As always, comments and questions are welcome.


                  ...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL?
                    By Scott K. Jamison
(Harry Potter and the associated characters were created by J.K.
Rowling.  No infringement is intended or should be construed.)

                  Chapter Five: Sorting


     As Duncan alit from the train, a strong and rather cold breeze
whipped at his robe.  It wiped away the last traces of sleepiness.

     "First Years this way!" boomed a mighty voice coming from a
large lump of darkness.  It seemed to turn, and was revealed to be a
huge man with a wild mane of greying hair and a beard that looked
like an owl could nest in it.  He was holding aloft a lantern that
shed a warm yellow glow, but only for a few feet.  Duncan felt a
little afraid, but not so Martin, it would seem.

     Despite his previous timidity, the boy was running straight for
the giant, shouting "Uncle Hagrid!"  Hagrid reached down with a hand
and lifted the small boy to his shoulder.

     "Good t' see you, Martin."

     Cuchulain looked up and up some more.  "That's your *uncle*?"

     "Friend of the family," rumbled Hagrid.  "Introduce me to yer
friends, Martin?"

     "That's Cuchulain, and the blond one's Duncan," Martin's voice
got a little timid again, "and the girl's Kirsten.  This is Rubeus
Hagrid, Groundskeeper and Professor of Care of Magical Creatures."

     "Pleased to meetcher all."

     "Top of the evening to you."

     "Hi," said Duncan.

     Kirsten gave a little curtsey.  "I'm very pleased to meet you,
Professor Hagrid."

     "Oh, none of that 'Perfesser'for me, thank you, Missy.  Just
Hagrid's fine."  Hagrid looked out at the milling students again. 
"Hoy, you two!  Yer luggage is being taken care of, so you can come
on over."

     The gigantic man checked a piece of parchment he'd pulled from
his breast pocket, then counted the students.  He broke into a large
smile, which seemed to intimidate some of the crowd.  "Numbers match,
first time in three years.  Follow me to the boats, now."

     A short walk brought the students to a dock at the edge of a
vast-looking lake.  Moored there were a number of small boats, and
after Hagrid removed Martin from his shoulder, the young Weasley
joined Cuchulain and Duncan in one of them, along with a fourth boy,
a sullen-looking lad who hadn't spoken.  Kirsten had been nabbed by
other girls to be in their boat.

     There didn't seem to be any oars or a motor, and just when
Duncan was about to ask how the boats ran, Hagrid shouted "Cast off!"
 The boats began to move seemingly of their own accord, despite the
wind blowing against them.  Magic, no doubt.

     Certainly "magic" seemed the right word as their destination
came into view, an enormous-looking castle with many towers, blazing
with lights.  There were "oohs" and "aahs" from nearly everyone, and
even the sullen boy managed an impressed sigh. 


     The boats docked as smoothly as they'd departed, and the
children scrambled ashore.  Hagrid led them up to a pair of massive
gates, and heaved them open with his impressive arms.  "This is as
far as I go, lads and lasses.  Got to go round and be with the other
teachers now."

     Martin said, "Tell Mother I said 'Hi.'"

     Hagrid nodded and walked off, the ground trembling slightly
beneath his feet.

     The other students had already crowded into a foyer, only to
recoil a bit when they saw the man standing in front of the next pair
of double doors.

     He was a wizard with long lank black hair and a cruel-looking
face.  Duncan thought it looked like the man disapproved of
everything he saw.  Especially the new students.

     "I am Assistant Headmaster Snape," said the wizard.  "You are
about to be sorted into your houses, which you will have for the
remainder of your time at Hogwarts.  I expect this remainder to be
very short for some of you."  He was staring directly at Martin, who
paled a bit.

     "If there is any misbehavior, I will be deducting points from
your house as soon as we learn what it is.  I consider once to be
sufficient warning."

     Snape raised an arm, and Duncan suddenly noticed the man seemed
to have only one, as the doors silently swung open.

     That was the end of silence, as a wave of sound came through the
open doorway, laughter and talking and clinking of tableware.  The
children surged forward, chaotically at first, then more sedately
under Snape's gimlet glare.

     They were made to line up against the wall, and Duncan took a
look at what was evidently the great hall of the castle.  Like
everything else he'd seen so far, it was impressive.  Candles floated
in midair beneath a high ceiling that was either transparent, or
magicked to seem so, because Martin could see the stars.

     Four long tables ran nearly the length of the hall, three of
which were filled with students in the school robes.  One of them,
which had red and gold banners above it, had an unusual number of
redheads mixed in.  The fourth table, decorated with green and
silver, was only half-full, and the students sitting there seemed
less boisterous than the rest.

     At the far end was a dais, with a table filled with older
people, who Duncan imagined were probably the teachers.  He only
recognized Professor Malfoy.

     However, at the closest end of the hall was a simple wooden
chair, on which was set an incredibly battered-looking wizard's
pointy hat.  

     "The Sorting Hat," whispered Martin.  "My father says it's
looked that way as long as anyone can remember."

     At an unseen signal, the hat began to stir, and what had seemed
a tear was now revealed to be a mouth.  A mouth that *sang*, no less.

     Duncan didn't quite catch all of the song, but he gathered that
there were four houses, that the hat would somehow sort them into. 
Gryffindors were brave, Hufflepuffs were hard-working, Ravenclaws
were smart...and Slytherins were, well, good at getting what they
wanted, it implied.

     When the song ended, Professor Snape pulled a parchment from his
empty sleeve and shook it open.  "Aaronson, Abraham."

     A boy with a high forehead, and a black skullcap above curly
black hair, stood forward from the newcomers.  He was gestured to the
chair, and put on the hat.  After a long moment, it shouted,
"Ravenclaw!"  One of the tables had all its students stand and
applaud as Abraham made his way over to it.

