Man... being a transfer student was not for the weak of heart. Mouse wasn't really sure what she had been expecting, but it had not been having to fit into boats to float across the Great Lake with a bunch of first years. The fact she stood taller than them all and therefore easily noticeable probably should have made her uncomfortable but.. rather she just found they were all the cutest little things. And probably heaps and bounds full of more nerves than she. Hogwarts might be new, but magical school was not.

But still, there was a part of her that was a bit relieved her last name was so close to the beginning of the alphabet. In no time at all, it seemed, she was being called to take the small stage and put hat on her head. She'd heard a bit about the sorting hat but she hadn't expected it to look so... well, dirty. And the amount of heads it had sat on already made her not quite want to put it on her head.

She was hoping for a very quick placement. But in the mean time, she'd just have to try to imagine the hat as a Fairy Godmother or something. It was the best she could do in the current circumstances.

Settling herself carefully on the stool, she took a deep breath as the hat began to lower towards her head. Please place me quick, pleaaaase place me quickly. Clearly the evening star was on her side tonight, because before it had even touched her head the hat was talking. "With that imagination, better be... RAVENCLAW."

Mouse beamed before jumping off the stool and heading towards her new house table.

As she waited in the Entrance Hall for whatever was about to happen, Nora found herself fidgeting more than she'd like to have been. This was supposedly going to be done in alphabetical order, which meant she'd be among the first to be sorted. She looked around her, waiting for someone to step up, snatch her out the line, and tell her this had all been a mistake and she was heading back home.

Nobody came.

Finally, they started walking into the Great Hall, and Nora felt her breathing come to a screeching halt. Were those candles...floating? As in...floating in mid-air? She coached her breathing to start back up again as she followed the line of first years to the dais. Not knowing what to expect next, she just stood as still as possible. When the hat belted out its first tune, she jumped a little and looked wide-eyed as the supposed-to-be inanimate object.

THERE WAS A LITERAL HAT SINGING.

Nobody else seemed too bothered by it, so Nora tried to give it the benefit of the doubt. But HOLY MERLIN, it was singing! When it was done, someone started calling out the list of first years one by one.

"Collins, Nora!" someone said.

That was the single worst moment of her wizarding life so far. Well, except for the point in time when she found out she was a witch, of course. Anyway, here she was in this brand new world, and suddenly the focus was on her. She was sure not everybody was focused on her, but it was enough to make her nervous. She cleared her throat and shuffled her way on to the chair. Within seconds, the hat was on her head.

"A muggleborn!" it boldly stated.

Seriously?

"It matters much, you see," it continued.

Yes. She knew that, and that was the main reason she wanted to GO BACK HOME.

"Stubborn."

Really?

The hat made a few "hmm" sounds followed by a few "I see's" and "I wonder's." All the while, Nora sat there wondering what she'd ever done to this hat to make it announce as loudly as it could that she was a muggleborn. Make no mistake, she was very proud of that. It just put her on the spot, which made her even more nervous.

I just want to go home...

"You do? Okay, then...

GRYFFINDOR!"

Well, that hadn't exactly been what she'd meant, but okay.

So far this had been the best day ever! Starting with the train ride, she didn’t make any new instant friends like she had hoped but she did make small talk with a lot of people and that was cool too. She couldn’t wait to tell her parents everything. Like the chocolate frogs, they hop right out of their wrapper just like frog frogs, and all about all of the other candy on the food trolley. Then there was the boat ride across the lake, that was neat, the castle was huge! She couldn’t wait to see the inside!

She followed her new classmates, and a few older transfers she guessed into the great hall, was this it? The sorting ceremony! She was awestruck at the great hall, the tables, the ceiling, it was the sky! From what she had read there were four houses. She had no idea which one she would end up in. She was more interested in what she had to do to get sorted. What if it was performing magic she had not really tried to do magic yet. No in the sense of trying to do it. Oh, you put on an old hat? That was it?

She wasn’t as nervous as she had imagined she would be. That was the great thing about being someone with a letter way down in the line in the alphabet. By the time her name was soon to be called she was tired kinda, she had been bouncing up and down excitedly since they got there.

”Wilde, Maisey.”

”That’s me!” With a burst of excitement she regained some of her energy and bounced to the front confidently. Sitting down on the stool and the hat placed on her head. To her surprise the hat spoke to her.

Ah…… feisty little one here. Mischievous and full of adventure too. Curious and talented…. But not very patient, are we? You are however cunning, ambitious and determined to do your best here…….

“Slytherin!”

With her signature mischievous grin she hopped down from the stool and headed to the Slytherin table. This was going to be great!

