The train slowed down until it stopped, the engine whistling and spitting out steam. Harry was out with Ron in no time, wearing their new wizard robes. He and Ron had shared the same compartment in the train during the trip and quickly got along, although Ron found it silly when Harry talked to him about the football he played before arriving here. He had also come across two of his brothers, the twins who helped him put his trunk in the luggage nets, and two other first years like them, Neville Longbottom, who he had met very shortly on the platform, and Hermione Granger, who came from a Muggle family like Harry's mother, but it was Ron he remained with. There had also been Draco Malfoy, the boy he met on Diagon Alley, who made an appearance and offered to help Harry determine the right from the wrong sort of wizards at Hogwarts, which Harry harshly declined. When it was obvious to Malfoy they would not be friends, he and his two acolytes, Crabbe and Goyle, tried to steal the food they had previously bought, only for Goyle to be bitten by Scabbers, Ron's rat. All in all, the journey to Hogwarts had been fun, and Harry let Ron talk to him about Quidditch. Harry realized that, despite his thorough reading of the Quidditch Through the Ages, there was still a lot he didn't know.
When he and Ron arrived on the platform, they heard immediately a booming voice.
"Come, on, follow me! Those in first year, follow me! Mind your step! First years, follow me!"
Harry was met with the sight of the tallest, biggest and hugest man he ever saw, a true giant. Though Harry wasn't sure if he was a true giant. He thought a few metres were missing. This one had his face almost completely hidden by long, shaggy, tangled hair and beard, though his eyes were shining under all his mane. He had a lantern in hand and kept shouting for first years to follow him. Harry looked at Ron, questioning.
"It must be Hagrid. My brothers talked to me about him. He's the game warden of the school."
Harry found him funny the way he looked.
"First years, are you all here? Anyone missing? Okay, first years..." All of a sudden, the giant stopped, and Harry had the uncomfortable sensation that he was looking at him. For a moment, the giant said nothing, but then he seemed to shake himself yup. "Very well. Boats are this way. Come on, this way!"
All first years followed Hagrid down a narrow path. As they kept progressing down, the path finally opened and Harry got his first look of Hogwarts. The pictures in the books didn't give it justice. Located on the top of a high mountain, the castle, rendered black by the night, displayed its turrets and towers against the dark sky, its window sparkling. A great black lake separated them from it. Harry wondered for a moment how they would get there.
"No more than four to a boat!" Hagrid boomed.
Of course. He had told them the boats were this way. Harry now noticed them on the shore. He and Ron took their place in the same boat, and Neville and Hermione joined them. When it was certain that everyone was safely inside of these boats, Hagrid boomed again.
"FORWARD!"
No need for oars or rows. The boats advanced on their own on the quiet lake, powered by magic. No sound could be heard as they got closer to Hogwarts, the castle towering them all more and more as they approached it. Harry's mother had told him how it was beautiful, but even her words couldn't give it justice. It was a marvel to look at. They lost sight of it when they got through a curtain of ivy hidden in the cliff. They then progressed through a dark tunnel underneath the castle, until they reached an underground beach of cobbles and rocks. To the general surprise, Neville found his toad in one of the boats when they disembarked. Hagrid then led them through stairs and a huge door on which he knocked.
They were then welcome by a tall woman of a certain age, with black hair tied into a bun and wearing green robes. She took over their responsibility and Hagrid left after wishing a good evening to Professor McGonagall.
Harry's mother had talked to him about this teacher. She was already teaching in Hogwarts back in the day his mother was a student here. His mother seemed to hold her in high esteem. She led them through corridors until they reached another set of heavy doors. From echoes of hundreds of voices Harry could hear from the other side, he guessed the rest of the school must already be there. Professor McGonagall stopped them here before they entered.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats with your comrades, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony. While you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will share the same classes, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room."
Harry was eager for that. His mother told him of several places of interests at Hogwarts, and he couldn't wait to visit them.
"The four houses," McGonagall continued, "are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards." Of the latter, Harry had no doubt, but he didn't see how noble the history of House Slytherin was. "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. I suggest you all smarten yourselves as much as you can while you are waiting for it will take place in front of the rest of the school. I shall return then."
She left them here. Harry verified his robe to see if any dust or water was on it, but despite what they had gone through, it was perfect.
"We're going to be sorted in front of everybody?" Ron asked, with a hint of panic in his voice. "Fred said they were doing some test on us. But I'm not sure if he was joking or not."
Harry laughed. "He was joking. They just put a hat on our head and it decides which house we belong to."
"What?! I'll kill Fred! He told me we would be wrestling with a troll!" Harry couldn't hold back, but he muffled his laugh very quickly. "It's not funny!" Ron almost cried.
In the meantime, Hermione kept telling other people all the spells she learned for the Sorting, and how they might be useful. Although Harry had found interesting her interests in reading about everything magical, he found that she spent a little too much time speaking of everything she knew, as if she wanted people to know she was the best.
