Sorting Ceremony 2019-2020 Archived

The atmosphere in the Great Hall was one that resembled a family reunion; even though there where house rivalries and personal resentments between all of the houses, in the end Hogwarts was like a family. Dysfunctional, but in the end a family none the less, and when Erin stepped into the warmly lit hall that's what she felt, a sense of family. The previous morning had been hectic, seeing how she had almost forgotten her luggage and lost a shoe on the way to the scarlet train her mother gushed about; but here she was in Hogwarts and she was itching for her change to show off her magical abilities.

To her the only difficult thing so far was the boat ride, seeing how nobody knew exactly how stable those things where, everyone was tense as they crossed the lake. And after one of the rickety boats flipped over, frightening everyone, she realized even though Hogwarts was magical somethings just stayed medieval, like the castle's look and the transportation to the castle. Shivering slightly, she remembered how you could hardly see through the murky water but you knew that if you stayed in the water too long you'd be snatched up by a swarm of mermaids or the giant squid.

As the professors called out the children in front of her, Erin bounced slightly staring longingly at the Slytherin table, hoping to join her mother with the noble title of a Slytherin. Zoning back into the moment, she noticed she was next up. Straightening out her robes, she tightened her small ponytails and looked at her pure black shoes as her name was ejaculated

'Erin Bisset!'

She grinned and swaggered to the stool and let the Sorting hat slip onto her head as it mumbled, more to itself than to her,

'hmmm...another Bisset...quite particular.'

At the mention of her surname she sat up straighter, and mumbled to the hat,

'whats particular?'

The hat grinned widely, its "lips" turning up into a harrowing smile as it answered in a riddle,

'Particular? What's particular is that you are French and Irish, but none the less you ARE a Bisset. And a Bisset is a Bisset none the less.'

Erin frowned looking up, trying to read the hat's expression, she sighed and looked back at the crowd, realizing that her sorting was taking an extremely long time. Huffing under her breath she rushed the hat along, getting quickly agitated with its riddle-form of speech. Noting the young girl's irritation the hat mumbled to itself,

'Hm. I see great drive and ambition....and the urge to get out of convention. And your family's heritage is lost on you....I know what it'll be...

The hat thought about its idea and grinned before shouting out,

'SLYTHERIN!'

And as those words left that ratty old hat, Erin jumped up and bounced over to the table covered in black and green decor sliding into an empty place, ready for anything the world could throw at her.

Coast was so, so, so, so, so excited. Just three months ago she was feeling so much dread about coming to Hogwarts, being bored, not making friends, doing badly in school, and a million other things that just ran through her head at night. But now, and as the time had drawn closer to her first day, she was simple ecstatic to be there.

She openly oo'd and ah'd at everything, from the almost smooth boat ride across the Lake to the grandiose castle in all of it's magnificence. She really was glad to be here, maybe more than most of the people here.

She was standing with a bunch of other first years; they were being led to the Great Hall where they'd be sorted in the chosen House that they'd stay in for the next many years. Coast realized that she hadn't thought much about what House she wanted to be in. Her older brother, Felix, was in Gryffindor, of course—it truly fit his mighty and dominating personality—while her mothers, Rochelle and Emily, got into Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff respectfully. Everyone said that little Bella would get into Ravenclaw; she reads scholarly journals in spare time and she's only seven!

No one really talked about what she should do. Coast was always busy worrying about everyone else's wants and needs that she never really considered her own desired House! She figured it probably wouldn't make much of a difference for what she wanted, the Sorting Hat chose after all, but she would think about it just for fun. Besides, that's what everyone else was whispering about.

As they entered the Great Hall—she actually got to smile at the Headmaster up close!—she thought about her House to forget about all of the eyes staring seemingly at just her. Are my cat ears too much...? She swore that she saw her brother snickering somewhere in Gryffindor but she pretended not to notice.

