Zackary was more than nervous. Hogwarts houses were like, the only thing that mattered at school. What if he wasn't with anybody who was worth knowing? What if everyone made fun of him because he ended up in the wrong house?
It didn't help that he was one of the first students called up. Curse being a Carter! If his last name was at the end of the alphabet, at least he would have some time to see where the other kids ended up and figure out which houses to avoid. As it was, only the headmaster's son had gone before him.
"Describe yourself in three words."
The first thing that came to Zack's mind was just to state his full name, but that was probably incorrect. What were three words that he could use to describe himself?
I'm pretty fast was the first thing that came to Zack's mind. He pictured the hat as unable to see him, so maybe it was looking for physical descriptors? That made sense to Zack. But weren't houses about personality? Zack did want to end up in a house with people who were pretty cool. And also maybe rich so they could pay for him to do stuff if the debt that he heard his mum talking about made them actually poor.
And everyone thinks I'm pretty awesome Zack lied to the hat, So I have tons of really cool friends whose dads do cool things at work and also, they have tons of servants.
He did feel a little bad about lying, so for the last one he wanted to make sure it was something people actually said about him. And even if he didn't really understand her, his mum had known him the longest, so her judgement was probably accurate. Even if Zack didn't really like it.
My mum says that I misplace my things a lot, so forgetful, maybe?
There! That was three whole words. Zackary squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the hat to announce which house that he would be placed in. Unfortunately, it was not that easy. He heard another question being asked and groaned. That first one had already taken a lot of thinking!
"Would you rather be able to change into an animal, change your appearance, or see the future?"
Oh, phew! An easy question. Or was it? Zack's first thought was that he would want to be able to change into an animal, but then he thought that changing his appearance would be pretty cool. Who knew where he would be able to sneak into? And he could pretend to be other people if it looked like he was going to get in trouble!
Change my appearance. Zack thought, then waited to see if he was all done with the sorting process. There was a lot of thinking involved with this. He had imagined something like a footrace, then everybody picking their houses based off of who was already in them. In comparison, this was boring. Almost like homework. Gross.
"If you could invent a potion, what would it do?"
I don't think I could. I heard that potions were really hard to make. But if I could... Zack didn't know what most potions did. But he did have an idea. A potion that would make me rich! And also my mum, I guess, because she's my mum. That way she wouldn't have to worry any more, and people wouldn't make fun of us for being poor.
No one had made fun of Zack for being poor. But it was something he considered when he thought about the way his mum looked sometimes. He would punch someone if they made fun of his mum. It was the honorable thing to do, since he hadn't yet been taught how to duel.
"Imagine you see someone cheat in class. What do you do?"
I dunno, it's not really my business. That's professor stuff, right? Unless it affects me, like if it's a competition to cast the best spell and he drinks a best-spell potion right before. Zackary defaulted to assuming the cheater was another boy. Girls didn't have the cleverness to cheat properly. He based this knowledge entirely off of the fact that his five-year-old sister either didn't cheat or got caught, like when she moved the checkers around when she thought Zack wasn't looking.
Zack frowned, considering it again. He disliked how much considering and thinking went into these answers, but he needed to go into the right house!
But if the teacher asks if I saw him cheating I wouldn't lie about it. Except if he was one of my friends and really needed to cheat. Zack said, You remember I mentioned my cool awesome friends earlier.
There. Now the hat would know for sure that Zack needed to go into a good house. And not one with lots of uncool people or girls!
"Who is your enemy and how will you defeat them?"
Zack was a bit stunned by the question, mostly because he didn't really consider himself as having any enemies. Sure, when he played games with other boys his age there were teams and if he lost he was usually quite frustrated and had occasionally resorted to violence, but soon enough he would be playing again and the teams would be mixed up and yesterday's rival was today's ally.
I heard they don't usually let first years on the Quidditch team. Zack thought, But I bet that I could probably fight all the other people who tried out for the Quidditch team and win, and then they'd have to let me on the team because then nobody else could play!
