A Web Of Magic

They followed Professor McGonagall through the door into a wide entrance hall that was the size of a house. There were flaming torches on the stone walls on both sides. The ceiling was too high for them to see and a marble staircase in front of them led to the higher floors. They walked across the stone floor and reached a doorway through which a variety of voices could be heard. The professor led them to a smaller chamber on the side of the larger door. The students crowded in and looked around nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is an important ceremony because your house will be like your family within Hogwarts while you are here. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room."

"There are four houses Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards. Your triumphs here will earn you house points, while your rule-breaking will lose house points. The house with the most house points at the end of the year will win the house cup which is a great honor. I hope each of you will be a great addition to whichever house you are sorted into. The ceremony will start in a few minutes so smarten yourself up," she finished as she looked at the soaked Weasleys and their victims pointedly.

The twins wanted to say something funny but one look from McGonagall banished any such thoughts. As she stepped out of the chamber, the new students started murmuring to each other, no doubt about the sorting. Some started combing their hair while others adjusted their clothes.

"Magnus, mate, help us out here. If mum found out we were soaked for the sorting ceremony, she'll have our heads," Fred and George pleaded with Magnus.

"Why? I thought you liked to experiment," Magnus gave them a smirk.

"Come one, Percy will rat us out. We'll owe you one," they continued.

"Alright, you better keep your word," Magnus pulled out his wand and cast the Hot-Air charm three times in succession towards the twins and Jordan. He was glad he picked up the book on Household Charms. Hot air blew from his wand towards the three and steam wafted off their clothes drying them.

The commotion attracted the other students to look over and they stared at him in awe. Not many could cast charms yet and certainly not one that looked so complicated. The remaining soaked girls looked at Magnus pitifully. He shook his head as he pointed his wand at them and cast the same charm. Soon, the only evidence that they were soaked was their rumpled hair.

"Thank you so much. I'm Angelina," the girl offered her hand as a greeting. She was tall for their age and had dark skin, brown eyes and long black hair that was braided.

"Thank you, I'm Alicia," the other girl also greeted. She looked friendly and was tan in appearance compared to the others.

"Thanks, I'm Isabel," the last girl too responded, though she didn't offer a handshake like the others. She looked pale in complexion but her long eyelashes made her look exotic.

Magnus shook their hands and introduced himself with a smile, "Magnus, nice to meet you."

"That spell is very handy Magnus. Teach us too yeah?" the twins asked.

"I did offer to teach you before, but what was it you said ah yes, "It's more fun getting wet ''," Magnus looked at them with an I-told-you-so look.

"Did we now?"

"Strange we can't recall"

"It's all water under the bridge mate," they retorted as they looked around the room sheepishly. The awkward atmosphere was broken when they door opened and Professor McGonagall and said, "Now, form a line and follow me."

Magnus looked at the blinking interface at the edge of his vision. As he concentrated on it, it displayed:

[Impact Points+6]

Magnus banished the display with a thought. He understood how to gain these points through experimenting in the last month. Any action that he does that has an impact on anything, or anyone really, will award him points. For example, he got 2 points when he fixed Ginny's broken toy and got 6 points when he cured the twins of their green hair. That's one mystery solved about the points. But he's yet to figure out how to use them.

They followed her back out of the room and to the double doors towards what was undoubtedly the Great Hall. As they entered the hall, Magnus's attention was pulled towards the ceiling lit by thousands of floating candles and the star-studded sky above it. He wondered what charm they had used to make that possible. Whatever it was, it was far beyond what he had ever seen. He wasn't as awestruck or nervous as the other students, having read about it and the sorting ceremony in advance, but was awed nonetheless. Hundreds of older students were looking at them seated at long wooden tables. At the end of the hall was a long table seating what must be the teaching staff of Hogwarts. At the center of the table was a particularly eye-catching old man with a long beard. 'That must be the famous Headmaster Dumbledore,' Magnus concluded.

