Ron-Weasly book 1

"We'll be at Hogwarts in five minutes." The driver's loud voice echoed through the carriages. "Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be delivered to the school separately. Do not forget the familiars in the compartment. We're taking it with us."

Harry got nervous, and I turned very pale.

"Harry, take Hedwig with you, and let her out on the platform. There's an owlery in the castle. She'll find her own way."

I put Skabers in my bosom. We stuffed the rest of the sweets into our pockets and went out into the hallway, where the rest of the children were already crowding.

The train slowed down and slowed down and finally stopped. There was a terrible crowd in the corridor, but after a few minutes I finally found myself on an unlit small platform. It was cold outside, and I shivered. Then a large lamp swung over the heads of the guys standing on the platform, and I heard a voice:

"Freshmen! Freshmen, come here! Hey, Harry, are you all right?" Above the sea of heads towered the shining face of a giant. Interestingly, Hagrid fell into a cauldron with a bone growth potion as a child? And why was he expelled from school?

"So, is everyone here? Then follow me! And look at your feet! Freshmen, follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, we followed Hagrid down a narrow path that sloped sharply down. We were surrounded by such dense darkness that it seemed to me as if we were making our way through a forest thicket. All conversations died down, and we walked in almost complete silence, except for Neville sneezing a couple of times.

"Just a few more seconds and you'll see Hogwarts!" Hagrid shouted without turning around. "Okay, careful! Everyone over here!"

"Oh-oh-oh!" there was a collective, delighted exclamation.

We were standing on the shore of a large black lake. And on the other side of it, on top of a high cliff, stood a giant castle with turrets and loopholes, and its huge windows reflected the light of the stars strewn across the sky.

"Four people in one boat, no more," Hagrid commanded, pointing to a whole flotilla of small boats bobbing near the shore.

Harry and I found ourselves in the same boat as Hermione and Neville. Fuck... As they say, you will communicate with whoever you sail with. Not with this nerd. I would have chosen another boat, but Harry balked.

"Are you seated?" Hagrid, who had a private boat, shouted. "Then go ahead!"

The flotilla moved, the boats glided across the glass-smooth lake. Everyone was silent, staring at the huge castle. The closer we got to the cliff he was standing on, the more he towered over us.

"Get down!" Hagrid shouted loudly as we approached the cliff.

Everyone tilted their heads, and the boats ended up in a thicket of ivy that hid a huge crevice. After passing through the thicket, we entered a dark tunnel, which, apparently, ended right under the castle, and soon moored to an underground pier and disembarked on the rocks.

"Hey, you!" shouted Hagrid, addressing Neville. The giant was examining the empty boats and apparently noticed something.

"Oh, Trevor!" Neville yelled happily, stretching out his arms and hugging his toad to him.

Didn't he perform the familiar binding ritual on his toad? What the hell was he driving her at all? I have a pet rat, she doesn't give a damn about anything anymore after the twins' jokes.

Hagrid led us up a flight of stone stairs, lighting the way with a huge lamp. Soon everyone was on the dew-soaked lawn at the foot of the castle. Another flight of stairs and now we were standing in front of a huge oak door.

"Is everyone here?" Hagrid asked. "Hey, have you lost your toad yet?"

Neville hugged his pet closer.

After making sure that everything was in order, Hagrid raised his huge fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

Chapter 6. Sorted by faculty.

The door swung open. Behind her stood a tall, black-haired sorceress in emerald-green robes. Her face was very stern, and it was better not to argue with such a lady, and in general it was better to stay away from her.

"Professor McGonagall, these are the first years," Hagrid informed her.

"Thank you, Hagrid," the witch nodded at him. "I'm taking them."

