A/N: Reviews are encouraged! I'm still having a bit of trouble with handling group dialogue in large groups (like meals) so I've kind of been avoiding it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and if I did I'd spend my millions to build a life-sized Hogwarts.

The door swung open at once. A tall black haired witch in dark green robes stood there. Much younger looking than I had expected Minerva McGonagall to be.

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

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

She pulled the door open wide, and the 280 of us poured through behind her and made our way up through a stone staircase to the entrance hall. The entrance hall was so large it was like a football field. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches, that I knew to actually be based on runic light, and did not provide heat, just light. That did make me wonder where heat came from in the winter, though. Between the torches were mounted stone gargoyles. Lining the walls were statues of knights in armor, holding shields along with spears or swords. In the middle of the hall was a gigantic stone staircase that seemed to stretch up into the heavens. It all felt so real my jaw dropped. We followed Professor McGonagall across the stone floor towards a large set of double doors, where I could hear the loud muffled tones of the rest of the student body. But instead, she led us into a small stone chamber off the side of the Entrance Hall which had many paintings lining its walls. There wasn't much room, so we just crowded inside around Professor McGonagall.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said. "The start of term banquet feast 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 room was silent, hanging off of her every word.

"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 rule-breaking 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 around, seemingly poking at the people she was specifically addressing.

That's when I got my first view of Ron. He really did have dirt on his nose. I wondered who he sat with on the train.

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

"I'm kind of nervous," I overheard Neville saying.

"Don't worry. It's not any sort of test," I assured him.

"It's all detailed in Hogwarts, A History," Hermione clarified.

"That's not what my brothers told me," Ron said, looking at me. "You're Harry Potter, right?"

Everyone turned to look at me and went silent, the nervousness of being sorted wiped off their face by being in the presence of the most famous wizarding world celebrity.

"Yes." I replied, and then turned to address everyone. "Nice to meet you, everyone! I'm looking forward to seven years of learning alongside you and becoming your friend. Good luck to everyone with their sorting! I hope everyone ends up where they'll succeed the most." All of the kids hung off of my every word and then started whispering to each other about me.

"Quite stately." Anastasia praised me, jokingly. Ron seemed to be waiting for me to say something to him.

That's when the ghosts arrived: twenty of them, streaming in through the back wall. Many students gasped, some jumped, and I even heard a few shrieks. It was my first time seeing a ghost too and gave me quite a bit of an existential fright. These ghosts would exist forever, trapped in this castle, for eternity… Scary.

The ghosts made some comments, but I didn't really pay attention while going through my mini-existential crisis.

I didn't get jolted back into reality until I heard Professor McGonagall's shrill voice chirp, "Move along now. The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin. Now form a line and follow me."

Hermione originally was in front of me, but I wanted to be able to see and not get obstructed by her bushy hair, so I moved in front of her and she stood behind me. Roger Malone took his place in front of me.

Then, Professor McGonagall led us back through the entrance hall and to the gigantic double doors of the Great Hall, which she opened grandly with a large flourish of her wand. The doors themselves were beautifully filled with intricate designs and swung inwards to reveal the hall.

It was even more beautiful than the movies could ever make it out to be, and quite a bit different, too. The Great Hall was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over the long house tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. The tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. There were four house sections, each with four long tables per house that all stretched to lengths of one hundred and fifty feet. To be fair, there were one thousand students to seat per house, so 16 total tables made sense. At the top of the hall was another set of four long tables where the teachers were sitting, but perpendicular in orientation to the house tables. Those faculty tables were on a raised platform. The first table only had seats along the back of the table so the Professors could see out onto the students' tables. I was able to make out Remus and Sirius' faces from among the line of teachers. I could see Quirrell and his gigantic turban, too. Good thing I had a plan for that. Professor McGonagall led the first years right up to the raised platform so that we came to a halt in a line right in front of the raised platform. It was only a couple steps up, but enough so that the sitting students could clearly see the head table above them. Us first years could clearly see the head table or the students, depending on which way we turned our heads. The thousands of faces of students staring at us from one direction looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Then I looked upward and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. It looked like the brightness night sky I had ever seen. Beautiful. I 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 up to the outside.
I quickly looked up at the center of the raised platform again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years, centered to be on the top step up to the platform. On top of the stool, she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.

We'd all be able to easily walk up the platform steps and across to the stool. I was a bit worried about how long the sorting was going to be, but as long as the hat sorted most of the students quickly, it shouldn't take longer than an hour. I pitied the classes that were larger than ours.

For a few seconds, while I was thinking about the logistics, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and 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.

Professor McGonagall then 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 and up to the stool, 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. I could see the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

Thankfully, the sorting turned out to be a quick endeavor. A name was called, which took approximately one second. The student walked to the stool and placed the hat on their head, which took approximately four seconds. Most students were sorted within three seconds, and the claps lasted just two. The next name was being called as soon as the claps ended. All the students knew a cordial but short clap was the most effective to get to their meal quickly. Some students took longer to sort, but that was only a minority of the students.

