Sorting Ceremony

[Zoe]

If you are a first year or a transfer student, the time has now come for you to discover in which of the Hogwarts Houses you belong. After waiting in the Entrance Hall for what seemed like forever, you are invited inside to stand beside the dais at the front of the dining room. Hundreds of eyes follow you as you make your way forward. Up above, the ceiling reflects the night sky as candles float above you head. An old, mangy hat awaits on a stool.

Once all is silent, the hat bellows out its annual song, telling all there is to know about the four Houses in a brief amount of time. The Sorting Ceremony then begins with the hat being picked up and a name being called. One by one, names are said in alphabetical order by surname. One by one, your peers are claimed as a Gryffindor, a Hufflepuff, a Ravenclaw, or a Slytherin. Where will the Sorting Hat place you? That is the question everyone in the room is asking as you now sit upon the stool and the hat is placed on the top of your head.

• Carter, Ryder
• Crossfire, Caroline
• Katharos, Dorian
• Marin, Dahlia
• Montague, Beau
• Von Brandt, Philippa
• White, Nigel

OOC: You may role-play for the Sorting Hat, but please limit yourself to one post.

[DuckyLinJi]

Whatever doubts about Hogwarts he had before, they had all left him the moment he had stepped inside of the Great Hall. Ok that was a lie, the doubts had vanished when he had first seen the school when he and the other first years had been in the boats on the Giant Lake. That was what it was called right?

Dorian followed the rest of the students, making sure he was close but not too close because he did not want to seem like he was nervous to Philippa, another first year he had met on the train. Was it wrong for him to hope they would end up in the same House? That way he'd atleast knew one person...

When the group stopped, so did he and he turned his attention away from the girl to see a stool and an old hat.He knew that it was the Sorting Hat from his dad's stories. Since his last name started with the letter K, he knew that he would be sorted somewhere in the middle so he waited, watched and clapped his hands as the students before him got sorted in to their rightful Houses.

After what seemed like an eternity, he heard "Katharos, Dorian" and he moved to the front, trying to keep his face straight and not break down in a foolish, excited grin. As he sat down on the stool, the Hat was placed over his head and fell over his eyes so that he was staring at the dark brown fabric. "Ah! Another Katharos" Dorian was startled and his body reacted visibly by flinching. He had not expected the Hat would be talking to him. He had not heard the Hat speak for the other students except for their House names and then he understood. This was private. Should he say hello?

"Another Katharos" the Hat repeated more to itself. "But you are not a Katharos" his stomach twisted. He knew he wasn't a born Katharos, he was an adopted one. "Interesting..." well, atleast the Hat hadn't said to leave the school yet...that was something.

"I can see a great deal, you would do very well in Slytherin but i see you desire another House" Dorian nodded, feeling as if he had to respond somehow. "Yes, you are brave but not foolish. Loyalty is one of your best traits and you don't mind to be in the company of many people. You are also not smart"

"Hey!" Dorian shouted, feeling insulted by this. He had momentarily forgotten that although no one else heard the Hat, they could hear him. There was a chuckle in his ears and the first year gripped the stool tight. He did not appreciate being mocked at. "You are clever but you desire to be smart and i know just which House can help you with that" it took him a couple of seconds but then he knew what the Hat meant and he nodded.

"RAVENCLAW!"

Dorian grinned from ear to ear as he said a thanks but the Hat had gone quiet again. He took it off and after a quick look at the tables he ran towards Ravenclaw, feeling as if his Hogwarts adventure had started right now.

[QueenGinger]

Caroline was lost in the mix of students, she had to elbow her way to the front of the line so she could see everyone at the front of the hall. Being short had it's bad moments but as soon she pushed passed the last classmate her eyes took in the beauty of the Great Hall before her. Her jaw dropped.

"Woah." She said to no one in particular when the Sorting Hat began speaking. For the first time, probably in Caroline's life, Caroline was speechless as she watched the first students be called forward. Speechless with excitement Caroline tried to patiently wait for her name to be called. She hopped from one foot to the other as she waited, happy that her name wasn't far down the list.

