With the distraction provided by the castle and their guide, Taylor let out her stowaways fly from under her robes and into the dark of night. She’d find a place for them shortly, once she had settled down herself. Her trio of stowaways happily flitted outside toward one of the towers catching bugs and having a meal.
The door swung open and Professor McGonagall stood on the other side, watching with the same stern face from when she visited Taylor’s house to deliver the letter.
“The firs’-years, Professor McGonagall,” said the giant.
“Thank you, Hagrid. You did a good job, as always.”
Hagrid smiled, and pulled the doors open. The Entrance Hall was big and proper fantasy-like. Flaming torches provided illumination from the walls, and the ceiling was too high to make out with her own eyes, a magnificent marble staircase led to the upper floors.
Professor McGonagall led the procession across the flagged stone floor. Taylor could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right, but the Professor showed the kids into a small empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together and peering about. Some nervously, others excitedly.
“Welcome to Hogwarts,” said Professor McGonagall. “The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses.”
From there, McGonagall explained the significance of the house system, what each house stood for and a brief explanation of the house cup, with successes being awarded and troublemakers punished and how that affected the whole house. It was the same information she’d read from Hogwarts: A History. Strangely, neither the book nor the professor explained how they’d be sorted into their house.
“I shall return when we are ready for you,” said Professor McGonagall. “Please wait quietly.”
She left the chamber. A murmur rose from the crowd of kids.
Ginny looked even more frantic than inside the train. Maybe she was still worried about the Harry boy, or maybe she was worried which house she’d be selected for, or maybe she desperately needed to visit the loo. Any of those looked possible.
Taylor paid only a smidge of attention to most of that; there was so much to see. The castle was majestic and gigantic. So many towers and nooks to explore. She wanted to be done with this sorting so she could go exploring. And because of that, Taylor added a new self-imposed rule: No using bugs to explore until she’d explored things herself. Bug vision wasn’t the same as seeing things for the first time with her own eyes.
Ahead of the pack of children, a duo looked ready to tear into each other.
“Say that again?” A tall, dark skinned girl shouted, fists balled. She had a faint accent, like she'd grown up around people who hadn’t mastered the language yet.
The boy in front of her had a mop of black hair, gelled into the perfect coif. His voice carried the same sneer as his expression.
“You should at least learn from your betters, instead of blundering around like a dying fish.”
“And what is this?” said a sharp voice. “The Sorting Ceremony’s about to start.”
Professor McGonagall had returned. The brewing fight died under her stern glare.
‘Form a line,” she commanded, “and follow me.”
With the bugs out of her mind, excitement bubbled into a crescendo. Taylor wanted to grab at Luna who was just in front of her in the line and talk about everything they saw and did up until now. There were so many things to talk about and to see and do.
The line walked out of the chamber, back across the main hall and through double doors leading into a great hall.
It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students sat. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the Hall was another long table where the teachers sat. Professor McGonagall led the first-years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. Dotted here and there among the students, ghosts shone misty silver.
Taylor held back a squeal. Real life ghosts!
It was one thing reading about the great hall and its enchanted ceiling and ghosts in the book, it was another to experience it by herself. This only cemented her new rule. No spoiling the surprises with bugs.
Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool in front of the children. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard’s hat. This hat was patched, frayed, and looked dirty. Strangely, there wasn’t a single bug there.
Stranger still, the hat moved and began to sing.
Come gather round, new students all, And hear me sing within this hall, For though I'm old and worn and frayed, I'll sort you well, don't be afraid.
In Gryffindor, the brave make home, Where lions roar and heroes roam, With nerve and daring, bold and true, Red and gold will welcome you.
In Hufflepuff, the loyal stay, Where patience guides you every day, With honest heart and steady hand, The badger builds on solid land.
In Ravenclaw, the curious find, A home for every seeking mind, Where wit and wisdom light the way, Through every night and every day.
In Slytherin, ambition grows, Where cunning water twists and flows, With purpose sharp and vision clear, The serpent knows what it holds dear.
Four houses built by founders four, Who stood together, nothing more, So heed this well in your days: A castle stands united always.
It bowed to each of the four tables and then went still again.
The students in the tables yelled and hooted and applauded.
Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.
“When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,” she said. “Adeyemi, Nneka!’
Coincidentally, the first name called was of the dark skinned girl. She didn’t look angry anymore, but nervous and anxious. Adeyemi nodded, then power walked and sat heavily on the stool.
McGonagall placed the hat on her head, and a few seconds later, the hat yelled: “GRYFFINDOR!” And as soon as it did, Adeyemi’s robes changed. Where they were all black, now it was decorated with red and gold, like all other Gryffindor students.
