Opening Feast: Sorting Hat

Sorting Hat

---

In times of old, when I was new,
And Hogwarts barely started,
The founders of our noble school
Thought never to be parted.

United by a common goal,
They had the selfsame yearning
To make the world’s best magic school
And pass along their learning.

“Together we will build and teach”
The four good friends decided.
And never did they dream that they
Might some day be divided.

For were there such friends anywhere
As Slytherin and Gryffindor?
Unless it was the second pair
Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,

So how could it have gone so wrong?
How could such friendships fail?
Why, I was there, so I can tell
The whole sad, sorry tale.

Said Slytherin, “We’ll teach just those
Whose ancestry’s purest.”
Said Ravenclaw, “We’ll teach those whose
Intelligence is surest”

Said Gryffindor, “We’ll teach all those
With brave deeds to their name.”
Said Hufflepuff, “I’ll teach the lot
And treat them just the same.”

These differences caused little strife
When first they came to light.
For each of the four founders had
A house in which they might

Take only those they wanted, so,
For instance, Slytherin
Took only pure-blood wizards
Of great cunning just like him.

And only those of sharpest mind
Were taught by Ravenclaw
While the bravest and the boldest
Went to daring Gryffindor.

Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest
and taught them all she knew,
Thus, the Houses and their founders
Maintained friendships firm and true.

So Hogwarts worked in harmony
for several happy years,
but then discord crept among us
feeding on our faults and fears.

The Houses that, like pillars four
had once held up our school
now turned upon each other and
divided, sought to rule.

And for a while it seemed the school
must meet an early end.
what with dueling and with fighting
and the clash of friend on friend.

And at last there came a morning
when old Slytherin departed
and though the fighting then died out
he left us quite downhearted.

And never since the founders four
were whittled down to three
have the Houses been united
as they once were meant to be.

And now the Sorting Hat is here
and you all know the score:
I sort you into Houses
because that is what I’m for.

But this year I’ll go further,
listen closely to my song:
though condemned I am to split you
still I worry that it’s wrong,

though I must fulfill my duty
and must quarter every year
still I wonder whether sorting
may not bring the end I fear.

Oh, know the perils, read the signs,
the warning history shows,
for our Hogwarts is in danger
from external, deadly foes

and we must unite inside her
or we’ll crumble from within
I have told you, I have warned you…
let the Sorting now begin.

---

*Sorting hat song found HERE

The weather couldn't have been better.

The sky was clear, the air warm for September. Summer not wanting to surrender to fall. The stars had already begun to appear overhead, small glittering lights in the darkening sky. It was the kind of evening that made the castle look almost peaceful.

Almost.

Standing just inside the front doors, Gideon folded his hands behind his back and watched the students make their way up the steps. Some looked exactly the same as they had in June. Others had grown several inches over the summer. There was plenty of laughing, shouting, and more than a few students who had already forgotten they were supposed to act like civilized human beings.

Another school year.

As the first group reached the doors, Gideon's voice carried over the chatter.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts."

A few conversations immediately died.

"The Opening Feast is waiting in the Great Hall. I trust you all remember where it is." His eyes drifted toward several familiar faces. "If not, I'm sure one of the ghosts would be delighted to point you in entirely the wrong direction."

The faintest hint of a smile appeared before disappearing again.

"Find your seats with your houses and try not to create any unnecessary paperwork before dessert."

He paused, his eyes finding a few of the more usual suspects. "That is a personal request. Go on then."

The students filed inside, eager to see friends they hadn't seen all summer. A few stopped to say hello. Others offered polite nods as they passed. Gideon returned each one before watching them disappear up the stairs.

The entrance hall slowly grew quiet again.’

He looked out across the grounds toward the lake. The first year boats were making their way toward the castle now, lanterns reflecting off the water as they drifted closer.

Somewhere in that group was Fiona and his nephew Cai. For just a moment, Gideon smiled to himself.

Tonight they'd walk through these doors as a students for the first time. They'd sit beneath the Sorting Hat like every Blackwood before. He knew there would be nerves, though they would never admit it.

By the time the boats reached the dock, the smile had disappeared. His hands returned behind his back, posture straight once more.

---

The first years climbed the steps behind Professor Maddox, their conversations fading the closer they came to the castle doors. Some stared up at the towering stone walls with wide eyes. Others looked like they were trying very hard not to be sick.

Gideon waited until every last student had reached the top step before speaking.

"Good evening." His voice was calm, carrying easily over the nervous whispers. "Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

His eyes moved over the group, taking in every face. Excited. Nervous. Curious. One or two already looked like they were planning something.

There was always one.

"In a few moments, we'll enter the Great Hall. You'll line up across the front of the room, and one at a time your name will be called. When you hear it, step forward, sit on the stool, and I'll place the Sorting Hat on your head."

Pausing to look over the group to make sure they were listening, he waited another breath before continuing.

