Sorting

"First-year students, Professor McGonagall."

At the giant's knock and shout, the doors slowly opened.

A tall witch in emerald-green robes appeared before Breeze. Her black hair was pulled tightly back, and her meticulous, stern demeanor made it clear to everyone that she was not someone to mess with.

She stood solemnly in the doorway and said to the giant, "Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take it from here."

Professor McGonagall flicked her wand, and the doors swung fully open.

"Follow me, children."

Professor McGonagall's voice was brisk and decisive. The new students around him were already in a muddle, hurrying after her.

The air was filled with a buzz of conversation. All the new students followed closely behind her through the Entrance Hall. Torches lit the stone walls on either side, making the place bright, but this wasn't the Great Hall yet. Breeze and the other students followed the flagstone floor into an empty room, where they stopped and turned around.

McGonagall stopped and spread her arms toward them. "Welcome to Hogwarts, young witches and wizards. The start-of-term feast is about to begin, but you'll have to wait a little longer. Please remain quiet."

Breeze noticed that Professor McGonagall seemed to have spotted Harry, so she paused for a moment.

Breeze thought, The Savior's getting special attention.

"Before the start-of-term feast, you'll be sorted into your houses. This is very important, because during your time at school, you'll attend classes with the students in your house and live together in a large dormitory. Each house has its own common room, where you can spend your free time, or you can go to the library."

"The names of the four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has a proud history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you're at Hogwarts, your achievements will earn points for your house, while any rule-breaking will cost your house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will win the House Cup. It's a great honor. I hope that whichever house you're sorted into, you'll do it proud."

Seeing that the young witches and wizards had perked up, McGonagall smiled primly. But when she looked at the students below, she frowned.

As she turned her gaze toward Malfoy, Breeze had already moved to block the haughty boy from view without saying a word.

Professor McGonagall continued, "Perhaps you should tidy yourselves up. Sorting will begin in a few minutes, and it will take place in front of the entire school. I doubt you want to mess it up and leave yourselves with an unpleasant memory."

"All right. I'll come back for you in a few minutes. Please wait quietly."

McGonagall turned and left for the room behind her.

As soon as Professor McGonagall was gone, all the new students relaxed. Breeze didn't mind her. He didn't dislike professors like her; Betty was often stern too. With so many children at the Orphanage, she had to be strict to keep them in line.

Still, some of the new students said, "Oh, look at her hair. It's perfectly neat. She must be a strict woman. I wouldn't want to get on her bad side. It'd be awful."

A few young witches and wizards nodded in agreement.

"How will they know which house to put us in?"

Breeze heard more and more chatter around him. Everyone seemed concerned about which house they'd end up in, and it seemed nobody knew how the Sorting worked.

Breeze heard the red-haired boy from earlier say there would be a test that could cause serious injury. His brothers were the Weasley Twins.

Well... Breeze could only say that their little brother was awfully sweet and innocent to believe that.

Breeze understood that there would probably be a test, but it wouldn't be that difficult.

But not everyone was as level-headed as Breeze. Harry Potter was already trembling, while Hermione was muttering something under her breath, reciting it over and over...

Breeze edged closer. All right, she was memorizing something. Were they going to hand out a test paper or something?

"By the way, Breeze..."

Hermione looked at Breeze and asked, "Which house do you want to be in? I think Gryffindor is the best."

Breeze hesitated. "Ravenclaw, I suppose..."

Breeze had already suspected that he probably wouldn't get his wish, which actually helped him stay calm.

"Really, it doesn't matter which house you're in, as long as you can learn magic. They wouldn't stop us from taking Potions just because we went to Gryffindor, would they? Of course not."

Breeze knew that Potions was taught by the Slytherin Head of House, and Gryffindor and Slytherin had always been at odds.

"Ah!"

Who was yelling? That startled Breeze!

"Ghosts!"

He didn't know who had shouted, but Breeze had already seen them: more than twenty ghosts suddenly emerged from the walls. From their clothes, it was clear they hadn't all died in the same era.

Breeze was curious, but with so many people around, he couldn't investigate. He stopped paying attention to the ghosts. This was Hogwarts, after all; he'd have plenty of opportunities.

Before long, Professor McGonagall returned, and the ghosts hurried away.

"Move along now," said a shrill voice. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin."

Professor McGonagall was back, and the ghosts had vanished into the walls.

"All right, line up single file and follow me."

At McGonagall's words, everyone filed through the Entrance Hall and into a magnificent hall. Two long tables stood on each side, with many older students already seated. Thousands upon thousands of candles floated above the tables, their light glinting off the golden goblets.

Space had been left in the middle for the new students, while the professors' seats were at the very front.