Magic was so cool!
The loudest table cheered and clapped. Taylor noticed that among them, the redheaded twins were the loudest, shouting and hooting about ‘first pick’ or something.
“Ashworth, Tobias” McGonagall called another name. The boy who answered was clearly someone from a magical family. He didn’t seem as anxious as the others and his robes looked extra, even if they didn’t look any different from Taylor’s own.
The hat deliberated longer this time, almost one minute before it shouted: “SLYTHERIN!”
On and on the names went. Taylor couldn’t see any reason why kids were sorted in the houses they were sorted into. For a moment, she thought that kids from old magical families would tend for Slytherin, but that didn’t hold true when another posh, arrogant looking boy got sorted in Hufflepuff instead.
In what felt like no time at all and forever at once, it was her turn. “Hebert, Taylor.”
Taylor took a deep breath. Ginny smiled, and Luna nodded encouragingly. Keeping her head high, she marched forward and sat on the stool. Not a moment later, the brim of the old hat covered most of her head and eyes. Despite how old it looked, it smelled fresh.
‘What do we have here?’ A voice spoke inside her head. ‘Very loyal, I see and—’ then the voice cut off abruptly and her power shifted in a way that it had never before.
Taylor waited, and waited, and waited some more. Murmurs rose from the tables, and not knowing what to do, Taylor fidgeted. Time crawled and the hat kept mum, not calling any house name at all.
Had she broken the hat, somehow? McGonagall seemed to think something was wrong as well, because she leaned forward and whispered a question.
“Is everything alright, Miss Hebert?”
Taylor used her hand to push the brim of the hat up and free her eyes. She looked at the professor and whispered back: “I don’t know. The hat started speaking, then stopped.”
McGonagall nodded, but didn’t seem worried. “Very well.”
Taylor hadn’t told the woman about other the thing that might be a problem and the reason why she thought she had broken the hat: Her control over bugs and other magical creatures felt different somehow after putting the hat on. Before it was like her power was barely awake and sometimes taking interest in new things, and now it felt… different, alert.
Taylor released the hat, blocking the vision from the murmuring kids. She’d consider the implications about that later. For now, she focused on Dee and Dum and Bity to make sure her power was still working like it always did.
They were now flitting near the biggest tower in the castle. There were slits in the walls that could serve as temporary housing until she found someplace better. She did her best to keep their eyes focused on the tower and the stone and avoid looking around.
No spoiling was her new rule.
She’d just finished arranging nests when the hat spoke again.
‘You’d be a perfect Hufflepuff. You’d make friends, and earn their loyalty and be loyal in return. You, however, aren’t alone in here. So it better be…’ “RAVENCLAW!” The last bit was yelled for everyone in the great hall.
Taylor plucked the hat out of her head and thrust it toward McGonagall. The professor took it with a nod and a smile, and Taylor walked toward the second table from the left. Her robes had changd as well, now, instead of black they were midnight blue and bronze. Conversation died and applause started slowly, before picking up. Older students welcomed Taylor to their table, nodding, offering waves or smiles.
From the Gryffindor table, she heard the twins crying that they didn’t get the hatstall, whatever that meant.
The rest of the sorting passed quickly. There was no other delay like her own sorting. Luna ended up in Ravenclaw as well, for which Taylor was more than grateful for. Ginny, as predicted, went to Gryffindor. The applause and cheering among the Gryffindors was astounding. Even Hufflepuff and a few Ravenclaws cheered. The Weasleys seemed to be very well liked.
After every kid was sorted, the tall old wizard at the head of the professor’s table stood. That one had to be Albus Dumbledore, he even matched the pictures in the books. He beamed at the students, his arms opened wide, as if this was the happiest day of his life.
“Welcome!” he said. “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts!” He looked directly at Taylor, eyes twinkling. “And we’re delayed enough, let our banquet begin!”
He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered.
Between one breath and the next, the dishes on the table were now piled with food: steak and kidney pie, shepherd’s pie, toad in the hole, kedgeree, gammon, braised lamb shanks, poached salmon, bubble and squeak, mushy peas, buttered leeks, creamed spinach, pickled red cabbage, cauliflower cheese, parsnips, swede mash, runner beans, crusty bloomer loaves, baps, suet dumplings, piccalilli, brown sauce, mint sauce, horseradish, and a pot of something that smelled strongly of cloves but Taylor couldn’t name it.
Taylor looked around, amazed, before piling her plate with food and digging in. By her side, Luna was doing the same, but for some reason, she started with the mint sauce.