Hagrid scanned the group of scared-looking first-years timidly walking towards him; Remus Lupin’s frail and lonely figure was nowhere to be seen among them, and it started to worry him. At last he spotted the boy: he was hurrying to catch up with the group of first-years.
Only he wasn’t alone: running along with him were three other boys, and the four of them could be heard laughing and talking excitedly like old friends. There was something positively startling about this sight, especially when you had got to know Remus Lupin. When Hagrid had spent a few days in his parents’ house over the summer, on Dumbledore’s request, Remus had looked like an odd, sickly boy who wanted to be left alone.
Hagrid didn’t know exactly what the boy’s problem was; yet he guessed it was something important, as Headmaster Dumbledore had looked dead serious when he had asked him to keep an eye on him. But right now, Hagrid was pleased to see, Remus just looked like any other eleven-year-old.
“Oh, Remus. How are yeh doin’?” asked the bearded giant, smiling widely, when the four boys caught up.
“Fine,” said Remus, grinning. “Really fine.”
“Tha’s good teh hear,” said Hagrid, nodding to Remus’ friends. Now he was close to them, he recognised one of the boys as Romulus Black’s son. He wasn’t sure he was too happy about it: the Blacks were wealthy pure-bloods and extremely proud of it. Not quite the kind of friends that would help Remus to handle his problem, whatever it was.
“Evening,” said the Black boy with a smile. “Are you Hagrid?”
“Yeah, I am,” the giant answered gruffly. “But no time fer a chat. We’ve gotta get teh the castle. We’re coming by the lake. Enjoy the view. No more than four in the same boat.”
He winked at Remus and led the first-years to the lake where the boats were waiting.
Remus, Sirius, James and Peter went in the same boat, which sailed away on the black lake without any assistance. They all gaped, open-mouthed, at the approaching castle.
“Wow,” breathed Sirius. “It’s worth the trip.”
Remus privately agreed. He was beginning to think life would be really enjoyable in such a place, with James, Sirius and Peter for friends.
Or at least, as long as they ignored what he really was.
As this thought occurred it was as if he had been drenched in icy water. He shivered and dropped his gaze to the depths of the lake. He thought he saw something stir in the black water.
“I bet you anything there are aquatic monsters in there!” whispered James, literally jumping up and down on his seat in excitement. “My dad told me about a giant squid… The Forbidden Forest is full of dangerous creatures, too “ how cool is that?”
Well, thought Remus bitterly, that’s only one more monster here, then.
“Are you okay?” said Peter in his ear. “You look a bit funny.”
He shook himself. “I’m fine,” he said, forcing himself to smile. He glanced in Sirius and James’ direction and saw they were busy staring at the castle, yet he could tell they had been watching him a second before.
They were greeted at the front doors by a severe-looking witch.
“Firs’-years, Professor McGonagall,” announced Hagrid.
“Thank you, Hagrid.”
Professor McGonagall led them into the Entrance Hall, which was so big several students stopped dead and stayed rooted to the spot with their mouths open until Professor McGonagall had to call for them. They were led into a small room where they gathered, listening apprehensively to the chatting of hundreds of students who had already settled in the Great Hall.
“The Sorting will take place in the Great Hall in a few minutes,” Professor McGonagall said briskly. “This ceremony takes place every year, in order to sort first-years into the four different houses of Hogwarts; the four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. You will learn more about each of them in a few moments. Now, please wait here quietly, until I come back.”
Professor McGonagall went through a door into the Great Hall and they found themselves alone.
“Here we are,” said James, breathing deeply. “The Sorting.” He felt extremely nervous at the idea of being sorted in front of the whole school. Sirius was obviously feeling even worse: he was paper-white and when he spoke, it was in a hollow sort of voice.
“I’m seriously considering the idea of running away right now.”
“Why?” said Peter curiously.
“I’ll tell you why,” answered Sirius through clenched teeth. “In about ten minutes I’m going to be sorted in Slytherin, along with my cousins I hate, and I’ll rot there for the rest of my time at school.”
“It would surprise me if you ended up in Slytherin,” said Peter. “You’re not quite the Slytherin type, are you?”
“D’you think whoever is sorting us into the houses is going to mind which type I am?” Sirius snapped acrimoniously. “They will see “Black” and send me straight to Slytherin.”
“I’ll go to Hufflepuff,” said Peter in a consoling sort of voice. “Not any better, is it? Hufflepuff is the house for dunderheads. Or those who are easily bullied. Just like me. You, Remus?”
