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Harry's heart gave a horrible jolt. A test? In front of the whole |
school? But he didn't know any magic yet -- what on earth would he have |
to do? He hadn't expected something like this the moment they arrived. |
He looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified, |
too. No one was talking much except Hermione Granger, who was whispering |
very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one |
she'd need. Harry tried hard not to listen to her. He'd never been more |
nervous, never, not even when he'd had to take a school report home to |
the Dursleys saying that he'd somehow turned his teacher's wig blue. He |
kept his eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall |
would come back and lead him to his doom. |
Then something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air -- |
several people behind him screamed. |
"What the --?" |
He gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just |
streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, |
they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing |
at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat |
little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him |
a second chance --" |
"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He |
gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost -- I |
say, what are you all doing here?" |
A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years. |
Nobody answered. |
"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be |
Sorted, I suppose?" |
A few people nodded mutely. |
"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you |
know." |
"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to |
start." |
Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away |
through the opposite wall. |
"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and |
follow me." |
Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, Harry got into line |
behind a boy with sandy hair, with Ron behind him, and they walked out |
of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors |
into the Great Hall. |
Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was |
lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair |
over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. |
These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the |
top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. |
Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a |
halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. |
The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the |
flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the |
ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry |
looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He |
heard |
Hermione whisper, "Its bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read |
about it in Hogwarts, A History." |
It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the |
Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens. |
Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed |
a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she |
put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and |
extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn't have let it in the house. |
Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it, Harry thought wildly, |
that seemed the sort of thing -- noticing that everyone in the hall was |
now staring at the hat, he stared at it, too. For a few seconds, there |
was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened |
wide like a mouth -- and the hat began to sing: |
"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, |
But don't judge on what you see, |
I'll eat myself if you can find |
A smarter hat than me. |
You can keep your bowlers black, |
Your top hats sleek and tall, |
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat |
And I can cap them all. |
There's nothing hidden in your head |
The Sorting Hat can't see, |
So try me on and I will tell you |
Where you ought to be. |
You might belong in Gryffindor, |
Where dwell the brave at heart, |
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart; |
You might belong in Hufflepuff, |
Where they are just and loyal, |
Those patient Hufflepuffis are true And unafraid of toil; |
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, |
if you've a ready mind, |
Where those of wit and learning, |
Will always find their kind; |
Or perhaps in Slytherin |
You'll make your real friends, |
Those cunning folk use any means |
To achieve their ends. |
So put me on! Don't be afraid! |
And don't get in a flap! |
You're in safe hands (though I have none) |
For I'm a Thinking Cap!" |
The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It |
bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again. |
"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Harry. "I'll |
kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll." |
Harry. smiled weakly. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than |
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