The Boy Who Couldn't See: Year 1

The Sorting Hat

Upon hearing Professor McGonagall's voice for the first time, Harry immediately makes the assumption that she isn't one to be crossed. She tells them about the houses and what to expect once they've been sorted but she doesn't actually say what sorts them. Harry finds himself getting increasingly nervous.

"Ron — how do we get sorted?"

"Some sort of test, I think," Ron says quietly. "Fred said it hurts a lot but I think he was joking."

Harry nervousness skyrockets. A test? How will he ever pass if he can't see what it is that'll be testing him? The questions or even what they'll be fighting? Harry hopes it won't involve magic, he doesn't know a thing about using his wand yet.

There's suddenly shrieks and gasps from other students and Harry jumps, gripping Ron's elbow tightly.

"What's happening?" Harry says, his voice shaking slightly.

"It's just ghosts," Ron says. "Hogwarts has quite a few. Bill told me about them. He says the Gryffindor ghost — Nearly Headless Nick — isn't too bad, if a little pompous at times. Kinda like Percy."

" Nearly headless?"

"I don't know either."

"— I say, what are you all doing here?"

Everyone stays silent, not sure if they should actually answer.

"New students! About to be sorted, I suppose?"

More silence, though Harry assumes people are nodding.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old house, you know."

"Move along now," a sharp voice — Professor McGonagall, Harry's mind supplies — says. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

A few moments later, she says, "Now, form a line and follow me."

Harry gets behind Ron, holding onto the back of his robes now.

They all come to a stop eventually and Harry hears somebody — maybe Hermione Granger, his mind says — say, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History ."

"The ceiling?" Harry mumbles.

"Yeah. It's cool," Ron whispers. He suddenly jolts, "Harry, it's a hat. "

"A hat? What do you mean? You mean a hat is going to—"

He gasps quietly when singing suddenly fills the room.

"Ron, is that the hat?"

"Yeah, it's the hat."

Harry listens closely to the song and claps along with everyone else when it finishes. So, a hat sorts them into their Houses. Harry hadn't expected that.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," Professor McGonagall says. Her voice is quite distinctive — Scottish, if Harry's mind is correct — and Harry is quick to remember it, thankfully. He remembers getting a lot of his peers mixed up in school because their voices and accents all blended together and he could never tell them apart, so he's glad he can already remember her voice. "Abbott, Hannah."

There's a few moments of silence before —

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Ron, how do I know where my table is?" Harry whispers.

Ron considers this for a second before whispering back, "Well, the cheering. Gryffindors — they cheer the loudest. Hufflepuffs are more rowdy than the other two but not as rowdy as Gryffindor. Ravenclaws are polite but louder than Slytherin, who only clap. Just listen."