The ceiling had been enchanted to look just like the sky outside.

The new students walked forward nervously, passing between the seats under the watchful eyes of the older students, until they reached the professors at the front. McGonagall tapped her wand, conjuring a four-legged stool with a shabby old hat on it.

Breeze spotted quite a few familiar faces among the older students: Cedric from Hufflepuff, Cho Chang and Kay Gibson from Ravenclaw, and the Weasley Twins from Gryffindor...

When they noticed Breeze looking at them, they all returned his gaze with friendly smiles.

Quite a few people sat at the professors' table. Dumbledore was in the middle. He winked at the new students and smiled. He seemed very happy, though Breeze felt that most of his attention was on Harry Potter.

Beside him sat a rather gloomy-looking man. He was handsome, but his greasy, lank hair took away from his looks. Breeze knew he was Severus Snape, his Potions professor and the Slytherin Head of House he'd just mentioned. Breeze had seen him in a few newspapers; he was also a Potions Master.

But Snape was staring fixedly at someone, as if he wanted to see right through him.

Following his gaze, Breeze saw—well, Harry Potter.

That intense stare made Harry Potter uncomfortable.

Maybe they were enemies because of their parents?

Breeze could only guess.

At that moment, the Sorting Hat twitched as if it couldn't wait to begin, though the movement was slight.

Breeze murmured, "Maybe there's something inside it. It must be a very special hat."

As Breeze wondered about it, the hat seemed to come alive. It began to twitch and sing a strange song. When the song ended, it fell still.

"Oh, so we just have to put the hat on? Fred made it sound like we'd have to fight a Troll!" the red-haired boy complained.

McGonagall had already taken a piece of parchment and began speaking. "When I call your name, come forward and put on the hat."

"Hannah Abbott!"

The Sorting Hat shouted, "Hufflepuff!"

The table to the right erupted in cheers. They must have been the Hufflepuff students.

As one young witch or wizard after another went up, cheers rang out from the long tables. It was their houses' way of welcoming their new students. And now it was...

"Hermione Granger!"

Hermione hurried forward. A few minutes later, the Sorting Hat called, "Gryffindor!"

"Oh, honestly!" the red-haired young wizard complained again. But this time it was about Hermione. Were they enemies too?

"Neville Longbottom!"

"Gryffindor!"

When Breeze heard Neville's name, he couldn't help wondering how that boy had ended up in Gryffindor. Did he really have courage? Hard to say. He'd keep an eye on him in the future.

"Draco Malfoy!"

It was Malfoy's turn. But Breeze heard some people snickering under their breath, and a smile tugged at his own lips. He looked with interest at Malfoy's flushed face—and, more than anything, at the specks of mud in his platinum-blond hair.

Sorry, Malfoy. Naughty children deserved a little punishment. This would be a wonderful memory you'd never forget.

The moment the Sorting Hat touched Malfoy's hair, it shouted, "Slytherin!"

Malfoy put the hat back on the stool, his face dark. He had no idea why the people around him were laughing at him.

Damn it!

He immediately headed for the Slytherin table. Almost none of the Slytherins there were openly laughing, and the black-haired girl who'd been around Malfoy since the train—the one called Pansy Parkinson—quickly pulled out a little mirror for him... which made Breeze even happier.

After Malfoy had fixed his appearance and forced himself to calm down, several people gathered around him to greet him. It seemed that Malfoy had a high standing in Slytherin.

Breeze had read the books. The Malfoy family was one of Britain's twenty-eight Pure-blood families, and it hadn't fallen far from prominence. They were still very influential, even after getting into trouble in the past. In Slytherin, where bloodline mattered, that certainly counted for a lot.

Of course, it would've been even better if the boy hadn't glared angrily at Breeze. At least he wasn't stupid.

"Breeze Storm Order."

Oh, it was his turn.

Breeze walked up easily and sat on the stool. A bright light overhead fell across his head, and a faint purple sheen seemed to glimmer in his glossy black, short hair. Dumbledore and the other professors, who had been paying him some attention, focused on him.

Professor McGonagall also seemed to have only just noticed, but none of them said anything. They simply assumed the boy's parents were powerful wizards and that Breeze had inherited their excellent magical talent.

Some of the young witches below blushed, though. Breeze was definitely handsome; he just rarely stepped into the spotlight because he preferred to keep a low profile. Now, everyone was looking at him.

A few boys were stunned too. Harry Potter, for example.

"I think I saw him in Diagon Alley."

Harry Potter blushed, while the red-haired boy beside him only pursed his lips and said nothing. But there was envy in his eyes. He really wanted to be the center of attention like this too.

In a daze, McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on Breeze's head.

"Such a difficult choice..."