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Sorting Hat - Gideon Blackwood - 04-29-2026
Sorting Hat
1 September 1922
Staring out through the castle doors, Gideon let out a quiet sigh. Another year. With any luck, it might even be a calm one. He knew better than to say it aloud.
The sound of laughter and chatter rose up from the grounds, signaling the arrival of the older students. As they came into view, Gideon’s gaze moved over them, some new faces among the familiar, transfers mixed in with those who had simply grown older over the summer.
“Welcome back to Hogwarts,” he called, voice carrying through the crowd. “Head straight to the Great Hall for the opening feast. You all know where you’re going, so do try and get there without incident.” He paused. A slight narrowing of his eyes at a few specific students.
“If you arrive late for any reason, there will be sandwiches in your future. Many of you already know how unfortunate that can be. You’ve been warned, yes, even the ones pretending not to hear me. Cucumber sandwiches, don’t test me. Off you go.”
He waited just long enough to ensure they actually moved before turning his attention to the smaller group approaching from the boathouse. The first years were far too small, in his opinion. They looked up at him expectantly, a mix of nerves and curiosity written plainly across their faces. Gideon looked over the group and sighed.
“Right,” he said. “Good evening, and welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In a moment, we’ll enter the Great Hall. You’ll follow me to the front and line up. From there, you’ll be sorted into your houses. That house will be your home for the next seven years, where you’ll sleep, study, argue… and, if you’re fortunate, find your people.”
A faint, knowing smile touched his expression.
“When your name is called, step forward, sit on the stool, and I’ll place the Sorting Hat on your head. It will decide where you belong. Once sorted, you’ll join your house for the feast.”
His gaze swept across the group, looking for anyone ignoring his instructions or potentially ready to pass out in panic.
“A few simple expectations: stay with the group, listen when you’re spoken to, and resist the urge to touch anything that looks interesting. At Hogwarts, that is usually when it bites back.”
A brief pause.
“Any questions? No? Good. There’s hope for you yet.” He turned, already moving toward the doors. “Follow me.”
The footsteps climbing the stairs were softer then those of the older years. Tentative. Smaller. As they got to the doors, he turned and looked over the group one more time, happy that they all seemed to follow his earlier instructions. Great, they were off to a promising start.
The first years were lined up at the front of the great hall, a mixture of awe and terror on their faces. There was a hushed silence in the hall as everyone waited for the Sorting Hat to come alive for it’s yearly song.
And then… it spoke…
A thousand years or more ago,
When I was newly sewn,
There lived four wizards of renown,
Whose names are still well known:
Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,
Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,
Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,
Shrewd Slytherin, from fen.
They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,
They hatched a daring plan
To educate young sorcerers
Thus Hogwarts School began.
Now each of these four founders
Formed their own house, for each
Did value different virtues
In the ones they had to teach.
By Gryffindor, the bravest were
Prized far beyond the rest;
For Ravenclaw, the cleverest
Would always be the best;
For Hufflepuff, hard workers were
Most worthy of admission;
And power-hungry Slytherin
Loved those of great ambition.
While still alive they did divide
Their favorites from the throng,
Yet how to pick the worthy ones
When they were dead and gone?
'Twas Gryffindor who found the way,
He whipped me off his head
The founders put some brains in me
So I could choose instead!
Now slip me snug about your ears,
I've never yet been wrong,
I'll have a look inside your mind
And tell where you belong!
The Great Hall erupted into applause, as usual, everyone loved the hat and its rhyming antics. Gideon pulled the scroll out from the interior pocket of his robes. Something he rarely wore, but it seemed prudent on the first night. With his hand raised, the students calmed, waiting to hear where the first years would be sorted.
“Andre Anders!”
“Zade Zakarius!”
Gideon rolled up the scroll, tucked it back into his robes and retreated to the staff table where he sat next to his Wife, and the Hufflepuff Head of House Roisin. Taking her hand in his, linking their fingers together, he settled into his seat and waited for the Head Master to give his speech. His job was done for the time being, ready to sit back and relax.
(OOC: Welcome first years! You will come in and sit on a stool where the Sorting Hat will decide your fate. Feel free to post this experience!
You don’t need to follow any specific order, and this is considered a one-shot. Your student will post, then immediately go join their table.)
Good luck!