She turned and walked forward, ordering us to follow her. We found ourselves in a huge hall-so huge that our house could easily fit in there. Torches burned on the stone walls, just like at Gringotts, the ceiling was lost somewhere above, and a beautiful marble staircase led to the upper floors. We followed Professor McGonagall across the cobblestone floor. As I passed the closed door on the right, I heard the sound of hundreds of voices-the whole school must have already gathered there. But Professor McGonagall wasn't leading us there at all, but into a small, empty dining room. It was crowded with freshmen, and we huddled together, breathing down each other's necks and looking around uneasily.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall finally greeted us. "The banquet for the start of the school year will begin soon, but before you sit down at the tables, you will be divided into faculties. Selection is a very serious procedure, because from now until graduation, your faculty will become your second family. You will study together, sleep in the same bedroom and spend your free time in a room specially designated for your faculty."

That's why I was against such a neighborhood in the boat. I have no desire to see Hermione constantly by my side and listen to her lecture me. Percy is enough for me.

"There are four faculties in the school — Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each of them has its own ancient history, and outstanding wizards and sorceresses have emerged from each. While you are studying at Hogwarts, your achievements will earn your house prize points, and points will be deducted for each violation of the schedule. At the end of the year, the faculty with the most points wins the competition between the faculties, which is a great honor. I hope each of you will be a worthy member of your family. The selection ceremony will begin in a few minutes in the presence of the entire school. In the meantime, you have some time, I advise you to collect your thoughts."

Her eyes lingered on Neville's robe, which had fallen off so that its clasp was under his left ear, and then on my nose. Damn, should I put some stain cream on him? What I was driving him around with, it was all the twins. Exactly. Harry tried to smooth his unruly hair with a trembling hand.

"I'll be back here when everyone is ready to meet you," said Professor McGonagall and went to the door. Before she left, she turned around. — Please be quiet.

Harry sucked in a deep breath.

"And how will this selection take place?" he asked me.

"We'll probably have to go through some trials," I replied. "Fred said it hurt a lot, but I think he was joking, as always."

Harry looked around uneasily. Everyone was terrified and silent, except for Hermione Granger, who stood next to us and whispered to everyone around about which spells she had already learned, and wondered aloud which one she would need at the selection ceremony. Does she even think with her head? Who will demand to conjure the firstborn. Yes, if we have something going well by the middle of the year.

I stood and prepared for the selection. I hope the twins were joking about the troll after all. Suddenly, heart-rending screams cut through the air, and I saw Harry jump in surprise. Damn, I was scared myself.

"What?.." He started, but stopped, his mouth hanging open. Just like everyone else.

Ghosts were seeping into the room through the wall opposite the door-there were probably about twenty of them. Pearly-white, translucent, they glided around the room, talking among themselves and, it seems, not noticing our gathering at all or pretending not to notice. Apparently, they were arguing.

"And I'm telling you that you need to forget about his sins and forgive him," said one of them, who looked like a little fat monk. "I think we just have to give him another chance..."

"My dear Monk, didn't we give Peeves more chances than he deserved? He shames and insults us, and in my opinion, he was never really a ghost..."

The ghost in tights and a round puffy collar fell silent and stared at the freshmen, as if he had just noticed us.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

No one answered.

"These are the new students!" The Fat Monk exclaimed, smiling at the crowd. "Waiting for the selection, I suppose?"

Several people nodded uncertainly.

"I hope you get to Hufflepuff!" The monk continued to smile "My favorite faculty, you know, I once studied there myself." No, I don't need to go to the farmers and employees of the ministry.

"Get out of here," said a stern voice. "The selection ceremony is about to begin."

It's Professor McGonagall back. She looked sternly at the ghosts, and they hurriedly began to seep through the wall and disappear one by one.

"Form a line," the professor commanded, addressing us, "and follow me!"

Harry stood behind the boy with the blond hair, and I stood behind him, and we left the small hall, crossed the hall we had already visited at the entrance to the castle, and went through the double doors into the Great Hall. Oh, the beauty.

The hall was lit by thousands of enchanted candles floating in the air above the four long tables where the senior students were sitting. The tables were filled with gleaming gold plates and goblets. At the other end of the hall, the teachers were sitting at the same long table. Professor McGonagall led the first-year students to this table and ordered them to turn their backs to the teachers and face the upperclassmen.

There were hundreds of faces in front of me, pale in the semi-darkness, like dim lamps. Among the upperclassmen, the silvery, blurry silhouettes of ghosts flashed here and there.

