Excited chatter filled the great hall as students impatiently waited for the first years to be sorted. My heels clicked together on the swirling marble floor as I nervously looked around. The eyes of hundreds of students wandered around the heads of first years, picking out which newbies would be in their house. Flickering candles floated high above everyone's heads and the ceiling displayed the dawning of night. The last fireflies of the dwindling summer lit up and flew through cool darkness.
But this wasn't diminishing my frustration.
When was this school year going to actually start?! Waiting, waiting, waiting, is that all you ever did around here? And when exactly are you supposed to meet people, because everyone I'd been around so far just kept to themselves. Although, I guess I did too....
I shifted my weight to one foot as an older lady with graying hair walked through the door behind the Professor's table. She greeted everyone as the loud voices dimmed down and formed into hushed whispers. A sigh of relief escaped from my lips as I looked up expectantly at the Headmistress.
With a worn, old hat in one hand and a long list in the other, she calmly called out names in alphabetical order.
Lucia Alfred
I clasped my hands and nervously awaited for my name to be called. It wouldn't take long, that was for sure. The people were sorted fairly quickly, some without an ounce of hesitation.
Albert Bentley
A deep breath. My fate was almost before me. Just a few more names and I would be the center of attention.
“Evelyn Cross.”
The name seemed to resonate within the large room and echo off the walls. I took one more deep breath, letting the gulp of cold air dance in my lungs before slowly exhaling. Calmly, I stepped up to the small wooden stool.
Professor McGonagall lightly placed the tattered hat on top of my head and stepped back. Like a whisper of a thought, the hat began to speak only to me.
Ah, yes. What a familiar feel. You've got a great power within you, a great power from a great lineage.
My eyebrows scrunched together. “What do you mean?” I thought.
You've got the blood of a great wizard running through your veins, oh yes, a great wizard, indeed. You could do great things in this school, powerful things. A head like this, I haven't been placed on a head like this since Gryffindor himself.
“Gryffindor, himself? You've got to be joking. I'm nothing special, merely a commoner bothered by a sea of owls.” I crossed my arms. In all my eleven years, I'd never heard such balderdash.
Not joking, never joking. Though I'm a hat, I still have my pride. As the ancestor of Gryffindor, there is simply only one place to put you. You're brave, loyal, and spirited. Yes, only one place indeed.
The hat shouted out the name of my new house and an eruption of cheers echoed through the hall. The table of gold and red welcomed me and finally, I wasn't alone anymore.
Gryffindor was, for me, finally a place that I could call home.
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