Miss Holmes, A Harry Potter Fan fiction

Part 11: Hogwarts

The three of us sat in the boat, along with Lee Jordan, another first year.
The boats sat on a black lake so dark you couldn't see even a metre down. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.
Hagrid commanded the fleet of boats forward, them gliding across the lake.
Everyone was silent, even the previously rambunctious twins kept their mouths shut.

They stared at the great castle that towered overhead as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.
''Heads down!'' Yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face.
They were carried along a dark tunnel, which appeared to be taking them under the castle until they reached a harbour where everyone got out.
All of us continued following after Hagrid climbing a flight of stone steps and reaching a huge wooden oak door which everyone gathered around.

''Everyone present and accounted for?'' Hagrid said whilst scanning his eyes over the crowd of first years.
''Good'' he continued, knocking three times upon the door revealing a witch in emerald robes.

Her daunting aura conveyed to everyone she was not someone to be messed with. She was very tall compared to most, with black hair pulled back into a neat bun. She wore a pointed wizard hat cocked to one side.
I figured, from what I had heard from Moony, that this this was Professor McGonagall.

She lead us to a large hall filled with around 800 students  between four long tables. At the end had a singular table where all of the teachers sat, Dumbledore at their centre.
The room itself was lit carefully with thousands of candles, floating in midair.
Light chatter filled the room as Mcgonagall introduced the sorting ceremony.
I had a complete understanding of the sorting system from the books I had read and my conversations with the Witches and Wizards I had met.
The idea of houses seemed rather barbaric to me, it seemed to cause more problems than it actually solved; instead of friendly rivalry there was a deep sense of hate and resentment.
The idea of sorting based on personality wasn't exactly efficient for learning either. Surely it was better to spend your school years, the time of development, around people who held different viewpoints than you to encourage you to look at problems differently and change fundamental issues in your understanding.

Out of the four houses I wasn't sure which suited me better.
Hufflepuff was immediately out of the question- kind I was not- my brothers bitterness and inability to empathise had rubbed off on me.
Ravenclaw was however a viable option, my desire for knowledge was above most else.
Slytherin also was a strong contender, dark magic seemed to be what intrigued me most and my ambition to learn it was overwhelming.
Gryffindor was not a house I would have considered until recently, you can thank the Marauders and the twins for that. Whilst spending time with my family I would have dismissed the thought of it, after all bravery is by far the kindest word for stupidity. The idea of pranking seemed to have brought something out of me because and I seemed to be shouldering more gryffindor traits.

I was completely unsure where the worn out old hat would put me.
Oh well.
Let the sorting begin.