𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞

the sorting ceremony

In a straight line, with the other witches and wizards, Matilda Rose Winters followed behind a tall, thin, and quite an old-looking woman – Professor McGonagall. They followed her through dark and narrow corridors. Flames lit the passage and feet pattered on the stone floor. She stopped suddenly before a pair of large, double doors. Suddenly they flew open. She hadn't even touched them. Matilda smiled the butterflies in her stomach fluttered.

They stood at the back of the Great Hall. Every head turned to them. Lining the rows of the table were robed students. Some smiled welcomingly others sneered in the new arrivals' direction. At the head of the Great Hall were some of the most famous and most powerful witches and wizards alive.

The large hall was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. The ceiling looked as if it was not there. Above them was the night sky, a blanket of shining stars cast over the dark. An enchantment, Matilda already knew. But Professor McGonagall led them past the tables and allowed no time for other students to gawk at the enchanted sky or floating lanterns, instead, she brought them to the front of the room until they halted before the long table at which the other teachers were sitting. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Matilda's eyes roamed the magnificent room. She'd dreamed of this moment her entire life – for eleven years.

Matilda watched intently not intending to miss a moment. Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool, she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Hesitant, Matilda reached a hand to lightly touch the top of her head, already knowing what was about to happen.

She had a bit of an advantage. Matilda Winters had heard all the stories of Hogwarts already. All her family had gone to this school. For as far back as they could trace. This is where her mum and dad met and fell in love. This is where her older sister, Harper Winters, learned that she was one of the best Quidditch players the Hufflepuff house had ever seen. And Matilda, but she'd never admit that to her older sister.

This is why, along with a few other new students, Matilda was unsurprised when the patchy, old hat began to sing.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

The entire hall applauded. Most of the entire hall. A few first years looked confused, some a little scared, and even among the older students, some seemed far too annoyed to clap, having had to sit through this song year after year. The hat bowed to each of the four cheering tables and then, without warning, the hall fell silent once more.

It was completely still as Professor McGonagall stepped forward, a rill of parchment in her hands.

"When I call your name..." your nasally, but stern voice echoed off the walls of the Great Hall, everyone was looking at the old woman. "You shall put on the hat and sit on the stool so that you may be sorted."

Matilda beamed, nearly bounding on her toes.

"Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with long, blonde pigtails stumbled nervously out of line. She did not make eye contact with any of her peers as she picked up the hat and sat in its place on the stool. She put the hat onto her head and it fell down over her eyes. There was a moment when nothing happened. As if the entire world had paused.

Matilda watched, eyes wide, she didn't even blink.

Finally, the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The table on the far right of the room cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Other tables clapped as well, but none louder than those with the yellow ties. Matilda looked over her shoulder. Clapping with them was a familiar face, Harper, she sat, crowded by her friends, a smile on her face as she cheered for their house's newest member.

McGonagall cleared her throat, and the room once again fell silent and still, "Bones, Susan!"

The girl with the long braid that fell down her back followed in Hannah Abbott's lead. She too took the hat, put it on, and sat on the stool. The hat fell over her eyes.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

This time the hat shouted without even a moment's passing.

Susan Bones went quickly to her assigned table and sat beside Hannah, a small smile on her lips.

"Boot, Terry," McGonagall called.

He was their first boy called. He had dark hair that fell over his ears. His chubby cheeks reddened as he watched all the attention turn to him. But he pulled his shoulders back and his short frame walked as proudly as he could manage to the stool.

The room watched as he placed the hat on his head. Just as it did with the first two it fell over his eyes. His mouth opened slightly but he didn't scream like Matilda thought he might. Instead, after a moment, the hat hummed.

"RAVENCLAW!" it decided.

The table second from the far left stood and began clapping and cheering for the red-faced boy. He pushed his dark hair out of his eyes and rushed to sit down, his face as red as an apple. The boys in their blue ties and robes smacked the young, eleven-year-old on his back as he passed them by.

Several of them even stood up to shake his hand.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy," went to Ravenclaw too. But, "Brown, Lavender," became the first new Gryffindor of the evening. The table just between the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs erupted in shouts of praise.

Then, "Bulstrode, Millicent," who made Matilda snicker because she did resemble the likes of a Bull Frog, became the first Slytherin of the evening.

Matilda listened as more and more names were called. She watched as more and more first years were assigned to their houses. Impatience began to grow inside her. This moment had been one she waited for all her life. She wanted to be sitting on that stool.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!" McGonagall's voice rang.

After a second, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

There were a few first years that the hat knew very quickly where they belonged. For others, it pondered. Sometimes for minutes.

"Finnigan, Seamus," a sandy-haired boy Matilda had met briefly on the train walked toward the stool.

Nearly a minute had passed before the hat called, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Matilda wondered what other house the hat might have been considering for Finnigan.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Her thoughts were cut short as another name, which was not hers, was called to go toward the stool.

Hermione Granger seemed just as excited and impatient as Matilda felt. She ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly over her unruly, frizzy hair.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted.

It hadn't taken long but it also hadn't been an instant decision.

