The Beast Within

The Sorting

I put my case with the rest of the belongings and walked through the sea of students.

"Firs' years, firs' years this way!" A voice said from among the crowd. I could just sea a lantern above peoples heads and I grabbed Remus' hand. When all four of us cleared the crowd, we looked up to see a tall man, twice our height with a bushy white beard and white hair. A few more kids arrived and soon he said,

"Hello. I'm Rubeus Hagrid and I am the Keeper of Keys and Grounds here a' Hogwarts. If you follow me, we will go down to the boats." We followed the lantern as it bobbed up and down above his head. I could hear the chatter of the rest of the first years all around me. We walked for a few minutes until we finally got to the boats. Remus, Aurelia, Ava and I took one boat and once everyone was ready, we began to float across the water. The lake was like glass and the boats didn't seem to create any disturbance in the water. Ava squealed when a huge squid rose out of the water beside us. I reached down to touch it but was distracted when everyone let out a gasp. I looked up to see the castle, grand and magnificent, towering above us. The windows were letting out a soft, orange glow, contrasting strongly with the dark mass which was the castle. I looked at Remus, his eyes were wide as he scanned the castle. The boats continued to glide silently over the glassy water. The closer we got the bigger we realised the castle actually was. It was a breathtaking sight.

Eventually we reached the shore where we all got out of the boats. Remus slipped over as he jumped onto the shore. Laughing and helping him up, I saw his hair slowly turn red along with his cheeks. When he got back up he changed it back to hide his embarrassment. We walked into the castle, making sure we stayed with Ava and Aurelia. Climbing up the stairs, I could hear a voice singing a song. It seemed to be getting closer. We were told to wait in a room to be taken to the great hall to be sorted. The singing got closer until suddenly a small, transparent person flew into the room.

"Oooohh, ickle firsties!" He squeaked, doing a backflip in mid air.

"Oh god, my dad told me about him, it's Peeves." Aurelia said.

"Who's Peeves?" Me, Remus and Ava said, synchronised.

"He's a poltergeist who likes tormenting the students here, especially us first years." She explained.

"Oh great!" I cried. "Not only do we have to basically live in a castle and find our way to lessons, but we also have to deal with a prankster poltergeist. That's encouraging!" Suddenly, the door opened and a stern looking witch with long, blonde hair walked in.

"I am Professor Clearwater, the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, now if you would like to follow me, I will lead you to the Great Hall where you will be sorted into your houses." The witch said. Everybody began to walk towards the doors. They led to a long corridor. We walked down the corridor and eventually stopped outside huge, oak doors with intricate patterns carved into them. They swung open with a loud creak to reveal the great hall. Four tables sat by the walls, each one for a different house. I looked up and the ceiling showed the dark sky with few clouds, stars scattered across it. Candles floated above our heads and ghosts floated by. Each stayed by their houses table. I had heard Brendon talk about them. The Bloody Baron stood by the Slytherin table, the Fat Friar at the Hufflepuffs', The Grey Lady at the Ravenclaws' and Nearly-Headless Nick at the Gryffindors'. I never knew why he was called 'Nearly-Headless'. How could you be nearly headless? Ahead of us there was a stool with a hat that appeared to be singing on it. I was too overwhelmed to listen to its song. Searching for Brendon, I squealed and waved when I spotted him. He waved at me. The deputy had begun reading out names.

"Anderson, Chloe," She said. A girl with dark brown hair walked forward and sat on the stool. As soon as the hat touched her head, it shouted.

"Gryffindor!" Chloe ran to join the Gryffindor table as cheers erupted from it.

"Bailey, Helena,"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Blake, Astrid,"

"Slytherin!" The names kept being read out and the crowd of first years became smaller and smaller as people were sorted until finally,

"Lupin, Remus," Professor Clearwater said. Remus stepped forward. I could see he was shaking. His hair was turning a bluish-black. Some first years behind me gasped as they saw his hair change. I laughed. Remus sat down on the stool and put the hat on, it began to talk, as though mumbling to itself. Suddenly it shouted,

"Hufflepuff!" All the Hufflepuffs cheered as Remus walked over to the table his hair changing to a yellowy-orange colour. A few more names were called until finally Aurelia was called. She walked up to the stool and sat down, Professor Clearwater placing the hat on her head.

"Slytherin!" The hat exclaimed. The Slytherin table cheered and clapped.

"Hopefully she'll at least be in our lessons." I said to Ava, who seemed to be really upset. More names were called up and soon Ava was called. The hat took almost a minute to decide but eventually placed her in Hufflepuff. I was starting to get really nervous. What if I was put in a completely different house to my friends? What if I was put in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor? Suddenly, I heard my name being called. I could barely hear anything, it was almost as though I was underwater. A rushing sound filled my ears as I sat down on  the stool. I closed my eyes. There was a long pause before the hat began to talk. It was like a voice in my head.

"Hmmm... You have plenty of ambition, patience and loyalty, wit and intelligence as well. Very hard working. I see courage there too. You don't think you have enough courage? You could easily be put into Gryffindor. Why not? You could be great in Gryffindor! Oh well... Better be... Hufflepuff!" A loud cheer came from the Hufflepuff table. I grinned at Brendon who indicated a seat next to him, opposite Remus and Ava. I ran over to the table. Brendon hugged me.

"That took a long time. I'm glad you got Hufflepuff in the end, I was worried you were going to get Slytherin or something." He beamed. I grinned at Remus. He shook his head to get his hair out of his eyes and it turned to a bright green. He rolled his eyes. I looked at the table in the front of the hall. A tall, thin man with long black hair stood up and the hall went silent.

"Who's he?" I whispered.

"That is Killian Holmes, the Headmaster of Hogwarts." Brendon replied. "You know the shop down the road from Lorcan's?"

"Yeah, it's run by Sarah Holmes. Oh wait, is she related to him?"

"Sarah is his sister. He's a muggle born and Sarah didn't get magic but he did. That's why shes running a small muggle shop while he's the headmaster of one of the best wizarding schools in the world."

"Let the feast begin!" He said before sitting back down. I turned to see plates of all kinds of food before me. Roast potatoes, chicken, pie, different flavours of jelly, trifles, there were so many different types of food to choose from.

Once everyone had eaten their fill, he stood up again.

"Now our stomachs are filled and it is becoming late, I think it's time to go to your dormitories. I just have a few words. The forest on the grounds is out of bounds." He chuckled at himself. "That rhymed. Anyway, Fanged Frisbees, Skiving Snackboxes, Screaming Yo-yos and Ever Bashing Boomerangs are banned as you should know. For all banned items see the list in the caretakers office. With that, I bid you goodnight."

We all stood up and followed the prefects to our house common rooms.

"To get in you have to tap the barrel two from the bottom, middle of the second row, in the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff'." The prefect said, demonstrating it. The door swung open and everyone poured in. Me, Brendon, Remus and Ava wasted no time and went straight to our separate dorms. I walked into ours with Ava, our beds were next to each other, our belongings already there. Armin was sitting there, on a perch by my bed. I looked in my case and took out some posters and some photos of my parents that I'd brought and placed them around my bed. I got changed and slid my trunk under the bed. I fell onto my bed, stroking Armin. We spoke for a few minutes but soon fell asleep. I was finally at Hogwarts.