As a Potter, a lot of the students got sorted before me. Hermione went to Ravenclaw, which I wasn't surprised by after our summer of studying. Marcus, Lily, and Roger too. Even Anastasia, Luca, Valentina, and Padma all went to Ravenclaw. Draco and his cronies went to Slytherin, as expected. Neville surprisingly went to Hufflepuff, which was the only other sorting different from the books besides mine. I guess him actually finding his toad with Susan and Hannah formed a friendship he wanted to cultivate. Funny how things can change. There were many students I'd never heard the name of from the books. Some had last names I could recognize, but many did not.

When they started working through the "P" names, and my time came to be called, I waited expectantly.

After the clapping for Adam Pickering died, "Potter, Harry!" got called by Deputy Headmistress McGonagall.

As I stepped forward to the stool, whispers suddenly broke out like a wildfire spreading across the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"Finally him! I've been waiting!"

"I have his poster on my wall!"

"He's even more handsome in person!"

The last thing I saw before the hat dropped over my eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at me. Next, I was looking at the black interior lining of the hat.

I heard an actual whispering in my ear, "You're going to have to drop your Occlumency shields if you want me to sort you." I did nothing. "If you're scared of me saying something then I'll have you know I only report to the Headmaster." I waited. "If it's something you don't want the Headmaster to know, I only report the thoughts of a student if it's something important enough that he asks. Although, considering it's you, he'd ask. Hmmm… Your shields are unnatural. That, I never encounter. Occasionally, I get the kid that's been trained by his Pureblood parents to keep the family secrets, but… is…. is that Salazar's locket? I haven't been in its presence since the founding days. You know I can't even hear your thoughts right now if you're trying to communicate with me? The nature of the shield embedded within that locket is all-encompassing, no in, no out. I'm having to actually whisper out-loud to you right now. I wouldn't worry though, I'm keeping it strictly internal. If you give me nothing, I have half a mind to just sort you into Slytherin right now."

"No, Ravenclaw," I whispered quietly. I realized I couldn't take off the locket, otherwise, the Headmaster would become aware of who I really was. Considering he thought Harry was the prophesied savior, he might try to exorcize me or something. I couldn't allow that to happen. "And if you're only required to report the thoughts of a student, then simply say mine were not of merit." My whispering cracked inside the interior of the hat, and I could hear the rumbling whisperings of everyone outside of it.

"Very well. I can sort you into Ravenclaw and do as you ask, but tell me one reason I should."

"I'm only here for the pure joy of learning, and yes, learning comes with ambition, and you must be brave and a hard worker to obtain the information you seek, but information and learning is experience, and that's what I crave."

"I shall keep your secrets, and wish you well in acquiring more in…"

"RAVENCLAW!"

I might have been just as relieved as the Harry from the books that I wasn't going to Slytherin as I lifted the hat from my head to the loudest cheering yet, lasting way more than two seconds. It went on for at least twenty, with people crying out my name and Ravenclaws chanting "POTTER" as I came to take a seat right next to Roger, at the end of the table. They seemed to have left the last section of each of the four tables mostly open for the first years, except for some Prefects evenly spread throughout the empty end sections.

As time went on, more students got sorted (Oliver joined us in Ravenclaw) and Ron ended back up in Gryffindor. The Prefect closest to me was Penelope Clearwater, who introduced herself to me in a whisper during the clapping for someone else, and sitting around me was Roger, Lily, Padma, and plenty of kids I didn't know or recognize. By the end of the sorting, I counted 71 first year Ravenclaws total. Apparently sorting the students into four turned out somewhat even, but not perfectly so.

Sitting at the Ravenclaw table, I could finally see the high table clearly. At one end sat Hagrid, who caught my eye and gave me a thumbs up. Sirius and Remus day next to him. I grinned back at Hagrid, and waved to Padfoot and Moony. And there, in the center of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. His eyes really did twinkle unnaturally. Then, I spotted Professor Quirrell again, looking very peculiar in his large purple turban. I decided to hold off on instigating my plan until the feast was basically over. I had been planning a specific way of dealing with him. I didn't want to deal with Quirrell all year long, I wanted to get rid of him now.

But first, dinner.

With the last student getting sorted, there was a longer clap than usual (but still not as long as mine) and Albus Dumbledore rose to his feet.

He beamed 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.

I just found it funny.

Then suddenly, food materialized on the plates in front of me: 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.

British food was still somewhat unfamiliar for me, but I selected some roast chicken, lamb, roast potatoes, fries, and roast beef.

Penelope said, "Dig in, everyone. It's take what you like, and it won't run out."

"But it's not truly endless, right?" Roger asked.

