Hermione stood just outside the great hall doors, fidgeting with the end so her bushy hair as her eyes kept darting back to Ron Weasley and the famous Harry Potter boy.  She had met them on the train while searching for Neville's toad.  Neville stood beside her, trembling with fear.  Hermione put a comforting hand on his shoulder.<span style="font-weight: bold">"You'll do fine, Neville."</span>Neville turned a pair of wide eyes on her.<span style="font-weight: bold">"Wh-what if th-they put m-me in Hu-huffelpuff?  Gran w-will be s-s-soo dis-s-sapointed."</span>Hermione smiled, shaking her head.  She had heard that Huffelpuff House didn't have a lot of outstanding students.  On some level, she agreed with Neville.  She'd prefer not be in Huffelpuff as well.  Not wanting to lie to the boy, she remained silent.  Her head turned as a blonde boy with a pointed face confronted Harry.  She clenched her jaw, already disliking the arrogant blonde boy.  McGonagall came a minute later to escort them into the Great Hall.  Hermione stepped in line behind a large boy with cropped brown hair, she heard Neville's nervous breathing behind her.  Her turn came somewhere in the middle, and she climbed the steps to take a seat on the stood beside Professor McGonagall.  McGonagall placed the hat on her head, and she heard its soft voice in her head.<span style="font-style: italic">"Ahhh, clever one we have here.  Yes...a brilliant mind.  Ravenclaw would be perfect for you."</span>Silently, she thought,<span style="font-style: italic">I think Gryffindor is a better house.</span>The hat chuckled in her ear.<span style="font-style: italic">"Gryffindor, eh?  Well, if you insist."</span>The hat shouted out<span style="font-weight: bold">"Gryffindor"</span>for the whole Hall to hear, and McGonagall promptly removed the hat and pointed Hermione to the right table.  She took a seat near the two red-headed boys that looked related to that Ron boy.  Neville, Ron, and Harry, the few others she had met so far, were sorted into Gryffindor with her.  Neville ran toward her, taking a seat beside her, while Ron and Harry went to sit next to the twins.<br/><br/>--------<br/><br/>Pillar entered the Great Hall not long before the first-years were due to arrive.  She strutted down the aisle between Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables, her possie of girl-friends waving anxiously toward her.  She was one of the most popular girls in Slytherin House, her ties to the Malfoys, Blacks, and Lestranges securing her place in Slytherin popularity.  She smiled at her friends, taking a seat in the center of them near the middle of the table.  Several boys from their house flocked around them.  Alex Star, of course, was entertaining his own popular group of friends and several girls from other houses.  Pillar learned to pay him no mind.  They were the two most popular students in the House, but, for some reason, had never gravitated to each other.  She supposed their egos would just clash anyway.  They both enjoyed attention, and sharing attention wasn't her strong suit, so it was probably best they avoided each other these past few years.  They often competed in their classes for attention, which was aggravating enough for her.  The Hall hushed as the first-years came through the door and began to take turns with the Sorting Hat.  When McGonagall called Harry Potter's name, the entire Hall grew dead silent as everyone strained to see the famous boy.  Pillar didn't bother.  She was too short to see over the heads of all those Ravenclaws anyway.  The girls around her tried to stand in their seats.  She rolled her eyes.  Pathetic.  The Potter boy got sorted into Gryffindor.  What did people suspect?  He took down Voldemort. Most people knew that most people who stood against him had been in that House while at Hogwars.  Harry's own parents, Dumbledore himself had been Head of Gryffindor in his day.  Draco, the Malfoy boy Pillar had teased throughout childhood joined Slytherin.  No surprise there.  The Sorting Hat ceremony ended, and the feast began.  Pillar didnt' eat much until dessert came along.  She'd always had a sweet tooth.  Brownies were her favorite.  What girl could resist chocolate?  After the feast and Dumbledore's announcements, the students were released to their houses.  Pillar and her friends followed behind Alex Star and his gang (Pillar noticed Star had already taken young Malfoy under his wing) as they made their way toward the dungeons and the Slytherin Common Room.  Pillar rolled her eyes as Star began his usual "I'm all that" bull and appointed his protege.<span style="font-weight: bold">"Good Lord, and I thought I was full of it."</span>The students, which consisted of her closeset girlfriends, and the boys who were too jealous of Star to follow him around like a lost puppy, laughed.