Sophia had waited nearly twelve years for this moment. The Great Hall. There was the table at the front, where her granddad had sat when he was a professor, way back before she was born. And the Ravenclaw table, where her dad had been. And then Slytherin, where her oldest sister and brother had gone. And Hufflepuff, for Amelia.

Her family had been scattered across the houses enough in the last ten years that they'd have been proud of her for (nearly) any house she might end up in.

It felt like no time at all between when the hat finished its (wholly unnecessary, in her opinion) song and all the new students ahead of her alphabetically had been called up. Then it was her turn. She nearly missed it, too, as she'd been looking at the sky (ceiling), but she processed her name just enough to stumble forward and plop herself on the stool when "Svensson, Sophia" was called.

The hat was placed on her head, and Sophia tried to look up as far as she could without moving her head, which of course just gave her a bit of a headache. It was the sorting hat, obviously, but ohhhh, yes, now it was talking. After a quick silent plea for not Gryffindor, please, she mostly tuned out the hat. She didn't care to listen to its psychoanalysis and predictions when she could look at all the students, both those who were after her alphabetically and all the ones already seated. Was it just her or did students in the same houses sort of start to look alike???

From her possibly incredibly biased perspective, it did seem to take a looooong time, even longer than all the other students combined, and she was starting to worry she wouldn't get placed in any house at all when finally, f i n a l l y the hat shouted, for everyone to hear, "Slytherin!"

Beaming widely, Sophia hopped off the stool and (after a step away and a step back) returned the hat. It took all of her self-control (and a bit of muttering to remind herself) to walk, and not run, to the Slytherin table, where she realized she recognized at least one student already. How fun!!!!

Why did they have to be sorted in front of everybody?

Brandon calmly walked out to where the sorting hat was, kept moving by the thought that it would be much worse if he didn't come and they had to call his name twice. He didn't make a scene or look like a scaredy-cat or anything, he just sat on the stool like he was supposed to. But he was tense.

I DONT WANT TO MEET A MAGIC HAT THAT KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT ME, he thought calmly, cool and collectedly. But he didn't exactly have a choice... it was already talking to him. It was being nice... it was talking about how caring he was... about his family... about how he wanted to help others... and Brandon did not react well. He didn't care that anyone could have told him those things after two seconds of meeting him, he didn't like that it was in his head and that it knew all about him without even meeting him. And he started stress crying, but it was okay since the hat shaded his eyes and probably nobody could tell.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" It took about twenty seconds for the hat to decide, which was twenty too many to him. He took the hat off and went to sit with Xander the second he was able. Very calmly. Very stressed-out-edly. Swiping at his eyes with his sleeve a bit along the way.

To say Aurora was excited would be an understatement. The train journey here had been long but beautiful and she had sat with her older sister Ariadne the whole time. Aurora could never understand why her Ma had been so indifferent about going to Hogwarts, everything about it so far had been amazing! The huge castle looming over the horizon as the train pulled into Hogsmeade station, the grand lake that wrapped itself around the school full of who knows what exciting magical creatures, the big wooden doors that opened to reveal a huge hall with its long tables full of chattering students in their school attire, what was there not to be excited about?!

The eleven year old had attended Muggle Primary School and as an outgoing extrovert had found it very difficult to keep the secret that her Mums were both magical and therefore could do super awesome things that other parents couldn’t do making them so much cooler. Imagine how many more friends she could’ve made if the other students knew that her Mum could conjure up pretty much anything! But still she had the best of both worlds and had found it difficult to leave her Muggle friends when the time came to attend Hogwarts. Starting a new school was still scary even if you were as outgoing as Aurora was.

Having a name that was so high alphabetically had its advantages sometimes. She rarely had to wait around in the registers and often had to go first. It wasn’t different in the case of the sorting ceremony. Her name was called and up she trundled, plonking herself down on the stool with a huge grin on her face as the Sorting Hat was placed upon her head. Aurora could have easily been a hat stall for she had the personality of a Gryffindor with the intelligence and desire to be a Ravenclaw. Both her mums had been in Ravenclaw and of course Aurora didn’t want to break the family tradition.

Claw, Claw, Claw. she repeated in her head until the hat yelled out its decision.

And Ravenclaw it was! With a huge beam on her face, the newly appointed Claw hopped off the stool and bounced her way over to the Ravenclaw table to be greeted by her fellow students.