Gryffindor
Third Year
Lindsay Thatch
Vinnie Folwell
Fourth Year
Frederick Richter
Fifth Year
Morgan Barlowe
Sixth Year
Matilda Nordstrom
Nathaniel Mourningside
Timothy Blackburn
Tulip Asquith
Seventh Year
Dragomir Zdravkova
Third Year
Lindsay Thatch
Vinnie Folwell
Fourth Year
Frederick Richter
Fifth Year
Morgan Barlowe
Sixth Year
Matilda Nordstrom
Nathaniel Mourningside
Timothy Blackburn
Tulip Asquith
Seventh Year
Dragomir Zdravkova
Hufflepuff
First Year
Blossom Asquith
Third Year
Maevie Golding
Sixth Year
Ellen Graymere
Percival Harman
Benji Laurence
Alice Ravenstone
First Year
Blossom Asquith
Third Year
Maevie Golding
Sixth Year
Ellen Graymere
Percival Harman
Benji Laurence
Alice Ravenstone
Ravenclaw
First Year
Avery Hale
Kathryn Barlowe
Rion Milton
Second Year
Mia Star
Third Year
Catherine Holloway
Elias Everett
Joshua Henley
Sienna Miller
Silas LaCroix
Fifth Year
Brooks Garren
Sixth Year
Eamon Thistlebane
Oilibhéar Ó Coigligh
William Arsenaut
First Year
Avery Hale
Kathryn Barlowe
Rion Milton
Second Year
Mia Star
Third Year
Catherine Holloway
Elias Everett
Joshua Henley
Sienna Miller
Silas LaCroix
Fifth Year
Brooks Garren
Sixth Year
Eamon Thistlebane
Oilibhéar Ó Coigligh
William Arsenaut
Slytherin
Third Year
Hera Redcliff
Fifth Year
Corbin Donahue
Sixth Year
Evander Whistler
Gianni Di Paolo
Ren Al-Sayeed
Ruth Elliot
Third Year
Hera Redcliff
Fifth Year
Corbin Donahue
Sixth Year
Evander Whistler
Gianni Di Paolo
Ren Al-Sayeed
Ruth Elliot
**Sorting Hat Song found HERE**
RE: Sorting Hat - Kathryn Barlowe - 05-02-2026
Kathryn Barlowe.
She stepped forward at the sound of her name, following the lead of those who'd gone before her. Outwardly, the little girl was the picture of perfect composure. From the moment her mother had led her down the grand staircase, Kathryn's entire body had gone stiff. It wasn't her first time in the castle by any means, and she was used to seeing the students walking around as she made her way from room to room with her mother.
With.
Her mother.
Now she sat on a stool before hundreds of pairs of eyes with only the vague knowledge that somewhere behind her sat her mother and Mr. Maddox. If she had to come to the feast, she'd have preferred to sit with them. But it wasn't allowed. She was no longer a spectral observer, assimilated into whatever authority her mother held. Now, she was a part of the population, and all its rules now applied to her. It was a jarring change, one she could scarcely process when her nervous system was so locked onto the contained chaos of the Great Hall.
She sat with one foot tucked behind the other ankle, her posture impeccable and her gloved hands folded in her lap. While back in the line waiting, she'd heard a few first-years whispering about them, but had paid them no mind.
It was too much input in too little time.
"My, what have we here?"
Kathryn gave no indication that she'd heard the voice. Where a few students had instinctively twisted, trying to figure out who had suddenly engaged them in conversation, the small girl remained within the walls of her silent stoicism.
"Not one for words but a mind that never goes quiet. Yes...yes...but where to put you?"
Silence.
"I see ambition in you. There, but understated. You'll never attempt to conquer the world; that's not you, but there's a hunger. How will you use it?"
Silence.
How strange the conversation must have looked from the outside. A hat no one else could hear and a little girl with dispassionate blue eyes staring out at nothing in particular. Neither gave the game away, and neither made anyone in the Great Hall any wiser to what they may have been discussing. In truth, Kathryn heard nearly none of it. She didn't wonder where she might end up. There was someone in every house, and she harboured no particular affinity for any of the four. Ruth was in Slytherin, Benny a Hufflepuff, Morgan and Mr. Maddox in Gryffindor and her mother in...Ravenclaw.
Ravenclaw, she thought firmly.
"Ah, so you do have a mind for where you might want to go, but is it really you?"
Ravenclaw.
Ravenclaw," the hat repeated. "But surprisingly stubborn. Are you sure you wouldn't rather Gryffindor?" it crooned.
Ravenclaw.
"A fine choice and quite right. Must be RAVENCLAW!!!"
RE: Sorting Hat - Avery Hale - 05-02-2026
It was all so splendid, wasn't it?
In all the ways Avery had never considered the world could be, this place, this Hogwarts, it surpassed his very imagination. Which was quite something, one might muse, considering the never-ending thoughts his brain managed to conjure on any given day. Eyes wide, full of wonder and awe, the muggleborn boy from North England hung back a bit, allowing his new classmates to walk ahead of him as he took in every inch and corner he could, burning this first glimpse of it all into his memory.
The tall cavernous Great Hall, adorned with impossibly floating candles and a ceiling that seemed to reflect the heavens above. Colors of red, blue, green and yellow proudly cascaded across each table, and at the front, there sat a little stool with an old hat on it, meant to decide his future.
How exhilarating. How impossible it seemed, that this was his life, when only yesterday he was helping his mother process sheep's cheese in the kitchen.
Cal would be wickedly jealous.
Rushing to keep up with the group, Avery beamed at the older students as he walked between tables and settled in near the back of the first years, waiting patiently for his turn to be called.
"Kathryn Barlowe."
Avery's eyes immediately shot forward, realizing the girl he'd met in Diagon Alley a month or so ago, was here. He hadn't seen her on the train or even on the boats leading over. Where had she come from? Had she just appeared? Was that possible for wizard folk? His eyes narrowed slightly in contemplation as he cocked his head, realizing she was still wearing those gloves she refused to talk write about.