But Remus seemed lost in thoughts. Peter waved a hand before his face. “Hello? Planet Earth to Remus?”
Remus started. “Sorry, did you say something?”
“Yeah, I just asked you if you knew which house you’ll go in,” said Peter, watching him curiously.
“Ravenclaw, I expect,” said Remus, avoiding Peter’s gaze. “It was my parents’ house,” he added as an explanation. “And my mum told me Ravenclaw was for people who couldn’t get their noses out of their books.”
“Just for you then, Mister A thousand herbs and magical fungi,” teased Peter.
But Remus didn’t smile at this, and Peter thought he had become oddly distant since their trip across the lake. He cleared his throat and asked quickly: “You, James?”
“I’ll know soon enough,” James answered shortly. He found the conversation depressing; it sounded as if each of the four of them was going to end up in a different house. He didn’t see Sirius mouthing “Gryffindor” behind his back, as an answer to Peter’s puzzled look.
The door opened at last and they followed Professor McGonagall into the Great Hall. As they walked past four long tables, each symbolising one house of Hogwarts, the students sitting all around them stared curiously. At the Slytherin table, Lucius Malfoy was surrounded by the teenagers James had seen at the Blacks’ party. Malfoy smirked and waved nonchalantly when he met James’ eye. James looked away and glanced sideways at Sirius; his fists were clenched, but he was walking with his head held high and looking in front of him.
The first-years finally gathered in front of the staff table, facing the other students. Professor McGonagall put an extremely old and dirty pointed hat on a stool in front of them. Everybody stared at it for a few minutes in an absolute silence, then a rip near the brim opened widely like a mouth and the Hat began to sing.
Sirius hardly heard what it was singing, though. He dreaded the Sorting so much his mind was clouded, and instead of listening he raised his head and stared at the ceiling. It was black, and sparkled with countless stars. It looked strangely peaceful.
“You just have to tell it you don’t want to go to Slytherin!”
Sirius jumped. James had been watching him, looking concerned.
“It’s just a dirty old Hat “ tell it you won’t go to Slytherin!”
“Tell it “ what are you talking about?”
“Haven’t you been listening? The Hat is sorting us into the different houses. You put it on your head “ and that’s it.”
“How does it sort us?” asked Sirius desperately. “It’s reading your mind or what?”
“Something like that,” said James quickly “ the Hat had stopped singing, and everybody was applauding. They didn’t have much time left. “It sees which your main qualities are. If you’re brave, you’ll go to Gryffindor, if you’re cunning and ambitious, you’ll go to Slytherin, if you’re loyal you’ll be a Hufflepuff, and if you want to learn as much as you can “”
James stopped dead as Professor McGonagall glared at him.
“When I call your name, you will sit on the stool and I will put the Hat on your head,” she said shortly. “Abrany, Carmen!”
“Oh no,” whispered Sirius. “She’s calling in alphabetical order. Why isn’t my name Zultan or something?”
“It’s going to be fine,” James whispered back, as Carmen Abrany was sorted into Hufflepuff. “Don’t let it send you in Slytherin.”
“Black, Narcissa!”
The haughty blonde girl looked somehow less self-assured when she walked towards the stool. She sat on it and Professor McGonagall put the Hat on her head. It was far too big and it fell right down over her eyes. The rip opened again and the Hat shouted:
“SLYTHERIN!”
“Big surprise,” moaned Sirius. “I’m going to kill myself.”
“Black, Sirius!”
“Tell it!” James whispered urgently as Sirius staggered forward. “Tell it you don’t want to go to Slytherin!”
Sirius nodded, incapable of uttering a word in reply. As he sat on the stool he distinctly heard an older student say to his friend: “Another Black. Another Slytherin…”
The Hat slipped before his eyes and everything went black.
“Another Black,” said a little voice in his ear, echoing the older student’s voice. “Is that another Slytherin?”
Sirius swallowed.
I “ I don’t want to go to Slytherin, he thought. I won’t let you put me in Slytherin.
“You won’t let me?” the voice sounded both surprised and amused. “Why do you mean, boy?”
You’re just a dirty old Hat, Sirius thought furiously. I won’t let a dirty old hat put me in Slytherin. If you do, I won’t rest ’til I’ve learned a curse that will set you on fire and silence you for good.