The rotund 11-year-old stood in the cluster of other 1st years. Some had asked if he were okay, others seemed to look away. The reason being the rather obvious tear-stains down his checks and the obvious redness under his eyes where he continued to rub away the salty feeling of liquids forming. He had made it obvious to Mama's Boyfriend how he felt before entering that train since Mama was not there to see him off. Which was No Good at All. He cried on his way here for a majority of the trip. How could she have been so busy that she couldn't see her favorite lil-boy off before he would gone from her life for Months! He had heard that you could send Owls with Letters back home so Ewy knew that once he was here he would find where to do that and send a letter home to Mama EVERYDAY.

He had watched a few of his fellow 1st Years go through their sorting the shock of a talking hat quickly changed to wonder and awe. If Hats could talk how much more could magic do except what it makes him do already. He was told he couldn't do anything with wand since it had shot that purple goop in the Wand Shop because he was under-age and still very inexperienced. He pushed his hand into his pocket and held his wand for a moment. Excited to see what else he could try.

"Dewey, Ywan!"

Oh! That was him. He was Ywan even though he wants to be called Ewy! Mental note, make sure to tell the teachers here that.

He scurried up to the talking hat and sat on the stool . What would the Hat tell him, where was it going to place him. Mama's Boyfriend was in that Yellow House so he had hoped he wouldn't go there. Yellow was such an Unpopular Color. Red or Blue now those were swell he'd tell you.

he felt the Hat being lowered around his crown and he looked up seeing only the underside of the brim.

"I recognize this similar touch of the mind. Lad, your father was quite the Wizard himself...That Johnsmeyer."

Ewy was puzzled by these words. "Talking Hat. That's not right. My Papa wasn't magical." Mama had always talked big about his Papa when he was younger. But the first Wizard they had ever met was Mama's Boyfriend. Papa was a...a Mug? A Muggle that was it.

"I am never wrong, child."... There was some silence and a bit of odd Hmmms and Hums coming from the Hat as Ewy was dealing with this shocking new information.

"You should do nicely in...HUFFLEPUFF!"

The Talking Hat was removed from his Head and the Hufflepuff Table cheered for their new Housemate. Though Ewy remained seated for a bit longer. Having completely missed which House he was told he would belong to. His Papa was a Wizard?

He felt a tap on his shoulder was told to move along and was pointed toward the Hufflepuff Table. With a blank yet still shocked stare on his face the newly sorted Badger walked slowly toward his new life.

Callista was nervous, how could you not be. This was only going to determine her entire next seven years, right? Her sister had said it wasn't that bad, but seriously it was nerve wracking watching the other students go up, have the hat sat upon their head and then go off to a new table. She had promised that as soon as she could she would write a letter to Charlie about what house she was in. She had hoped that she would be in one of her brothers house but she wasn't holding her breath at this point.

Standing close to a girl and boy she watched as they were called up and sorted into Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff she was kind of out of it when she heard her name. Oh, it was her turn. Slowly walking up to the stool and looking at the person getting ready to set the hat on her head she closed her eyes.

"Ah, a Rivers are you? Your brothers needed to be separated, no need for another set of Weasly's around here. Hmmm.... I wonder."

He wondered what? How in the world could you just hum and wonder and leave a girl hanging. Opening her eyes she made contact with her brother at the Slytheirn table before glancing at her brother at the Hufflepuff table.

"Gryffindor!"

With a blink she felt that hat being raised off of her curls and was heading over to the Gryffindor table to join her new family, at least that's what her sister told her they'd become.

"Archard, Hope!"

Hope had been dreading this moment her aunt and uncle had told her about, when she would have to walk up all alone, before the entire student body and faculty, and sit on a stool to have a hat tell her which House she would be in. From her aunt and uncle's descriptions, she already had a pretty good idea of which House she would wind up in.

Hoping no one could see her legs trembling and trying not to trip, Hope eventually found herself sitting on a stool with a threadbare old hat sitting on her head. Poor thing--they should take better care of it! Hope had a fleeting desire to take it off and mend it a bit, but before she could collect her thoughts, the hat was talking to her!

"Hmm.....this your first trip out into the big, wide world, is it? Not brash like a lion, or subtle like a serpent...Hard-working, kind, helpful, though...."

Hope nodded as the hat trailed off...yes, it was just as she expected, best get on with it...

"... but not as straightforward as one might think...No, no....interesting.... a little quirky, a little dreamy, a little...different, eh? So, all things considered, I think it had better be.... Ravenclaw!

Wait! What? Hope shook her head slightly, thinking she hadn't heard correctly. It couldn't be Ravenclaw!?! She was a Hufflepuff--that was what she'd decided, listening to her family talk about it. That was what she expected. She wasn't nearly smart enough to be in Ravenclaw! She couldn't possibly keep up there, not with her bare bones homeschool education. There must be some terrible mistake!

