"Hey, whatever works," May said with a smile. "One person at a time's a lot better than not helping anyone."

Oh, yeah. Better lay it all out on the table. "Okay, here's how it works," May said, pausing to take a swig of the water bottle she was still holding. "Everybody who arrives here has to be Sorted - assigned to a House - before they can even leave this room. No exceptions. However," she added before he could protest, "once you get Sorted, you can apparently come and go as you please. Well, if you can afford a plane ticket back to the States," she added ruefully, her Queens accent becoming a bit more obvious. "Unless you get Squibbed - totally rejected - then I don't think you can ever set foot here again. Never seen anyone who's Squibbed try again, anyway."

She took another drink of water after that explanation and had to pause significantly to keep herself from choking when she heard Nathan's last question. "A lot," she managed when she could speak properly again. "For starters, this is a magic school - and yeah, I know it sounds nuts, but still. The standard definition of 'normal' doesn't apply here."