Carl, who was staring at the Sorting Hat nervously, was startled to hear his name being called. He took a deep breath and walked up towards the stool. There was no need to worry, but he was worried. What if the Hat thought he did not belong anywhere? Despite his indifference towards the topic of Sorting when he was with his friends, he had been thinking about it almost daily.

The walk to the stool seemed extremely long ... but Carl made it and sat down while the Sorting Hat was placed on his head. He wanted to look at all the House tables, but the Hat covered his eyes, so all he could see was the black and dirty inside of it.

Nothing happened. The Hat then started muttering something. Carl strained his ears and listened, but could barely make out anything. But he heard the final word clearly, as it was shouted out to everybody.

"Hufflepuff!"

Carl smiled. 'A laid back House that prefers loyalty and hard work.' He could not help but go over the words he had heard in the summer holidays. Yep, loyal and hardworking - that was him.