Rune heard a small voice in his ear. "Ah, a Black. Where to put you? You're very ambitious ... yes ... you work hard to get what you want ... Very determined too, hmm ... you seem quite daring. It's very important where I put you ... very important ... Yes ... I know where you belong – GRYFFINDOR!"
The Gryffindor table cheered loudly as Rune went and sat next to Harry. He couldn't help smiling, relieved that he was finally sorted. And now there were only three people left to be sorted. Turpin, Lisa became a Ravenclaw and then it was Rowan's turn. He was pale green by now. Luna crossed her fingers once again and Parvati silently hoped that they would be in the same house. A second later the hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"
Luna and Parvati clapped loudly with the rest as Rowan collapsed into the chair between them.
"Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously across Harry as Zabini, Blaise was made a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.
Harry looked down at his empty gold plate. He had only just realised how hungry he was. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago.
Albus Dumbledore had got to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.
"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.
"Is he – a bit mad?" he asked Percy uncertainty.
"Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"
The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. Harry had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup and, for some strange reason, mint humbugs.
The Dursleys had never exactly starved Harry, but he'd never been allowed to eat as much as he liked. Dudley had always taken anything that Harry really wanted, even if it made him sick. Harry piled his plate with a bit of everything except the humbugs and began to eat. It was all delicious. "That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak.
"Can't you –?" Rune asked.
"I haven't eaten for nearly five hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."
"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you – you're Nearly Headless Nick!"
"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy –" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.
"Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?" Rune asked again.
Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted. "Like this," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell on to his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly.
Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back on to his neck, coughed and said, "So – new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the House Championship this year? Gryffindor has never gone so long without winning. Slytherin has got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable – he's the Slytherin ghost."
Rune looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Malfoy who, Rune was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements. "How did he get covered in blood?" Rune asked with great interest.
"I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.
When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the puddings appeared. Blocks of ice-cream in every flavour you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, rice pudding ...
On Harry's side, Percy Weasley and Hermione were talking about lessons "I do hope they start straight away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult –';" Hermione said to Harry who looked at Percy.
"You'll be starting small, just match into needles and that sort of thing –" Percy corrected her.
Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose and sallow skin.
It happened very suddenly.
The hook-nosed teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight into Harry's eyes – and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead. "Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head.
"What is it?" asked Rune.
"N-nothing."
The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harder to shake off was the feeling Harry had got from the teacher's look – a feeling that he didn't like Harry at all.
"Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked Percy.
"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to – everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape." Harry watched Snape for a while but Snape didn't look at him again.
At last, the puddings too disappeared and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The Hall fell silent. "Ahem – just a few more words now we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you."
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TO BE CONTINUED.....