After walking for a few minutes, the group found themselves at what looked to Brandon to be a deep lake, dark and mysterious, but even more mysterious he thought, was what he saw when he gazed up towards the shining moonlight. There, in the shadowy distance, was a castle, shrouded in mist. But his thoughts were interrupted again, as the group moved onto a boat after the man gestured them onto it. Most curious to Brandon, was the fact that the boat had no oars, nor were there anyone rowing the boat. It seemed to, as if magically propel itself forward, towards the castle in the distance. He thought nothing of it however, as his curiosity to see the castle in better light overwhelmed him. Peering over the edges of the boat, he saw something reflected in the water, as he reached for it, a hand grabbed his arm, "You don't want to do that my boy, greater wizards than you have fallen at the hands of that creature" said the voice. It was the caped man who seized Brandon's arm, and when Brandon looked at him closer, he saw a kind of stern kindness, behind the man's cowl, which strangely enough also hosted square shaped sunglasses. "Sunglasses... at this time of day?" Brandon thought, but once more realizing his discourteousness said quickly "Thank you," to the man, who simply smiled and faced forward towards the castle once more. As the group disembarked from the boat, Jimmy ran up ahead towards the castle steps; others followed him quickly as the man walked calmly after them. Brandon kept pace with the man, despite constantly looking ahead at the group rushing up the front steps of the castle. "This way," the man said, as he led them down towards a huge door. Brandon was astonished as he looked in every direction jerking his head this way and that. Suddenly, the door moved open, but Brandon could have sworn he did not see anyone touch the door... the group followed the man through the door as the interior began to show itself.
The hallway Brandon was just standing in could not measure up to this hall in any way, shape or form, all of the robed people he saw leaving the train earlier were seated at tables. There were four long rows, and above each row, hung the banners of varying colors. He hadn't noticed it before, but each of the robed individual had slightly different colors on their robes, and most definitely their neckties which corresponded to the colors of each respective banner they sat under. Much more impressive than this however, was the ceiling of the hall, or lack there of. The ceiling seemed to show the sky as if there was no ceiling, but Brandon could have sworn they walked into an enclosed space. Before he could ask Mandy however, the man with the cape stopped near the back end of the large hall in front of an old man. This old man looked most peculiar Brandon thought, as if he knew him from somewhere, but couldn't pinpoint exactly where he had seen him.
The old man had a beard which hung down to his chest, although his hair was not completely gray, there were obvious gray and white highlights in his otherwise auburn hair. He sported a long silver robe, with sleeves that hung down to his knees, his belt was a fine gold color and his spectacles also square, just the same as the caped man. Then he spoke, "Thank you Professor Soderstrom," as the caped man bowed, stepped aside and the old man continued "now before we commence our great feast, I'd like to welcome everyone back to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You may have noticed this year, that our staff have grown in number; in fact, we have just opened the new post of "Spellcasting Development" for our new teacher, Professor Masterson, please show your support for her." As the old man stopped for a moment, the hall burst into cheers and applause as a young woman, with long blond hair and a large pointy hat stood up and took a bow from a long table behind the old man. The old man started again, "As you may or may not know, I am Professor Longbottom, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I look forward to another great year with all my fellow teachers and you students, but first, let us start with the sorting!" he concluded. "Longbottom..." Brandon thought, as he recalled the visage of the boy Newton Longbottom.
"What's this... sorting did he say?" he asked Mandy quickly, but before she could answer, Professor Soderstrom interrupted by placing an old green hat onto a chair in the space the old man Professor Longbottom was just occupying. Suddenly, from the hat appeared eyes and a slit opened to reveal a mouth on the hat! Then the hat spoke, "Welcome to Hogwarts, you new wizards you, today I will sort you, into a house or two, weather you be of brave Gryffindor, or of loyal Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw the wise, or Slytherin the royal, I am here to sort you there, so be prepared and don't despair!" The hat stopped speaking as Brandon looked at it, then Professor Soderstrom spoke again as Brandon turned towards Mandy, "Hermandus Molly Weasley!" Mandy scrambled forward and sat in a chair which was where the old man Professor Longbottom was just standing. As she sat down nervously on the chair, Professor Soderstrom placed a manky old hat on top of her head, which fell beneath her eyes. Without hesitation, the hat said "Gryffindor!" and Mandy hopped off the chair and scrambled to the table under the red and gold banner, where a number of robed students greeted her and cheered. Then a sickly young girl walked forward as Professor Soderstrom called forth, "Sarah Serena Bones!" The girl climbed up to the chair hastily as Professor Soderstrom placed the hat on her head. "Hufflepuff!" it called out as she ran off to another table greeted by her fellows.
As more and more students were called out, Brandon started to feel nervous, but then Jimmy spoke from ahead of him "Don't worry mate, I KNOW we'll be in the same house" as he winked. "Newton Neville Longbottom!" called Soderstrom, and the tall boy ran up, stumbled a little and sat upon the chair with the hat on his head. "Gryffindor!" the hat called out. Just as it did, Brandon noticed the old man Professor Longbottom beam towards Newton, as he shyly looked away and joined Mandy at the table she was seated. Next was a fairly tall boy wearing silver lined spectacles, he was not as tall as Newton Longbottom, but he was a fair amount taller than Brandon. "Jeffrey Salazar Malfoy," called out Soderstrom, as he did however, Brandon could have sworn he heard a large gasp from the crowd of onlookers. "Slytherin!" shouted the hat, as the room filled with silence, only muted by the cheers from the table underneath the green and silver banner. A few more people were sorted after that, a girl named Diana Lovegood into Hufflepuff, a girl named Catherine Nolton also into Hufflepuff, and still another girl, Valerie Chan into Ravenclaw. Last of this group of girls was a short but fair haired girl named Shannon Lupin was sorted into Gryffindor.
Just when Brandon was about to get bored, Jimmy was called forward by Professor Soderstrom. As Jimmy walked up in a confident manner, and Professor Soderstrom placed the hat onto his head, he yelled out "Gryffindor!" in the place of the hat, which promptly said "Oh really? What if I place you in Hufflepuff?" Jimmy groaned, the crowd laughed and the hat said "Gryffindor!" as Jimmy leaped off and high-fived the group of robed people with Mandy and Newton at the tables. As Brandon looked around, he realized he was actually the last person in the line, hence why it took so long for it to be his turn. But as he noticed this, his heart skipped a beat as he began to become nervous again. Professor Soderstrom looked down at a card, and as if re-reading it again started in a slow but calm tone, "Brandon Potter." The room fell to silence as Brandon walked slowly up to the chair, sat down and placed the hat firmly on his head. At this point he could hear the murmurs of the groups of people seated at the tables in front of him as a voice spoke, "So you want to be a Gryffindor with the rest of your friends?" Brandon thought he imagined a voice, but he said aloud if only a whisper, "Yes," but the hat interrupted him, "Are you sure you possess the bravery and confidence fitting for a Gryffindor? Or even more fitting for a Potter?" Brandon simply nodded quietly, as the hat sounded out, "Gryffindor!"
The hall burst into cheers from the group under the red and gold banner as the other tables applauded weakly. Brandon jumped off the chair and joined Mandy and Jimmy at the table. "See, I told ya mate!" Jimmy beamed at him. The three of them feasted through the night, until the old Professor Longbottom spoke again, "It is now time to return to your dormitories, please follow your Prefects and Heads of House to your respective resting places, and let us rejoice in another year together at Hogwarts."
