Merlin's Descendant

Sorting Hat

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Y/N's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.

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

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Leaky Cauldron in it. 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 flagged stone floor. Y/N could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right- the rest of the school must already be here- but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. 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. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its 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 honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. 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." said Professor McGonagall, her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak which was fastened under his left ear and on Ron's smudged nose. Y/N noticed that Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair. It made him panic and he tried his best to straighten his robes.

"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly," said Professor McGonagall before leaving the chamber. Y/N was nervous but his face didn't show it. He ended up hearing a conversation between Harry and Ron.

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

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

"That Fred guy is a fat liar. There isn't a test." Y/N glared at Ron while saying this. Both of them already hated each other to the core, Y/N only stopped after seeing Harry's worried expression.

"And how would you know? Think you're so special?" Ron was just a dumb idiot who wanted attention and Y/N wasn't going to give it. Y/N turned his back and ended up having a whisper conversation with Hermione about all the spells they learned.

Then something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air- several people behind him screamed.

"What the- ?"

He gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. 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 even a ghost- I say, what are you all doing here?" A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.