Before she knew it, Caroline's name was called out. She ran as quick as her little legs could allow to the stool and plopped the hat on as she sat down. "Crossfire, I haven't had one of you in a very long time." the Sorting Hat began. Caroline nodded her head, yes her father had been a Hogwarts student, but how did the Sorting Hat know that?

"I see a lot of courage in you, like those before you. But Gryffindor is not your place." Caroline let out a sigh. She started chewing on her bottom lip as nerves starting setting in. Was it possible that the Sorting Hat would send her home? "You are smarter than the Crossfires who sat here before you, but you have a stronger heart. You belong in..." Caroline held her breath, waiting for the Sorting Hat's decision.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Caroline jumped up from the stool beaming with a newfound excitement; she was a Hufflepuff, whatever that meant!

[Daemon]

She was in her Hogwarts uniform. She had taken the boats, she'd seen the castle for the first time and stared for far too long. She had walked up from the boathouse through the dark grounds, she'd taken the steps into the Great Hall and now Philippa Selene Cassandra Von Brandt was officially, finally, at long last, about to get sorted.

... And she felt as if she was about to throw up.

Never in her life, in all the auditions and castings and giving presentations at Woboldo's had Philippa ever felt this terrified. She was not an irrational child, Dad was always explaining the logic behind things and she knew that there was no way the Hat would send her home... but what if it did?? Von Brandt's usually went to Durmstrang, what if it knew and it would tell her that she needed to go as well?? What if the hat remembered Papa?? Papa wasn't a very good student. What if it put her in GRYFFINDOR? No no no. No.

NO.

(Not that there was anything wrong with Gryffindor you know, or Hufflepuff, but she did not belong there. She belonged in Slytherin. Or Ravenclaw. ONLY those two. ONLY.)

For every sorting that happened before hers, Philippa squared her shoulders a little more and jutted out her chin just a little further until, when they finally reached the V's, she had finally reached that determined mindset that she knew everyone loved the most about her. She was a working childstar, after all, she knew what she wanted and she was definitely going to get it. No silly hat. No.

She was eleven years old she would get what she was asking for.

"VON BRANDT, PHILIPPA."

Here goes. Pressing her skirt down, straightening her tie and patting down her hair, Philippa stepped up to the stool with all the confidence of the runway model she was. Heh. She was a princess and a Von Brandt and she wasn't afraid of being the centre of attention. In fact, just before the hat went over her eyes, she gave the entire hall a small finger wiggle and a wink.

Hello, Hogwarts. Meet Philippa.

"Good evening, what do we have here? Let's see."

She said nothing, keeping her back straight and her legs crossed as the hat did... well, she wasn't very sure what it was the hat actually did. It was kind of very weird, thinking about it.

"I see ambition in you child, and a tendency towards risk taking that will make Gryffindor a perfect home for you."

Her eyes widened. She was offended. "First of all, no I don't. And you can't! I can't be in Gryffindor. I would like to be in Ravenclaw or Slytherin please. One of them two. Thank you for your consideration, Sir Hat." Philippa did her best imitation of Papa when he spoke to important people, and thought she pulled it off very well. To the point, as Papa said. Well done Philippa! Her hand started reaching for the speech she'd prepared, in case drastic measures would be needed.

The hat then had the nerve to laugh. It laughed! How rude of it. Philippa did not like this hat.

"Ravenclaw would be an ill match, little Von Brandt," it said to her with a chuckle, and hmmed and ahhed in her head for what seemed like an eternity (about twenty seconds). Finally, it cleared its throat and prepared to speak, and she braced herself. ... But hats don't have throats. What was it clearing?

She'll owl Dad and ask him about it tomorrow.

"There is a certain amount of loyalty about you that is hard to disregard. Entirely different from your father and yet eerily similar, I believe I have no other choice other than-

______SLYTHERIN."

YES YES YES YES YES YES. YES. Ahem. Yes, of course.

Philippa BEAMED as the hat was taken off her head, and beamed some more at the applause she received. Taking a little curtsy, she turned to the hat and thanked him politely before patting down her hair (hat hair is the worst you know) and running lightly towards the green and silver table.

