hey would have vanished, he turned his eyes instead upon the strange, skeletal creatures standing quietly in the chill night air, their blank white eyes gleaming. 
Harry had once before had the experience of seeing something that Ron could not, but that had been a reflection in a mirror, something much more insubstantial than a hundred very solid-looking beasts strong enough to pull a fleet of carriages. If Luna was to be believed, the beasts had always been there but invisible. Why, then, could Harry suddenly see them, and why could Ron not? 

'Are you coming or what?' said Ron beside him. 
'Oh: yeah,' said Harry quickly and they joined the crowd hurrying up the stone steps into the castle. 
The Entrance Hall was ablaze with torches and echoing with footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, leading to the Great Hall and the start-of-term feast. 
The four long house tables in the Great Hall were filling up under the starless black ceiling, which was just like the sky they could glimpse through the high windows. Candles floated in midair all along the tables, illuminating the silvery ghosts who were dotted about the Hall and the faces of the students talking eagerly, exchanging summer news, shouting greetings at friends from other houses, eyeing one another's new haircuts and robes. Again, Harry noticed people putting their heads to-gether to whisper as he passed; he gritted his teeth and tried to act as though he neither noticed nor cared. 
Luna drifted away from them at the Ravenclaw table. The moment they reached Gryffindors, Ginny was hailed by some fellow fourth-years and left to sit with them; Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville found seats together about halfway down the table between Nearly 

Headless Nick, the Gryffindor house ghost, and Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, the last two of whom gave Harry airy, overly-friendly greetings that made him quite sure they had stopped talking about him a split second before. He had more im-portant things to worry about, however: he was looking over the students' heads to the staff table that ran along the top wall of the Hall. 
'He's not there.' 

Ron and Hermione scanned the staff table too, though there was no real need; Hagrid's size made him instantly obvious in any lineup. 
'He can't have left,' said Ron, sounding slightly anxious. 
'Of course he hasn't,' said Harry firmly. 
'You don't think he's: hurt, or anything, do you?' said Hermione uneasily. 
'No,' said Harry at once. 
'But where is he, then?' 

There was a pause, then Harry said very quietly, so that Neville, Parvati and Lavender could not hear, 'Maybe he's not back yet. You know - from his mission - the thing he was doing over the summer for Dumbledore.' 

'Yeah: yeah, that'll be it,' said Ron, sounding reassured, but Hermione bit her lip, looking up and down the staff table as though hoping for some conclusive explanation of Hagrid's absence. 
'Who's that?' she said sharply, pointing towards the middle of the staff table. 
Harry's eyes followed hers. They lit first upon Professor Dumbledore, sitting in his high-backed golden chair at the centre of the long staff table, wearing deep-purple robes scattered with silvery stars and a matching hat. Dumbledore's head was in-clined towards the woman sitting next to him, who was talking into his ear. She looked, Harry thought, like somebody's maiden aunt: squat, with short, curly, mouse-brown hair in which she had placed a horrible pink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan she wore over her robes. Then she turned her face slightly to take a sip from her goblet and he saw, with a shock of recognition, a pallid, toadlike face and a pair of prominent, pouchy eyes. 
'It's that Umbridge woman!' 

'Who?' said Hermione. 
'She was at my hearing, she works for Fudge!' 

'Nice cardigan,' said Ron, smirking. 
'She works for Fudge!' Hermione repeated, frowning. 'What on earth's she doing here, then?' 

'Dunno:' 

Hermione scanned the staff table, her eyes narrowed. 
'No,' she muttered, 'no, surely not:' 

Harry did not understand what she was talking about but did not ask; his attention had been caught by Professor Grubbly-Plank who had just appeared behind the staff table; she worked her way along to the very end and took the seat that ought to have been Hagrid's. That meant the first-years must have crossed the lake and reached the castle, and sure enough, a few sec-onds later, the doors from the Entrance Hall opened. A long line of scared-looking first-years entered, led by Professor McGo-nagall, who was carrying a stool on which sat an ancient wizard's hat, heavily patched and darned with a wide rip near the frayed brim. 
The buzz of talk in the Great Hall faded away. The first-years lined up in front of the staff table facing the rest of the stu-dents, and Professor McGonagall placed the stool carefully in front of them, then stood back. 
The first-years' faces glowed palely in the candlelight. A small boy right in the middle of the row looked as though he was trembling. Harry recalled, fleetingly, how terrified he had felt when he had stood there, waiting for the unknown test that would determine to which house he belonged. 
The whole school waited with bated breath. Then the rip near the hat's brim opened wide like a mouth and the Sorting Hat burst into song: 

In times of old when I was new And Hogwarts barely started The founders of our noble school Thought never to be parted: United by a common goal, 

They had the selfsame yearning, 

To make the world's best magic school 

And pass along their learning. 
'Together we will build and teach!' 

