I was sitting in the back of the boat looking towards Hogwarts castle. The fleet of boats floated across the smooth surface of the lake like leaves on a stream. They built up speed the closer they got towards the castle. Something seemed to be pulling the boats. It was an enchantment of some sort, while I didn't recognize the design or setup it fascinated me. Some spells function entirely differently from any other known design...

Hagrid suddenly shouted," Heads Down!"

His yell broke me out of my introspective reverie on this complex work of art. I ducked my head just in time to not swallow a mouthful of English ivy.

We had been approaching the cliff on which the castle resided, but I was too distracted to notice that the boat appeared to have charged at the rocks below.

It was a well-hidden cave and not an enchantment. Clever in that it would last eons on its own without maintenance. I wonder who thought up that one, maybe Godric Griffindor. He never overlooked the value of simple things...

The boats floated down the narrow passage until they reached a small dock in the cave.

Hagrid led us into the castle from the boats. The small cavern forced us to proceed in a single file. Once at the end of the tunnel, we reached a large wooden door that Hagrid knocked on.

I could hear some commotion about Neville finding his toad but was occupied by my difficulty walking forwards. The other students' also fumbled in the dark struggling to find their way forward as Hagrids lamp was the only light.

I used one of my powers to try and see but overloaded my synapse and brain. One of my unique abilities allows my eyes to see where everyone and everything is at any time but it's quite disorienting now that I'm human. Worse yet is that using it even in the smallest capacity seems impossible. Imagine seeing everything in all directions all at once and in every color including the ones human eyes cannot perceive. I practically blinded myself using my power without holding it back properly. I knew looking at a large area was not possible but I'd thought a single room would be fine. I was mistaken and lucky I had not caused any permanent damage.

I felt a cool hand grab mine and lead me forwards, "Come on Ben!" she nudges leading me forward. I must have been stunned by the information overload and Hermione realized I couldn't see.

Hagrid knocked on the high oak door saying," Firs' years here Professor McGonagall".

The tall stern-faced woman replied," Thank you Hagrid I'll take it from here". I could tell by her voice that she had caught the same scent of alcohol on him I had and that, although she was displeased decided to play ignorant.

She told us to follow along and we did as instructed. We were led into a large dining hall with floating magic candles overhead. The ceiling was enchanted to look just like the night sky. I mentally berated this concept, If you were going to use magic then why not just place an enchantment that makes the ceiling see-through. Or not need a ceiling by creating a force barrier with magic. The options were infinite but they chose to magically paint it...why?

The hall was filled with loads of students from later years. There was quite the thrum of muffled voices.

" Welcome to Hogwarts", Professor McGonagall said. "It's almost the start of the term banquet, but before you take your seats you will be sorted into your houses".

Her speech went on for some time explaining how the four houses worked and the related dormitories. It was all information I've known for a very long time. The other students barely breathed they listened so intently. Nearly all we're silent either from excitement or fear of being put in the house they most despised.

I heard gasp's as nearly two dozen ghosts flew through the walls into the dining hall. Shit!... Don't let them look me in the eyes, I hoped. Eyes are windows to the soul and what would a dead soul latching onto the living world see in the eyes of death? A final end that's what. Contrary to what they expect death isn't just an end but another beginning of sorts... like how the end of one story is the beginning of another.

Then it happened, the one titled "The Bloody Barron" in Slytherin locked eyes with me, Fuck!

Everyone stared as the Ghastly wraith wailed and shrieked before fleeing through the walls. Luckily, he didn't confront me but he did point in my general direction. I stared at the ground to avoid locking eyes with more of the dead. Let us just get this sorting ceremony over with, I begged internally. So this is what mortals mean by out of the frying pan and into the fire!

The ceremony is to have the students wear the old enchanted hat of Gryffindor. It was an object of near equal legend to some of my own crafts. I have honest praise for the hat and sword of Gryffindor. These are both truly impressive magical objects and their creation reveals things about their creators. The hat was given false life which something even I have no idea how it is possible. An entity born of pure magic bound to an item. Such an existence is similar to my own current circumstances but I have a soul and spiritual body, not just a physical one.

The sword, however, reveals Gryffindore's early life. He was a pure-blooded wizard with red hair and he was very poor in his youth. Look at the heavily damaged grey hat he enchanted to sort the students and how he valued a person's potential rather than their heritage. He enchanted a sword made of rusted scrap that would consume stronger materials until it could grow no more. Something he thought up because of his circumstances and what resources were available to him.

"Gryffindor!" Shouted the hat on Ron's head. Ah, history does repeat itself sometimes. You can see it when you last throughout the centuries. I didn't need a blood ancestry to recognize Ron's faint resemblance to Griffindor. A faint and distant relation and yet even his demeanor reminds me of him. Everyone only remembers the look of the royal-dressed and confident Godric Griffindor but I met him once when he was young. It was a near-death experience that changed and motivated him to reach new heights. He had overcome his self-doubt and fear. Something I truly hoped Ron would succeed in too.

"Ravenclaw!" The Sorting hat yelled interrupting my thoughts. Wait... Didn't sister say that the three heroes were all from house Griffindor? What's Hermione doing in Ravenclaw? There was a thought I refused to accept and pushed to the back of my mind that this somehow might have to do with me.

I glance up from the floor momentarily barely looking away before a ghost looked in my direction. in that brief flash of an image in my eyes did I see her wave at me? Must be my imagination I reassured hoping I wasn't accidentally offsetting destiny from its due course.

"Benjamin Diggory!" Professor McGonagall called for me to be sorted.

As if on cue Fidell landed on my shoulder and Nyx caressed my leg as we walked to the front of the hall. I heard a child named Draco Malfoy say," Look at him he's Slytherin for sure!"

I coughed to stop myself from saying something I may regret and kept walking, their foolishness isn't worth my time.

At the front of the hall, I let the sorting hat fall over my eyes. At least the ghosts' couldn't catch my gaze now. Had these undead pests not been here I would have already tried to learn how the legendary cap was made but no such luck this time.

"Oh My!" The hat gasped as it scanned my memories.

"Not what you were expecting huh?" I chuckled.

"No sir... It is an honor to sort the reaper himself," The hat mumbled.

"So what's the consensus?"

"Well, you have no fear and that is not courage. So you are not a Griffindor," The old hat relented. I had suspected as much so I was duly prepared.

"And?"

"You like some animals, you're patient, loyal, and you try to be fair. So Hufflepuff would be a good fit," The hat reasoned.

"My brother is there but what are my other options?" I questioned.

"Well, there's also Slytherin and you do desire power... but you lack the ambition to become renowned," The hat replied dismissing that option.

"What about Ravenclaw?" I asked.

" You do have quite a bit of cleverness, wisdom, and creativity. It's a draw between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw," The Sorting hat answered.

"I'll take Ravenclaw then best to keep some distance from my brother," I told the intelligent headwear. Another reason is that my sister would never let me live(err die) it down if I was in house Hufflepuff. The title of Ravenclaw is acceptable. Fidell did laps of the dining hall ceiling in celebration of me being dubbed as the house with Raven in its name. Nyx just complained there should be a house named after a feline but was otherwise without opinion.

I was welcomed warmly by my new house but with a little less warmth than Hermione had gotten for some reason.

I kept my eyes on my food during the banquet. Hopefully, these ghostly pests would not be in these halls often. As long as our crossings were few I could avoid contact.