But before she could open her mouth, the hat was being whisked off her head and a bunch of students at the table decorated in blue and bronze were clapping and the next thing she knew, she found herself on her feet and walking toward them.

As he stood waiting for his name to be called, Regulus stole furtive glances at the others in the group, those new students waiting to be sorted into a house. He noted excitement, nerves, and at least one boy who bore unmistakable signs of having cried in the recent past. He kept his own expression schooled, his back straight, and his gaze away from the Ravenclaw table, though he did allow himself to scan the staff sat up on the dais once or twice. There was only so long he could watch a hat in silent deliberation before his attention started to wane, after all.

Though papà's surname belonged to the second half of the alphabet, it didn't feel like very long before...

"Prince, Regulus."

After half a beat, Regulus stepped forwards and took his place on the stool, and the hat was lowered over his head. He stared at its dark insides, uncomfortably aware of how fast his heart was beating, and doubling down on keeping his expression neutral, though half of it was now obscured in any case. The seconds passed, and nothing happened. Was it... working?

Then he heard it, a voice, quiet in his ears. "... Difficult..." it said, but apparently it could think of nothing else to say. Regulus waited, unperturbed... at least about what had said, as he didn't mind it thinking him difficult in some way. But there was plenty it wasn't saying.

What's difficult? he thought, sure it would answer him - though he wasn't sure why he was sure - but it didn't. Why is it difficult? Still nothing, nothing, nothing.

The seconds stretched on. Those watching might have noticed that Regulus looked much the same as all the others had, waiting quietly as the Hat deliberated over where to put him. His hands were resting in his lap, palms towards his body, thumbs linked, and he had the toes of one foot pressed to the floor while his other foot remained hooked behind it. Though at first he seemed to be quite still, almost statue-like, by the 30-second mark something had changed. Regulus was speaking to the Hat, although under his breath, and just barely moving his lips.

One minute became two, and his sorting continued in this manner. At three minutes, Regulus became still once again, no longer speaking, only listening and waiting. Before another full minute had passed, he spoke to it one more time, before, finally...

"SLYTHERIN!"

Light streamed into Regulus' eyes as the Hat was lifted from his head, and he blinked, readjusting to the sudden brightness of the Great Hall. His head pounded; a fierce, terrible ache had been forming for the last minute or so that he'd been sat under the Hat, but it was done. Regulus stood, allowed a small smile, and strode to the table on the right hand side of the room.

After much consideration, Nancy was hopeful that she would NOT end up in Slytherin. Slytherin was where Joey was, and she was not keen on the idea of seeing her older brother each and every day. Ravenclaw would be fine, Moritz was nicer to her at least. The other two were also a toss up. She had no real connection to either of them...

Once again she found herself overthinking this whole thing, but oh well. Before she knew it, her name was being called - had they REALLY gotten all the way to S last names?? Goodness. She blinked and bit her lip, walking up slowly to the podium and sitting on the stool. She took in a deep breath as the hat was dropped over her head.

She already knew what to expect from literally everyone in her family telling her how sorting worked, so when the hat started to speak, she wasn't all that surprised. "Oh, yes, I knew your parents...and their parents before them...a long line of very talented wizards and witches. Or should I say potentially talented - I do hope they put their gifts to good use...

Right, onto you then...quite a lot going on here...not that that's a bad thing...yes, I see it now, better put you in..."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Nancy had...not been expecting that, honestly. It made sense though, didn't it? Her dad had been a Hufflepuff - and her grandmother had thrown such a fit, she'd pulled him from school. Hopefully she came around to the idea of having a badger in the family, because...here was another one!

She smiled as the hat was pulled off her head and bounced on down to her new housemates.

One thing Giselle Barrington wasn’t, upon coming into the Great Hall with the other first years (and a few older kids that had piqued her interest, mostly because she hadn’t known older kids still had to go through the whole ceremony if they were transfers. Which meant that Aunt Lily had had to do that, but mum and dad hadn’t) was nervous at all. Nor was she awed by the surroundings. She knew quite well what to expect, and while she was still a little annoyed that they hadn’t gotten any special treatment at the wand shop, she was resigned to the fact she had to wait for the Sorting. At least she wouldn’t have to wait too long, unless there were a ton of kids with last names starting with A. That and she wasn’t crying like the boy she’d met in Diagon Alley was again. She rather suspected that was his thing, and might very well ask him sometime. It was useful information to know, after all.

True to expectations, it wasn’t long before her brother’s name had been called, Alexander being before hers alphabetically and it was obvious the staff person announcing the names was using proper names, and that meant she was next.

