The group of first years is lead through the entrance of the castle and around so many hallways that Hannah loses count. They pass many paintings that move, which surprise Maria and Agnes, and groups of suits of armor. The five girls would bet any amount of wizarding money that the armor can walk and talk if provoked.

The giant, hairy man that lead them to the boats is the one who shows them where they are going. Right when the group starts to get overwhelmed by the many corridors, the man stops in front of a large group of doors.

"Professor McGonagall, here are the firs' years. Ready fer the Sortin'." Hannah peeks over Julia's shoulder to see who the man is talking to. An older, stern looking woman stands there in dark green robes and the same colored pointed hat. She has small, rectangular glasses, and her grey hair is pulled back in a tight bun.

The woman, who the girls assume is Professor McGonagall, smiles at the young group of students. "Thank you, Hagrid, now, enjoy the feast." Hagrid nods and leaves, and the Professor continues. "Greetings, first year students, and welcome to Hogwarts. The Sorting ceremony is to happen before the feast, so allow me to tell you how this will work. When I call your name, you will come over to me to be sorted into one of the four houses. Once you are sorted, then head over to that house's table."

Not even asking if there are any questions, Professor McGonagall heads through the doors. The first years anxiously watch her pull out a stool and set it in front of the Head Table. Then she pulls out a wrinkled old pointy hat, and sets it on the stool.

Professor McGonagall takes out a scroll and unravels it, revealing a very long piece of parchment. She scans the first name and calls, "Alkin Jason."

An average height boy clenches his fists nervously and walks over to the stool. Professor McGonagall puts the hat on his head right after he sits down. After a couple seconds, a fold in the hat opens like a mouth and yells, "GRYFFINDOR!"

One of the four tables cheers, and Jason runs over to them after giving Professor McGonagall the hat back. The list goes on, and the students are sorted into either Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, or Gryffindor.

It's a bit exciting and fun to watch the other students get sorted, but Maria's heart speeds up when she hears Professor McGonagall say, "Brown Maria."

Maria lets go of Julia's and Hannah's hand and walks over nervously. She sits on the stool and looks over at her friends again before the hat falls over her eyes.

"Interesting, very interesting." Maria jumps a bit when she hears the hat talk inside her brain. "You have the loyalty and kindness of a Hufflepuff, but the cunningness and skills of a Slytherin. Where to put you..."

I'll be fine with Hufflepuff, but please not Slytherin, Maria thinks. The hat chuckles and agrees. "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The hat is taken off of Maria and she skips over to the Hufflepuff table. She finds a group of girls and sits next to them, one of which she recognizes. "Claudia?!"

Maria's cousin hugs her. "I was going to call and ask if you were a witch, but my mum said to not take any risks. She didn't want me to sound like a crazy person if you weren't one."

Claudia and Maria quickly catch up while the Sorting ceremony continues. However, Maria stops talking immediately and looks toward the Sorting Hat when she hears Professor McGonagall say, "Copper Julia."

Julia quickly hugs Hannah, Lauren, and Agnes before fast walking out to the stool. She hops on the seat, eager to get her Sorting over with. The hat falls over her eyes and Julia hears the voice inside her head.

"You're mind is all over the place!" Julia giggles at the hat's comment and he continues. "Quite a bit of Slytherin and Ravenclaw, but none of those directly suit you. I would say Hufflepuff if not for your rashness. And I see you have a joke going on with your brother about being in Slytherin."

Julia smiles and thinks, Whatever you think is best for me.

After a long moment, the hat finally says, "I know where to put you. GRYFFINDOR!"

Julia's heart leaps for joy and the hat is taken off of her head. She runs down the steps and jumps into a seat at the Gryffindor table next to her cousin David. She looks up at the Head Table again to watch the rest of the ceremony.

The next familiar face that the girls recognize is Alexander Flint. He winks at Lauren and walks up to the stool. The hat doesn't even have to think before Alex is sorted into Slytherin. Another boy is called up later, and Hannah recognizes him as one of the boys who was with Alex in Diagon Alley. This one is named Austin Hail, and he is also sorted into Slytherin.

"Higgins Agnes." The girl takes a deep breath and walks with confidence over to the stool.

When the hat covers her eyes, it only takes a moment of silence before saying, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Agnes smiles and runs over to Julia. She sits down at waves at Maria from across the hall. Maria spots Agnes and waves back, catching Julia's attention as well. Julia hugs Agnes and they go back to watching the rest of the Sorting.

Lauren finds that most of the houses are being sorted pretty evenly. She thinks this is weird because she figured there would be a more popular house. Suddenly, Professor McGonagall's voice brings her out of her thoughts. "Johnson Lauren."

The black fabric covers her eyes and Lauren's heart starts beating out of control. She calculates her heart rate going up by ten percent, which can't be good. The hat understands her reaction and also knows her preference. "RAVENCLAW!"

"Yes!" Lauren pumps her fist in that air and runs down to the table. She sits next to her brother and hugs him. Ian ruffles her hair, making Lauren laugh and fix it.