"The Hat will decide which of our four houses will become your home while you're here. You'll study together, live together, celebrate victories together, and occasionally argue over whose turn it is to clean up after yourselves."

The corner of his mouth twitched.

"For the next seven years, your house will become your family. A few things before we go inside."

His hands folded neatly behind his back.

"Stay with the group. Walk, don't run. If someone tells you the castle likes to eat first years… they're exaggerating."

A few nervous laughs escaped the group.

"The staircases move. The portraits talk. The ghosts generally mean well. And if you find yourself wondering whether you should touch something because it looks interesting..."

He looked around the group.

"Don't." That earned a few more smiles. His eyes swept across the line one final time, lingering on one in particular, a nervous boy turning a concerning shade of green.

"Any questions?"

Silence.

A couple students opened their mouths, thought better of it, and quickly shook their heads.
Gideon nodded once, finding Fiona and Cai in the mix, he gave them a quick smile and small wink… "Excellent. Follow me."

---

The doors swung open. Immediately, the sound of hundreds of voices washed over them before fading almost as quickly as it had begun. Heads turned from every table. Conversations stopped. Every student in the Great Hall watched the newest class make their way inside. The enchanted ceiling stretched overhead, mirroring the clear night sky outside. Hundreds of candles floated effortlessly in the air, filling the room with warm light that danced across the stone walls.

Even after years of seeing it, Gideon still found it impressive. He led the line between the four house tables, keeping an even pace while the first years stared in every direction except straight ahead.

At the front of the hall stood a small wooden stool.

Resting upon it… was a patched, weathered, thoroughly unimpressive looking hat. Gideon stopped beside it and turned to face the first years.

"Line up here."

Once they had done so, he reached down and picked up the folded parchment containing the names of Hogwarts' newest students.

The hall fell silent. All that remained now… was to let the Sorting Hat decide.

”Blackwood, Cai.” He said with a smile, looking at his nephew.

---

OOC: WELCOME to the 1923 sort! You can find your house HERE. Your student will come in and sit on the stool where the Sorting Hat will decide your fate. Feel free to post this experience!

You don’t need to follow any specific order, and this is considered a one-shot. Your student will post, then immediately go join their table. HAVE FUN and GOOD LUCK!!

One thing Lovelace was planning on forcing any heirs to engrave on her tombstone was the fact that she did not like being separated from her family. When she’d been told she wouldn’t get to go to the castle with her sister, she had seriously considered letting the stinkbombs rain. (Un)fortunately, she’d forgotten where she’d stuffed them in her luggage, so the entirety of the castle would just have to be on thin ice for a bit. What if Reyna needed her, though? She’d already been going to Hogwarts for three years without Lovelace, and although this might have occurred to Lovelace as a mark towards being to survive without her, she decided that it must instead mean that Reyna wouldn’t be able to stick it out much longer.

It was hard for her to even take in the castle, Lovelace was in such a mood. Although she probably would’ve preferred to swim it, she could still appreciate a good boat ride, though, so after getting into the boat, it wasn’t hard for Lovelace to completely forget that she existed in a body that deeply cared about the wellbeing of other bodies. She was far too busy taking in her surroundings, from scanning the forest for any signs of movement that she might be able to try to track in the morning to trying to figure out the actual dimensions of the quidditch pitch to get an idea of how far she’d be able to fly. They were almost at the boathouse by the time she remembered the fact that there was supposedly a giant squid in the lake, at which point her eyes started scouring the water to catch a glimpse.

After almost falling into the water as she tried to disembark, Lovelace finally peeled her eyes from the water and started to make the trek up to the castle. As it came into view, and because it was the easiest thing for her to focus on now, Lovelace finally started to examine her new home. She made a mental note to remind herself to actually look at it whenever she snuck out at night, maybe even to try to sketch it. She couldn’t do it justice, but the way the light gave the barest hints of what was to come was setting her imagination on fire.

The interior wasn’t quite as stimulating, but Lovelace realized that part of that might have to do with being too well-lit. Nothing was perfect, and just as she was opening her mouth to actually say something to Cai or Fiona or, let’s be honest, any other first year near her, an adult spoke. She didn’t bother to hide her scowl, though she was extremely familiar with adults always ruining anything that was fun.She really should’ve at least put some stinkbombs in her pockets for a situation like this. She was definitely going to have to make a list of things to remember next year—except next year, she might just put them in as many first years’ pockets as she could manage. And some in her own.

It was hard not to sigh during his speech—Lovelace was sure there were kids that needed to hear it, or whatever, but she was really starting to get as hungry as she was feeling mischievous. That was a notoriously bad combo on any island or continent she’d ever inhabited, and she doubted that would change just because she’d switched countries again. Shortly after an impish grin formed on her face at having been told not to touch anything that looked interesting (she would now certainly be on the lookout for interesting things to touch now), the Professor finally told them to follow him.

