Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [30]
Just then, the doors to the Great Hall flew open again and the ten or so students who crossed the lake with Hagrid came through the door. Harry watched them as they walked through the center of the room, and up to the front where there was a three-legged stool with a large and tattered black hat on it.
As Harry watched them go across, he noticed something funny about one of the new students. He didn’t look like a first year at all, he looked as old as Harry. Also, he didn’t look nearly as scared as the other first-years, he in fact looked confident. He wasn’t wearing black robes either, he was instead wearing a long, black flowing coat. he was also wearing white gloves that seemed to dissolve into his skin rather than have cuffs. His wand wasn’t in his pocket or his hands either: it was slung over his shoulder. On his back, there was a sheath for it, and a long string that went over his shoulder, over his chest, and then connected to the bottom of his sheath. Inside the sheath there was a long sword that had a beautiful wand painted on the blade. Harry decided to just wait and see what happened when he was sorted, maybe he’d be in Gryffindor so Harry could ask him some questions.
All of the new students were lined up in front of the stool now, and Professor McGonagall was next to the stool with a long piece of paper. Suddenly, the hat floated off of the stool that it was on, and began… singing.
“Many, many years before,
There was a gigantic war.
It was between both wizards and men.
However, no one won in the end.
When all the dead bodies lay strung out,
Four voices, did ring out:
Godric Gryffindor: Bold and true;
Salazar Slytherin: Cunning and shrewd;
Rowena Ravenclaw: Quick and bright;
Helga Hufflepuff: Loyal and with might.
Together these four made the place in which you stay,
So that others may learn their magnificent ways.
And so that a war like before would never happen again,
To tutor their pupils, and help them become true men.
So that the world may become a better place,
They built Hogwarts, where you learn the magical ways.”
There was a magnificent amount of applause for the hat, like always, and when I dies down, Professor McGonagall brought the hat down from its hovering position, and back onto the stool, ready to sort the newcomers.
“When I call out your names,” she spoke loudly, “you will come up to this stool, place the hat on your head, then go to the table of the house that the hat designates you to. With that, let’s start: Vernon Crabbe!”
The boy that was first in line stepped up to the stool, and placed the hat on his head. His clumsy movements and unmistakable similarity caused Harry to believe that this was Vincent Crabbe’s, Malfoy’s friend’s, little brother. It was confirmed when he placed the hat on his head and it yelled out:
“SLYTHERIN!” The Slytherin table cheered, and Crabbe gave his brother a pat on the back as he sat down.
“Prancy Patil!” A small, cute little girl stepped up to the stool, and placed the hat on her head.
“RAVENCLAW!” yelled the hat after a second of being on her head.
“Aw, too bad,” said Parvati Patil, another fifth year Gryffindor who had been Harry’s date to a dance last year, “I was hoping Prancy’d be with me, not Padma. (her twin sister who was in Ravenclaw)”
“Akshay Dayal,” said Professor McGonagall. The next boy in line stepped up to the hat, and placed it on his head, waiting for less than a second.
“GRYFFINDOR!” shouted the hat. As with the rest of the new students, the Gryffindors clapped as he walked over to their table. The next name on the lost took Harry by surprise:
“Aylar Dumbledore!” said Professor McGonagall with a hint of proudness in her voice. Could this be Professor Dumbledore’s son? If it wasn’t his son, than he surely looked a lot like Dumbledore. He had the same long nose, skinny figure, and a certain blissful