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  • The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there.

  • She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.

  • "The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

  • "Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

  • She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of

  • the Dursleys' house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones

  • at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase

  • facing them led to the upper floors. They followed Professor McGonagall across

  • the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway

  • to the rightthe rest of the school must already be herebut Professor McGonagall

  • showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing

  • rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

  • "Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly,

  • but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses.

  • The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something

  • like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house,

  • sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

  • "The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its

  • own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts,

  • your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points.

  • At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great

  • honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

  • "The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school.

  • I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

  • Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear,

  • and on Ron's smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair.

  • "I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

  • She left the chamber. Harry swallowed. "How exactly do they sort us into houses?"

  • he asked Ron. "Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it

  • hurts a lot, but I think he was joking." Harry's heart gave a horrible jolt. A test?

  • In front of the whole school? But he didn't know any magic yetwhat 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 airseveral 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 thingnoticing 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 mouthand 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 Hufflepuffs 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 having to do a spell, but he did wish they could have tried it on

  • without everyone watching. The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Harry didn't feel

  • brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment. If only the hat had mentioned a house

  • for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for him.

  • Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

  • "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she

  • said. "Abbott, Hannah!" A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled

  • out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moments

  • pause — "HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

  • The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff

  • table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

  • "Bones, Susan!" "HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan

  • scuttled off to sit next to Hannah. "Boot, Terry!"

  • "RAVENCLAW!" The table second from the left clapped this

  • time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

  • "Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new

  • Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see Ron's

  • twin brothers catcalling. "Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin.

  • Perhaps it was Harry's imagination, after all he'd heard about Slytherin, but he thought

  • they looked like an unpleasant lot. He was starting to feel definitely sick now.

  • He remembered being picked for teams during gym at his old school. He had always been

  • last to be chosen, not because he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think

  • they liked him. "Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

  • "HUFFLEPUFF!" Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted

  • out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus,"

  • the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the

  • stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

  • "Granger, Hermione!" Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed

  • the hat eagerly on her head. "GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Ron groaned.

  • A horrible thought struck Harry, as horrible thoughts always do when you're very nervous.

  • What if he wasn't chosen at all? What if he just sat there with the hat over his eyes

  • for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had obviously

  • been a mistake and he'd better get back on the train?

  • When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over

  • on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally

  • shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales

  • of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag." Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was

  • called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed,

  • "SLYTHERIN!" Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and

  • Goyle, looking pleased with himself. There weren't many people left now. "Moon"...

  • , "Nott"... , "Parkinson"... , then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil"... , then

  • "Perks, Sally-Anne"... , and then, at last

  • "Potter, Harry!" As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly

  • broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

  • "Potter, did she say?" "The Harry Potter?"

  • The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people

  • craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the

  • hat. He waited. "Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult.

  • Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, A my

  • goodness, yesand a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting... So where

  • shall I put you?" Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought,

  • Not Slytherin, not Slytherin. "Not Slytherin, eh?" said the small voice.

  • "Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin

  • will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about thatno? Well, if you're sure

  • better be GRYFFINDOR!" Harry heard the hat shout the last word to

  • the whole hall. He took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindor table. He was

  • so relieved to have been chosen and not put in Slytherin, he hardly noticed that he was

  • getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while

  • the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry sat down opposite the

  • ghost in the ruff he'd seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, giving Harry the sudden, horrible

  • feeling he'd just plunged it into a bucket of ice-cold water.

  • He could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest him sat Hagrid, who caught

  • his eye and gave him the thumbs up. Harry grinned back. And there, in the center of

  • the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Harry recognized him at

  • once from the card he'd gotten out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. Dumbledore's

  • silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts.

  • Harry spotted Professor Quirrell, too, the nervous young man from the Leaky Cauldron.

  • He was looking very peculiar in a large purple turban.

  • And now there were only three people left to be sorted. "Thomas, Dean," a Black boy

  • even taller than Ron, joined Harry at the Gryffindor table. "Turpin, Lisa," became a

  • Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. Harry crossed his fingers

  • under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

  • Harry clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair next to him.

  • "Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously across Harry as "Zabini, Blaise,"

  • was made a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting

  • Hat away. Harry looked down at his empty gold plate.

  • He had only just realized how hungry he was. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago.

  • Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened

  • wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

  • "Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet,

  • I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

  • "Thank you!" He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered.

  • Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not. "Is he — a bit mad?" he asked Percy uncertainly.

  • "Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit

  • mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?" Harry's mouth fell open. The dishes in front

  • of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one

  • table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak,

  • boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and,

  • for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs. The Dursleys had never exactly starved Harry,

  • but he'd never been allowed to eat as much as he liked. Dudley had always taken anything

  • that Harry really wanted, even if It made him sick. Harry piled his plate with a bit

  • of everything except the peppermints and began to eat. It was all delicious.

  • "That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak.

  • "Can't you —?" "I haven't eaten for nearly five hundred years,"

  • said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced

  • myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor

  • Tower." "I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My

  • brothers told me about youyou're Nearly Headless Nick!"

  • "I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy —" the ghost began stiffly, but

  • sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted. "Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?"

  • Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the

  • way he wanted. "Like this," he said irritably. He seized

  • his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as

  • if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly.

  • Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head

  • back onto his neck, coughed, and said, "Sonew Gryffindors! I hope you're going to

  • help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without

  • winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost

  • unbearablehe's the Slytherin ghost." Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and

  • saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained

  • with silver blood. He was right next to Malfoy who, Harry was pleased to see, didn't look

  • too pleased with the seating arrangements. "How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus

  • with great interest. "I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick

  • delicately. When everyone had eaten as much as they could,

  • the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A

  • moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think

  • of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O,

  • rice pudding... As Harry helped himself to a treacle tart,

  • the talk turned to their families. "I'm half-and-half," said Seamus. "Me dad's

  • a Muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty

  • shock for him." The others laughed.

  • "What about you, Neville?" said Ron. "Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch,"

  • said Neville, "but the family thought I was all-Muggle for ages. My Great Uncle Algie

  • kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of mehe pushed me off

  • the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drownedbut nothing happened until I was eight.

  • Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window

  • by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go.

  • But I bouncedall the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased,

  • Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in

  • herethey thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie

  • was so pleased he bought me my toad." On Harry's other side, Percy Weasley and Hermione

  • were talking about lessons ("I do hope they start right away, there's so much to learn,

  • I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something

  • else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult —"; "You'll be starting small,

  • just matches into needles and that sort of thing — ").

  • Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid

  • was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore.

  • Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black

  • hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin. It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed

  • teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight into Harry's eyesand a sharp, hot pain

  • shot across the scar on Harry's forehead. "Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head.

  • "What is it?" asked Percy. "N-nothing."

  • The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harder to shake off was the feeling Harry

  • had gotten from the teacher's look — a feeling that he didn't like Harry at all.

  • "Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked Percy.

  • "Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor

  • Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want toeveryone knows he's after Quirrell's

  • job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."

  • Harry watched Snape for a while, but Snape didn't look at him again.

  • At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again.

  • The hall fell silent. "Ahemjust a few more words now that we

  • are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

  • "First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And

  • a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

  • Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.

  • "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic

  • should be used between classes in the corridors. "Quidditch trials will be held in the second

  • week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam

  • Hooch. "And finally, I must tell you that this year,

  • the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does

  • not wish to die a very painful death." Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who

  • did. "He's not serious?" he muttered to Percy.

  • "Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason

  • why we're not allowed to go somewherethe forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone

  • knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least."

  • "And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Harry

  • noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.

  • Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end,

  • and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself,

  • snakelike, into words. "Everyone pick their favorite tune," said

  • Dumbledore, "and off we go!" And the school bellowed:

  • "Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, Teach us something please,

  • Whether we be old and bald Or young with scabby knees,

  • Our heads could do with filling With some interesting stuff,

  • For now they're bare and full of air, Dead flies and bits of fluff,

  • So teach us things worth knowing, Bring back what we've forgot,

  • just do your best, we'll do the rest, And learn until our brains all rot."

  • Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left

  • singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines

  • with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

  • "Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime.

  • Off you trot!" The Gryffindor first years followed Percy

  • through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Harry's

  • legs were like lead again, but only because he was so tired and full of food. He was too

  • sleepy even to be surprised that the people in the portraits along the corridors whispered

  • and pointed as they passed, or that twice Percy led them through doorways hidden behind

  • sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging

  • their feet, and Harry was just wondering how much farther they had to go when they came

  • to a sudden halt. A bundle of walking sticks was floating in

  • midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves

  • at him. "Peeves," Percy whispered to the first years.

  • "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peevesshow yourself."

  • A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.

  • "Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?" There was a pop, and a little man with wicked,

  • dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking

  • sticks. "Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle.

  • "Ickle Firsties! What fun!" He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked.

  • "Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.

  • Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head.

  • They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armor as he passed.

  • "You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's

  • the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."

  • At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

  • "Password?" she said. "Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait

  • swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through itNeville

  • needed a leg upand found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round

  • room full of squashy armchairs. Percy directed the girls through one door

  • to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircasethey

  • were obviously in one of the towersthey found their beds at last: five four-posters

  • hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired

  • to talk much, they pulled on their pajamas and fell into bed.

  • "Great food, isn't it?" Ron muttered to Harry through the hangings. "Get off, Scabbers!

  • He's chewing my sheets." Harry was going to ask Ron if he'd had any

  • of the treacle tart, but he fell asleep almost at once.

  • Perhaps Harry had eaten a bit too much, because he had a very strange dream. He was wearing

  • Professor Quirrell's turban, which kept talking to him, telling him he must transfer to Slytherin

  • at once, because it was his destiny. Harry told the turban he didn't want to be in Slytherin;

  • it got heavier and heavier; he tried to pull it off but it tightened painfullyand

  • there was Malfoy, laughing at him as he struggled with itthen Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed

  • teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and coldthere was a burst of green light

  • and Harry woke, sweating and shaking. He rolled over and fell asleep again, and

  • when he woke next day, he didn't remember the dream at all.

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there.

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