Professor McGonagall then called out our names alphabetically, and had us line up as such. We then stepped into the Great Hall and marveled at its immense size. The room was absolutely massive, maybe a quarter of a kilometer long and 50 meters wide. Four long tables sat, with a banner at either end of them. One red with a golden lion on it, Gryffindor spelled in golden letters, the next yellow with a badger on it, Hufflepuff spelled in black letters, the third a royal blue with a bronze eagle, Ravenclaw spelled in bronze letters, and finally a green banner with a silver snake, Slytherin spelled in silver. Above the tables were hundreds of candles, floating in the air, yet never seeming to drip wax, and further above it was the ceiling. The ceiling itself, Hermione was saying to a student next to Harry, was bewitched to look like the night sky, and Harry clearly saw the Half-Moon peeking through the clouds in the ceiling, so there was at least some truth to that statement. Harry was nearly too awestruck to notice that the line had stopped moving, nearly bumping into the girl in front of him, Sally-Anne if he heard McGonagall correctly.
"Now we will begin the sorting. Hannah Abbott, please come sit on this stool." McGonagall says, gesturing to a three legged stool sitting directly above the heads table. In her hands was a large floppy hat, with a tall conical middle and a circular brim surrounding it. The hat itself was horribly tattered and ragged despite its leather construction, several large gashes can be seen in the hat itself, with many more having been obviously patched over the ages.
McGonagall places the hat on Hannah's head, and it appears to deliberate with itself for a few moments before declaring loudly: "HUFFLEPUFF!" Hannah looks relieved, and sits the hat down on top of the stool, before walking to her new table, where a space has been provided.
"Susan Bones?" McGonagall calls up the next student, a girl who he hadn't seen on the train, but Hannah had mentioned being her best friend. She too was sorted into Hufflepuff.
Terrence Boot is next and is the first to be sorted into Ravenclaw, and then after him is one of the girls Harry met in the train compartment where he found Trevor, Mandy Brocklehurst, who is also sorted into Ravenclaw.
Lavender Brown from the same train car sits on the stool, and is horribly excited when the hat yells that she is to be in Gryffindor. Immediately after her is a particularly ghastly looking girl named Millicent Bulstrode, who is sorted into Slytherin, and with that all four houses have at least one new member, although there are still thirty-four more students to be sorted.
Michael Corner and Stephen Cornfoot, two boys Harry hadn't met were sorted into Ravenclaw, and then after them was another boy Harry hadn't met, Vincent Crabbe. Crabbe was a very large boy and didn't look very friendly, he was sorted into Slytherin.
Tracey Davis is up next and Harry is excited to see where his new friend would be sorted. If she ended up in Hufflepuff alongside Hannah and Susan, then Harry might want to end up in that house himself, since he would have two of his new friends with him, and if Susan was anything like what Hannah had said, a third soon following. This thought however never came to fruition as Tracey was sorted into Slytherin house, and went to take her place with the snakes.
Kevin Entwhistle was sorted into Gryffindor, Justin Finch-Fletchley into Hufflepuff, and then Seamus Finnigan into Gryffindor. Harry had not met any of these three boys, but figured he was likely to become close with at least one of them, as they'd be sharing a room unless Harry was sorted into Slytherin.
Anthony Goldstein found himself sorted into Ravenclaw and took his seat beside Michael before Gregory Goyle was called up to the hat. Goyle was a lot like Crabbe, in both size and demeanor, his sorting into Slytherin began to severely decrease Harry's desire to become a member of that house, even if Tracey was there.
"Hermione Granger," Mcgonagall calls, and Harry's breath catches itself in his throat. Hermione's placement was something he was very worried about. He and Hermione had become fast friends and Harry had little desire to see their friendship end. In some small part of his mind, Harry believed that he should be in the same house as Hermione, no matter what.
The wait for Hermione's sorting had become unbearable for Harry, he was certain he had been standing here for hours waiting for the hat's results, when in actuality he had only been there for a few minutes. Hermione had successfully caused the first true hatstall this year, and that was something to take notice of. After seven whole minutes, the hat finally spoke a word that filled Harry's entire body with determination: "RAVENCLAW!"
Compared to Hermione's sorting, Daphne Greengrass, who the hat also had a minor amount of trouble deciding where to put, was near instant as she was put with Tracey into Slytherin. Tracey had mentioned that Daphne was her long-time best friend; and Harry was happy that they would get to be together.
Two more students Harry had yet to meet: Wayne Hopkins and Megan Jones were both sorted into Hufflepuff. Then came the chinese girl Harry had met on the train: Su Li, who ended up joining Hermione in Ravenclaw. She had seemed friendly enough, and Harry hoped they would have the opportunity to become friends.
Neville Longbottom was next, and Harry was excited to see where his new friend would end up. From Harry's estimation of the boy Neville was hardworking and loyal, which would have made him a shoe-in for Hufflepuff house, but there was this fire inside Neville that Harry knew needed to be stoked for him to truly become great. The hat seemed to agree, as the loud declaration of "GRYFFINDOR!" surprised even Neville who quickly got up and ran to his new table, forgetting to leave the hat behind. He quickly ran back and put it on the stool, his face showing it's Gryffindor pride by turning a bright scarlet.