was, slicked back blond hair, arrogantly flaunting something with his friends.

'I thought he was a quiet guy, but it looks like he wasn't, a fake façade in front of parents may be?' then he looked at Liam who was talking the same way with Seamus and Dean further away from Ezzy, flinging his arms around and speaking loudly.

'Is it only me or there are others who thinks they are annoying? Or is it only me because of my personal reasons?' Ezzy thought. He just shrugged and looked towards his new friends.

Just then, on the podium, a very old looking man with long beard and hair white as snow stood. In front of all the student, he stood out more than anyone, its not like he was dressed funny, but he was giving off a very strong aura. Magic was flowing out of him, his body even had a little glow, his eyes twinkling, and his beard and hair, even though the was no wind, it was moving continuously like the ocean waves.

"Welcome!" His voice boomed through the kids like their soul was rip out from their bodies.

"Ah Sorry!" Again, with sound so loud, he spoke. Hurriedly, he took out his wand and again placed on his throat and undid his spell.

"Sorry about that, forgot to undo the spell I used few moment ago, impressive wasn't it? I was thinking about the Sonorus charm and how we have to point the wand all the time while speaking so, I thought I would make a new spell. Funny th…" The old man was speaking but was cut off by Prof. McGonagall.

Prof. McGonagall cleared her voice, indicating the old man should stop.

The old man looked at her and stopped for a moment, then again looked at front and started to talk again, "Ah, Yes. We must all be tired and hungry."

"Alright, Welcome! Again... Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!" He said while scratching his beard. "I am the Headmaster of this School, Albus Dumbledore. Before we beginour banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"