"Arthur Abrams!"
"Who's that?"Brittany whispered, tugging on Santana's robe sleeve.
"It's Artie, Britt Britt." she whispered back.
"Oh."
Artie grinned at the two girls before he rolled over to the stool with the Sorting Hat on top. He grasped the hat, took a deep breath, and positioned it on his head. The hat sat on his head less than two seconds before it declared where Artie was best placed.
"RAVENCLAW!"
The room burst into the first applause of the night, most of the commotion coming from the third table from the left, where his new house family sat.
"They seem nice. Maybe we will all get sorted with Artie. Wouldn't that be fun?" Brittany asked those standing near her and Santana.
"It's really not likely that we will all get sorted into one particular house. You seem more like Hufflepuff if you ask my opinion." The short brunette said.
("Blaine Anderson!")
"What the fuck is a hufflepuff?" asked Puck."Sounds like she's trying to insult you Britt."
"That's mean." Brittany frowned at the girl.
("GRYFFINDOR!")
The girl glared at Puck. "First off, your language is reproachable. Second, 'Hufflepuff' was the last name of the house's founder. Helena Hufflepuff. She was honored for her fairness and warm attitude. She was the peacekeeping founder. Third of all, I wasn't meaning to insult you, Brittany." The last part she said directly to Brittany.
Brittany smiled. "That's my name."
"And mine is Rachel. Rachel Berry."
"Hey, Rachel! These are my friends Santana and Puck." Brittany pointed to the two beside her.
Santana gave her a curt nod. Puck gave her an evil grin.
Rachel looked like she was about to inquire about Puck's name, but was interrupted by Mcgonagall calling out her name. Her eyes got big and her legs started shaking. "I'll see you on the other side, Brittany. Bye Santana. Puck." Puck made kissy faces at her.
...
"I'm not so sure that Slytherin is the place for me, though." Rachel whispered to the hat.
"Um, and what is the place Miss Berry? I can see your thoughts and I know that you have big dreams. Yes, big dreams are waiting for you. And what house would help you on the way to greatness? Slytherin. Unless you're quite sure that you want something else."
Rachel thought for a moment. "And you say Slytherin will get me to Broadway?"
"Perhaps. You make your own destiny."
"Okay. I'm ready."
The hat gave a light laugh.
"SLYTHERIN!"
...
Mike Chang was next. His palms were sweaty. So far the all houses had gotten a new student except Hufflepuff. And given statistics, he could very easily be that Hufflepuff. But his family, both his mother and father and their parents were Ravenclaws, prided for their wisdom. The last words his father spoke to him before he boarded the Hogwarts Express was 'hope to hear of your sorting to Ravenclaw tomorrow. Have fun, son.' He took a big gulp.
"Michael Chang!"
He hopped up to the stool and placed the hat on his head.
"Another Chang! This is easy...RAVENCLAW!" Mike let out a sigh of relief. His father wouldn't be disappointed in him. And maybe Tina would get Ravenclaw, too.
"Tina Cohen Chang!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
...
"Lucy Fabray!"
"Quinn, please." the blonde girl pleaded with Mcgonagall. The woman gave her a knowing look.
"Quinn Fabray!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
...
Sam Evans became the first Hufflepuff, soon followed by a extremely tall boy named Finn Hudson.
Kurt Hummel, a very petite boy with porcelain skin, was sorted into Gryffindor with Blaine. He was more than pleased when his curvy (for an eleven year old) friend, Mercedes Jones also joined Gryffindor.
"We're going to have so much fun!" he exclaimed to Blaine and Mercedes at the end of the Gryffindor table. The three glanced over at the Hufflepuff table to their left where Sam and Finn were waving. Sam gave Mercedes a wink.
"Yeah." she said. "Definitely."
...
"San! You're up soon!" Brittany exclaimed. "What if we don't get in the same house with Artie and Rachel?"