The ceremony goes on and Hannah stands in the remaining group alone, as her friends have all gone to their houses. Hannah watches as more kids are Sorted into houses. Jamie Jones goes to Ravenclaw, Kelsey Love goes into Slytherin, Gregory Lux gets put in Gryffindor, Nicole Maglin gets put in Slytherin, Tyler Miles goes into Hufflepuff, and finally it's her turn.

"Miller Hannah." The girl takes long steps to the stool to get there as quickly as possible. She stares at the crowd, getting nervous as they all stare back at her. Suddenly, her view of them is blocked by a dirty looking fabric.

"Very peculiar. I see many potentials for a girl with your power." The hat's voice echoes in Hannah's ears.

What kind of power? Where do you think I should go? Hannah thinks. She reckons this is the way to communicate with the hat.

"You have a knack for healing and charms. I ought to put you in Ravenclaw." The hat waits eagerly for her response.

Hannah's heart drops. She doesn't want to be separated from her cousin, even though she'd be with her older sister. If you think that's best, then go ahead.

The hat sighs. "You can not hide your thoughts from me. I know your preference. Are you sure about it?"

Hannah nods, but then remembers she just has to think of a response. The hat grumbles, "Well then... GRYFFINDOR!"

The red table claps and Hannah joins her cousin, new friend, and brother at the table. Hannah spots her sister Katie who is also clapping for her, and Hannah couldn't be more happy. David gives Hannah a noogie before they watch the last half of the ceremony.

The rest of the Sorting is kind of boring, and only a few names catch the five girls' attention. Lauren recognizes Maxwell Schriener as one of the guys who was with Alex coming out of the wand shop. He gets sorted into Slytherin. Talon Xanders is proudly welcomed to the Slytherin table as well. Kyah Herman and Mary Wires join Maria and Claudia over at the Hufflepuff table. Gryffindor gains a pair of twins named Avery and Graesyn Ringe along with Jeremy Klide and Raymond Stone. Jasmine Free, Jenna Ulite, and Wyatt Phila join the Ravenclaw table.

When the last person, Daniel Zhing, is sorted into Gryffindor, a very old looking man stands up from his seat. The man's robes and hat are a soft but deep midnight blue color. His crescent moon glasses hang off his big nose that looks like it was broken at least twice. His long beard and hair are as white as snow. He is a very tall man and, surprisingly, he can stand up straight with no hunch in his back.

"I would like to say a few work before we begin!" The whole room goes silent as they await the man's next words. "As a famous scholar once said: flunky planky bubbly wobbly! Dig in!"

Everyone looks back at their plates to find food has appeared, covering most of the gold plating. People start grabbing anything that looks remarkably good to eat, and load their plate up with fresh delicious goods.

"Hey, Jules." The girl in question looks over at her friend who wants her attention. Agnes sneaks a glance at the Head Table and asks quietly. "Is that man... all right in the head?"

"Oh, him? That was Professor Dumbledore. He's the headmaster of the school." Julia takes a bite of her biscuit, letting the warm bread melt in her mouth.

"A genius he is." David taps his head as he speaks. "He's just a bit of a goof sometimes. He can be serious when he wants to be."

Hannah laughs as she cuts up her steak. "That's my brother, David, and he's also Julia's cousin. He likes Quidditch about just as much as you do, Agnes."

"No way! What position do you play?!" David suddenly gets really excited. He almost pushes Julia off the bench as he tries to get a better view of Agnes.

Agnes jumps a bit, getting some mashed potatoes on her lap. She scrapes them off and loads some more onto her plate. "I've never played before, but I'm going to be Seeker for the Gryffindor team next year. Since this is the only school sport, I'm going to be apart of it."

"We'll see how that gets you. Seeker is the hardest position to play. However, something tells me you have just what it takes to become one." David says with a mouth full of food. Hannah and Julia roll their eyes at David's gross eating habits and continue to devour their meal.

Sitting at the table whose occupants are wearing mostly yellow, Maria and Claudia are introduced to some other first years. Kyah Herman and Mary Wires talk amongst themselves and get to know each other. Maria learns that Kyah was raised in an all wizarding family, and Mary is a halfblood like herself. At one point in the conversation, Maria's eyes wander over to the Head Table.

"Nervous about meeting your teachers?" Maria is snapped back into reality as the girl across from her asks her a question. The girl is pretty, as her makeup is done almost professionally. She has long, curly brown hair and dark green eyes. She is wearing a yellow tie with black stripes, which suggests that she is already older than Maria because she is already wearing her Hufflepuff tie.

"U-uh, kind of, I guess..." Maria's face turns red as she stutters on accident.

The girl giggles. "It's okay, I won't bite! My name is Isabella, and I'm a fourth year so I know almost all the teachers. Most of them are alright; you really shouldn't have any troubles. Except for the Potions teacher."

"Who's that?" Maria feels a bubble of anxiety swell up in her stomach as she thinks about having to take Potions with an evil teacher without any of her friends.

