The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green

robes stood there. She had a very stern face and our first thought was that this was not someone to cross. "The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said the tall man said.

"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 Dursleys' house 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.

We followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. I could hear others, but Professor McGonagall showed us first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. We

crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, 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.

"The four houses are called 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 rule breaking 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.

"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." She glazed over all of us.

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

"Please wait quietly." She left the chamber.

“What do we do know?” Kat asked me.

“We wait of course, you hear what she said. I bet, even if we aren’t in a house yet, if we break a rule, the points will be deducted once we’re given a house.” I whispered to her. I wanted to stand next to Draco, but I was too scared after what had happened on the train.

Then several people behind us screamed. When we turned we all gasped. 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 us first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "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?" A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years. Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?" A few people nodded mutely.

"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."

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away

through the opposite wall. "Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and

follow me."

Kat and I were behind a girl with cherry red hair and we walked out

of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors

into the Great Hall.

I’d always heard stories about this place from Bram, but what I was seeing now was something out of a fairy tale. The room was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting, but couldn’t see Bram. 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. Professor McGonagall led us up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them.

The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, I looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. “Amazing.” I said, under my breath.

It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens. I remembered where I was and quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of us. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. We all just looked at the hat, and then, the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth -- and the hat began to sing:

"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 whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the

hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moments pause..

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. We all saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!" A pause.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next

to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

It went one like this for a while. Draco was a Slytherin, just like his father, and Kat was a Hufflepuff in you can believe it. And then... it was my turn.

I slowly made my way to the hat with shaking hands. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on top of my head. I didn’t want to choose, I wanted the hat to choose FOR me. So instead of thinking of Hogwarts, or magic, or anything like that, I thought about the Cauldron Cake. I thought about all the mornings I’d wake up and have it sitting at my bed side with a glass of milk when I was feeling sick. I thought of dad and how he was the one who always was the one who got them for me, and then...

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat. My eyes snapped open(I didn’t even know I’d closed them) and Professor McGonagall removed the hat and I moved towards the screaming table. Kat pulled me into the tightest bear hug I’d ever had. When I turned my head I saw Bram and he shrugged. Was he hoping for me to get into Ravenclaw? Oh well, I’m a Hufflepuff now. Nothing can change that. I’m just and loyal, patient and true, and unafraid of toil. Yeah, I guess that is me, right?

“Come on spacehead! Dig in!” That’s right this is a banquet. I’d only seen so much food at our Thanksgiving Feast! There was roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs

Kat had just about everything on her plate but I just had so roasted chicken, fries and some ketchup.

After we’d finished that the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding-- “Hey! Do you think, if we can, do ya wanna be roommates? Ya know, if they let us?” Kat asked, face stuffed with cookie dough ice cream. I gave a soft laugh. “Sure, Kat, sure.” Her face went as bright as a Christmas tree.

At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to

his feet again. The hall fell silent. "Ahern -- just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of two red headed twins. "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. "Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone

interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death." Some people laughed, but I knew this was a serious matter.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. I noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed. Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose

high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words. "Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"

And the school bellowed:

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot.”

Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the red headed twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

We all followed an upper class man  through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. We climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging our feet, well except for Kat of course, who just kept smiling and skipping. We came to a nook on the right hand side of the kitchen corridor. The leader tapped a group of barrels two from the bottom, middle of the second row, in the rhythm of ‘Helga Hufflepuff’(who was the founder), which made the lid swing open, exposing a passageway that must lead to the Common Room.

We all crawled through the passage and when we entered the Common Room I was in awe of it. The room itself was round, earthy, low-ceilinged, welcoming, warm, and sunny. There were lots of yellow hangings, burnished copper, and overstuffed sofas and armchairs upholstered in yellow and black, and circular windows that provide a vista of "rippling grass and dandelions".

“The head of house, Pomona Sprout, who teaches Herbology here at Hogwarts, brings many interesting plants in to decorate the common room, some of which even dance and talk.” Our guide informed us. There was also a large, honey coloured, wooden mantelpiece with carvings of badgers on it. This is located underneath a portrait of the house's founder, Helga Hufflepuff.

“Attend to your rooms now.” The guide said, before disappearing to(what I think) was his own room. Kat and I followed the girls into the girl doratory. The Hufflepuff dormitories had perfectly circular doors, and had only four-poster beds covered in patchwork quilts, and there was a warm light coming from the warm copper lamps, and then there were copper bed-warmers that hang on the wall, I guess in case of cold feet. “I call this one!” Kat yelled, jumping onto one of the beds. Looking at the front of the beds, I noticed that they were our trunks.

Mine so happened to be right next to Kat. The two other girls were on the other two beds to my left. I shuffled through my stuff and found my matching yellow and white polka dot pajama shirt and bottoms. “Shouldn’t you change, Kat?” Kat just hummed and I gave a slight smile. Well I guess I’ll go to bed too. Classes do start tomorrow, and maybe... maybe I’ll be able to talk to Draco... maybe...