I think I'm clever enough for Ravenclaw—if that's what it's about. Felix said that it's more than being super smart, you have to be very imaginative, too. I think I'm creative, I like making up games to play. But Gryffindor sounds awesome; there are so many brave people in there! They are really strong and smart, too. Hufflepuff is great, I guess. I heard that they cling to each other like peanut butter and jelly—or is the saying 'like glue'? She shrugged to herself.

The group had come to a stop as the Headmaster began talking and the Sorting Hat sang it's famous song. Coast didn't know the words well but she did put inputs here and there. Oh, and Slytherin... She glanced at the House of Green a few tables over and quickly looked away. She felt bad for being biased, like the entire House was pure evil, no matter how sweet one actually seemed to be. She had to admit that Felix's rivalry towards them had left some sort of mark on her.

“Agnew, Coast...?” said someone, as if they had to repeat is twice.

The young witch took a frantic step forward, looking around for a bewildered moment before squeaking out a feeble, “Oh, here!”

There was a brief murmur before things went silent again. Coast locked eyes witha random first-year in the crowd before the Sorting Hat covered her eyes.

“Um, hello,” she stammered, rubbing her knuckles.

There was an uncomfortable sensation on her head before the Hat uttered out his words. “Yet another Agnew isn't it? But you aren't by blood...? Adopted, I see, just as your brother. I remember his first day, he was as frozen as a glacier, sliding around in such a stiff manner."

Coast frowned; that didn't sound like her brother at all, he was usually so sure of himself, but she didn't say this.

She gulped hopefully in audibly and the Hat went on. "...I see a lot of...kindness. A bit too much of it, I'd have to say, even for a Hufflepuff. They know their boundaries." Coast wondered what that meant, but her little eleven year old mind was too excited to really dwell on it. "So a House for an Agnew...I see all the qualities of each in you—and yes, even of the Slytherins, everyone has a little Serpent somewhere inside."

"But I don't think I would be a good...good Slytherin. I'm not cunning enough. I—"

He interrupted her crisply. "But it isn't about what your mind, or even your heart, wants, is it? It's about what's deep inside, the soul, my dear."

Now if she'd been just a little bit older, and wiser, Coast would have definitely understood what he meant, and would've cared a great deal more. But she was young, and had so many different things on her mind to want to think about things like the soul and deep desires that she sputtered, "A-alright?"

The Hat seemed to be brooding over his thoughts for a moment before making a sound of approval. Coast locked her lips and gripped the edge of the stool tightly, waiting for him to announced her House.

Finally he shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF."

In the line, Ginny felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness inside, just like what had happened earlier during her first several minutes in Hogwarts Express. She was excited because it was finally time to find out her true house, but the anxiety kept coming back as she wondered whether she could really fit in whichever house she would be put into.

While it was true that her father had been an Ilvermony student instead of Hogwarts' when he was younger, he had always been a lifetime learner and knew some information about Hogwarts, including its houses. Plus, he had had some talks with his English wizard-friends.

From his stories about the houses, Ginny decided that Hufflepuff was the best in spite of all its stereotypes. Bravery, intelligence, and ambition are all great and beneficial to possess, she thought. But it's more important to be loving, caring, honest, and fair.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the principal's booming voice, "Tsuchiya, Ginevra!"

The spectators could later describe that Ginny "almost ran" towards the stool and "eagerly jammed the Sorting Hat" onto her head.

Suddenly she heard a small voice whispering into her ears. "Hmm," it said, "a difficult student. Plenty of courage and ambition altogether. A smart girl, indeed! Oh? You're getting tired of being described as merely clever? Yes, yes, there's thirst inside you that longs to prove yourself as a good and loyal friend. And you do have the quality fit for it... So, where shall I put you?"

The hat took a long time to decide with Ginny that the girl was afraid a teacher would grabbed it off her head and assigned her to a random house.

But she kept hearing the small voice, which now declared, "I believe any house can help you to greatness. But if you're sure about your wish, then better be - HUFFLEPUFF!"

Ginny could hear the Sorting Hat shout the last word to the whole Great Hall. Taking off the hat, she ran off towards the Hufflepuff table with a wide smile on her face.