It didn't help that he was one of the first students called up. Curse being a Carter! If his last name was at the end of the alphabet, at least he would have some time to see where the other kids ended up and figure out which houses to avoid. As it was, only the headmaster's son had gone before him.
"Describe yourself in three words."
The first thing that came to Zack's mind was just to state his full name, but that was probably incorrect. What were three words that he could use to describe himself?
I'm pretty fast was the first thing that came to Zack's mind. He pictured the hat as unable to see him, so maybe it was looking for physical descriptors? That made sense to Zack. But weren't houses about personality? Zack did want to end up in a house with people who were pretty cool. And also maybe rich so they could pay for him to do stuff if the debt that he heard his mum talking about made them actually poor.
And everyone thinks I'm pretty awesome Zack lied to the hat, So I have tons of really cool friends whose dads do cool things at work and also, they have tons of servants.
He did feel a little bad about lying, so for the last one he wanted to make sure it was something people actually said about him. And even if he didn't really understand her, his mum had known him the longest, so her judgement was probably accurate. Even if Zack didn't really like it.
My mum says that I misplace my things a lot, so forgetful, maybe?
There! That was three whole words. Zackary squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the hat to announce which house that he would be placed in. Unfortunately, it was not that easy. He heard another question being asked and groaned. That first one had already taken a lot of thinking!
"Would you rather be able to change into an animal, change your appearance, or see the future?"
Oh, phew! An easy question. Or was it? Zack's first thought was that he would want to be able to change into an animal, but then he thought that changing his appearance would be pretty cool. Who knew where he would be able to sneak into? And he could pretend to be other people if it looked like he was going to get in trouble!
Change my appearance. Zack thought, then waited to see if he was all done with the sorting process. There was a lot of thinking involved with this. He had imagined something like a footrace, then everybody picking their houses based off of who was already in them. In comparison, this was boring. Almost like homework. Gross.
"If you could invent a potion, what would it do?"
I don't think I could. I heard that potions were really hard to make. But if I could... Zack didn't know what most potions did. But he did have an idea. A potion that would make me rich! And also my mum, I guess, because she's my mum. That way she wouldn't have to worry any more, and people wouldn't make fun of us for being poor.
No one had made fun of Zack for being poor. But it was something he considered when he thought about the way his mum looked sometimes. He would punch someone if they made fun of his mum. It was the honorable thing to do, since he hadn't yet been taught how to duel.
"Imagine you see someone cheat in class. What do you do?"
I dunno, it's not really my business. That's professor stuff, right? Unless it affects me, like if it's a competition to cast the best spell and he drinks a best-spell potion right before. Zackary defaulted to assuming the cheater was another boy. Girls didn't have the cleverness to cheat properly. He based this knowledge entirely off of the fact that his five-year-old sister either didn't cheat or got caught, like when she moved the checkers around when she thought Zack wasn't looking.
Zack frowned, considering it again. He disliked how much considering and thinking went into these answers, but he needed to go into the right house!
But if the teacher asks if I saw him cheating I wouldn't lie about it. Except if he was one of my friends and really needed to cheat. Zack said, You remember I mentioned my cool awesome friends earlier.
There. Now the hat would know for sure that Zack needed to go into a good house. And not one with lots of uncool people or girls!
"Who is your enemy and how will you defeat them?"
Zack was a bit stunned by the question, mostly because he didn't really consider himself as having any enemies. Sure, when he played games with other boys his age there were teams and if he lost he was usually quite frustrated and had occasionally resorted to violence, but soon enough he would be playing again and the teams would be mixed up and yesterday's rival was today's ally.
I heard they don't usually let first years on the Quidditch team. Zack thought, But I bet that I could probably fight all the other people who tried out for the Quidditch team and win, and then they'd have to let me on the team because then nobody else could play!