SLYTHERINNNNNNNNN. She'd known of course. Duh. Philippa Von Brandt, Slytherin. Watch out Hogwarts, here she cooomes.

[Shanners]

Okay, now Beau did not have BEEF with the Sorting Hat YET. But he was sure he was going to have SOME if he wasn't sorted into Hufflepuff like both of his parents. BEEF. Not lamb, not chicken. REAL BEEF. COLD. HARD. BEEF. With a talking hat, ugh. He just wanted to get up on that stool and be SORTED. Why was his surname Montague - everybody knew that M was SO far down the alphabet that he was going to have to wait for YEARS to get his turn. REAL. LIFE. YEARS. He only had seven here in the castle and those seven needed to be lived in a common room in a HOUSE. SORTING TIME PLEASE.

From the A's to the D's, Beau waited and waited.

From the E's to the L's, Beau waited and waited.

"abcdefghijklm-- M! Me soon, me SOON." He was an M! Montague began with an M. Was Liliane watching? Beau looked quickly to the Gryffindor table to check for his older sister and gave her a big waving arm to get her FULL undying ATTENTION. HELLO SISTER, LOOK AT BEAU PLEASE. BEAU-EY OVAH HERE TRYING 2 GET YOUR ATTENSHUN. Aha! The other Montague had given him a small wave and he felt all of the accomplishment. Time to wait... seconds to go... Oh WOW. This was ACTUALLY HAPPENI----

"MONTAGUE, BEAU"

"THAT'S ME! I'M 'MONTAGUE, BEAU' -- Actually, it's the other way around, but it's okay! You can get reading lessons!!!!!" After Beau-ey wiggles his way around a peer or two, he leaped up and took his seat on the stool. This was it. It was about to happen. His eyes were set straight on the table of yellow students -- not Simpsons, but their uniforms had yellow on them. The hat was coming down towards his head and oh dear Hufflepuff, this Montague was coming over to you in 5........

4............

3.......

2....

"GRYFFINDOR!"

.......................... ?

EH?

ExCUSE me?! Beau looked up, noticing the GAP between his head and the hat and he STARED. "It's not even on my head! That's not for me! I'm supposed to be a--"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"NO NOT THAT. I DON'T WANT TO BE A THAT!!" In fact, he was going to protest it SO much after he got some food in his system and had SHOUTED at his sister for over half an hour. For now, Beau handed back the hat that hadn't even sat on his head and FURIOUSLY STORMED his way over to the Gryffindor table. FURIOUSLY. Because there was not yet ANY FOOD on those PLATES. FIRST off, he was WRONGLY sorted and NOW he wasn't even allowed FOOD TO EAT HIS FEELINGS AWAY?!!?!!!!!!!!!!???!?!?!!!

HOW. RUDE.

Beau Montague officially had BEEF, CHICKEN, LAMB, TURKEY and PORK with that STINKY OLD SORTING HAT.

[Roselyn]

The boat ride was awesome. 'Nuff said about that.

But the great hall, that was something that made him go silent for a few minutes. The ceiling was awesome and all, but the TABLES. All that was going to be filled with FOOD, right?! Just right after this sorting ceremony? RIGHT after?

On the other hand, there was an angry bundle of nerves mixing in with the hunger rumbling through his stomach at the moment, the former beating out anything else. Granted, he knew that he was going to have a great house, because there was only one great house and he was going to be in it, but there was that little doubt in the back of his head that he was going to end up in Hufflepuff. Hunter's comment from the train kept playing over and over again in his head. He was NOT a scared kitten!

"CARTER, RYDER."

Hold up, that was him.

Be cool walking up there. Be cool. Though with his heart beating out of his chest and mentally chanting 'I'm not a Hufflepuff' in a stern and serious and not at all hesitant or doubtful manner, Ryder made his way up to the stool in front of the staff and whole student body. Armpits were sweating like a troll on a hot day. Not a Hufflepuff.

"NOT a Hufflepuff, eh?! Are you sure?"

Two seconds in and HE ALREADY FORGOT THE HAT TALKED. AND LOUDLY AT THAT.

