"Welcome to Hogwarts!" Professor McGonagall's voice rang out across the sea of excited first years,"The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly but, before you take your seats, you will be sorted into your houses. This is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house becomes somewhat like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced exceptional wizards and witches. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you house points whereas any rule-breaking shall lose you them. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour.

"The ceremony shall begin in just a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you smarten up your uniforms." Her eyes lingered for a moment on Ron, Crabbe and Goyle's scruffy states,"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly."

Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair down whilst hanging on to McGonagall's every word. As she left the chamber, he asked Ron,"Er...so, how exactly do they sort us into houses?"

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking." Ron, despite his words, looked as though he thought Fred had been being completely serious.

Harry anxiously looked around him and noticed that everyone else looked terrified too. No one was talking much, and those who were kept their voices at a whisper.

He then caught sight of Hermione Granger. She was all the way on the other side of the chamber, without anyone to talk to. Harry thought about pushing through the crowd to go and talk to her, but then decided that he probably wouldn't make it over there without creating some sort of havoc amongst the anxious first years.

Hermione looked over at Harry, who was still staring at her, and gave him a small, nervous smile. He grinned back. Then, Ron tapped him on the shoulder and started asking him whether or not Harry thought that Fred had been joking when he had said that the test would hurt a lot.

Harry had been about to open his mouth to tell Ron that he was sure that the test wouldn't hurt at all, when something happened which made him jump about a foot in the air and made several people behind him scream.

He watched in amazement as nearly twenty ghosts streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they floated across the room, hardly noticing the first years.

************

When Professor McGonagall had returned, she led them all into a humongous room which she had called the Great Hall. Four long tables ran the length of the room with empty gold platters sitting on top of them. At these tables sat many students - some old and some young - all wearing the same uniforms. On each table, however, the students were wearing different coloured ties which, Harry assumed, matched the colours of their house.

At the far end of the hall stood another long table at which the teachers sat. But Harry was no longer looking at these tables, for he and many other first years were gazing up at the ceiling. It was velvety black and dotted with stars; it was beautiful.

"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read all about it in Hogwarts; a History." Hermione Granger whispered to him, making him jump.

"Oh, hi!" He said as cheerily as he could,"It's lovely, isn't it?"

"Yes it is. I could stare at it for ages." The stars on the ceiling were reflected beautifully in her eyes as she gazed up at them longingly.

"I'm going to have to borrow that book of yours, this is great!"

"Of course. Well, if we're in the same house. If not, it could be quite difficult." Hermione looked down from the ceiling and frowned at Harry,"I read that there's a lot of rivalry between houses - especially Gryffindor and Slytherin - and that people who are friends before coming to Hogwarts that get put in different houses often drift apart quite quickly. It's like Professor McGonagall said, 'your house becomes somewhat like your family within Hogwarts'. I suppose that's a good thing, as it gives us all a chance to make a close-knit group of friends. I just hope that's easier here than it is in the Muggle world..."

Hermione trailed off, looking at the floor. Harry could instantly tell that she, like him, had not had many, if any friends at her old school. He opened his mouth to comfort her but he was interrupted by Professor McGonagall.

She stood up and walked over to a stool that was placed just in front of them. On top of that was a dirty, patched and frayed wizard's hat.

Everyone in the hall was staring at the hat, as if expecting it to do something. Harry glanced sideways at Hermione, who was looking at the hat with a great interest. He looked back up at it. It twitched. A large rip near its brim opened suddenly and the hat began to sing:

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin,
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a thinking cap!"

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song - Harry included - however his heart was not in it. He had heard what the hat had said about Ravenclaw. He was almost certain that Hermione would end up there. She'd memorised all of the textbooks - of course she'd be put into Ravenclaw!

The hat bowed many times before becoming quiet and still again.

"So, we've only got to try on the hat!" Ron sighed with relief. He stood on Harry's other side next to a tall, sandy-haired boy,"I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll!"

