Mon Cher (Severus Snape Daughter FF)

Ch. 3 // PS

The door swung open. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face. Clara smiled once she saw one of her favorite professors, Minerva McGonagall. Clara saw Harry's face. She remembered how nervous she was when she first met McGonagall. She is definitely not someone to cross.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here." She said before pulling the door open.

The entrance hall was big! Just like Clara had said. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the stone floor. Clara turned her head slightly as she could hear some of the other students voices. She could tell Harry could hear them too.

Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather close to each other, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room."

Clara bounced a little on her toes. Hermione put her hand on her shoulder and held it firmly. "Calm down." She whispered.
"I'm trying." Clara whispered back. "I'm just so excited."
"I know you are." Hermione told her. "I am too, I'm pretty sure all of us are, but you need to settle down a bit."

"The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."

Clara started bouncing again. This time, Draco held down her left shoulder. "Can you stop being all weird just for a few seconds?" He grouched. "No one is as excited as you are."
"You're right." Clara grinned. "No one ever will be."

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. She then looked down at Clara, who was still grinning. She gave a half smile. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber. Clara heard Harry swallow hard. Her smile fell as she knew her friends were nervous.

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked Ron.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."

"A test?" A boy with an Irish accent asked. "In front of the whole school?" "But we don't know any magic yet!" Neville cried. Clara looked around and saw that everyone looked terrified. "Why is everyone so afraid of a hat?" Clara asked no one in particular as Hermione whispered very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she'd need.

Harry turned to Clara. "A hat?"
Clara was about to say something else until everyone started screaming. Clara jolted and looked around as her heart was pounding. She calmed down after she saw the ghosts that had just streamed through the back wall. They seemed to be arguing.
"Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance--"
"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost -- I say, what are you all doing here?"
Harry leaned towards Clara. "How can you stand there with a smile on your face while looking at ghosts? You know....dead people?" He whispered.
"I was practically raised here. I honestly think you guys are overreacting." Clara replied.
"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be sorted, I suppose?"
A few people nodded mutely while Clara nodded very eagerly. Harry furrowed his eyebrows. How in the world could she be so excited when she saw this a million times before?
"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."
"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."