Mother Magic and the Philosopher's stone

Chapter Nine

The door swung open at once and a tall, black-haired witch stood there in emerald green robes. She had a pinched stern face and Harry immediately thought that she was not someone to cross.
'The Firs' years, Professor McGonagall,' Hagrid said.
'Thank you Hagrid, I'll take it from here.'

She pulled the door wide. the Entrance Hall was so big you could have fitted an entire house inside of it. the stone ceiling was too high to make out, and the walls were lit in flaming torches, Harry wondered why they didn't just use muggle lights, as it would be less of a fire hazard. They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor, and Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from the doorway to the right- the rest of the school must already be in there- but they were led into a small empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would have done, peering nervously.

'Welcome to Hogwarts.' said Professor McGonagall. 'The start of term feast will begin shortly but first, you must be sorted into your houses. A house here at Hogwarts is like a family, and it will be your housemates you will share sleeping quarters and classes with for your entire stay here.' She seemed to be scanning the faces of each nervous first year as she spoke, looking for something or someone. ' the four houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Each house has a prestigious and noble history, producing outstanding witches and wizards. while here, your triumphs will earn you house points, while any rule-breaking-' she appeared to squint at the ginger boy that sat behind Harry on the boat specifically '- will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the house cup. the sorting ceremony start in a moment, so I suggest you smarten yourselves up before we begin.'

'How exactly do they sort us into houses?' he asked Draco
'Some sort of magical artifact, my father said that it was a ratty old thing that needed replacing, but I suppose it gets the job done.' Draco seemed extremely nervous, almost trembling on the spot.
'You alright?' Harry asked quietly, not wanting his 'almost-but-not-quite-friend' to be upset. Draco straightened up immediately.
'Of course! I'm destined for Slytherin, what am I going to be worried about.' Now it was glaringly obvious, Draco had to get into Slytherin to appease his father.
'I'm sure you're going to be a great Slytherin- all of your family have been for generations, right?' The blonde smiled weakly. A voice from behind scoffed loudly.
'I think I'd be more disappointed to be in Slytherin, wouldn't you? Imagine wanting to become a death eater as soon as you get into Hogwarts.' Harry and Draco turned to face him immediately. the voice in question belonged to the ginger boy from before, wearing what Harry could almost describe as a shit-eating grin.

'If every Slytherin were a Death Eater, surely they'd remove the house.' Harry deadpanned. The boy, clearly not expecting a retort, turned red. 'What your name anyway?'
'Ron Weasley, I don't care about your name, bet you're just another you-know-who wannabe.'
'A pleasure, Ronald, my name is Harry Potter.' Ron spluttered angrily, none of which was an apology, so Harry back to Draco and ignored him completely. He didn't like ignorance, he dealt with enough of it at home.

Once Professor McGonagall had returned, the formed a line, with a Sandy-haired boy behind him, and Draco in front. Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by a thousand candles, which were floating in mid over four long tables, he presumed for each house. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. McGonagall left the first years up there, so they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them, and took a great long piece of parchment out of her robes. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upwards towards the ceiling and saw a velvety black sky dotted with stars. He heard a girl whisper 'It's enchanted to look like the night sky: I read about it in Hogwarts: A history.' and if she didn't make it to Ravenclaw, Harry had no chance. in front of the crowd of first years was a small wooden stool and an ugly brown hat that had clearly seen better days. 'I don't even want to put that on my head,' he heard Draco whisper, and he agreed, the grubby hat was certainly something he didn't want to touch.