Harry was hardly listening. He'd liked Hermione and he was sure she'd liked him too. He was adamant they could have become great friends, but there was no way Hermione wouldn't end up in Ravenclaw - she was way too smart - Harry, on the other hand, knew that he was nowhere near intelligent enough (in either the Muggle world, as Ron called it, or the Wizarding one) to be placed there.

***********

Professor McGonagall stepped forward and began to call people up to be sorted.

As students names were called, they were to go up to the front of the room and sit on the stool. Then, McGonagall would place the Sorting Hat onto their heads. The hat then took over; it would sit silently for a short while before coming to a decision for each student.

Hannah Abbot ended up in Hufflepuff along with Susan Bones. Then, a boy named Terry Boot was put in Ravenclaw. Lavender Brown became the first new Gryffindor, whilst Millicent Bulstrode went straight to Slytherin.

By this time, Harry felt very sick. It could have been his imagination, but after what he'd heard about Slytherin, they still didn't seem a particularly friendly-looking bunch.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!" McGonagall called. He became a Hufflepuff. Then, the sandy-haired boy - Seamus Finnigan - next to Ron was called up. He sat on the stool for over a minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Harry's heart dropped about ten feet.

"Oh no, okay, relax!" She muttered to herself.

"Mental, that one, I'm telling you." Ron moaned to Harry as Hermione walked up to the stool anxiously. She placed the hat firmly on her head. It took merely a second for the hat to sort her:

"GRYFFINDOR!" It shouted. Ron groaned loudly.

Hermione's face lit up as she scurried over to the table on the far right of the room. Harry was shocked. His sunken heart lifted itself back up again. This is great! Harry thought to himself, I've got way more of a chance of getting into Gryffindor than Ravenclaw!

Next was Neville Longbottom's turn. He had tripped over on his way to the stool and, when he made it, the hat took a very long time to decide where to put him. It eventually settled on Gryffindor.

Malfoy was sorted into Slytherin. Then, there weren't many people left.
"Moon"..."Nott"..."Parkinson"...then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil"...then "Perks"...and then, at last-

"Potter, Harry!"

As Harry stepped forward, whispers broke out across the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"The Harry Potter?"

The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was Hermione at the Gryffindor table, giving him an encouraging smile. Next second he was in the black inside of the hat. He waited.

"Hmm..." Said a small voice in his ear,"Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes - and a thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting...so where shall I put you?"

Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, not Slytherin, not Slytherin.

"Not Slytherin, eh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on your way to greatness, no doubt about that - no? Well, if you're sure - better be Gryffindor!"

Harry's heart leapt. Gryffindor! Hermione was in Gryffindor! She said Gryffindor was by far the best house!

He jumped up and hurried over to the Gryffindor table. He sat himself down next to Hermione, who was beaming at him.

"Brilliant! I knew you'd-"

Hermione was cut off by the Weasley twins chanting,"We got Potter! We got Potter!"

***********

"Weasley, Ronald!"

Ron crossed the room uncertainly. Harry was sure that Ron was debating in his head what house he wanted to be in. He'd always wanted to be in Gryffindor, but he'd also said that he didn't want to be in the same house as Hermione.

Nevertheless, the Sorting Hat placed him in Gryffindor. Ron strode up to the table to loud applause from his brothers and from the rest of the table. He sat opposite Harry, deliberately avoiding making any eye contact whatsoever with Hermione.

Harry glanced at her. She was looking up at the front of the hall, fidgeting anxiously with her fingers.

Blaise Zabini was placed in Slytherin, then Professor Dumbledore rose from his seat. The hall became eerily silent, awaiting wise words from their headmaster.

Whether or not the words,"Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" were particularly wise was beyond Harry, but then the plates in front of them became covered with food. More food than Harry had ever seen at one time. He tucked in straightaway, as did all of the other Gryffindors.

Harry still could not believe that he was not living in a dream. Everything was so perfect, although he was more than certain that it wasn't going to stay that way for long.