He had not meant to say that; once more he hadn’t been able to control his anger and his fear. It must have been the first time a first-year dared insult the almighty Sorting Hat, and he half-expected the Hat to start shouting for his immediate expulsion, but it merely chuckled. Then it started muttering things like “Recklessness… Ingenuity… Ooooh, not so much respect for rules…” Sirius waited for what felt like ages; his mouth had gone dry, and his brain numb. He had the feeling the Hat was playing with his nerves. Well, if that was the case, it was successful: Sirius was so tense he was sure that, if someone talked to him unexpectedly, he would jump about three feet and fall off the stool.
At last, a shout echoed in the Great Hall.
“GRYFFINDOR!”
No applause. Professor McGonagall didn’t pull the Hat off his head. Sirius stayed where he was; it was not possible. He hadn’t heard properly. Soon the Hat would say in his ear something like: “April Fool! You’re in Slytherin!”
The Great Hall was absolutely silent. Then he heard someone running toward him, a hand lifted the Hat and James’ beaming face appeared.
“Well? I was wondering whether you had got lost under that.”
“You! Boy!” barked Professor McGonagall, pulling herself together. She must have been as surprised as Sirius himself by the Hat's decision. “What’s your name?”
“James Potter, Professor.”
“Get back in the queue, Potter. Right now! You, Black,” she said, turning to Sirius, “go to the Gryffindor table.”
At last the Gryffindors started applauding, and Sirius came to sit with them, still dumbfounded. At the other end of the Hall, many Slytherins were booing.
“Sirius Black?” asked another Gryffindor, looking at him with interest. “I thought your family were a Slytherin lot.”
“They are,” said Sirius in a hushed, puzzled voice. He discreetly pinched himself hard on the arm, just to check he wasn’t dreaming. The sharp pain made him stifle a gasp, but at least it meant he was fully awake. “They’ll be furious!” he murmured, more to himself than to the students surrounding him. A broad grin slowly crept across his face. Far from being worried at his parents’ reaction, he felt euphoric. He wasn’t a Slytherin.
A few students surrounding him laughed at his obvious elation.
“Happy to have you with us,” said a bold-looking girl, a few years older than him. “Anybody who’s upsetting the Slytherins is welcome!”
She nodded towards the Slytherin table. Some of the students had stood up to have a better look at Sirius, Bellatrix looked disgusted and Narcissa shocked. Sirius beamed at them and waved cheerfully, causing more of his fellow Gryffindors to laugh. Admittedly, the Black sisters’ faces were quite funny.
“Silence!” shouted Professor McGonagall, making with her wand a loud bang that quietened the Hall. After a last furious glance at the Slytherin table, which still looked mutinous, she resumed the Sorting.
“Bollurish, Anthony”…
Sirius couldn’t stop grinning. He caught sight of James, who was squeezed in the queue between two students quite bigger than him, beaming and giving him the thumbs-up. Peter was smiling, too. Remus was looking at the ceiling, completely oblivious of everything else.
“Evans, Lily!”
A small girl with very short carrot-red hair, livid with fright, stepped out of the queue and sat on the stool. It took about two seconds for the Hat to make up its mind.
“GRYFFINDOR!”
The girl walked to the table as Sirius and the other Gryffindors clapped, then sank on the bench next to Sirius and buried her face in her hands.
“You okay?” the bold-looking girl inquired kindly. “We’re not that bad, you know!”
Lily Evans started and blushed very deeply. “I “ I’m fine,” she stammered. “I just “ don’t like being stared at…”
“Well, if you ever need anything, ask for me,” the girl said. “I’m Katie Collins, and I’m a prefect. It’s my job to help you.”
Lily Evans mumbled “thanks”, her gaze fixed on the golden plate in front of her; she looked so absorbed with it Katie Collins seemed to give up on her.
“Lupin, Remus!”
Remus was taken by surprise; Peter, who was next to him, gently pushed him in the back and he stumbled towards the stool. He had the feeling Professor McGonagall was looking at him more intently than she had done for the other first-years, but maybe it was just his imagination. Or did all the teachers know already…?
“Why are they all staring at him like that?” whispered Sirius. The teachers had indeed their eyes fixed on Remus, even those who had been in deep conversation a second before.
In the darkness of the Sorting Hat, Remus waited. “So?” said the little voice in his ear. “You don’t have anything to tell me?”
Remus stiffened. He had found himself wishing he would go to Gryffindor, where Sirius already was and where James was bound to go. But he had made up his mind. He couldn’t bear having them for friends and lying to them again and again, until they find out about him… and get away from him. It would be easier if he went to Ravenclaw, where he would have an excuse to stop hanging around with them.
Whatever house I’ll go in, I’ll always be alone. So hurry up, I don’t care where you’re putting me.