"Who cares if we get in the same house as Yentl? Besides, Artie's a nerd. I don't want to be in the nerd house. I want to be in the hot one. Maybe Gryffindor or Slytherin." she muttered.
"Hell yeah!" Puck agreed. "But if you get Slytherin you'll probably have to room with Berry." he snickered.
"Damn. Forgot about that."
"Santana Lopez!"
Before Santana could even get the hat completely on her head it had made up its mind.
"SLYTHERIN!"
Brittany clapped her hands, a little sad that her friends were split up. As she made her turn up, she sniffled.
"I see you want to be with your friends." the Sorting Hat spoke.
"Yes. But Artie is in the Raven-something-or-another and Santana and Rachel are in the snake one. I can't decide which one to ask for."
"Well, why don't I choose for you. For I am the Sorting Hat."
"Yeah, I liked your song. I trust you."
The hat hummed on her head.
"Very well. HUFFLEPUFF!"
Brittany smiled and skipped over to Sam, Finn and a boy who reminded her of a leprechaun named Rory.
"My turn!" Puck smiled. He definitely wanted Slytherin. His cousin had told him all about how the Slytherin dormitory was under the lake with the big squid. He didn't see it when they rowed in the boats with that giant oaf Hagrid across the water. The weasel-like Jacob Ben Israel mysteriously was grabbed from the boat behind his and Chang's but he didn't get a good look at the tentacle before Hagrid had to fish him out. His first plan after the ceremony was to find a way to sneak out of the castle and go get a look for himself.
"Noah Puckerman!"
"Bout damn time!" he grinned, flopping the hat on his head.
"Puckerman. Hmm, I remember sorting your father."
Puck frowned. "I'm nothing like that bastard."
"Of course. He was a Ravenclaw, and I don't sense that that is the place for you. SLYTHERIN!"
...
Puck smiled remembering that night back five years ago. He remembered watching Berry sit on that stool talking to that hat, trying to be reassured that it knew what it was doing. He remembered watching Finn trip on his way up to the stool only to jump back up and yell that he was okay. He remembered how McGonagall rolled her eyes at him, and just popped the hat on him herself after he couldn't bring himself to touch a hat that talked. Oh, Finnocence. But most of all, he remembered when their prefect lead them down to the dungeon level dormitory. The room itself was pretty impressive, giving off a dark emerald glow. The black leather upholstery and lacquered tables made it the ultimate man cave. Puck approved. But what was really striking about the place was the large portrait that hung above the mantle of the onyx colored fireplace. The man wore black robes that matched his shoulder length hair and he had a rather long nose and dark brown eyes. He looked very noble, but sad. Puck thought he looked familiar, he could place him from somewhere, maybe a book that his mother had showed him once when he was little.
"Severus Snape. He was the headmaster of Hogwarts during the time that Voldemort came back. He was close friends with Albus Dumbledore. He used to teach Potions class back when Harry Potter was here." Puck turned to his right and saw that Rachel was beside him, looking at the portrait. "This one doesn't move like most, but I know there is one of his that talks in the Headmaster's office in the towers. I read it Hogwarts: A History 2nd edition. He's an interesting man to study, really. He was the one to kill Dumbledore after all. Everyone thought he was evil because he used to be a Death Eater and let the school be taken under control by them, but he really just was doing what he and Dumbledore had discussed. He died protecting the school and Harry. It was rumored that he was in love with Harry's mother Lillian back in the day."
Puck blinked. "You got a crush on a dead dude, Berry? Between his nose and yours, your spawn would look like eagles."
Rachel scrunched up said nose. "I was just trying to be friendly, seeing as how we're going to be stuck together for seven years."
"Stuck? If I don't want to see you, I can easily pretend that you don't exist."
"Excuse me! How rude!"
"Santana! Can you hear that? Sounds like a damn big bug. If you find it, will you squish it for me?"
The room enveloped in laughter.
Rachel muttered under her breath and stomped up to the girls' rooms.