She didn't move. Didn't hardly blink. Was something happening that he just wasn't privy to? Avery looked over his shoulder at the seated students, but they didn't seem overly concerned.
Huh.
And there she went, off to the Ravenclaw table, whatever that meant.
"Avery Hale."
"Oh, that's me!" he exclaimed and pushed his way through the group with a series of apologies and pardons. He was a farm kid after all. Not a brute. Manners still mattered, his mother always said.
As he plopped himself down on the stool, he glanced up at Professor Blackwood, his mouth falling open to ask a question, but the hate was unceremoniously dumped on his head before he could speak. The voice that ricocheted through his skull was startling.
"Well aren't you full of questions?"
Hmm? Was it...the hat that had entered his mind and was now reading his thoughts, speaking telepathically into his brain? Curious. A million questions suddenly soared through the little boy's head as his hands gripped the edges of the stool, his body practically vibrating with excitement and anticipation.
"Eager too. A zest for learning and acquiring information. Ravenclaw would be easy for you."
Uh. Wait. The boy's mind suddenly emptied of everything except the strange little girl that had just been sent to Ravenclaw and how she'd admitted she didn't experiment on things that were alive, that leant consideration to the face that she experimented on things that were dead.
No. No, no. Not Ravenclaw. Not there with the mafia daughter and...
"You certainly don't belong in Slytherin. While your ambition is great, you're not cut out for the...personalities that roam there."
Well he certainly wasn't cut out for the alternative! What was left? Avery's eyes scanned quickly. Red for Gryffindor and yellow for Hufflepuff. Eh, he didn't think he was very puffly, whatever that meant and the Gryffindor types seemed...rowdy. Unnecessarily so.
No, no, no....
"Don't be so pessimistic. You'll find your place there soon enough."
Oh God. Oh bleedin' Christ. Avery's eyes landed on Kathryn again. Maybe, maybe the others in their house wouldn't be so...strange. Right? He wasn't strange. He was normal. Completely normal. Not at all glove-wearing or dead-thing-experimenting.
"Off you go to.....RAVENCLAW."
RE: Sorting Hat - Blossom Asquith - 05-05-2026
The journey to school had been just as she had always imagined it, amazing. It was the first time she had been away from her parents, and just not having them pulling her along like a disinterested Pekingese. Mater made sure she made drama at the station, wailing good bye to her baby, which was odd as Blossom hardly ever got noticed normally. Blossom was glad when the train pulled away. Her three sisters had all shown a similar disdain to their mother, Tulip disappeared down the train with other 6th years, Blossom was pretty sure they were smoking. Poppy ran off with a group of her friends who seemed loud and there wasn't any room in their compartment for her. She had taken a seat in the same compartment as Briar and her friends who were sat discussing potions and plants all things Blossom didn't understand. There were other first years milling about, but she wasn't sure what to say to them, some seemed to know each other or older students.
The train journey was instresting but it paled in comparrison to the journey to the school once they got to the station as they were led through the darkness into small boats that crossed a massive lake. Blossom sat with other terrified first years as they bobbed along. Once the boats landed they followed along in lines towards the castle. The castle was far more emense than Blossom had imagined, she had grown up listening to her sisters stories but they didn't even do it a slight bit of Justice. She followed the other first years just as gob-smacked.
They were met outside of the Hall by a professor, Blossom had no idea which, she wasn't listening she was too busy looking around at everything. Before she knew it she was stood in front of the sorting hat, she'd heard all about it from her sisters. and as she sat down on the stool and someone placed the hat on her head, she recalled a conversation at the start of the summer about the sorting hat.
"What house do you think I'll be in?" She'd asked her sisters over lunch, they were sat in the garden, Mater had yet another headache and Papa was in London, Flora was back for a few weeks, between auditions apprantly.
"Who knows, that hat is broken." Tulip drawled.
"It's a magical hat? How can it be broken?" She asked her sister curious
"Isn't it obvious? Look how we all got sorted?" Tulip pointed out, "Poppy in Hufflepuff is not a sign of a well hat...."
"I don't know you seem perfectly sorted into Gryffindor," Rose quipped at her younger sister, "Like most of your house, slightly deranged and have a stupid sense of being so much cooler than everyone else."
"Excuse me! I was also a Gryffindor!" Flora reminded her.
"And now you've run away to try and appear in Muggle talkie movies. Need I say more" Rose snapped back.
"I just wish at least one of you was smart enough to be a Ravenclaw! Maybe you will be Blossom dear." Brair said her voice quiet as always.
"Yuck!" Exclaimed Poppy "You don't want to be in there, it's full of weirdos." she said her mouth full of lunch.
"Blossom my sweet child," Rose said smiling in her usual dangerous way "I am sure you'll be a Slytherin, the best house and where it will need a new queen, I shall leave that in your hands as I shall no longer be there." this comment by Rose set of a steam of arguments amoungst the sisters all with string views of where Blossom would be best placed.
It's a very complicated little mind
Blossom heard the voice in her head, and she knew it was the hat.
[i]You could do well anywhere, but where would you excell........hmmmm.... yes I know HUFFLEPUFF