You are a new Hogwarts student who spent his first night in his dorm after passing the sorting hat ceremony. You will discover the house you went to at the end of this unique magical adventure. It all begins when you wake up in the morning, remembering how intense last night had been. You stare up at the ceiling of the door and think about how you’ve always dreamed of coming to Hogwarts. You remember the feeling of the sorting hat on your head and the cheering of the students in the Great Hall. This makes you think about the legacy you want to leave to those around you during your next 7 years at school. How would you like to be known to them?
After a few minutes of thought, you realise that other people are already starting to get out of bed. You can hear people murmur and chat as the day begins, getting ready for breakfast in the Great Hall. You can’t wait to get back into the majestic hall and sample the delicious food that’s on offer. The voices around you get louder as you roll over onto your side and realise that three of the other students in your dormitory are staring at you. You blink and push your hair out of your face, wondering what they’re thinking. You instantly assume that:
Either way, it looks like you’ve overslept, so you end up getting ready on your own. You’re only a few minutes late, so you’re not too worried. Instead, you’re already thinking about your new life at Hogwarts, the lessons you’ll attend, the friends and allies you might make, and the adventures you could have. After all, the halls and grounds of Hogwarts hold many exciting mysteries. You pull your new uniform out of your affaires and examine it. What else will you pack from your trunk for the day ahead?
“Hey, do you think we can go down to breakfast together?” someone says. You finish packing your bag and adjust your clothing, turning to wonder at who else was too caught up in thought about how exciting it was to be in the hallowed halls of Hogwarts at last. You ask what their name is, and they smile, as if pleased to be acknowledged by another student. “My name’s Alex. That’s the first time anyone’s asked!” You nod, slowly, and then say:
You sit down at your house table with your new companion, Alex. Despite only being a few minutes late, you end up sitting as the slightly awkward sandwich between the first years and the random mixture of people who are older than you. You eat your buttered toast and listen in to the conversation of people around you, already forming a mental checklist of for your first day, before your Head of House can really get you in trouble for heading out of bonds. After all, it’s not rule-breaking if you barely know the rules. It suddenly strikes you that a bit of intel would be useful. Alex is still digging into their pancakes, so you turn to what looks like a fifth-year next to you and ask:
You finish off your pumpkin juice, impressed by the high quality of your breakfast. You and some of the other first years agree to move together, as a pack, to avoid getting lost on the twisting turns and spiralling staircases of the castle. Chatting with some of your new classmates, you figure out that your schedule for the day is Charms, then Transfiguration, and then after lunch, Potions and Care of Magical Creatures. There’s a commotion up ahead that makes you trip in surprise, sending your foot sinking right through what had looked like a previously solid step. Your first reaction is to:
“What’s going on?” you ask, finally freed from your temporary step prison. Alex shrugs as a mischievous laugh echoes around the corridor and you hear smashing glass. Raising your eyebrows, you move to the front of the crowd. It’s hard to believe it at first, but you think you’ve seen a glimpse of a ghost. “That’s Peeves,” a student says, “the poltergeist; he’s always causing mayhem. Guess we’re going to be late.” You turn to them and say:
Finally, you realise that since you’ve stepped to the front of the group, it’s up to you to lead the actions of what happens next. You survey the other students getting pelted by Peeves and decide in that moment that:
Professor Flitwick sticks his head out of the classroom, making Peeves drop all his inkpots and bolt in a hurry. With Peeves finally out of the way, it’s time for your first lesson as a Hogwarts student. As soon as Charms starts, you’re struck by the diminutive yet charming Professor Flitwick, who suggests you all start off with small steps by just practising a few different wand motions. But when you turn to look at Alex, you realise that they’re doing something…unusual with their wand flicks for the Levitating charm, holding their wand in a way that makes it look as if they’re making a rude gesture at a student opposite. The student in question is narrowing their eyes, looking more and more offended by the moment. If you say something to Alex, you’re probably going to end up making a few enemies in your first class by associating yourself with them. But you:
As the lesson ends and you filter out, the girl previously sitting next to you elbows you. “Doesn’t he look like a house elf?” she says. You ask her what she means, and she shrugs, inviting you to say something. You say:
But this encounter gives you an idea. You know that the elves, while not being very visible around Hogwarts, must have a pretty good idea about what’s going on in the castle. If you want to have a look at the infamous Chamber of Secrets, or sneak into the Forbidden Forest, it might help to get an insider’s perspective. You think:
You finally decide to stay. Knowledge is power, or something like that, and if you want to explore the secret spaces of Hogwarts, you’ll probably have to avoid detention first. The sudden wave of students pouring out into the corridor between classes sweeps you along, and you find yourself heading with the rest of the first years to your next class, Transfiguration. Actually, thinking about it, skipping class with the infamously strict Professor McGonagall…