“How wrong you are,” said the little voice. “There is a house where at least one of your friends is, and you know it. Why don’t you ask me to go to that house? I’ll see whether it suits you, according to your virtues. And believe me, you have quite a lot. But you need friends, Remus Lupin.”
I can’t afford friends. They would let me down if they ever discover what I am. I’m better left alone. Put me in the most suitable house, no matter if the three of them end up in Gryffindor.
“Gryffindor? Well, it could suit you.”
Not the house with my friends. The house that suits me, me alone. Just me.
The rip near the brim of the Hat opened widely.
“GRYFFINDOR!”
Remus closed his eyes. He had failed. The Hat had put him in Gryffindor because that was Sirius’ house, there was no other reason. He wasn’t brave. He had never been. He rose and walked slowly to the Gryffindor table.
“Can you move a bit to the left?” Sirius whispered to Lily Evans. “So that he can sit next to me?” She started again and nodded, sliding on the bench to leave a space between her and Sirius. Curiously, however, Remus didn’t seem to take the hint and sat at the very end of the bench. Taken aback, Sirius tried to catch his eye, but Remus was resolutely staring at his plate. What was wrong with him? Half and hour before, he had been bombarding Sirius and Peter with Chocolate Frogs…
“Pettigrew, Peter!”
The Hat took its time; Sirius was getting impatient, and so were the students surrounding him.
“Oh, hurry up, you stupid piece of rag,” groaned Katie Collins. “I could eat Dumbledore himself, with the beard and all!”
“GRYFFINDOR!” shouted the Hat at last. Peter stood up so eagerly he stumbled and nearly fell. Some students laughed, mainly Slytherins. Peter was a bright shade of magenta when he sat opposite Sirius.
“Potter, James!”
The Hat barely brushed James’ head.
“GRYFFINDOR!”
James sprang to his feet, beaming, and ran towards the Gryffindor table.
“The four of us are Gryffindors!” he whispered as he sat between Sirius and Lily Evans. “Isn’t it great?”
“I’m not sure Remus is so glad of it,” said Peter timidly. “He’s sitting by himself.”
“Yeah, well, maybe he really wanted to go to Ravenclaw…” But James himself wasn’t convinced. There was something really weird about Remus, and when he met Sirius’ eye he knew Sirius was as intrigued as he was.
They didn’t talk about it, though, because Professor McGonagall was watching them with a frown.
The Sorting went on. When Professor McGonagall reached the “S”, James suddenly remembered the greasy monkey he had come across to in the train.
“Snape, Severus!”
“I bet you anything “” Sirius started, but he had no time to finish his sentence: the Hat had already shouted “SLYTHERIN!”. Like for James, it had just brushed Snape’s greasy hair.
The pale boy jumped off the stool and walked to the Slytherin table. Most Slytherins didn’t look too enthusiastic about their new classmate, but James noticed they clapped along with Malfoy, who greeted Snape more warmly than James had ever seen him.
The Sorting came to an end, and the stool and the Hat were both taken away. Headmaster Dumbledore stood up and the Hall went quiet.
“Welcome for another year at Hogwarts!” he said, smiling broadly. “I’m sure the first-years are very impatient to hear the school rules, but I will ask them to wait for after the feast. They are allowed to distract themselves with the food in the meantime. Tuck in!”
The students clapped loudly as extraordinary amounts of food appeared out of nowhere in their plates. Realising suddenly how hungry they were, James and Sirius started to shovel food in their mouths as if they hadn’t eaten for two weeks. To James’ left, the small red-haired Lily Evans looked a bit less anxious and started eating, too.
“Are you both from all-wizard families?” she asked curiously when James had to stop eating in order to gulp down some water (he had taken really overlarge amounts of chicken). James nodded.
“You?” he asked. “Muggle-born?”
“Mug “ what?”
“Muggles “ non-magic people.”
“Oh!” she flushed. That girl seemed to spend a lot of time flushing, in Sirius’ opinion. “Yes, I’m Muggle-born. I don’t know a thing about magic. I don’t know how I will handle the classes if you’re all more advanced than me.”
“We aren’t,” said Sirius. “I don’t know many spells, I bought my wand only this summer. We’re not supposed to do magic out of school, anyway, so I wouldn’t have been able to practice.” The thought seemed to depress him.
“Shame,” said the redhead. “I would have loved to curse my sister. She’s been such a cow since I got my letter. She’s a Muggle, and she’s convinced I’m… very ill or something. Some sort of freak, I guess.”
“I’m half-blood,” Peter piped up. “My dad was a Muggle-born.”