“Barrington, Giselle”.

She walked gracefully up to the stool, befitting the princess she was, and delicately perched on it in nearly the same spot Xander had previously, blue eyes watching as her brother had headed off o the Hufflepuff table. Traitor, she idly thought, only half serious. But she was fairly certain nobody in her family had been in the yellow house, but she didn’t really think Xander was a traitor because it was the hat who chose. Okay, maybe if her brother had asked to be put into a different house…she let her thoughts trail off as the hat was lowered onto her head.

Are you the same hat from forever?, sheasked inher head,nearly at thesametime as the hat itself voiced a “hmm”.

“Does that matter, or are you just curious if I sorted your parents”.

She nodded, expecting the hat understood what the motion meant.

As it was, the hat went on. “Yes, I see you are very much like your parents, and yes, I do remember them. Both Slytherins through and through. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t any other house that might also be good for you. You should manage your expectations, after all. Not something you excel at…”

“Ah, but there is cleverness in you. And bravery, a certain recklessness…”

She glared at the hat.

“But you certainly know what you want,” the hat trailed off, earning another glare before it shouted out one last word.

“SLYTHERIN!”

Giselle gave the hat a mental smile as it was raised from her head, showing her gratitude. She had tried to be polite, after all. But then, as she heard her sister’s name being announced, she slid from the stool and headed over to the Slytherin table. Hopefully Phoebe didn’t get as much lecturing.

Finally, the Great Hall.

The Sorting Ceremony.

The moment Joel found out about his fate, and showed it to his big brother and sister (and also little brother and sister, but later), and ended up in Gryffindor! Because that's where the worthy went! And no - he didn't claim his big sister was unworthy, who was just waving at him from Hufflepuff, he just wanted to make his big brother -

"Hellmann, Joel Peter."

That was his name! Just as his big brother was making faces at him to get a rise out of him, Joel Peter Hellmann was called onto the stage. His heart picked up speed, even though he tried to act as coolly as an eleven year old could muster, and he walked up to the little stool. He already had a speech ready, y'see. He had to end up in Gryffindor, and he'd analyzed the situation in depth. He, for starters, did not fear the cockroaches. He also did not fear spiders. And he could handle all the jokes in the world, he would head-butt anyone that tried to make fun of people he cared about, and he -

"Gryffindor!"

- had already started practicing on the broom even though he was afraid of heights -

"Okay, okay. I get it. You're well suited for Gryffindor. Now go meet your house mates, my child! I bet your brother is the reason for this."

Wait, what?

Joel sheepishly looked around as a roar filled the hall from the Gryffindor side, and the Hat was already removed from his head. He didn't expect it to be this easy, his brother had told him that he would have to go through a full discussion! But anyway, he finally let himself grin from one ear to another, and he waddled off to his table.

Gryffindor. YEET!

There was very little time to take in the majesty of the Great Hall and seek out familiar faces on her way down the middle aisle with the rest of the new kids, not only because it felt like the trek across the hall took just a few seconds, but because she knew she was going to have to go first once they got up there. Unless there was a surname that began with Aa, Ab, or Ac, that is, but Amelia Adair knew she was practically destined to be the opening act.

That didn't bother her one bit. It just would've been nice to have more time to look around at the tables and wave at the older kids she knew and loved, several of which she hadn't seen in years. It helped that almost all of them were at the Ravenclaw table, and she'd caught a few of their gazes and brightened at the sight of them, but before she could search any longer, the hat had begun its song.

She knew what to expect. Her dad always told her she was the spitting image of her Ravenclaw mum, not just in their uncanny physical resemblances but in personality - they were both clever and had bigger dreams than most people. She enjoyed school - knowledge was an important stepping stone to accomplishing great things. She was brave, too, sure, like her Gryffindor dad, but she and her mum had always just gotten each other and shared the same love of learning. She hadn't given much thought to being anywhere but Ravenclaw over there with Aurelia, Mercer, and Ruari.

"Adair, Amelia!"

After giving out high-fives to her St. Woboldo's friends, Mia bounced her way up to the stool unfearingly. She sat, smiling at Sophia and the Barringtons, and the hat was lowered--

"SLYTHERIN!"

The hat had barely grazed the hair on her head before it made its declaration, and Mia went wide-eyed. Not Ravenclaw? But-... well, at least she had Lucky there. Her smile renewed at the thought, Mia leapt up, cheered for herself, and gave more high-fives and "good luck!"s to her friends awaiting their turns as she shimmied over to join the Slytherin table.