After Transfiguration is over, you decide you simply can’t wait any longer to sneak in and visit the house elves in the kitchen. You already know how to get there thanks to all the research you did on Hogwarts last summer. While everybody is busy eating lunch, you sneak along the corridors until you find the infamous painting with a bowl of fruit that leads to the kitchens. You gently tickle the pear and you get excited when it turns into a door handle. You step inside into a cloud of steam, blinking as the aromas of dozens of types of delicious foods hit you. A house elf turns to stare at you, round eyes wide in confusion. To break the tension, you say:
The house elf shakes their head, clearly not understanding. They pull the large ladle out of their vat of soup and frown. You grimace, realising that you are potentially moments from wider discovery. It’s up to your quick thinking to come up with an excuse for why exactly you need precise directions to the famed Chamber of Secrets. So, you say:
It wasn't easy convincing the elves to show you the direction to the Chamber of secrets, but your persuasion skills did the job, and the elves gave away its the exact emplacement! Now you know where to go after lessons are over; and after you’ve checked out the Whomping Willow, of course! Thanking the elves, you sidle into the Great Hall, attracting some attention. Well, it’s all part of your master plan to leave a striking legacy on Hogwarts. There are plenty of places for you to sit, and you deliberate for a moment, before heading over to:
“Of course, you’d make that choice,” the girl who’d laughed at Professor Flitwick earlier said with a sniff. “Don’t you know that purebloods are better students? I don’t know why you would ever bother with sitting anywhere else.” You take a deep breath and put your fork down. Everything to do with your social life at Hogwarts is going to hinge on which group you align yourself with, whether you think that all wizards are equal or not.
Once you’ve made your decision, there’s only a few minutes before you are suddenly hit with the urge to leave the hall and get some fresh air. The sun hits your face as you enter the grounds outside. “Let’s go to the Whomping Willow,” Alex says eagerly. “If we can get inside into that secret room, who know what we’ll find? Is it still there, or has Dumbledore changed it, or boarded it all up?” “Or we could explore the Forbidden Forest,” you point out. “it’s the middle of the day, so whatever’s lurking in there is probably still asleep…” “Well, there’s enough creatures in there that something will be awake both in the day and the night,” said Alex, pulling a face. “Spiders. Centaurs. Wow, I hate horses.” “Got it,” you say. “The Whomping Willow is the best choice because…”
The two of you head towards the Whomping Willow and start contemplating the branches. The trick of pressing the knot at the base is a student legend now, so it only takes half an hour of sweaty charm-casting to use the Levitating charm Professor Flitwick taught you to toss Alex’s Gobstones at the secret button. When the willow stops whomping, its intertwined dark branches resting on the ground, the two of you slide into the tunnel underneath. You:
The walls are dark, and the wooden floor is creaky. You can hear the wind whistling through the gaps in the floor. It’s clear other students have been here but not many have gone fully into the spooky Shrieking Shack. Alex frowns and points to a half-broken table ahead. It looks like the rotting wood has finally given way, and a strange piece of paper lies on the floor next to it, along with several pieces of broken artefacts you can’t begin to identify. You:
You finally decide to pick up the mysterious piece of paper, then you check your watch and wince. “We might have to run to Potions,” you admit. “It was worth it, though,” Alex says, as you both hurry back to the castle and down into a new dark, damp area. The Potions dungeons are atmospheric. You’re only a few minutes late for class, but the master is already brewing a lavender-coloured potion, the smoke draping the whole classroom in a pale and misty veil. “Whoever brews the best invisibility potion today will receive 50 house points,” he say. “And whoever has the most house points at the end of the year will receive a small sample of the rarest ingredients from my Potions cupboard, like armadillo bile and chizpurfle carapace, perfect as an antidote to rarer poisons.” You immediately:
After an hour of unsuccessful attempts to succeed in your task, the professor puts an end to the exercice. You already know that you have no chances of winning the contest because of the salmon-like smell of your mixture. Luckily, it turns out Alex is a potions whiz and was able to make a perfect invisibility potion and won 50 points for your house. You cheer them up warmly then have a great idea about just how you might be able to visit the infamous Chamber of Secrets today. You ask Alex if you can discreetly fill a small bottle of their potion, and they agree. After the lesson is finished, you hurry alone to an empty classroom in the upper floor and drink the bottle. Fully invisible, you head up directly to the second-floor girls’ bathroom, acting quickly before the effects wear off. You enter it, noticing that despite the large lead-latticed windows, it’s dimly lit. The white, grand sink in the centre is what catches your eye as you step eagerly towards it, following the direction given earlier by the elves. Then, suddenly, you hear a strange roar. Your stomach drops as the sound, both animalistic and human, echoes around the empty bathrooms. You:
