“Welcome to Hogwarts. Please follow me.” Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. She waited till they were all seated then said, “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 your 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.” There was a short pause, then she finished, saying, “ 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.” She turned and left the room.
The second she left, the room was filled with a blood-curdling scream. Arabella turned to find over a dozen ghosts floating around. She dropped to the ground, covering her head. Arabella was pulled back up by Lorena.
“It’s alright! They won’t hurt you!” Arabella gave a shaky laugh as she looked up.
“Please don’t scare the students," 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.
The students followed her out into a beautiful hall. Almost all of them gasped with amazement. Professor McGonagall pointed to the wall, and the students obediently lined against it. Professor McGonagall 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. It reminded Arabella of her great uncle’s nightie hat. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth, and the hat began to sing. The singer of the song had the worst voice ever. It was cracked, wispy, and old. The song was short, but at the end, not a soul made a sound.
Professor McGonagall stood up with a book in her hand. “When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted,” she said. “Addit, Max!”
"SLYTHERIN!" shouted the hat.
The table on the right cheered and clapped as Max went to sit down at the Slytherin table. So, it went on and on until it was Arabella’s turn.
“Warbeck, Arabella.”
Arabella walked out of the line and placed herself on the stool.
“Hmmm…” Said the hat, “GRYFFINDOR”