Ryder sputtered, face turning red as he gripped the edge of the stool. NO, he was NOT! The hat could tell THAT to rest of the school, thank you very much! He dare not look at his brother. The shame and humiliation from that sentence alone...

"Settle down. You do not possess the traits that would put you there. You are suited for...

Slytherin!"

He was in Slytherin. HE was in SLYTHERIN! Y'all hear that?! Shoulders slumped in relief as he wobbly made his way off the stool and strutted towards his new house table. He'd been right. Obviously he was going to be in the best house. Mother would be pleased. But that hat was going to get it sometime during the school year.

[WeasleyGirl]

After a long, long wait it was almost Nigel's turn to be sorted. In fact he had been waiting for this for about two years and still he had to wait some more because of his surname. Life was tough. He was actually excited, you would never tell based on his expression BUT internally he was DYING of excitement. Yes.

And at last, it was his turn, his name had been called and he slightly got nervous, I mean, you are kind of on the spotlight for a minute or so till the hat decides where you should go. He was not fond at all of being the center of attention, but oh well. Nigel walked towards the front and sat down. There wasn't a particular house he wanted to be in, each one looked cool to him so it was whatever the hat chose.

"Nigel...White...Nigel...White" said the hat. Nigel didn't said anything, what was he doing repeating his name anyway? "Where should I put you?" Was Nigel supposed to answer that? But he wasn't going to."You are very quite, I see. You have a strong mind, very smart, witty, very independent too..." there was a short pause that felt like forever to Nigel and he wasn't very comfortable being at the eyesight of everyone in the room.

He was about to open his mouth and protest but the hat talked first. "RAVENCLAW!" Ravenclaw? Wow that sounded...interesting. Nigel half smiled and made his way to his new house.

Not bad, not bad.

[MeredithRodneyMckay]

This was it. She was in the queue. Staring up ahead at the people in front of her, slowly making her way closer and closer to the seat with the talking hat. THERE WAS A TALKING HAT. It was the latest in a verrrrrrryyyyy long line of amazing things that had happened in the last few weeks.

First magic was real. Then she got on a steam train and had to save a chocolate frog from escaping. Then she rode in a boat towards a castle that looked like it was stuck in the middle ages and was the single coolest thing she had ever laid eyes on.

Now she was 2 fellow first years away from finding out which house she was going to spend the next seven years in, and she was actually a bit nervous. Truth be told she didn't really know much about the history of any of them. There had been books in the shop in Diagon Alley, but she hadn't really read them much. Just flicked through quickly while her mother collected her school books. So she didn't even have a preference.

"MARIN, DAHLIA"

Suddenly her name was bellowed out, in the wrong order, but still, and Dahlia was scooting forwards and grinning wildly at the professor who was waiting to place the hat on her head. Climbing up onto the stool, she sat and wiggled her bum to get comfy.

Nervous energy was running through her, and she swore she could hear a humming noise in her ears. Whether that was just her heartbeat going extra quick or something else, she didn't know. Could have been some unseen air conditioning, because the castle was quite cold. Or maybe there was a fly buzzing around her head that she'd missed.

"Hmmm, you think a lot, don't you child?"

"Holy mack---" Dahlia covered her mouth quickly, stopping her shock from being heard too far around the room. She gasped and squinted her eyes up to the floppy rim of the hat. "You can read my mind?" She whispered, biting her lip and shifting in the seat.

"Of course I can. How else would I know where to place you? Now, shush, let me concentrate."

"I - okay. Sorry."

The hat carried on talking and talking, Dahlia and the whole room sat listening to every word. He was describing her character, muttering about her being brave to the point of stupidity sometimes, how she was quick to grasp most things and he could tell she enjoyed learning. But apparently none of that mattered?

"Those qualities do not outweigh your big heart, and your ability to make a friend out of anyone. That is what I pick up most from you, child. So it leaves me with one choice..... HUFFLEPUFF!"

A loud cheer went up from the table under the yellow and black banner, and Dahlia hopped down from the stool and went running towards them, smiling brightly and taking a place near the end of the nearest bench. Hufflepuff? COOL.