ELEGANTLY WASTED // Draco Malfoy

4. The Sorting Ceremony

Chapter 4.
The Sorting Ceremony

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The train gracefully slowed down, eventually coming to a halt. I pushed our into the full corridor along with Dan, Phil and Sophie. Everyone was dressed completely in their black cloaks which flowed effortlessly on us. A prefects hand pushed open the door, holding it open for the others as we all left The Hogwarts Express.

I stepped out, immediately thankful for the fresh air that I hadn't been able to take in since this morning. Night had fallen once we reached the village knows as Hogsmeade, although the place was lit up by dim streetlights. The steam from the train flew up gracefully into the sky twirling around above us.

"Come on now first years this way, hurry up, don't be shy," I took noticed to the large, and I mean very large, man stood in front of us.

He grasped onto a glass lantern as we all started up at him in awe. He was gigantic.

We were quickly lead to a large lake, with many boats tied up to the docks. The cold made me shiver slightly, sending a tingle throughout me but I quickly ignored it and carried on walking. We were ordered to board the boat and follow the huge man, who quickly introduced himself as Hagrid, to the castle across from the lake. I stumbled into a boat along with my new group of friends and sailed just behind Hagrid. We all gazed up at our new home in front of us, Hogwarts. The large castle sat on some rocky cliffs as it stood out in the night with the bright yellow lights bursting out through the windows.

As first years, we were ordered to follow a group of prefects who led us into the castle and up the stoney, neatly decorated stairs. My legs began to grow tired as Dan complained about the amount of stairs we were tackling. Just as he was about to give up, we reached the top of a staircase where a tall women stood in front of us.

A fluffy green robe draped over her as a black pointy hat topped her head, two colourful feathers sticking out of it.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. Now, in a few moments you will pass through these doors and join a few classmates but before you can take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses. There are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Now while your here, your houses will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points, and rule breaking will lose you points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the House Cup." The old women was suddenly cut off by a short, plump looking boy.

"Trevor!" He beamed, sticking his arms out to grab his toad who sat awkwardly at the women's feet.

The crowd of first years let out small chuckles as he apologised. She dismissed the problem by shaking her head, a slight unimpressed look covering her wrinkly face.

"The Sorting Ceremony will bring momentarily. I'm Mrs McGonagall." The women stated, focusing her gaze back on the crowd.

Mrs McGonagall soon left, chatting quickly to Hagrid. Our year began all talking to one another, my eyes automatically followed over to Draco, but as I saw his cold gaze on me, I immediately looked away.

"We're waiting for you now, follow me." Mrs McGonagall ordered after an older student informed her that they were waiting.

We all filed into rows of twos. I walked next to Sophie with Dan and Phil following closely behind. The women pushed the huge, satisfyingly decorated doors with ease, leading us all through them.
We entered a great hall, filled with four long tables that reached one end of the hall to the other. Students, dressed in full black with their house coloured ties and pointy black hats, sat impatiently around them, eager to meet their new housemates. At the front of the hall, anther table where all the teachers were neatly placed was exposed. I quickly caught eye contact with my dad as we walked up, he sent me a small, almost unnoticeable wink and a smile when I grinned at him.
I glanced up above me, only to find that the rood had been transformed into a beautiful scene of the night sky with floating candles dotted around it.