The first-year students nervously looked around as they were led towards a stool. Professor McGonagall put an old and worn out hat onto the stool. For a few seconds all was silent when the hat twitched and a rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth. Soon, it began to sing-

Oh you may not think me 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 folks 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 whole hall burst into applause as the song ended. The hat bowed towards the four tables before it went still. Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a roll of parchment and said, "When I call your name, you'll sit on the stool and put on the hat to be sorted."

"Carl, Warrington"

Magnus looked on with interest. The hat must be some kind of an artifact made by the founders. For it to last over a thousand years shows how amazing it is. Magnus always liked to tinker with things and he was itching to know about the intricacies of the hat.

"SLYTHERIN" the hat announced and the table to the far right cheered and clapped. Warrington went and sat at the table.

"Davies, Roger"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Diggory, Cedric"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Johnson, Angelina"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Jordan, Lee"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Pucy, Adrian"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Shafiq, Isabel"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Spinnet, Alicia"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Warrington, Carl,"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Weasley, Fred"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Weasley, George"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The hat asked the students questions softly. Some were asked more while some were asked less. Fred and George were immediately sorted into Gryffindor while the hat took some time to sort Isabel into Slytherin. Finally, it was his turn.

"Webb, Magnus"

Magnus stepped forward and put on the hat calmly. The only sign of his nervousness was his sweaty palms. A calm yet foreign presence seemed to have surrounded his mind.

"Oh, interesting, very interesting. Already organizing your mind eh? You even learned to separate your anger. A budding mind mage I see."

"A mind mage?" Magnus asked confused, he never heard of such a term, although he had an inkling that it was related to the mind arts skill that he had somehow gained.

"Ah an old term for wizards who specialized in the mind arts. You see back in those days, wizards weren't so diverse due to the lack of proper knowledge, so they specialized in whatever field they could. Anyway, I wouldn't know more, I'm just a hat. You do have the cunning and the thirst for fame. A quest for revenge too. You would do well in Slytherin."

"Well, not a thirst. Just a need"

"Hmm, well you do have the thirst for knowledge, almost overwhelming. Ravenclaw would suit you well too."

"What about Gryffindor?" Magnus asked curiously. While he didn't mind whichever house he was sorted into, his friends were in Gryffindor so he wouldn't mind spending time with them.

"Well I suppose you do have a bit of a Gryffindor in you and a smudge of Hufflepuff if you look very closely. What do you say?"

Magnus was in a dilemma. All the houses had equal opportunities from what he read, but his goal was to learn as much as he can and gain fame to accomplish his goals. "Put me where you think I can acquire all the tools to accomplish my goals. I want to be able to gain knowledge to uncover as many secrets as I can and grow in power while I'm here," he concluded.

"An all-rounder eh? An intelligent choice, but is it a wise choice? Hogwarts is full of secrets and mysteries. The only thing is, can you uncover them all?" the hat said in an insinuating tone.

"You'll do well in – RAVENCLAW!"

[Impact Points +10]

At the hat's declaration, the Ravenclaw students all started clapping and cheering him on as he went towards the table. It took so long that they thought it would be a hatstall. Magnus realized that the sorting must be more impactful than he initially thought if he got 10 points for it. He didn't notice a pair of twinkling eyes of a certain headmaster that followed him all the way till he sat at the house table. "You'll be glad for coming here," an older student clapped him in the back and introduced," I'm Gritt, your prefect. Come to me if you have any problems."

The students sitting around Magnus welcomed him as they introduced themselves. The atmosphere around the Ravenclaw table, while joyful, lacked the boisterous feeling that the other houses had, Gryffindor in particular. They were a rowdy bunch, Magnus noticed.

Once the last of the sorting was done, the hat and the stool were removed and the headmaster stood gathering everyone's attention. He beamed at the students with arms opened wide and said, "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I'll say a few words. Bibbit! Witnit! Plork! Thank You," and he sat down.

Magnus was confused and looked at the prefect near him questioningly.

"Confused? He's a bit mad, yes. Still, he's a genius and the greatest wizard around. You'll get used to it," Gritt reassured him though he himself didn't seem so sure.

'Eccentricity of a genius old wizard then,' Magnus concluded. He had seen plenty of such characters in the games he had played and the stories he had read. By this point, it's a tradition to have at least a few mad old wizards.