The trip across the lake started out eerily, with the lapping of the waves against the hull of their small boat being the only thing the five could sense, as night had fallen and the moon and stars was doing little to light up the dark waters of the Black Lake. Hermione had gripped herself tightly against Harry's arm, and he could see the faint outlines of Hannah doing the same to Neville. Thankfully, after a few moments, the lantern at the front of their boat lit itself, and Harry saw the seven other boats that had departed with them also alight. Looking up, Harry then saw the image of Hogwarts castle, illuminated against the night sky.
The castle was truly breathtaking, the ancient structure standing as a singular monolith atop a large hill, seemingly impossibly tall against the flat surroundings. Light poured from its many windows and Harry was absolutely awestruck..
The boats began to congregate in a small grotto before an older woman began to direct them off of the boats and into a small crowd in front of a large set of doors.
"Hello all of you. I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Here in a few moments you will be led into the great hall, where you will be sorted into your houses. Your house will be like your family here at Hogwarts, and you will be required to sit with your houses at the various event feasts throughout the year, including tonight. I will be calling you alphabetically to sit at a chair below the head table in the Great Hall, which is beyond these doors. You will be sat on the stool and I will place the Sorting Hat upon your head. It will look into your mind and determine if you are to be in Courageous Gryffindor, Brilliant Ravenclaw, Ambitious Slytherin, or Loyal Hufflepuff. The hat alleges it has not missorted a student in its history, although it will admit that some students may have fit well in more than one house. Your individual sorting may take anywhere from a few seconds, to several minutes. I myself took nearly six, as it couldn't decide if I was better suited for Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. In the end it decided I was to join the house of the lions, and I am now their head of house. Now, please line-up as I call your names.
Professor McGonagall then called out our names alphabetically, and had us line up as such. We then stepped into the Great Hall and marveled at its immense size. The room was absolutely massive, maybe a quarter of a kilometer long and 50 meters wide. Four long tables sat, with a banner at either end of them. One red with a golden lion on it, Gryffindor spelled in golden letters, the next yellow with a badger on it, Hufflepuff spelled in black letters, the third a royal blue with a bronze eagle, Ravenclaw spelled in bronze letters, and finally a green banner with a silver snake, Slytherin spelled in silver. Above the tables were hundreds of candles, floating in the air, yet never seeming to drip wax, and further above it was the ceiling. The ceiling itself, Hermione was saying to a student next to Harry, was bewitched to look like the night sky, and Harry clearly saw the Half-Moon peeking through the clouds in the ceiling, so there was at least some truth to that statement. Harry was nearly too awestruck to notice that the line had stopped moving, nearly bumping into the girl in front of him, Sally-Anne if he heard McGonagall correctly.
"Now we will begin the sorting. Hannah Abbott, please come sit on this stool." McGonagall says, gesturing to a three legged stool sitting directly above the heads table. In her hands was a large floppy hat, with a tall conical middle and a circular brim surrounding it. The hat itself was horribly tattered and ragged despite its leather construction, several large gashes can be seen in the hat itself, with many more having been obviously patched over the ages.
McGonagall places the hat on Hannah's head, and it appears to deliberate with itself for a few moments before declaring loudly: "HUFFLEPUFF!" Hannah looks relieved, and sits the hat down on top of the stool, before walking to her new table, where a space has been provided.
"Susan Bones?" McGonagall calls up the next student, a girl who he hadn't seen on the train, but Hannah had mentioned being her best friend. She too was sorted into Hufflepuff.
Terrence Boot is next and is the first to be sorted into Ravenclaw, and then after him is one of the girls Harry met in the train compartment where he found Trevor, Mandy Brocklehurst, who is also sorted into Ravenclaw.
Lavender Brown from the same train car sits on the stool, and is horribly excited when the hat yells that she is to be in Gryffindor. Immediately after her is a particularly ghastly looking girl named Millicent Bulstrode, who is sorted into Slytherin, and with that all four houses have at least one new member, although there are still thirty-four more students to be sorted.
Michael Corner and Stephen Cornfoot, two boys Harry hadn't met were sorted into Ravenclaw, and then after them was another boy Harry hadn't met, Vincent Crabbe. Crabbe was a very large boy and didn't look very friendly, he was sorted into Slytherin.
Tracey Davis is up next and Harry is excited to see where his new friend would be sorted. If she ended up in Hufflepuff alongside Hannah and Susan, then Harry might want to end up in that house himself, since he would have two of his new friends with him, and if Susan was anything like what Hannah had said, a third soon following. This thought however never came to fruition as Tracey was sorted into Slytherin house, and went to take her place with the snakes.