Ranting about the hat (was one of those lots of subject things)

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 23727

Milz wrote:

> The Sorting Hat looks into a person and places that person into the
> house that most closely matches his characteristics. Harry is an
> exception because he persuaded the Sorting Hat to do otherwise. But
> the Sorting Hat picked up on Harry's Slytherin-like qualities first.

Milz, you, with just about everyone else, is standing there with a hook
in your mouth. I may be wrong, but it gets me every time how people toss
around as a given this notion that the sorting hat was all set to put
Harry in Slytherin.

Here's what it said: "Hmmm. Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of
courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, oh my goodness
yes --- and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting . .
. So where shall I put you?"

Here's when Harry started thinking Not Slytherin, and the hat simply
said that Harry could be great and Slytherin will help on the way to
greatness.

Nowhere in that do I get any sort of feeling that the hat had wanted him
in Slytherin. Harry's the one who brought Slytherin up. The hat
mentioned his courage and his mind before it mentioned his thirst to
prove himself. The very fact that the hat *said* he was difficult meant
that it hadn't decided yet.

I think this damn-near-canon notion that the hat wanted to put him in
Slytherin and Harry talked it out of it is incorrect, right up there
with Snape wanting the DADA job. We've been led to believe it, rather
carefully, but when you go looking for hard facts to support it, they're
not there. This is one of the things JKR wants us to believe. hmmmm.

--Amanda


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