The door to the bathroom flies open. Both the headmaster and your head of house enter with their wands drawn, looking intently around the room, guards up. You quickly step to the side, moving out of view after realising that you are no longer visible. You hear the roar again and the shadow of a creature seeps out from behind the sinks and your adversary finally reveals themselves. It’s a manticore! One of the most dangerous magical creatures there is, rumoured to be able to devour someone and sing while doing it. You decide to:
Your moment of thought was seconds too late. The teachers are already tossing curses and charms at the manticore, tearing out pieces of the bathroom to try and hit the beast despite its charm-proof skin. You stand up, deciding that you can’t hide any longer. If the skin of a manticore is charm-proof, you’ll have to fight it indirectly. You:
The manticore finally falls to the ground unconscious, the headmaster landing a full sink on its head. Without all your combined efforts, someone certainly would have got eaten by this evil intruder. Who had sent it? Had it come from the Chamber? “What are you doing here?” your head of house snaps. “How did you know someone had sent the manticore?” You pause, out of breath and fuelled by adrenaline. Surely, they could be a bit nicer to you, given that you’ve just helped them out? So, you respond:
After being dismissed by the teachers, who both assume you just got caught in a dangerous situation by mistake, you rush out of the bathroom, deep in thought. You bump into Alex, and you both blink at one another in surprise. “Well, I knew you have disappeared,” Alex says. “But I didn’t think you were so shy you needed an invisibility potion to go to the bathroom.” You hold up your wand and grimace. “I went looking for the Chamber of Secrets, and found a manticore instead…” Alex gasps. “No way! I may know how it got in. I found this on the floor of the corridor.” They hold up a strange brass key that spins by itself on their fingertips, searching for a direction to point in. You say:
You take the key, watching in fascination as it spins like a compass in your hand and start thinking. This can actually have been a magical device used to lead the manticore, which has the same intelligence as a human, to the same bathroom hiding the Chamber of Secrets as part of some mysterious plan. But now in your hands, the key stopped spinning and poited out towards the looming trees silhouettes in the Forbidden Forest. This quest will have to wait because it’s time for Care of Magical Creatures. After joining the class, you can’t stop thinking about the manticore. Both the teachers told you to keep it secret, not wanting the students to panic, but surely the best person to ask about it would be Hagrid himself. At the end of the class, you go up to him, and ask: “Professor, can manticores follow orders?” He stares down at you with beetle-black eyes, eyebrows wrinkled. “Well, o’ course, I can’t tell ye that. What’d you want to know that for?” You pause. You decide to:
He shrugs and says, “Maybe among some dark wizards I heard about from Dumstrang or someplace ‘o the sort, but no respectable wizard would do that. ‘Specially not in Hogwarts. If it ever got through the barriers, then the headmaster would sort it out quickly. Though someone would have probably sent it, if that’s what yeh mean.” “Thanks Hagrid,” you say. Despite the crazy encounter you’ve just had, there’s still a few things you must do. Namely, your homework, and dinner. You’re just a first year, after all. You’ll keep an eye out for intruders but catching them yourself would be difficult. You decide that:
On the way to dinner, Alex makes an apologetic face and asks for help on their Charms homework. They were so nervous about starting their first year that they didn’t sleep well, and now they’re already behind on work. Unfortunately, that entails writing a foot of parchment.
At dinner, you’re discussing when the best time to follow the magical key to the Forbidden Forest would be. A few fourth and fifth years overhear you and join in your discussion. “It’s pretty dangerous,” one of the older girls says. “Don’t you want some help?” “Well, we don’t want to get loads of people in trouble,” Alex says politely. “I can teach you a signal charm,” she offers. “My friends and I will come help you, then, if you fire it. You quickly think about it then say:
Whatever you say, they insist on teaching you the incantation, so you might as well learn it. With the knowledge that you’re at least with Alex, you leave the other students and throw on your heavy, warm outdoor cloaks and leave the warmth of the candle-lit hall to face the dark forest. The key is getting hot in your grip as it determinedly points into the forest, giving you a sense of urgency. You’re not sure what you’ll find. You assume:
The leaves of the forest are crunching under your feet as you carefully avoid tripping on strewn branches. The lights of Hogwarts quickly fade only a few steps into the frightening forest. Suddenly, the key you’re holding aloft starts spinning in circles, as if you’re standing over the destination. You look around, seeing no obvious clues. Alex casts lumos, waving their wand around like a torch. You turn around, startled at the bright light, and tell them:
You take a few steps forward and something strange happened. The key became abruptly hot as an ember and you drop it in pain. It bursts into flames on the floor right by the hem of your feet. You:
The fire traces out a path over the leaves as you realise with relief that it’s only enchanted fire and won’t burn you. It leads directly to the base of a tree, where, tucked deep inside its hollow trunk, you perceive the edges of a small wooden box. You approach it and immediately recognize the Durmstrang crest on it. With a grunt, you try and pry it open, but it’s magically sealed. For a moment, you think there’s no way of opening the box. Then you remember that strange piece of paper you picked up in the Shrieking Shack. Pulling it out of your pocket, you look at its contents for the first time. It’s a mysterious code of squares, triangles, and circles. What could it mean?