The hall they walked in was just... well... utterly and unspeakably beautiful. Reagan turned around, eyes absorbing the view, mouth slightly open. The colors of warm brown and gold were slightly sparkling in the light of hundreds of candles floating below the magical ceiling, that looked like the deep blue summer sky. The lively and homely atmosphere of the room filled her heart and dispelled the chill out of her bones.
All around her, people were sitting next to long oak tables, all wearing different colored cloaks- red, green, blue and yellow -the shades of her life. The sound of talking and laughter filled the room, but there was also something else there. Excitement, fear, expectation and uncertainty.
The man who greeted and lead them in now stood on a platform, his figure towered over the hall. The crowd suddenly went quiet, all eyes were directed towards the newcomers. Reagan enjoyed the attention for a moment, but the inched closer to the other freshmen next to her when stage fright suddenly overcame her.
Solomon Lear introduced himself and continued with his surprisingly short greeting. Then somebody brought an old almost frayed hat in- Reagan knew that this was the famous Sorting Hat- the one that is going to decide about her future. But now the mysterious object sang. It sang a song.
Reagan was only a bit stunned. What was she expecting from a magic hat?
As she finished her train of thoughts Solomon Lear already conjured a list of names from behind his cape and started- a bit haltingly- reading the names.
Reagan's thoughts drifted off once again as the group of first-year students got less and less. She barely heard the claps when some person was sorted into a house.
And then as if someone poured icy water all over her, she heard her name
-Reagan Enah Callaghan.
Her feet moved without her noticing and she stumbled on the podium a bit clumsily. Someone placed the Sorting Hat on her head, but it was too big so it slipped down on her eyes, disclosing all the people and their gleamy eyes.
-Well, well we have an interesting person here.-she heard the voice as if it came directly from her brain.-What is the most valuable thing in your life?
-My friends.- the words ran out of Reagan's mouth without her thinking. She felt like everyone is eavesdropping.
-Very well.- the Hat said.-You'll find a lot in this house.
SLYTHERIN
The word echoed gently in her ear. Slytherin. She'll have a good time there.

The halls of hogwartz buzzed with life as both the returning students and newly arrived first years made their way into the great hall for the sorting ceremony, a tradition that stretched back to the very beggining of the school. Jacobs father had taken part in it years ago along with his mother and the two had met because the hat had placed them in Slytherin. Now it was Jacob's turn to dawn the hat and take his rightful place in the house alongside his mother and father.

He'd watch as Cyrus and the others he'd met on the train began to get called. His old friend had been placed in Gryffindor, which next to slytherin was probably the second best choice in the young boys mind. Many great wizards had come from that house, and it was hard to deny its history of success in recent years.

The strange kid who had spilled his awful smelling food on the train, also got gryffindor which to Jacob, seemed like a rather odd placement. What was a kid like that doing in a house like gryffindor? Surely hufflepuff or ravenclaw would have been a better fit.

He supposed it didn't really matter, watched as the other blonde kid was placed in Slytherin, cracking a smile at the idea of already knowing someone in his future house. Maybe hogwarts wasn't going to be so bad. His thoughts were interrupted.

"[font=Tempus Sans ITC]Jacob Brewster[/font]"

He'd smile at the sound of his name before walking to the front the room and turning to face his future, green and white awaited him and the hat was all that stood in his way. "Well dont just stand there" He'd say as he motioned for them to put the hat on "Let's get this over with"

Soon he'd feel the soft texture of the hat against his head, and he'd hear a voice begin to speak. "You're an awfully confident child aren't you jacob" The hat would mutter before seeming to think. "You wish to be the best, and you seem willing and ready to put in the work to get there"

Jacob was sure of it now, he'd be in slythering in no time he thought to himself.

"Not quite, no." The hat would suggest otherwise, sending jacob into a panic. If not slytherin then what? Gryffindor? Hufflepuff? "Ravenclaw!" The sorting hat would proclaim, causing Jacobs eyes to go wide in terror. "But that's for nerds!" He'd shout without thinking, sure of the fact that the hat had just made a grievous mistake. " You meant slytherin right?" He'd plead, seemingly to no avail.

