The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald green robes stood there. She had a very stern expression and Nala's first thought was that this was someone who she needed to get onto's good side so she could get away with murder.
"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 that Nala's entire house could have fitted 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. Nala could hear the drone of a hundred voices from a doorway to the right- the rest of the school must already be here- but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing much closer together than they usually would have done, peering about nervously.
Professor McGonagall gave a long speech which Nala paid no attention to. She caught the teacher's last words and whacked her forehead. So much for trying to get on her good side. When she left the chamber, Nala swallowed. The sorting, she remembered from her books would be a terrifying ordeal. Sat up in front of the entire school did not much sound like fun.
"How exactly do they sort us?" Harry asked a friend he'd made, the twins' ickle baby brother, Ron.
"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."
"Don't be ridiculous," Nala butted into their conversation. "It's the sorting hat, you dimbats."
Even Hermione Granger, a girl Nala had thought had some common sense and would be Nala's good friend, was furiously talking to herself muttering all the spells she'd learnt and trying to work out which ones she'd need. Nala felt a stab of annoyance but took pity on the girl and went over to explain it to Hermione.
"Hermione," Nala whispered. "Relax, there's no test. You put on a hat, and it sorts you. You'll be fine."
Hermione breathed a shaky sigh of relief, "I should have known that, it's in Hogwarts: a History."
Nala smiled at the girl. Then something happened that made Nala jump about a metre into the air- several people behind her screamed.
"What the-"
She gasped. So did the people around her. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to each other 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 even a ghost- I say, what are you all doing here?"
Nobody answered, and then,
"We're the new students," Nala explained. "We're about to be sorted."
"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."
Nala wasn't sure which house she was hoping for. Everyone said that Slytherin was for the evil, Gryffindor was for the brave, Ravenclaw was for the smart and Hufflepuff was for the losers. Nala thought that was a load of rubbish. She'd always hated stereotypes. She'd been ticked off as a nerd at muggle schools. Sure, that's what she was, but by being labelled that, a lot more was assumed of her. It was assumed that she'd be rubbish at sport, she'd be good at every lesson, she'd suck up to all the teachers and she'd snitch on mischief makers. That wasn't her. She was sure there'd be kind Slytherins, intelligent Hufflepuffs, stupid Ravenclaws and cowardly Gryffindors. Nala knew that your house did not define you, your house was just your family. Hopefully a better family than the Dursleys.
"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin."
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."
Nala felt very jumpy as she made her way into the hall at the very front of the line. The Great Hall was such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands of floating candles that floated in mid-air above four long tables, where the students from other years sat. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers sat. They came to a halt in a line facing the other students. The hundreds of faces staring up at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. . Nala looked up and smiled at the ceiling dotted with stars. Nala and Hermione whispered in unison, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in Hogwarts: A History."
Nala and Hermione grinned at each other. It was so much more magical than Nala had ever anticipated.
Nala recognised the hat at once and stared at it, ready to hear it sing. Then it twitched. A rip near the brim opened like a mouth and 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 folks 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. Nala wasn't paying much attention. She zoned back in again hearing, Lilac Chang. It was lucky she did really because next came:
"Dursley, Nala."
Nala breathed in and out as she made her way up to the stool. She sat down with the hat on her head, wondering what this was going to be like.
"Hmm," said a small voice in her ear. "Difficult, eh? You're curious, knowledgeable. But then you're brave and loyal. I can see a large amount of cunningness but you've no ambition and you're not that sly. You're brave beyond measure, but where to put you?"
Nala clasped her hands tightly together and thought, "Hello! I don't know. I don't really care, as long as I can make friends."
"Hufflepuff, definitely Hufflepuff, so long as you're okay with that?"
"Hufflepuff sounds great!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat shouted for everyone to hear. Nala smiled and hopped down from the stool to join the Hufflepuffs. She chatted with Hannah and Susan until food arrived. During the feast, a kind prefect named, Cassadee, she happened to be Susan's sister, explained to Nala everything she could about Hogwarts. Nala soaked up all the information like a sponge.