"The one with the greasy hair and huge nose. His name is Professor Snape. Everyone knows he wants to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but the headmaster won't let him." Isabella nods to Professor Snape as she points him out.

"I've heard that! And every year there's a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, so rumor has it that Snape sabotaged them all in order to get their job." Kyah sneaks a glance at Snape, but then quickly looks back when she sees his head turn toward them.

"Curious." Claudia shivers and goes back to eating her food.

"Indeed. Very curious." Maria looks over at Snape one more time, and she wishes she hadn't. This time, the professor catches her gaze and the two make eye contact or a split second before Maria quickly looks away. She finds her gold plate to be quite interesting for the rest of the dinner.

Lauren is so surprised at how much food there is to eat. Every time she takes something off the serving platters, more food replaces it. She stuffs her face full of all different foods. Right when she starts slowing down on eating, the food disappears and is replaced with desserts of all kinds. Lauren forgets that her stomach is about to burst and slices herself a piece of blueberry pie.

"Dang girl! How are you still eating?" Lauren turns to the voice next to her to find a girl her age sitting there. The girl has dark skin and bushy black hair that's in a ponytail. The only thing on her plate is a small cup of vanilla ice cream.

"You're Jasmine, right? Jasmine Free?" Lauren asks, even though she remembers her from the sorting.

Jasmine sits up proudly and responds, "That's me! And you are Lauren Johnson. Are you ready for classes?"

"You're talking about classes?" The girl sitting across from Lauren pipes into the conversation. Lauren recognizes her as Jenna Ulite, one of the last to be sorted. "These are gonna be a breeze compared to the Muggle subjects I had to endure."

"I'm sure you'll take back those words once you have had your first round with History of Magic." Ian smirks and dunks a sugar stick into some chocolate.

"History of Magic? That sounds fun though, Ian." Lauren looks at her brother with a puzzled expression. "What I'm scared about is Transfiguration."

"Hah! I could do that in my sleep!" Ian closes his eyes and pretends to snore. Jenna and Jasmine look at Lauren with confused faces.

"Sorry about him. He's my older brother." At Lauren's apology, Ian opens his eyes and casts a hurtful look at his sister. Before he can retort with anything, the sound of a spoon clanging softly against glass can be heard, and everyone quiets down.

Professor Dumbledore stands up again, and at the same time, all the food disappears from the plates. "I hope you all had a spectacular feast, and now I would like to send you off with some more serious notes. I would like everyone to give a warm Hogwarts welcome to our new Defense Against the Arts teacher, Professor Laney."

At the end of the Head Table, a tall man stands up and everyone starts applauding. Maria glances at Snape and unsurprisingly finds him to be clapping as little as possible.

Professor Laney sits back down and Professor Dumbledore takes the spotlight again. "Class schedules will be handed out tomorrow morning before the first period starts, so I suggest you all wake up on time. The school caretaker, Mr. Filtch, has asked me to remind all students that the woods that line the grounds are forbidden to any students. And lastly, those who wish to join the Frog Choir are to sign up at the station outside of Professor Flitwick's room. Have a good night."

All the students stand up and head over to their common rooms. Lauren sticks close to Ian as they make their way over to Ravenclaw's room up in one of the towers. Together they follow the prefect who is Julia's cousin, Katie. Ian explains to Lauren that you must answer a riddle in order to enter, and to not worry about it. He knows she is smart.

Lauren finds her dormitory and is greeted by her suitcase by her bed. She is really happy when she recognizes Jasmine and Jenna as they join her in the room. The three girls are introduced to two other girls named Mia and Aubrey. After getting situated and unpacked, the girls all say goodnight and Lauren falls into a dreamless sleep.

Maria follows her house's prefects over to their common room by the kitchens. Maria finds this pleasant and a bit homey. She follows Claudia over to their dormitory and they find their stuff waiting for them. Maria is also thrilled to see Kyah and Mary, two people she talked with at the feast, enter the room as well.

The four girls get their stuff organized and are about to go to sleep when a fifth girl enters their room. She introduces herself as Emmy and she explains that she was separated from the group of Hufflepuffs. Maria and her roommates welcome Emmy, and after the last girl unpacks, they all go to sleep.

Julia walks next to her cousin David, and together they lead Hannah and Agnes up to the Gryffindor common room. Julia honestly doesn't know where she's going, but with her cousin next to her they eventually find their way up to the fat lady portrait. David says the password that he got from a prefect, and the four enter the room.

Julia silently prays that Hannah and Agnes are in her room with her, and when she opens the door to the dormitory, she is ecstatic to find Hannah's and Agnes' stuff there. Walking directly behind them is the Ringe twins, Avery and Graesyn. Hannah immediately goes to sleep after she unpacks, but Julia, Agnes, Avery, and Graesyn stay up and get to know each other. The four go to bed pretty late, but they know for sure they'll still get up on time. They are just too excited to sleep through a whole day of classes.