“Was?” said Sirius curiously.
“Dead,” said Peter simply. “Died five years ago.”
They all murmured “sorry” before changing the subject. The boys started talking about Quidditch, and Lily listened to them with her mouth open. At the end of the table, Remus was eating quietly, without looking up. The students sitting next to him, mainly first-years, had sensed his desire of being left alone and were talking among themselves.
The feast ended at last, and Dumbledore got to his feet again. The murmur of conversations died away and every face turned to look at the old wizard.
“Now that we’re not hungry anymore, I daresay you’re too drowsy to worry about anything except how longer I’m going to bother you “ ” James, Sirius and Peter exchanged grins “ “ yet I require your attention for the rules I am going to state. First, newcomers should know the Forbidden Forest is out-of-bounds, and some of our older students should remember this rule doesn’t apply only for first-years. On a related subject, I am glad to announce that Mr Chicorey, the Herbology teacher, has planted in the grounds an extremely valuable Whomping Willow. That tree is quite dangerous, and I must ask you to be very careful when you come close to it. Quidditch tryouts will take place in two weeks; they are open to every student, but I recommend the first-years not to bother trying. The only brooms they’re allowed are the school brooms, which are far from being good enough in a Quidditch game.”
Dumbledore smiled at the groans that greeted this part of the speech “ like every year.
“If you wish to play Quidditch for your house, please submit your name at your Head of House. Prefects from each house are to lead the first-years to their dormitories. That will be all; it’s getting late, and I’m sure you all want to be on form for your first classes tomorrow. Goodnight!”
They all stood up and Katie Collins called imperiously: “First-years, follow me!”
James, Sirius and Peter lingered behind to wait for Remus, but they saw him talk in a low voice with Professor McGonagall, then follow her out of the Great Hall.
“What’s that about?” said James, bewildered. “Where is she taking him?”
“Haven’t got a clue,” said Sirius, looking at Remus’ frail outline disappearing through the door they had come out earlier, whereas every student was heading for the large doors leading into the Entrance Hall.
“We’d better get a move on, or we’ll be left behind,” Peter pointed out, looking frightened at the mere idea.
“Right,” said James, tearing his gaze from the door that had just closed behind Remus. “Let’s go then.”
They climbed what felt like a thousand stairs before they arrived in front of the portrait of a fat lady. They gave her the password (“Babbling Bumblebee”) and the portrait swung to allow them into the common room. They were far too tired to linger there, and even James, who was known to need far less sleep than the average eleven-year-old, did nothing more than registering vaguely how welcoming and comfortable it looked, with its fire crackling merrily and its padded armchairs.
Their dormitory had five four-poster beds. They settle there with a gangly and fair-haired boy, who just took the time to ask for their names and tell them his (Anthony Bollurish) before climbing in his bed and pulling the curtains shut. Two minutes later he was snoring loudly.
James chose a bed near a narrow window, which offered a view on the Forbidden Forest. He pulled on his pyjamas and removed his glasses; next to him Sirius was already in his bed, and Peter was trying to find his pyjamas in his trunk. James got into his bed and shut the curtains around him. He felt perfectly happy right now.
Later, he awoke with a start; someone was walking very quietly past his bed. Why should the lightest noises always wake him up? Peering out of the curtains dangling around his bed, he saw Remus unpacking silently near his bed.
“Where’ve you been?” he whispered sleepily.
Remus jumped and looked around. “You scared me,” he said. Then he started rummaging in his trunk and spoke with his back on James. “I just needed to see McGonagall, because of, you know, my registration problem. Now everything’s solved.”
James watched as Remus climbed into his bed and pulled the curtains shut.
“’Night,” he said to the closed curtains.
There was a silence, so long he thought Remus hadn’t heard him. But then Remus’ voice answered him.
“Goodnight.”
James was too tired to wonder about Remus’ sudden shyness; he rolled on his back and fell asleep.
*********
A/N: I’m sorry if you have been bored while reading about the Sorting. I tried not to rip anything off the Sorting of Philosopher’s Stone, but there were some things I couldn’t decently skip; and as I don’t always find an original way to tell them, some sentences may sound a bit too familiar. Yet I’m very proud of my “tactful” skipping of the Sorting Hat’s song “ which I dreaded to have to write.
Happy reading “ review if you want to. I’ll update anyway.
A/N2: I just had my exams (and I won't make ANY comment on those, I'm already pretty depressed) so I'm able to work on my fics again. Expect an update soon--though the queue looks dreadfully long right now. Thank you for reading!