After trying all the options, it’s the tracing the complex set of wand movements into the air that make the box creak open. Inside is a glowing blue object…it might be a Portkey! Next to it is 3 spots that must have contained vials. You look at them, confused. What does it mean? Alex makes a noise of understanding. “They must have used the manticore as a distraction, they went to sneak into the woods and take the Portkey straight to the prize they want to steal.” “Of course,” you say. “That puts us directly on their path.. Alex,” you say. “We take the Portkey. And when we get there, I want you to…”
Now that the Portkey is right in front of you, you reach out together and touch it warily, as you’ve never used a Portkey before. With a whoosh of blue light and an unpleasant jerking sensation somewhere behind your navel, the woods around you disappear and are replaced by a curious circular room full of mysterious artefacts and valuable wizarding objects. At first glance, the room seems deserted. A phoenix caws at you from its perch, ruffling its vermillion feathers. You and Alex draw your wands, sensing something is not right. Scanning the room, you see a tall mirror propped against the far wall. “Alex,” you say in a hushed undertone. “You call for help with the flare charm they taught us. I’ll…”
But as Alex moves to the window and shoots the flare charm, you suddenly see a shadowy figure in the mirror, crouching on the other side of the desk, wand raised. Holding your breath, you stay put hoping to buy time while help arrives. You hear knocking on the door as Alex yanks it open, letting quietly half a dozen of the older students in, you discreetly gesture for them to raise their wands. It would be better to have the element of surprise. You levitate the ink pot and crack it open on the intruder’s head. He rises to his feet, abruptly revealed, wearing a bright red cloak with a furry hood, dripping with ink. You yell to the other students:
The room suddenly erupts into a sea of charms and spells as the older students start throwing every trick in the book they have at the intruder. He’s much more experienced than any of you individually, easily deflecting the spells with a strong shielding charm that hums around him in a white dome. It suddenly strikes you that this is not just any room…it’s the Headmaster’s office. You say to one of the older students:
In an opportune break in the fight, you suddenly remember that there’s one spell the famous Harry Potter used to swear by. You’re only a first year, so you haven’t been taught it yet, but you know the words. Pointing your wand straight at the Durmstrang thief, you shout the famous word: “Expelliarmus!” It hits him just as he’s dodging a bright red stinging hex and sends his wand flying from his hand. In his pride, he takes too long being shocked until an older student sent a spell that knocked him out. “Ok, we really have to get the headmaster now,” Alex says, staring at the fallen intruder. You volunteer to stay behind to keep an eye on him and everyone else hurries out.
Now that the room is quiet and the commotion is over, you hear a raspy, croaky voice. It’s still somehow friendly, even though you can’t figure out where it’s coming from. Then your eyes land on a beautifully decorated shelf, draped in all the colours of every house. It’s the Sorting Hat. “Greetings, young student,” the hat says, its stitched mouth opening wide. “I remember you from yesterday’s ceremony. You’ve seemed confused all this time. I remember that I told you your path was yet to be decided…that you would need to act and discover yourself before you truly know what house you belong in. And now, that time has come. Permit me to ask you. Knowing that you had a glimps on the other student of Hogwarts, if we went back in time to the feast, which house you are sure you don’t belong in?”
The hat continues. “Hmm, at least you know what you don’t want…so then, young student, what house suits you best?”
The door opens and you turn around, the deep reverie you were experiencing from your discussion with the hat breaking. You stand a little nervously as the headmaster enters the room, hoping that you’re not going to get in trouble for the aftermath of the fight. The phoenix trills a cheerful sounding song on its perch as the headmaster scrutinises you with a wise smile, intense but kind eyes showing you that he knew all about life, whether good or bad, decades of experience hidden in his careful stare. You open your mouth to speak then close it again, not sure what to say. “He must have been trying to steal a sample of my memories from the Pensieve,” the headmaster commented lightly. “All that’s in there are all the secret defences of Hogwarts and the last… hmm I see ” He marked a pause, briefly frowned his eyes then smiled. Good job on not letting the intruder get away.” There’s a crinkle of plastic and the headmaster cheerfully offers you an open packet of sweets. “Liquorice snap?” You take one. “Well,” he continues, turning to face the sorting hat while giving you a wink. “I think we might finally know which house you belong in…”
Hogwarts Sorting Hat
🦁 You are a Gryffindor 🦁
🐍 You are a Slytherin 🐍
🦡 You are a Hufflepuff 🦡
𓅪 You are a Ravenclaw 𓅪