"C'mon Remus, you can help us take down the Romanian Longhorn!" Sirius patted
his new friend on the back. "You, me, and James will take it down together. We'll be
legends!"
"You guys are morons."
Mia turned at the voice to see the familiar face of the red-haired girl from the train.
Severus Snape stood beside her, glowering at the eager Marauders.
The girl pursed her lips, folded her arms across her chest, and levelled James and
Sirius with a condescending glare. "You're sorted by a magically enchanted hat."
"Oh yeah?" James turned and stared at her, an amused expression on his face as
though she was giving him a proper challenge. "How do you know that?"
"It's in Hogwarts, A History," she, Remus, and Mia all said simultaneously.
Sirius and James burst into laughter just as the doors opened, and Professor
McGonagall stepped back through them.
"Now, form a line," she told them, "and follow me."
The Great Hall was lit by thousands and thousands of candles floating in mid-air
over four long tables where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were covered
with glittering golden goblets and plates. At the top of the hall was another long table where
the staff was sitting.
The first years were led up to the front of the room so that they came to a halt in a
line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring
at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there,
floating above the tables, ghosts shone a misty silver.
Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the students.
On top of the stool, she put a pointed wizard's hat.
James and Sirius eyed the dirty, old hat disappointedly, and the redhead—that Mia
knew had to be Lily Evans—looked incredibly smug at the sight and raised an eyebrow at
James and Sirius, muttering, "I told you so."
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:
Stick me here upon your brow
And let me sing my song.