Pulling at her collar, the top button done up to its fullest, Ingrid stood surrounded by the other children in the great hall as though they were all Emperor Penguins huddled together from the cold. In reality though, the great hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a lot warmer although that could have been down to the staring eyes of all the other children on her as she walked through the grand, enormous double doors to the front of the hall.
“Wow”, she mouthed to herself, A look of wonder crossed her face as she stood in the middle of the crowd, her eyes taking in everything from the long wooden tables to the suites of armour and the crisp night sky above them inside the hall. It was everything she had imagined and so much more. The only thing that didn’t seem quite up to scratch was the fusty looking hat that that sat on a stool at the front of the hall. Underwhelming and yet, it left her curious as she heard the first name called. She knew from her brothers and sisters how the next part would go and yet, the sound that the hat made when it called Ravenclaw” still took her off guard. It was resounding. Certain. Concrete. That was where the first girl belonged.
Wide eyed, Ingrid stared at the front of the hall, not really taking in what was happening as her mind lingered on the house she most wanted to be in, Ravenclaw, or at least that was what she told herself until her brothers name had been called out and he was sorted into GRYFFINDOR! WhAT! hOW? WhY? They were twins! They were supposed to be in the same house, weren’t they? Did that mean she was going to be in Gryffindor too? So many questions gushed through her mind as though a dam had just been smashed to pieces and yet, seconds had only passed. Frozen in place, Ingrid just stared as her brother got off the stool beaming, the expression on her face all kinds of confused. Luckily though, she didn’t have time to consider what was happening because it was her turn…
“Ingrid Luck”
Moving through the crowd, Ingrid stepped out and walked towards the stool, her eyes now firmly on the filthy, old hat. With a deep breath, she lifted up the hat and sat down before putting the hat on her head, not waiting for it to be placed slowly placed there. No, she wanted this over. She needed to know where she belonged!
“Aha, another Luck! Interesting. Very interesting. Similar and yet so different to your brother but where should I put you. You could easily do so well in Gryffindor with him you know, if that is what you really want? OR maybe Slytherin with your other sister perhaps?”
Ingrid’s breath caught for a moment as the hat mentioned Vi but she did not move. She only listened carefully to the voice in her head, the voice of the hat as it continued to talk.
“But you don’t want that, do you? Not really.”
What did it mean, she didn’t want to be put in Slytherin? She didn’t even know where she wanted to be. All of her family had been split up, spread out and were apart so what she wanted could never happen. Sensing that the hat had made its decision, Ingrid went ridged as though she had been stunned as she waited for the hat to shout…
“RAVENCLAW!!!!!”
Exhaling in what could only be described as a huff, Ingrid removed the hat quickly and handed it to the waiting hands, her eyes instantly going to her brother over at the Gryffindor table for a few seconds before she finally got to her feet and moved towards her new home. Ravenclaw. Even despite her best efforts, despite all of the confusion, a small smile crossed her lips as she crossed the stone floor. |