The first thing she did on entering the Great Hall was look for Reyna even as she followed the leader. As soon as she was sure her sister was fine and settled (and hopefully hadn’t done anything particularly cool or interesting without her), the slight knot that had formed just under the back of her neck relaxed and she could actually consider the view in front of her. The mischievous grin hadn’t left her face, as she had identified several things to touch when she got the chance to. She was very seriously considering the floating candles as soon as she’d had something to eat. She would obviously start with the bottom, since she was still more used to tricks and skulduggery than actual, real magic.

Before long, Lovelace’s eyes had found the ceiling, which was another view worth trying to capture in a sketch. Part of her also wanted to touch that, as well, since she wanted to know what it would feel like. While trying to decide what the best route to climb would be, it occurred to Lovelace that her name might be called sooner rather than later. Sure enough, when she turned her head to look at the sorting hat and the first years next to her, the stool was empty and no one else was heading for it. She shrugged a little, figuring this was as good a time as any even if her name hadn’t been called and headed for it. No one stopped her, so she sat down, kicking her feet a little as she waited for this thing to be over with.

It seemed a bit ridiculous to put a hat on her head to sort her, a bit Javor: traditional for the purposes of doing what old, crusty predecessors had done and for no other reason. This seemed much less ridiculous when there was a sudden voice in her head. How do you even think in here? Her eyebrows divorced, raising and lowering in opposition to each other as she jumped a little. It was incredibly uncomfortable having another voice in there when her own could be so overwhelming, so both corners of her mouth sunk dramatically until she knew she was wearing what some of her relatives had called her fishpuppy pout. Still, she did her best to respond as civilly as possible to the intruder, I manage it just fine, thanks. How do you manage existing with that face like a dropped pie, you old wind bag? Before she could acclimate to the disgusting feeling of encroachment that felt deeper than just her thoughts, which gave her an ice cold feeling all over, the hat seemed to have made up its “mind” and yelled, audibly this time, “GRYFFINDOR”

Lovelace shot up off the stool as soon as she felt the weight on her head lifting, not wanting the hat to get any ideas about popping back into her being for a chat. She shuddered a little as she started walking, though she wasn’t headed for the Gryffindor table just yet. It was lucky that Rey was in Hufflepuff so she didn’t have to go opposite to her own house’s table. “Bummer!” she observed with a bright grin as she leaned to hug her sister quickly and kicked Rey’s foot just because. Then, she headed to her “new” family, though she sincerely doubted how true that Professor’s speech would end up. Why couldn’t anyone from any house be her new family?

Lovelace’s first thought was to sit next to Cai, since they’d both just been sorted in the same house together, until she spotted another person she’d spoken to on the train. The older girl seemed less happy than when she’d been talking about the castle, so Lovelace did her best to sit near each of them. She would probably do her best to strike up a conversation at some point, of course, but first, she needed to eat.

Fiona wasn’t nervous. Not in the least bit. She knew she would be sorted into Slytherin. The Hat had no choice at all but to put her in her father’s house. She watched her baby cousin sit on the stool, the gross Hat sat on his head, and then sort him into Gryffindor. That was fine, he could be a lion. She’d be a snake and be able to beat him all the time.

“Blackwood, Fiona,” came her father’s voice. She grinned up at him, confident, as she took her seat on the stool.

The hat fell over her head and she instantly began whispering: “Slytherin, Slytherin, Slytherin…”

The hat chuckled. “A snake, huh?” said the voice in a tone that told her it disagreed. “Miss Fiona Blackwood, a Slytherin? I don’t know about that. You’re more like your mother than you know.”

“But I want Slytherin,” she responded firmly in the privacy of her own head. “My father is Head of Slytherin. I have to be there. I already told people I’d be there,” she added.

“I don’t know about that, Miss Fiona,” the hat responded and she scowled. Anger was beginning to fill up inside her at the thought of not being in her father’s house.

She became more aware of eyes on her and could hear muttering from the older students who'd long since stopped paying attention to sortings. She knew her mother was watching intently; the woman had told her that she wanted her to end up in Hufflepuff – ‘a third generation’!

But that’s not what she wanted. Slytherins were tough and dangerous. They were mysterious and secretive. They never embarrassed themselves. Hufflepuffs… Benji said they were rodents. And he was a seventh year now and even though he was a Hufflepuff, he should have been a Slytherin.

“But I’m a Slytherin!” she said outloud, loud enough for her father to hear.

“Oh, child, you’ll make a fine… HUFFLEPUFF!”

The house was shouted out loud for everyone to hear. Fiona wanted to cry. Instead, when her father lifted the hat off her head, she didn’t look at him or at her mother. She didn’t want to see the woman’s proud face. She wordlessly sank into a seat at the Hufflepuff table. Benji was there, she could hear him, and Maevie. They were both cool and she liked them enough. But she didn’t like yellow. She couldn’t be a badger.