"I meant what I said child, I'm never wrong in this matter" The hat would reaffirm, much to Jacobs displeasure. "Well you bloody well are this time!" Jacob would shout in front of all the students before tossing the hat to the side. At this point a teacher would step in demanding that Jacob take a seat at his new table, and he'd reluctantly stomp towards it taking a seat next to the first year that had been picking his nose on the train cabin.

"How's It g-" the boy would begin to ask, before Jacob cut him off. "Shut it snotnose" He'd say with his arms crossed and a red angry face.

Hogwarts was shaping out to be a nightmare already.

It had been a long day. Running through the platform between 9 and 10 at King's Cross had been an adventure in itself. Then, the long train ride, the magical boats across a lake which was apparently infested with potentially dangerous magical creatures, and finally, the trek inside the gigantic castle, filled with an entire world of magic to discover.

The little girl was exhausted.

However, when the large group of first years had been shuffled inside the Great Hall, the exhaustion melted away, and Alyssa was filled with new energy. The enchanted ceiling reflected the twinkling stars, and floating candles dotted the area, casting a lovely glow onto the grandeur of the hall. So many students were seated at the long tables, and so many professors seemed to stare down at the small first years. Alyssa couldn't decide whether they were curious or judging her. She pushed this thought aside.

As if all of this magic hadn't been enough, the headmaster pulled out a talking hat. Talking. Even more, this hat would decide which house they were to be put in. It all happened so fast, before Alyssa could take in the entire hall, she vaguely heard her name being called. "Alyssa Baker."

With nervous energy, she hurried her way through the throng, elbowing someone on the way, and got herself up the steps and onto the little stool. The hat was placed on her head, and she heard its voice loud and clear as it covered her eyes.

"Oh yes," the hat said thoughtfully, "I remember your mother. Ravenclaw, she was, without argument. You though..." As the hat trailed off, Alyssa's stomach did flips. She couldn't get put into another house, she simply couldn't. She had to carry on her mother's legacy.

"You care deeply in your friendships, and you have a surprising bit of courage hiding around in here. Of course, even together they don't hold a candle to your thirst for knowledge. Just like your mother."

"Ravenclaw!" The name echoed through the room, and Alyssa had never felt so relieved in her life. She whispered her thanks to the hat as it was taken off her head, and beamed as she hurried over to a cheering sea of blue robes.

Thank goodness, she thought, I'm home.

Lucas was exhausted. Not really physically, but mentally. It had been such a weird day for him...sure, he had gotten his wand, books, and other equipment a good while ago, but it was just so...I don't know, weird. All these others first years seemed to be in the same position as him though. Not knowing much about this place, but some certainly knew more than others, especially him. As he stared into the sky as the Sorting Hat sang, he let it all soak in. Gryffindor...probably not his place. He wasn't brave, not at all, he didn't have daring or boldness. Ravenclaw...he didn't really view himself as bright, but then again, he wasn't boastful, and tended to act shy and humble, so maybe he could be that. Hufflepuff...honestly, it sort of sounded like it was just sort of there to him. But he liked that. Loyal? He thought he was loyal. And finally, Slytherin...they sounded like they were a nice group to be in, but from what others said, he thought quite the contrary. They seemed like a spooky bunch.

He looked back down in surprise as applaud broke out, perking up as he started paying attention again. He started zoning out again as names were called out, but perked up again as "Strait, Lucas" was called up. After a bit of hesitation, he walked up, sitting down on the stool. He saw the entirety of the Great Hall staring at him, causing him to whimper slightly, before it disappeared as the Hat fell over his head.

"Well, well, well...how interesting. You're an easy choice" The small voice in his ear felt somewhat...unnerving. He wasn't sure what to make of it. "Wh...What's that supposed to mean? Easy choice? P-Please don't be Gryffindor, I..." "It's not going to be Gryffindor...no no, what you belong in is HUFFLEPUFF!"