Once again, and as it had become to be expected, the Gryffindor table exploded into applause, happily welcoming Hermione.

A few more names were called to put the hat on their heads. When the student had been successfully sorted, the chosen house would applaud loudly, and motion for the young first-years to join them at the tables.

When the name, "Longbottom, Neville," was called to be sorted he fell on his way to the stool. The hat, when finally placed on the top of Neville's head, took its time in making its decision.

After a full minute, it shouted loudly, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Neville ran off still wearing the hat. He had to jog back, amid gales of laughter and pointing fingers to hand it to the name of the girl who had just been called, "MacDougal, Morag."

She'd been sorted into Ravenclaw.

"Malfoy, Draco," was the next name that was called to take the stool.

The young boy swaggered forward when his name was announced. He smirked at the remaining students that stood below him as if that was where they belonged. Matilda didn't know him, but she scowled. Her dad had warned her to keep a distance from the Malfoys, as nothing good could come to her should she decide to be in their company.

The hat took not even a second to yell, "SLYTHERIN!"

Malfoy stalked proudly back to the table that cheered loudly and proudly to have him. He took a seat between the friends he'd walked in with, Crabbe and Goyle, both had been sorted before him. Draco Malfoy seemed very pleased with himself and his house.

After Malfoy came Morgensten, Daisy. Another name that she had heard her dad spout, but he did say he enjoyed her mother much more than her father. And from the looks of the dirty-blonde-haired girl scuffling nervously on stage, she was not like her "git" of a father, as her dad calls him.

This was another tough decision for the hat. It whispered to the girl for about thirty seconds, and for those thirty seconds, she clenched the sides of the stool so harshly that her knuckles began to turn white.

"Morgenstern, Daisy!" was the next name called.

She'd also walked in with Draco Malfoy and his two very round and very large friends. Though she appeared much more timid than the three that had been sorted before her. She picked at her nearly nonexistent fingernails as she slowly made her way through the crowd of first-years still waiting to be sorted.

Morgenstern had been another name that had come from her father's mouth in a warning. It was as if Rueban Winters didn't wish his daughter to befriend anyone within her year from the many warnings he gave her. Though he never did give his daughter direct orders. For he'd allow her to make her own choices, but he wished to guide her as far as he could.

Daisy Morgenstern was another instance in which the hat took many minutes to decide on her placement. Matilda could hear its hushed whispers though she could make out none of what it was saying. Daisy could though, as she gripped the edges of the seat of the stool so tight that her knuckled threatened to burst through her skin.

About a minute and a half passed, before finally, "SLYTHERIN!"

When she pulled the hat off her head, Daisy Morgenstern had become as white as a ghost. The girl was terrified. But she licked her lips, sucked in a deep breath, and faked a smile that served as a horrible mask. Everyone could notice the girl's shaking hands as she walked for the cheering Slytherins and took a seat beside a grinning, Draco Malfoy.

"Moon,"... "Nott,"..., "Parkinson,"..., more and more names were called and sorted, and still Matilda stood, waiting for her own to be called, but it seemed as if she would never hear her own name said. "Patil, Padma & Parvati," walked for the stool, one at a time. "Perks, Sally-Anne,"

And then, "Potter, Harry!"

Professor McGonagall's gaze snapped up from her scroll.

The entire hall froze. No one dared to even lift a goblet from their table. That had been a name being whispered all evening. Matilda had heard it the entire train ride to the school. She knew very well who that name belonged to. The Boy Who Lived. But Matilda did not really care. Not like everyone else seemed to. For she was far more concerned about her own sorting than the likes of someone she had never even met before.

When the dark-haired boy, named Harry Potter, finally, and hesitantly, stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say?"

"Does she mean the Harry Potter?"

They watched him walk slowly toward the hat. He was nervous. Matilda could tell from the small hairs standing on the back of his neck. But he put the hat on anyway and sat on the stool.

It was as if the hat had been looking forward to this very moment as it hummed joyfully.

Moments passed and everyone was on the edge of their seats. Some even biting their nails to the quick. The hat was whispering. Still, though, Matilda understood nothing of what it said. Minutes now had passed. No decision had been made. No one knew what was happening.

It had now been longer than Finnigan, Longbottom, and Morgenstern all combined.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

A second of silence passed. And then...

"We got the Boy Who Lived!"

"We got, Potter!"

The cheering was so loud that Matilda covered her ears. The shouts from the Gryffindor table echoed through the entire Great Hall and through the hundreds of winding corridors all through the Hogwarts castle. They pounded the wooden table with their fists and slammed their golden goblets together in celebration.

All other houses sneered or sighed in disappointment as they had not gained the Boy Who Lived.

Matilda watched Harry through the chaos. He'd taken the hat from his head with a look of pure relief and a little bit of nausea. Potter began walking shakily toward the Gryffindor table. He was so in his head that it was as though he didn't even notice he'd gotten the loudest welcome yet.

There was still a handful or so of students still waiting for their sorting. And so, McGonagall cleared her throat, and slowly, the celebration of the Gryffindors fizzled out, but never truly went away.