     "Black, Cygnet."  Duncan imagined that Snape's voice was even
colder than before.  Cygnet, a girl with very fair skin and long
ebony hair, was sorted to Gryffindor.  That table stood and applauded
as well.

     The next two students went to Hufflepuff, and then it was time
for--

     "Dursley, Duncan."  Was he imagining things, or had there been a
touch of humor in Professor Snape's delivery of his name?  Certainly,
there was a stir through the hall.  Duncan heard it like the buzzing
of hornets, and his knees quaked.

     "Hurry it up, boy, we haven't got all night!" snapped Professor
Snape.

     Duncan scurried to the chair, and plopped it on his head.

     "You're a surprise," said a voice in his head.  It was the hat's
voice, but it seemed to be speaking to him alone now.  "It's rather
messy inside your mind, did you know that?  You need to take charge
of your own destiny, so for you, it's--"

     "Slytherin!" it shouted out loud.

     Duncan took a look back at the students waiting to be sorted. 
Several were staring at him with looks of surprise or pity.  Martin
looked like someone had punched him in the stomach.

     Professor Snape said, "Vert et argent, serpentus rampant." 
Strangely, his voice was almost soft now.

     Argent was silver, and only one set of banners had a snake on
it.  So Slytherin was the half-empty table.  As Duncan headed their
way, most of them stood and applauded.  His heart sank, as this was
most assuredly not a good sign.

     A large blond boy with a prefect's badge like Thomas gestured to
an empty place near him.  "Hello, Duncan.  I'm Gunnar Malison,
welcome to Slytherin House."  His handshake was perhaps a little too
firm, and Duncan winced.  "Sorry, don't know my own strength."

     More students went to each of the three other houses, then it
was "Kinnock, Kirsten."  Duncan crossed his fingers, as she was
possibly the nicest girl he'd ever known, and it would be nice to
have all his friends together.

     Alas, the call was "Hufflepuff!" and she skipped to that table
without a glance to either side.

     "Fancy her, do you?" said Gunnar.  "Don't worry, seven years is
a long time, and you'll be seeing her again."

     Duncan's ears burned.  "It's not like that!"

     Gunnar laughed.  "Sure it isn't.  But remember, we have girls in
Slytherin too."

     As if to confirm this, "L'Arc, Genevieve", a sharp-featured girl
with a decidedly orange hue to her elaborately braided hair, was
sorted to their table.  After an introduction, she looked Duncan up
and down, and said, "You're fat."

     Gunnar said, "Well, now we know why *you're* in Slytherin.  But
a little tact will go far."

     Genevieve sniffed and turned to the girl next to her.

     Cuchulain was sorted into Gryffindor, and shook his hands in a
victory pose as he was welcomed.  Duncan felt a pain in his chest.

     There wasn't another Slytherin until "Talbain, Quentin."  He was
a swarthy boy whose eyebrows met in the middle, making one long
streak of hair.  Genevieve shrank away from the newcomer.

     "Geez, I'm perfectly safe," growled Quentin.  "Got my shots and
everything."

     Genevieve didn't seem convinced.  "Don't come near me, Talbain."

     "Mind her not," said Gunnar.  "I bet she tastes terrible."

     For some reason, most of the people at the table found this quip
absolutely hilarious.    Duncan didn't get it at all.

     But by this time, they were joined by "Warlock, Cosmo", the
sullen boy from the boat.  Genevieve seemed happy to see him, but he
simply acknowledged everyone with a nod.

     Martin got sorted into Gryffindor as well.  Duncan was about to
cry.

     "What did you expect," said Gunnar, not unkindly, "all the
Weasleys sort into Gryffidor.  Even Richard."  The last was said with
genuine venom, which startled Duncan into not feeling quite so bad.

     At last, "Zorton, Zebediah" was sorted into Hufflepuff, and the
teacher at the center of the dais rose.

     "Good evening.  I am Headmistress Minerva MacGonagall.  A very
warm welcome to all our new students!"  Applause broke out.  She
looked like a very old witch, but not as ugly as Duncan somehow
expected.  Kind of like someone else's grandmother, really.

     "And welcome back to all our returning scholars.  There are, as
always, a few announcements before the feast begins.  The Forbidden
Forest is again off limits on penalty of expulsion.  This applies
especially to Weasleys."  There was a ripple of laughter.

     Headmaster MacGonagall adjusted her glasses.  "I am sorry to
state that Professor Gallimaufrey met with an unfortunate accident
over the summer.  You'll be pleased to hear that he's on the mend,
but sadly will be unable to teach this term.  Therefore, I have asked
a distinguished alumnus of Hogwarts to teach Defense Against the Dark
Arts.  I'd like you all please to welcome Professor Hermione
Granger."

     A witch with bushy brown hair stood up, and there was a strong
round of applause, especially from the Gryffindors, who seemed to
know her.  Duncan noticed that she was seated on the exact opposite
end of the table from Professor Malfoy, and that man had stiffened
when she was introduced.  Wait a minute, Duncan was sure he'd heard
that name before.

     "Who's Professor Granger?" he asked Gunnar.

     "Were you raised by *Muggles*?  She's one of Harry Potter's best
friends, and one of the smartest witches around."

     "Oh."  That was right, she'd written a book.  Which might mean
she could shed some light on his mysterious cousin.

     "And now," continued the headmaster, "let us eat!"

     Food appeared on the tables, heaping platters of delight.  Even
the Dursley home had never seen such a feast!  Duncan forgot his
troubles for a time as he tucked in.


                    TO BE CONTINUED

Comments, questions?

SKJAM!







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