Liam heard wild cheering explode from his right as the Sorting Hat was lifted from his head. He walked over to the table where everyone was standing up and clapping, being pulled in with bright smiles. He couldn't help but smile either. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

Maybe everything was really going to go his way here.

How long had it been? The list of names seemed almost endless, as was the sea of new faces that went up and were sorted into their respective houses. It was taking too long for Maximus, the boy having grown fidgety almost as soon as they had been made to stand around and wait for the sorting process to be conducted. He had occupied himself at first by trying to memorise the names and faces of those who went up before him, Alas such an effort bore no fruit as it were, with there being far too many unique individuals and names in such a short amount of time resulting in Maximus simply getting all confused with what was happening.

Truth be told he had no preference for where he ended up. It was not as if the house he was sorted into affected what activities he was going to partake in or who he hung around with. Not that he even knew anyone around at the moment. His friends lay back home in Wales, in the little home of his family. It had upset him at first to part with his animal companions, but even he knew it to be a fools errand to try and smuggle in an animal..during your first year anyway. Perhaps next year he would have figured out an elaborate plan to allow such a thing to happen.

The young boy smiled deviously, already the plan beginning to formulate itself within his mind. So focused was the child that he had zoned out almost entirely, the droning of the hat and the adult calling out the names being reduced to nothing but background noise.

"-imus Pretorius!" He jolted back to attention at the all too familiar sound of his name. He gulped, suddenly feeling as if hundreds of eyes were now upon him. All of a sudden a tidal wave of emotions hit him. Excitement, panic, fear, curiosity. This was a new experience for the boy, the once in a lifetime event of being sorted into the house you would spend the rest of your time at Hogwarts in. He knew vaguely about the houses and what they were each supposed to represent, though to judge a person based on the colour of their tie was something else entirely. There was a mixed bag in every house he had been told, good, bad and all sorts in-between.

His legs felt like lead as he made his way up to front and center. The spotlight was on him, figuratively of course, as the blonde boy sat in the chair stationed at the end of the great hall. Once again he gulped, was this hat even trustworthy? It did talk after all..normal hats didn't do that. It could be brainwashing the kids, would he be brainwashed? The thought made his eyes widen ever so slightly as he felt the additional light weight of the hat be placed a top his head.

There was a silence across the hall, where idle chatter had taken place while he had made his way up it had quickly quietened down. Maximus had noticed it with the previous sortees, an almost ritualistic pattern either out of respect for the hat itself or perhaps in a vain attempt to hear the often one-sided conversation. Maximus himself remained quiet, his body tense as the hat seemingly thought it over.

"Ah..a Pretorius." It finally rumbled into life, making Maximus flinch slightly at the suddenness of it. "Another of them lot..loyal to a fault...you'd do a lot to protect the people around you..well then, it's simple isn't it." The hat trailed off it's murmuring, leaving Maximus even tenser than before.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat bellowed out loud, once more causing the young boy to jump in surprise. The cheers came from off slightly to his side. Maximus quickly glanced over toward the location in question.

"Hufflepuff huh.." He spoke to himself, or maybe it was to the hat that was now being removed from his head. His expression remained blank for a moment as he took to processing the information. Finally he beamed, running a hand through his unruly hair and making his way over toward the designated seating. "Yeah, I can work with that." Maximus nodded to himself.

Well, this is going to be dull. That was her first thought as she took her first step into Hogwarts. It was of course great to look at but she had her future to worry about, for she was going to be spending many long years working her butt off here.

As she followed the group of first-years, her long black robes brushing against the floor, she looked around with raised brows, taking in the paintings, tapestries, furniture, and other furniture that the halls were decorated with. Their journey would end at the Great Hall, where the Sorting Ceremony would be hosted, and Padma figured it wouldn't hurt to get a headstart in familiarizing herself with her surroundings.

Soon they reached their destination and was met at the towering doors by Headmaster Lear, a gentleman dressed in worn armor and seemed friendly enough. Padma offered him a smile but she didn't he noticed.

