Sorting

The movie scenes that had captivated Rose were already enthralling, but she now realized that they were less than a tenth as awe-inspiring as seeing it all with her own eyes.

Just as the original story described, thousands of candles floated above the hall, and four long tables stood in the middle. After Professor McGonagall led the new students into the Great Hall, hundreds of faces watched them curiously.

Rose felt as though a hand had clenched her stomach into a knot, and something was blocking her throat.

Even though she knew about the Sorting Ceremony, unlike the actual first-year witches and wizards, she still couldn't help feeling nervous when the moment came. Rose and Lily were still holding hands tightly, the two girls seemingly drawing courage from each other through their clasped hands.

They turned to look at each other, and Rose gave Lily a grin. It was a rather silly smile, but it seemed to comfort Lily—her hand stopped trembling.

The Sorting Ceremony was much the same as in the movie. An enormous hat sat on a high stool, and Professor McGonagall began calling names from a parchment.

Black's name came right after Potter's, who had already been sorted into Gryffindor. Rose watched him calmly put the hat on his head.

Gryffindor.

Rose said quietly to herself.

"Gryffindor!" the Sorting Hat shouted. The noisy Great Hall fell silent at once. Some students stared at Black in shock, while some Muggle-born students eagerly questioned the people beside them. After hearing the answer, they looked at Black admiringly, then glanced toward the Slytherin table, eager for gossip.

Rose saw several older students at the Slytherin table leap to their feet, staring at Sirius Black in shock.

Soon, Professor McGonagall called Rose's name. She sat nervously on the stool and put on the hat, which was far too big for her.

Probably Hufflepuff, Rose thought. I really like it there.

"Hufflepuff? No... You have kindness and courage, but not the kind Hufflepuff has... Let me see. Decisive, and quite bold. Without a doubt, you must be a... Gryffindor!" the Sorting Hat shouted. It was as though a great stone had vanished from Rose's blocked throat. She ran happily to the table welcoming her, where Black had already politely made room for her.

Immediately afterward, Snape was sorted into Slytherin. After sitting down at the end of the table, he looked at Lily expectantly.

He's going to be disappointed, Rose thought happily. Lily Evans will be with me for the next seven years.

Sure enough, after Lily was sorted into Gryffindor, Snape looked disappointed.

As Lily walked toward the table, Rose deliberately shifted over to show that she had saved her a seat. But Rose was clearly too excited, because her arm accidentally bumped Black, interrupting his conversation with Potter.

"Don't get so excited, Claude," Black teased. "You look so happy, it's like you've fallen in love with Evans."

"Please, you'll definitely be saying that a lot in the future, but not to me." Rose pretended to glance casually at Potter beside him. When Potter noticed her gaze, he stared back at her in confusion.

A little boy, Rose thought. She decided not to take issue with an eleven-year-old child.

Lily sat down happily beside Rose, delighted to have been sorted into the same house as a friend she had met on the train. Then she looked apologetically toward the Slytherin table, where Snape was staring at her with a gloomy face.

"Sorry," Lily mouthed to him, and Snape's expression improved considerably.

Rose and Lily began whispering animatedly about how they would be staying next to each other later, constantly telling each other how excited they were.

"Girls." Black shrugged at Potter, the gesture making him look very handsome. Peter Pettigrew, sitting across from him, watched him enviously.

The Sorting Ceremony soon came to an end. Headmaster Dumbledore said a few brief words, then announced that the feast could begin.

That was much more straightforward than the headmaster from Rose's previous life. She vaguely remembered that whenever the headmaster of her high school spoke, an hour was the bare minimum.

It was only after Rose came to Hogwarts that she realized British food wasn't really all that bad-though of course, it couldn't compare to food from China. It was simply that the poorhouse had no food that took much work to prepare; everything they ate was simple to make and filled their stomachs quickly.

And when the Hogwarts house-elves set the table with a great abundance and variety of food, Rose found that her stomach was so hungry it had begun "gnawing" at itself. She forced herself to nod patiently as she listened to Lily, but her attention had long since wandered to the platters of roast beef, lamb chops, and colorful ice cream.

"All right, all right, let's eat first." Seeing the longing for food written all over Rose's face, Lily dropped the subject and thoughtfully poured her a glass of Pumpkin Juice. "Have some Pumpkin Juice first, and don't eat too fast all at once. Mum says eating too much when you're really hungry can hurt your stomach."

Rose held the Pumpkin Juice Lily had poured her in her left hand and a lamb chop in her right, her eyes scanning for her next target.

"You're like a Niffler," Black said, propping up his chin. His relaxed expression suggested that the food on the table couldn't hold his full attention.

Rose struggled to swallow the roast lamb in her mouth. "If you'd lived in an orphanage too, where every meal was only enough to keep you from going hungry-then trust me, I'm already eating very gracefully."

Black and several other Gryffindors looked at her in surprise.

"Of course-of course, it's not something I can't talk about. I'm an orphan, and I grew up in a poorhouse. It's no big deal." Rose picked up a chicken leg and clutched it in her hand. "But I'm a witch, and that alone makes me super-lucky!" She grinned and made an exaggerated gesture with her arm. Her azure eyes were brimming with happiness, sparkling in the candlelight of the Great Hall.

Lily hugged her tightly and said happily, "That's right, we're witches now! We're in Gryffindor!"

Hearing Lily's words, Potter began to grin foolishly too. For a moment, every new student at the Gryffindor table was grinning foolishly.

"It's wonderful to be young!" Dumbledore, tipsy from a glass of clear brown liqueur, held up a silver fork with egg pudding on it and spoke to Professor McGonagall with a cheerful smile.