"No, of course not. But they probably made more than we could ever eat."

"They?" a boy asked, who I didn't recognize.

"House elves," I replied, with no further clarification.

"Aren't you so happy we ended up in the same house?" I asked Roger, Lily, and Padma.

Roger nodded with a mouthful of roast potatoes because he was a vegetarian, Padma politely nodded and Lily said, "Yeah!" while tearing into a pork chop.

"Did you see that Flitwick spit out his glass of wine when you were sorted into Ravenclaw?" Lily asked me.

"Really?" I laughed.

Throughout the meal we talked about how big Hogwarts was (142 staircases!) and how big the Great Hall was, and how big the entrance hall was, and I met a couple more of my year mates, Isobel and Morag MacDougal straw blonde twins, Kiania Oliveria, a Brazilian girl, Latisha Randle, who didn't talk much, Yolanda Reedham, who talked too much, Shoma Ichikawa, who seemed really cool, Banga O'Deluga, who told great stories, Hugo Mattingley, who seemed super gay, and Ivan Renshaw, who was Australian like Roger. Penelope had us kind of go around our little section and introduce ourselves. Funnily, we were basically seated alphabetically due to the sorting being alphabetical. Apparently we'd be sorted into dorms based on class schedule, though. We'd be placed with students who were taking the most classes with us. Penelope told us all about the Professors we might have, and she was quite excited by how many courses some of us were taking. She said she had taken almost everything herself and had done quite well. She also told us we'd have a meeting after the feast where they would tell us all about the rules and then next week would be orientation for us first years. That made a lot of sense, rather than going immediately into classes.

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 and more.

During dessert the conversation turned to the ghosts and who they were. I mostly zoned out of that conversation and focused on my ice cream.

At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.
"Ahem - just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you," he smiled.
"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 at the Gryffindor table.

"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."

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. I 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. I "whooped" very loudly for them.
"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here!"

Dumbledore addressed the hall again, "One last announcement! We have quite a few new professors as well as professors switching departments, including Remus Lupin joining the ancient Runes Department."

Remus food up and bowed.

"Sirius Black joining the Defense Department."

Sirius stood up and did a little flourish of his wand to create balloons.

"Professor Quirrell switching to the Defense Department."

That was the signal. I whispered "Pobby", and my elf, who had been hiding in my backpack, used his elven magic to remove the turban from Professor Quirrell's head as he took a bow to each side of the hall. With his head turned to the side, the face latched onto the back of his skull was exposed as the turban cloth fell to the floor. Everyone saw it. Children screamed. Professors drew their wands. Professor Quirrell attempted to start making a run for it, jumping over the High Table, but before he could even get very far Headmaster Dumbledore started casting beams of red and moving plates and goblets up in the air and molding them into cuffs to restrain Quirrell. Quirrell began casting green beamed spells in Dumbledore's direction, which I could tell was the killing curse, as Professor McGonagall and the other professors took cover and pushed all the tables to the sides of the hall with large swooshes of their wands, leaving room in the middle for the Headmaster to duel Professor Quirrell who was attempting to flee through the double doors into the entrance hall.

It was quite obvious Quirrell didn't have the skill a true Voldemort possessed, as it only took about thirty seconds of dueling before Dumbledore had Quirrell restrained. When he did, Quirrell started freaking out, his body flailing in the middle of the Great Hall, until a black mist in the form of a face, the wraith of Lord Voldemort, rushed out of the body screaming, flew across the room dodging spell fire from Dumbledore, and broke through the stained glass windows behind the faculty tables in its escape. It disappeared into the night. In his wake, loud crying occupied the otherwise silent room, and a sense of distraught filled the air.

That's when Dumbledore's voice boomed, "What we have witnessed here is possession. Most likely, a dark wizard took over Professor Quirrell's body. I would like everyone to return to their common rooms, and I will be sending along Professors to keep watch for the night. We will be assessing the wards to ensure whatever wraith that overtook Professor Quirrell's body is incapable of returning. I'm sorry we have had to end this celebration on such a sour note. Prefects, please begin escorting your Houses back to their Houses, and can each Deputy Head of House and all House Faculty please go with them."

That's when we began moving, even the students who were crying and obviously shaken got up from their seats and started to move out of the hall.

Penelope Clearwater's voice rang out in the immediate vicinity, "You all, come with me. I will take you to the tower." Other prefects were taking other groups of students. Not all of us first years traveled together, but about fifteen of us followed Penelope up through many twists, turns, and staircases full of beautiful decorations and paintings up to the Ravenclaw tower entrance. The entrance was on the fifth floor, up a spiral case that was actually accessible from all floors. There was a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle on the wall, in an area without windows on the corner of a two way hallway intersection. There was no keyhole in the knocker, but within a moment of our arrival the mouth of the eagle opened up and spoke, "What can walk on water?"