As she waited in the Entrance Hall for whatever was about to happen, Nora found herself fidgeting more than she'd like to have been. This was supposedly going to be done in alphabetical order, which meant she'd be among the first to be sorted. She looked around her, waiting for someone to step up, snatch her out the line, and tell her this had all been a mistake and she was heading back home.

Nobody came.

Finally, they started walking into the Great Hall, and Nora felt her breathing come to a screeching halt. Were those candles...floating? As in...floating in mid-air? She coached her breathing to start back up again as she followed the line of first years to the dais. Not knowing what to expect next, she just stood as still as possible. When the hat belted out its first tune, she jumped a little and looked wide-eyed as the supposed-to-be inanimate object.

THERE WAS A LITERAL HAT SINGING.

Nobody else seemed too bothered by it, so Nora tried to give it the benefit of the doubt. But HOLY MERLIN, it was singing! When it was done, someone started calling out the list of first years one by one.

"Collins, Nora!" someone said.

That was the single worst moment of her wizarding life so far. Well, except for the point in time when she found out she was a witch, of course. Anyway, here she was in this brand new world, and suddenly the focus was on her. She was sure not everybody was focused on her, but it was enough to make her nervous. She cleared her throat and shuffled her way on to the chair. Within seconds, the hat was on her head.

"A muggleborn!" it boldly stated.

Seriously?

"It matters much, you see," it continued.

Yes. She knew that, and that was the main reason she wanted to GO BACK HOME.

"Stubborn."

Really?

The hat made a few "hmm" sounds followed by a few "I see's" and "I wonder's." All the while, Nora sat there wondering what she'd ever done to this hat to make it announce as loudly as it could that she was a muggleborn. Make no mistake, she was very proud of that. It just put her on the spot, which made her even more nervous.

I just want to go home...

"You do? Okay, then...

GRYFFINDOR!"

Well, that hadn't exactly been what she'd meant, but okay.