"It was specially enchanted to look like the sky." Hermione whispered, standing next to him again. "I read it in The History of Hogwarts."

It was hard to believe that it was actually a ceiling. It seemed to me that the Great Hall was under the open sky. Even though I'm used to magic, it's really fascinating. There are no clouds today either, which is good. I don't even want to think about it if it was raining. It is not customary to help children at school. As you can do magic, you also take care of yourself with charms. Some even collect their first-aid kits so that they don't have to go to the hospital wing for nothing.

I heard a sound and, looking down at the ceiling, saw that Professor McGonagall had placed a very ordinary-looking stool in front of a row of first-year students and placed a pointed Magic hat on the seat. The hat was patched, worn, and terribly dirty.

Everyone in the room was staring at the Hat, and I began to look at it carefully, too. There was complete silence in the hall for a few seconds. And then the Hat moved. The next moment, a mouth-like hole appeared in her, and she began to sing:

"Maybe I'm ugly to look at,

But don't judge me harshly.

You can't find a smarter hat than me.

Whatever you say.

Hats, top hats, and bowlers

Prettier than me, no doubt.

But if they were smarter than me,

I would eat myself for lunch.

I can see through all your thoughts,

Don't hide anything from me.

Put me on and I'll let you know,

With whom you are destined to study.

Perhaps you will find

Gryffindor, the glorious dark,

That the brave men study there.

Their hearts are full of courage and strength,

Besides, they are noble.

Or maybe,

Hufflepuff is your destiny,

Where no one is afraid of work,

Where everyone is loyal,

And they are full of patience and perseverance.

And if there's something wrong with your brain,

Have you been attracted to knowledge for a long time,

There is humor and strength to gnaw granite.,

Then your way is to the Ravenclaw table.

Maybe you're destined to be in Slytherin.

Find your best friends.

There are cunning people going to their goal,

No self-conscious ways.

Do not be afraid of me, put on bravely,

And I will predict your fate more accurately.,

Than someone else will do it.

You're in good hands.,

Even though I'm armless, alas,

But I'm proud of myself."

As soon as the song ended, the entire audience applauded unanimously. The hat bowed to all four tables. Her mouth disappeared, she fell silent and froze.

What freaks! I'll get back at them for the troll. Damn, and Percy and my parents were silent when I asked them about the sorting ceremony. Everyone has to go through it on their own... at least give them a hint or something.

"So, all each of us will need to do is try it on?" I whispered. "I'm going to kill that liar Fred, because he told me we were going to have to fight the troll."

Harry forced a smile. I hope I get to Gryffindor. The main thing is that this nerdy Granger doesn't get there. Although what should she do with us? She's on her way to Ravenclaw.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward, holding a long roll of parchment in her hands.

"When I say your name, you will put on your hat and sit on a stool," She said. "Let's get started. Abbott, Hannah!"

A girl with white pigtails and a pink face, either from embarrassment or fright, stumbled out of the line, went to a stool, took a Hat and sat down. The hat, apparently, was a large size, because, once on Hannah's head, it covered not only her forehead, but even her eyes. And after a moment...

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the Hat shouted loudly. Those sitting at the rightmost table burst into applause. Hannah got up, went to this table and sat down in an empty seat. I noticed that the Fat Monk who was hovering at the table waved at her affably.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the Hat shouted again, and Susan hurriedly scurried to her desk, sitting next to Hannah.

"Booth, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Now there was applause at the second table on the left, and several seniors rose from their seats to shake hands with Terry, who joined them.

Mandy Brocklehurst also went to the Ravenclaw faculty table, and Lavender Brown became the first new member of the Gryffindor faculty. The table on the far left exploded with cheers, and I saw my brothers among the shouting.

Millicent Bulstrode was assigned to Slytherin.

I started to worry. What if they send me to another faculty?

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Sometimes the hat, as soon as it appeared on the head of another freshman or freshgirl, almost instantly called the faculty, and sometimes she thought. So, Seamus Finnigan, the blond boy standing in front of Harry, sat on a stool for almost a minute until the Hat sent him to the Gryffindor table.