Entering the Great Hall, the group was target the hundreds of eyes of students who'd already been in their place a time ago. She suddenly felt self-conscious and avoided the eyes of the audience, but she feigned off her discomfort by pretending to be interested in the other first-years. Most of them looked nervous, excited, or downright terrified, but Padma's only problem was that she felt like she was being stared at, and she really didn't like it.

She waited for her name to be called, arms crossed and her gazed towards the ceiling, which seemed to be replaced with an illusion of the night sky outside. It looked spectacular and she could've spent hours watching but she knew she had to focus on hearing her name be called, less she wanted to draw anymore eyes.

“Pikoulas, Padma."

The young witch walked over to the chair and sat down promptly, waiting for the hat to descend onto her head.

She wondered how quick the process would be, some lasted for minutes while others lasted less than a second, the hat barely touching a hair on their head before it cried out their fate.

Exactly four seconds passed before the Hat cried, "HUFFLEPUFF."

Padma lunged for the yellow table, slightly startled by the shout. When she sat down she finally brought up the question that kept bouncing around in her head: what other house did he consider?

Janus was beginning to feel uncharacteristically nervous. He glanced at the only girl left between him and being the centre of attention of the whole hall. During the journey here on train and even when entering the castle, it was easy to distract himself by observing (well, mostly trying to register with his mouth hanging open) this new mind-boggling world.

Now that he was here though, and he was required to do something, the sense of being lost caught up to him; he didn't know anyone here, and most importantly he knew nothing about this world since his father didn't say more than a couple words about it. He was beginning to resent him for that. The feeling of understanding and luck that had accompanied him for his whole life, his trust in the natural flow of things, was dimming by the minute.

The girl in front of him was called up (Lug-something, he was terrible with names) and he tried to focus on his surroundings in order to calm himself down.
He had managed to wrap his mind about the fact that a hat was talking just in time to hear its words about the four houses. Among the very few things his father told him about Hogwarts was his former house, Hufflepuff. He had described it as being full of loyal, patient people who were always willing to help with a smile on their face. The talking hat's words seemed to match that description and, though his father never mentioned their crest, Janus managed to identify the Hufflepuffs by elimination among the four tables and banners. It didn't seem like a bad house to end up in; he didn't like to be under the focus of someone's stare, and being in a house that had a group-mentality could help with that. He was also patient enough, but he wasn't sure about loyalty or putting on a smile while having to help.

He tried to remember what the Hat had said about the other three houses; Gryffindor was for the brave ones, it seemed, and Slytherin required self-ambition. They didn't look like a good fit for him, although he sometimes seemed a bit reckless due to his unworried nature. Ravenclaw was for the witty, right? He was pretty sure he had never been a quick talker or a very clever one, on the contrary he didn't say more than what was absolutely necessary. He always managed to get good grades in muggle school though, but that was partially down to his luck.

While he was immersed in these thoughts, he almost managed to miss his name being called up. Typical.

"-ley, Janus!"

He whipped his head up and began to walk towards the stool; at least now he didn't have time to mull this unknown situation over in his head and panic.

He passed by the Headmaster, with his weird armour who made him look a bit paranoid, and sat on the stool.
As soon as he put the hat on, he heard its voice in his ear.

"Hmm... Lumley eh? Lumley... oh yes! It's been a long time, but I remember that pudgy boy. A fairly simple Sorting, that one. You must be his son, then."

Before Janus could mutter a "yes", the hat went on with his small voice; "But enough with the small talk, let's dive into this mind of yours! Relatively easy-going, not very chatty but you have confidence in you. Gryffindor could be the house you're looking for..."

"No, no I-I don't want others to expect bravery from me!" Janus said, marvelling at how forceful his tone had been. He usually was calmer than that.

"Yes, I can see that you don't feel brave right now, in fact you're scared; scared by not understanding this world yet.
In this case, better be... RAVENCLAW!"

And so it was over before Janus even registered it, taking the Sorting Hat off his head to the cheers of the blue-crowded table.