"Pike,"..., "Rivers,"..., "Runcorn,"... "Roper,"... and, "Smith," were all names called and sorted.

Finally, after what felt like hours passing them by, the last five stood, standing apart from one another, waiting to be sorted.

Matilda could make it. Only five of them left. It'd be her time soon enough now.

"Thomas, Dean," a tall, lanky black boy, joined Harry Potter and many other first-year students at the Gryffindor table proudly.

"Turpin Lisa," skipped happily toward the Ravenclaw table, after the hat whispered on her head for fifteen seconds, Matilda counted, her curly brown hair, bouncing as she did.

"Weasley, Ronald!"

The tall, lanky, red-headed boy looked as if he might be sick. Matilda took a precautionary step away from him and he began stumbling toward the stool. With a loud and final gulp, he covered his bright-colored hair with the hat.

It took only a second to make a decision, "Gryffindor!"

Relieved, and still slightly green-looking, Ron made his way to the Gryffindor table and slumped tiredly in the spot saved for him by a cheerful Harry Potter.

"Winters, Matilda!"

Finally.

She did not hesitate to take her first step forward. The others fell easily after. A smile had found its way onto her once impatient scowling lips. Confidence exuded from the small-framed girl. She lifted the dusty, old hat off the stool, looking it over in her hands. She pulled herself up to sit on the stool, and finally, she took in a deep breath.

Though before she could place the hat on her head, Matilda caught the eye of her older sister. Harper was smiling and she offered her little sister a nod of encouragement.

This was it. Hearing all the stories from her mom and dad, and their time at Hogwarts. After seeing Harper off to Hogwarts and not being able to go with her. Now it was Matilda's turn.

And suddenly, the big blue eyes disappeared beneath the hat.

Matilda's eyes blinked slowly open. It was darker than she'd thought it'd be behind the hat's old fabric.

"Hmm," said a scruffy voice in her ear. "You would step on the backs of everyone in this castle to get what you want, wouldn't you? I can see it. Your ambition makes you devious, child. But what a mind you have; it is terrifyingly brilliant," the hat spoke as if amused. "Yes... I know just where you belong. And there you shall achieve all things you desire... You will go to, S — wait..."

The hat stopped.

"You desire knowledge – all of it. I see now. Wit that is unmatched. I can see who you really are now," a deep chuckle sounded in her ear. "You are not without fear, you will do well to remember that..."

Matilda shifted on her stool. She didn't know how much time had passed. Too much. She'd been here too long. This was supposed to have been easy. She swallowed away the nerves that dared to creep onto her. The butterflies in her stomach fluttered and soared and the silent seconds ticked.

"RAVENCLAW!"

She pulled the hat from her head. Her hair stuck up in every which direction from static. Quickly she smoothed it down. A proud smile formed on her lips as she took her first step away from the stool. Now, sorted, knowing where she belongs.

The Ravenclaw table cheered, clapping and hollering, fists waving in the air proudly. They didn't know her but they were all excited to have her. Nameless people – people she'd never before met in her life, greeted her and congratulated her as she passed them by. She found an open spot on the bench and sat just as the last name was called.

"Zabini, Blaise."

The very last person to be sorted was Slytherin.

But she could not hear his celebration past the buzzing inside her ears. Excitement and adrenaline coursed through her. She could focus on nothing else still, except for the sound of the hat's scruffy voice.

Harper had once told her little sister that the Sorting Hat makes no mistakes. But it had sounded so certain with her at first. When it was sure she belonged to another house. It never did say the word, but Matilda knew. She was going to be placed in Slytherin. Like her father.

And then something changed its decision. It'd said it could now see who she really was. That's why she now sat amongst a sea of blue ties and black robes. A Ravenclaw. The house of wisdom, wit, and knowledge.

What had that Sorting Hat seen that made its decision change so suddenly?

What truth lay unfounded inside Matilda Winters?

ϟ

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞:

Yes, I am editing this... again. My writing style changes so freaking often that I often find myself unable to go back and re-read my old stuff because I just cringe and think of ways to make it better. I've recently made the mistake of re-reading this book!

Nothing big will change. The storyline and plot will remain. Just with better writing. And small minuscule changes will be made to add depth or to take away anything unnecessary I wrote like 5 years ago. Like, sometimes I have to remind myself, Matilda is only eleven here. Sometimes, because of her personality, I write her as if she's well into her teen years.

Also, the love interests will vary. The endgame will remain unknown. I want shipping wars, lol! Matilda is a very shippable character. She's also a character that may very well decide she's too good to just settle down... ever.

I do truly love my girl. She's my OG! Honestly, the first real, and planned OC I posted on this account. So, I hope you guys love her, flaws and all, as much as I do.

𝐚𝐧𝐝

As always, bombard me with comments. Tell me everything you thought while reading this. What are your thoughts and your theories? What kind of person will Matilda be? What kind of role do you think Matilda Winters will have?

And it might be a little early to know anything (unless you're a re-rereader) who might Matilda end up with? If anyone at all.

𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝: 𝟏𝟐/𝟎𝟗/𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