Time spent studying was always full and fleeting. By the time Eliana put down the last book, the Guide to Self-Defense Against the Dark Arts, it was dark, and an announcement in the carriage said they were nearing Hogwarts.
Following the announcement's instructions, Eliana left her luggage on the train and sprang to her feet. She looked like a soldier with plenty of ammunition and all the confidence that came with it.
Harry tried to take one more look at his textbook. He looked like a soldier who had been hit by that ammunition.
They got off the train and boarded the boats. Ron, Harry, Eliana, and Hermione all climbed into the same one.
As their boat drew closer to the castle, Harry and Ron grew paler and paler. Convinced they hadn't memorized a thing, the two boys looked ready to faint.
Especially with the two girls behind them deep in a lively discussion.
"What's a Gorgon's eye used for? Where can you get one?" Harry recognized Eliana's voice.
"It cures poisons. You find it in a goat's stomach." That was Hermione.
"Now it's your turn to quiz me!"
Their chatter went on and on.
Ron's leg shook as he said to Harry beside him, "If we have to compete against our classmates, I hope I don't get either of them."
Harry nodded hard. "I hope I'm up against that Malfoy," he whispered. "He's not very tall, and he doesn't look very clever."
Ron whipped around to inspect the students in the other boats, hoping to pick out an easy opponent in advance.
The two boys followed the crowd, trembling, into an empty room on the other side of Hogwarts' entrance. Then the sudden appearance of ghosts scared them half to death. By the time they discovered that sorting only required putting on a hat, they were so relieved they nearly jumped for joy.
"Did you see that, Harry? We just have to put on a hat!"
Ron was beside himself.
After that plunge from despair to delight, the two clung to each other like puppies. Their new friendship had grown by leaps and bounds through the day's twists and turns.
"When I call your name, come up and put on the hat." Professor McGonagall, who was conducting the sorting, held a roll of parchment. "Hannah Abbott!"
Eliana was a little disappointed. It felt like carefully finishing all her summer homework only to be told the teacher wouldn't check it.
She quickly pushed the feeling aside and began analyzing the Sorting Hat's song to decide which house would suit her best.
As the official tool of the sorting, the hat might look a little shabby, but its attitude surely reflected the wizarding world's prevailing views of the four houses.
The key words were:
Gryffindor: courage; Hufflepuff: loyalty; Ravenclaw: wisdom; Slytherin: cunning.
Well, what was there to think about? Eliana ruled out the last one without hesitation. She knew nothing about the houses, but she understood what it meant when the shabby hat gave only one of them a negative description.
If it had said "ambition" instead, she wouldn't have dismissed Slytherin so quickly. Morally questionable as it might sound, Eliana personally thought a house that had produced Voldemort—a man who had terrorized the wizarding world for eleven years and whose shadow still lingered—must be pretty formidable.
But its reputation was simply too bad. She worried it would hurt her prospects in the long run.
Of the three remaining houses, Eliana decided after a little thought that Gryffindor's song sounded most like her. "Nerve," "daring," and "chivalry" were all splendid words, and "the finest of their kind" might as well have been written for her.
She was going to Gryffindor!
Eliana made up her mind at once. It never occurred to her that Gryffindor might not want her. What a joke. If Gryffindor thought a girl who dared extort people in the street lacked courage, they might as well let her do the Sorting Hat's job.
Eliana planted her hands on her hips. She thought she was much smarter than that hat.
It was old enough to retire to a museum. It should make way for someone who needed the job more—someone like her!
Working just one day a year? What a wonderful job.
On her very first day at school, Eliana had already set her sights on the Sorting Hat's position.
From the raised platform, Professor McGonagall called out, "Harry Potter!"
The quiet Great Hall suddenly filled with buzzing whispers, as if someone had released a thousand snakes into it. Everyone discussed where The Chosen One would go, hoping he would join their own house.
Eliana watched Harry too, though the hat hid his face. But ambition flickered in her eyes. One day, she would be just as famous, and everyone would await her arrival the way they awaited his.
Unlike the students who had been sorted quickly before him, Harry sat beneath the silent hat for a long time. Or perhaps it only felt that way because Eliana had been paying attention to him. What were they saying?
Perhaps her desire to know was simply that strong, because Eliana felt the breeze carry their almost inaudible conversation to her ears.
"Not Slytherin, not Slytherin."
"Made up your mind, have you? Well, if you're set on it, then Gryffindor it is!"
The hat on Harry's head shouted, "Gryffindor!"
What? So you could choose where you went?
As Gryffindor erupted in celebration at the arrival of The Chosen One, Eliana's eyes widened.
Good. Now she wasn't nervous at all.
So when the hat came down over Eliana's eyes, she copied Harry and murmured in a rapid rhythm, "Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Gryffindor."
"Oh, impatient child. I sort you according to your qualities. Let me have a look," the Sorting Hat muttered. "Ah, a fierce desire to prove yourself, a hunger for success? Powerful ambition, a thirst for power... Greedy little girl, you even want my job?"
The Sorting Hat's voice rose a little.
Eliana took offense.
What kind of way was that to talk? A good job should go to whoever was most capable. No, wait—she was willing to contribute to Hogwarts on her very first day! What a noble quality! How was that greedy?
Had this ancient hat lived so long its wits had gone the way of its patches? It didn't have a clue how to behave!
And why did those words sound more like Slytherin?
Thinking the tattered old hat was hard of hearing, she puffed out her cheeks and spoke a little louder. "I want Gryffindor. Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Gryffindor!"
"You want Gryffindor, yes, and you certainly have courage." Eliana felt the hat shift on her head and heard it click its tongue. "But your Slytherin qualities are obvious too. Far too obvious. Sly..."
The Sorting Hat was drawing out the suspense, pausing on purpose.
But Eliana didn't know that.
The moment she heard "but," she had a bad feeling. It only got worse when the hat said her Slytherin qualities were obvious. Then came that "Sly," and she thought it was about to shout "Slytherin." She panicked.
Without thinking, she punched upward at her head. The hat happened to have its mouth open, and her fist struck the roof of it—if the inside of that patched thing could be called a roof. It was no light blow, either.
The Sorting Hat screamed and went flying, bent into a C in midair.
Eliana glared at the Sorting Hat as it landed on the floor, still retching. "I want Gryffindor!"
What was that supposed to mean? This rotten hat let The Chosen One choose but not her? That was discrimination! She'd report it to the Ministry of Magic!
Professor McGonagall stared in shock at the Sorting Hat, which was going "urk, urk, urk" on the floor. Then she looked at Eliana, who had jumped down from the stool in a fury and appeared ready to kick it as well.
"Miss Richie, I appreciate your fondness for Gryffindor, but the Sorting Hat decides where each student goes based on their qualities. You must not hit the Sorting Hat."
Only then did Eliana remember that everyone was watching.
All the air went out of her anger at once. She sheepishly climbed back onto the high stool. "I won't do it again, Professor."
A burst of cheers erupted from the Gryffindor table. Two red-haired brothers who looked very much alike bounced about, shouting, "Beautiful lady, Gryffindor welcomes you!"
Professor McGonagall picked up the Sorting Hat and gave the Gryffindor table a stern look.
The noise gradually died away, and the hall fell quiet again.
She moved the hat toward Eliana's head once more, then paused. "Miss Richie, I think I must say this again. Whichever house you're sorted into, you are not to hit the Sorting Hat."
Eliana obediently leaned her head forward. "I won't, Professor."
"No!" After retching for so long, the Sorting Hat shrieked as if it had been electrocuted. "I think her defining qualities are perfectly clear—"
"Gryffindor!"
It shouted the word at the top of its voice.
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