Ghosts then surprised them, causing even Harry to jump. He had never seen a ghost before. Each encouraged them to choose a house over the others. McGonagall then returned and led them inside the Great Hall after they formed a line. Behind the double doors, hundreds of students sat at four long tables, with another at the head and perpendicular to them with the teachers. Harry recognized Albus Dumbledore from some pictures he had seen before, and also Hagrid who led them here. But what attracted the most attention were the thousands of candles floating in the air over the tables, and the ceiling dotted with stars.
"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History," Hermione whispered. Harry had read about it too, but reading and seeing it were again two entirely different things.
They arrived in front of a stool with an old-looking hat on top of it. So this was the Sorting Hat? Harry imagined it... different. At least, not full of patches and stitches and all dusty. But his thoughts were quickly interrupted when the hat began to sing, describing each house. When he was over, everyone in the Great Hall applauded, including Harry. Then when everyone was calmed down, the Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a long roll of parchment.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." She then called the first student. "Abbott, Hannah."
A blond girl Harry didn't see in the train and didn't notice on their way either stepped forward. Harry found her hair much more pleasant to look at than those of Draco Malfoy who was at the other side of their group standing before the hat.
McGonagall put the hat on the girl's head, and they all waited. After a moment, the hat spoke.
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
One of the tables burst into cheers. It went on this way student by student. Susan Bones got into Hufflepuff as well, Terry Boot went to Ravenclaw, just like Mandy Brocklehurst, then Lavender Brown chose Gryffindor. Milicent Bulstrode became the first Slytherin this evening. She was followed by Justin Finch-Fletchley who became a Hufflepuff, then it was Hermione's turn. This choice interested Harry a little more.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Hermione jumped to the table of Gryffindor House, where Harry noticed Ron's brothers welcoming her. Ron, on his side, looked very displeased to see her at Gryffindor. Neville Longbottom joined the same house, to Harry's surprise in some way. Then it was Malfoy's turn. The hat barely touched his head that it sent him to Slytherin. Harry liked the boy and the house less and less.
It was then he felt a pair of eyes on him. One of the teachers, a man with greasy black hair and a hooked nose, had laid his dark eyes on Harry. The moment their eyes met, a sharp pain went across his scar, which disappeared very quickly though. It happened sometimes, but it never lasted very long.
"Harry, are you alright?" Ron asked him, worrying.
"Yes, I'm fine."
Harry looked away, trying to ignore the gaze of this teacher, though he felt it lingering on him. He focused on the next student being chosen, including several like Nott and Parkinson who joined Slytherin, then two twins who went separate ways, one in Gryffindor, the other one in Ravenclaw. As they progressed through the alphabet, Harry felt butterflies in his stomach as stress built up. And his name was called.
"Potter, Harry."
This caused the whole Great Hall to fall silent. Harry walked to the stool, his stomach upside down, as he tried to ignore the whispers around him.
"Did she say Potter?"
"That's really him?"
"The one who defeated You-Know-Who?"
His mother warned him about this, about how people would react by learning his name. He had his first experiences with Dedalus Diggle and Ollivander on Diagon Alley, then with Ron, his brothers and Hermione on the train, but he wasn't really prepared to all these gazes on him and the whispers behind his back. His legs were shaking as he took place on the stool. He must have been mistaken, but he thought he saw McDonagall address him a smile. It was a good thing the Sorting Hat was so big it dropped over his eyes and hid the Great Hall from his sight. He didn't see hundreds of people staring at him as if he was an attraction for tourists.
Harry didn't know what to expect once he would wear the hat. A small voice he guessed came from the hat could be heard, and he guessed only him could hear the hat speak.
"Difficult. Very difficult. I can see plenty of courage, a good mind, and even talent. There's even some pride, my goodness. A thirst to prove yourself. Very interesting. Where shall I put you?"
Harry's hands tightened around the stool. He wished strongly he would not go to Slytherin. Anywhere but not this house.
"Not Slytherin?" the hat whispered in his ear. "Are you sure? You have many talents. You could be great. I can see it in your mind. And Slytherin would help you on the way to greatness. No doubt about that."
Harry's grip on the stool got even stronger. No, he wouldn't go to Slytherin. Never.
"Well, if you're so sure... GRYFFINDOR!"
Harry was relieved beyond measure. He removed the hat very quickly and almost ran to the Gryffindor table, as far away as possible from Slytherins. While doing so, he probably received the biggest cheering of the evening. The whole table was standing up as he took his place. Ron's brother, Percy, shook his hand, while the twins were singing they got Potter. The cheering lasted so long he almost wanted to disappear, though he was still relieved because he avoided the green house. He wondered now how he could speak with the emblem of that house last month.
The rest of the Sorting went quite smoothly. Ron got selected for Gryffindor and joined him right away. The last student, Blaise Zabini, was sent to Slytherin. The rest of the evening went in a blaze. There was the feast. Food like Harry never saw before just appeared in the plates all over the Great Hall in an instant. After everyone ate more than they could, the Professor Dumbledore warned them that the forest was forbidden to all students, and so was the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side, that no magic was to be performed between classes in the corridors, and he also announced Quidditch trials, which Harry sadly would not be allowed to attend. They then sang the school's song and went to bed.
Harry fell asleep quite quickly once in the dormitories, except for a strange dream where the boa from the zoo told him to go to Slytherin. Harry didn't remember the dream in the morning.