Professor McGonagall waited at the top of the steps. She counted the first-years before leading them into a small room beside the Great Hall.
Percy stood between Harry and Ron. Neville checked that his toad was still in his pocket.
Nobody looked ready to ask the question that mattered.
"How do they choose our houses?" Harry whispered.
Ron gave an account involving a test. It sounded unpleasant and poorly researched.
Percy opened his mouth, then closed it. He could tell them about the hat. He could also wait one minute and avoid explaining how he knew.
McGonagall began.
"Your house will be your family while you are here. There are four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."
She explained points, rules, and the house cup. Ron appeared interested in the cup until she explained how easily they could lose points.
Percy knew he would need to remember that part.
When McGonagall left to check the hall, several ghosts passed through the wall behind Neville.
Neville jumped. Percy stepped aside before the toad could use the interruption to escape.
The ghosts discussed something as they passed. None seemed concerned about walking through a room full of children.
Harry watched them disappear.
"That is allowed?"
"I think the wall has limited options," Percy said.
Ron laughed, then stopped when McGonagall returned.
She led them into the Great Hall.
Percy saw the ceiling first. Stars showed above the candles, with no stone between them and the night sky.
He knew it was enchanted. Hermione began explaining that to someone behind him before he could decide whether to say it.
Long tables filled the room. Older students turned to look at the arriving group.
Percy kept moving. A room full of watchers was familiar, but he had hoped to need less of that experience here.
At the front stood a stool. An old hat rested on it.
Ron stared.
"That is the test?"
The hat moved, opened a fold, and began to sing.
Ron stopped asking questions.
Percy listened. The song described the houses, and he tried to think about them without treating the books as a list of instructions.
Courage, loyalty, curiosity, ambition. He had used all four for good decisions and bad ones.
A hat would apparently resolve the matter.
When it finished, McGonagall opened her list.
Names followed. Each student sat, put on the hat, and waited for a house to be called.
Some decisions took only a moment. Others took long enough for Percy to wonder what the students were hearing.
Hermione went to Gryffindor. She removed the hat with a smile and hurried to the cheering table.
Malfoy went to Slytherin. He seemed to consider that the only possible result.
Neville nearly left the stool before the hat had finished. McGonagall stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
"Gryffindor!"
Neville went to the table looking relieved to have survived the procedure.
Then McGonagall called Percy's name.
"Perseus Jackson."
He walked to the stool. His shoe caught the edge of the platform, and he recovered without falling.
He hoped nobody had noticed. Judging by a laugh near the Gryffindor table, hope was doing poor work.
The hat settled over his eyes.
"Well," a voice said inside his head. "This is unusual."
Percy went still.
"Could we keep that observation private?"
The hat seemed amused.
"You have brought rather a great deal with you."
Percy thought of the books, the orphanage, and the world that no longer existed. He tried to stop thinking about all three.
That was difficult under the circumstances.
"Are you going to announce it?"
"I announce houses."
"Good. Let us start there."
The hat considered him. Percy could feel its attention move through memories without seeing which ones it examined.
He disliked the feeling. He also knew that trying to threaten school equipment during his first evening would create problems.
"There is courage," the hat said. "And considerable loyalty. You want to protect people."
"Yes."
"You also want enough power to ensure that nothing can stop you."
Percy did not answer at once.
The hat had found that thought easily. He wished it had chosen a less accurate one.
"Slytherin could serve that wish. Ravenclaw could give you the understanding you lack. Hufflepuff would value the people you refuse to leave."
"Would any of them let me finish this conversation?"
The hat laughed inside his head.
"Patience is not your strongest quality."
"I have waited eleven years to get here."
"And now you would like the next decision at once."
Percy accepted the criticism with poor grace. It was still criticism he could understand.
He thought of Ron beside the barrier, Harry asking for a seat, and Hermione repairing a pair of glasses.
He wanted to know them. He wanted to learn something that had not already happened in a book.
"I want somewhere I can start again," he said.
The hat took another moment.
"Gryffindor!"
The answer reached the hall this time.
Percy removed the hat and stood. McGonagall took it from him before he could drop it in his haste.
He went to the cheering table. Two red-haired boys waved him toward an empty place.
One touched his shoulder as he sat.
"Good recovery on the step."
Percy looked at him.
"So people noticed."
"We notice talent."
"Especially talent that nearly falls over," the other added.
Hermione sat opposite Percy. She leaned closer as the next name was called.
"What did it say to you?"
"Several personal observations."
"About the houses?"
"Eventually."
She looked dissatisfied. Percy picked up his empty goblet, remembered that it was empty, and put it down again.
Harry went to Gryffindor after a longer pause. Ron joined them soon after, complaining that waiting was worse than wearing the hat.
Percy agreed. He did not offer the details.
When the sorting ended, Dumbledore stood at the staff table.
Percy recognized the headmaster, but the real man looked less like an answer to every problem than a tired person enjoying a new term.
He gave a brief welcome and several odd words. Ron laughed. Harry looked uncertain about whether he was supposed to understand them.
Percy shook his head.
"I think that is the whole explanation."
The food appeared.
Ron reached for a plate before anyone could test that theory. Percy followed his example.
He ate chicken, potatoes, and something he chose because Harry recommended it. For a while, the conversation concerned food instead of houses.
That suited him.
The room was loud, warm, and full of people arguing about ordinary things. Percy could still feel the lake beyond the walls.
He did not need to answer it tonight.
Hermione asked what lessons they were most interested in. Ron said lunch. Harry wanted to know about flying.
Percy looked at the candles above them.
"Charms," he said. "I would like to make something move without having it strike me."
Hermione offered to help. The twins offered a different kind of help from farther along the table.
Percy accepted the first offer.
He was already learning.