The four good friends decided 

And never did they dream that they 

Might some day be divided, 

For were there such friends anywhere 

As Slytherin and Gryffindor? 

Unless it was the second pair 

Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw? 

So how could it have gone so wrong? 

How could such friendships fail? 

Why, I was there and so can tell 

The whole sad, sorry tale. 
Said Slytherin, 'We'll teach just those 

Whose ancestry is purest.' 

Said Ravenclaw, 'We'll teach those whose 

Intelligence is surest.' 

Said Gryffindor, 'We'll teach all those 

With brave deeds to their name,' 

Said Hufflepuff, I'll teach the lot, 

And treat them just the same.' 

These differences caused little strife 

When first they came to light, 

For each of the four founders had 

A house in which they might 

Take only those they wanted, so, 

For instance, Slytherin 

Took only pure-blood wizards 

Of great cunning, just like him, 

And only those of sharpest mind 

Were taught by Ravenclaw 

While the bravest and the boldest 

Went to daring Gryffindor. 
Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest, 

And taught them all she knew, 

Thus the houses and their founders 

Retained friendships firm and true. 
So Hogwarts worked in harmony 

For several happy years, 

But then discord crept among us 

Feeding on our faults and fears. 
The houses that, like pillars four, 

Had once held up our school, 

Now turned upon each other and, 

Divided, sought to rule. 
And for a while it seemed the school 

Must meet an early end, 

What with duelling and with jighting 

And the clash of friend on friend 

And at last there came a morning 

When old Slytherin departed 

And though the fighting then died out 

He left us quite downhearted. 
And never since the founders four 

Were whittled down to three 

Have the houses been united 

As they once were meant to be. 
And now the Sorting Hat is here 

And you all know the score: 

I sort you into houses 

Because that is what I'm for, 

But this year I'll go further, 

Listen closely to my song: 

Though condemned I am to split you 

Still I worry that it's wrong, 

Though / must fulfil my duty 

And must quarter everv year 

Still I wonder whether Sorting 

May not bring the end I fear. 
Oh, know the perils, read the signs, 

The warning history shows, 

For our Hogwarts is in danger 

From external, deadly foes 

And we must unite inside her 

Or we'll crumble from within 

I have told you, I have warned you: 

Let the Sorting now begin. 
The Hat became motionless once more; applause broke out, though it was punctured, for the first time in Harry's memory, with muttering and whispers. All across the Great Hall students were exchanging remarks with their neighbours, and Harry, clapping along with everyone else, knew exactly what they were talking about. 
'Branched out a bit this year, hasn't it?' said Ron, his eyebrows raised. 
Too right it has,' said Harry. 
The Sorting Hat usually confined itself to describing the different qualities looked for by each of the four Hogwarts houses and its own role in Sorting them. Harry could not remember it ever trying to give the school advice before. 
'I wonder if it's ever given warnings before?' said Hermione, sounding slightly anxious. 
'Yes, indeed,' said Nearly Headless Nick knowledgeably, leaning across Neville towards her (Neville winced; it was very uncomfortable to have a ghost lean through you). The Hat feels itself honour-bound to give the school due warning whenever it feels - 

But Professor McGonagall, who was waiting to read out the list of first-years' names, was giving the whispering students the sort of look that scorches. Nearly Headless Nick placed a see-through finger to his lips and sat primly upright again as the muttering came to an abrupt end. With a last frowning look that swept the four house tables, Professor McGonagall lowered her eyes to her long piece of parchment and called out the first name. 
'Abercrombie, Euan.' 

The terrified-looking boy Harry had noticed earlier stumbled forwards and put the Hat on his head; it was only prevented from falling right down to his shoulders by his very 