The Sorting Hat Had the Upper Hand

Professor McGonagall ignored the young witches and wizards' whispering and continued.

Her voice was not loud, but even with so many of them whispering, it still reached their ears with perfect clarity:

"The Start-of-Term Feast is about to begin... I hope that whichever house you are sorted into, you will bring it honor.

"In a few minutes, the Sorting Ceremony will take place before the entire school. I suggest you use this time to straighten yourselves up and look presentable."

A rustling immediately broke out among the students. Harry, Ron, and the others checked one another's hair and clothes to make sure nothing was out of place. A few of the young witches even took out little mirrors...

The legendary Sorting Ceremony was about to begin. Even little Hermione, who had acted as though she knew everything and had everything under control, to the point of seeming rather haughty, looked a little nervous now.

By contrast, Draco Malfoy, who stood a short distance away glaring viciously at Harry and the others, did not seem nervous about the Sorting Ceremony at all. His anger at Harry had consumed his every thought.

Clearly, though, he had no intention of coming over to clash with Harry again. His nose still hurt a little.

While they waited, some twenty ghosts drifted out. Quite a few of the young witches and wizards jumped when they emerged straight through the walls. Before the children could speak with these ghosts of wizards, however, Professor McGonagall had returned.

"All first years, form a single line and follow me. Get moving." Professor McGonagall led them through the Entrance Hall, along a short corridor, and through a pair of double doors into an exceptionally grand and spacious Great Hall.

Harry had never seen a place so magnificent, so magical and wondrous.

Four broad, exceptionally long tables stood in the spacious Great Hall, with the older students seated around them. Judging by the accessories on their robes, they seemed to be seated by house.

The candles were not set on the tables. Instead, they floated overhead, bathing the entire Great Hall in bright light.

Gleaming enamel tableware had been laid out on the tables, but there was no food.

A raised platform stood at the head of the Great Hall, clearly reserved for the teachers. Harry immediately noticed the elderly wizard with white hair and a white beard sitting in the very center. He recognized him at a glance: Albus Dumbledore.

Behind Harry, Hermione was murmuring, "Just as the books said. A ceiling like the sky."

Only then did Harry look up and notice the scattered stars and the dark night sky overhead. But while looking at the ceiling, he failed to notice that the people ahead had stopped, and he bumped into Ron.

Ron stumbled from the impact and bumped into a girl in front of him.

"Ah!" the girl cried softly.

"S-sorry," Ron apologized at once.

"It's... it's all right." The girl turned to glance at Ron and spoke quietly.

Ron wanted to say something else, but singing came from up ahead.

Below the teachers' long table stood a tall, four-legged stool. Professor McGonagall had placed a battered old pointed wizard's hat on it, and now a wide, mouthlike tear in the hat was open as it sang.

Harry thought the song sounded awful, but all the older students were applauding cheerfully, and the first years followed suit, so he had no choice but to clap a couple of times himself. The hat actually bowed smugly in every direction, then... then went still.

"So the Sorting Ceremony is just putting on that hat?" Ron's eyes widened in outrage as he looked around, trying to spot his two rotten, little-brother-tormenting brothers among the older students:

"I'm going to kill Fred and George. The way they described it, it sounded like we'd have to fight a Troll."

Harry relaxed a little too. He could hardly help it; Hermione had put him under immense pressure. On the train, they had actually learned that she had memorized almost every spell in the Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1.

Harry had only remembered a few that he had successfully tried himself. The comparison made the gap between them rather clear.

If the entrance test really involved comparing how many spells they had memorized, Harry would definitely come off worse. Of course, he thought that was unlikely, since Ron and Neville, both from wizarding families, did not know a single spell.

No, that was not quite right. Ron knew one.

Just before they got off the train, Ron had wanted to demonstrate the Mouse-Color-Changing Charm for them. But the magic had failed. In fact, Harry rather doubted that the spell was genuine.

While his thoughts wandered, Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a roll of parchment. "When I call your name, come up, put on the hat, sit on the stool, and await your house assignment. Now, (the Iron-Cap Prince-ah, no), Hannah Abbott."

The first girl was sorted into Hufflepuff. Students at a table on the right cheered, clearly identifying them as Hufflepuffs. Just as Harry had guessed earlier, the students were seated by house.

Next came another Hufflepuff girl, followed by a Ravenclaw boy.

Then...

"Lavender Brown," Professor McGonagall called.

A round-faced girl with large eyes hurried forward. She was the girl who had stood in front of Ron and been bumped by him.

The Sorting Hat announced its decision with unprecedented speed: "Gryffindor!"

The first new Gryffindor of the evening had appeared. Cheers rose from the long table on the far left. Harry looked toward the sound and spotted Fred and George standing on their seats, one of them wiggling his bottom as he danced.

Beside them, another red-haired boy, presumably the third brother, Percy, whom Ron had mentioned, was trying hard to pull the dancing clown down into his seat. It was not working very well. It looked as though he was about to pull the twin's trousers off, yet the twin kept holding them up with one hand while still wiggling his hips.