The Sorting Hat

[Penny & Bryce]

No: HPFGUIDX 31867

Hi --

First a friendly reminder: *PLEASE* change the subject headings when the 
conversation drifts off to another topic.  Now ...

grey_wolf_c wrote:

> 
> Because remember that many of the students do not necesarily know the
> Hogwarts houses and what they represent, and some of the students, even
> if they know the houses, do not know which one to choose. In all those
> situations, the sorting hat reads the personality of the student
> (specially it's hidden posibilities, judging from the poor work it does
> at first sight: Hermione, Hagrid and Neville don't look as if they
> belong in Gryffindor). I insist, however, that if the student is
> determined to go to a house, he will go there (or, looking it the other
> way round, if he doesn't want to go to a house, he won't go there).

I don't think there's any evidence so far that the Sorting Hat has ever 
given anyone other than Harry a choice.  What if the student was making 
the completely wrong choice re: the House (especially, as you note, 
those students who come to Hogwarts not knowing much or anything about 
the four different houses)?  I think that in Harry's case the Hat could 
see that he would do well in Slytherin but, as Mahoney points out, his 
insistence that he be placed anywhere but Slytherin accented those 
aspects of his personality that eventually caused the Hat to place him 
in Gryffindor.  I don't think this means that there is absolutely a 
choice for every student.  In any case, we can't know that yet unless 
sorting details are revealed for some of the other students who had 
definite preferences (both Ron and Hermione had reasons for wanting to 
be in Gryffindor, and Draco wanted to be in Slytherin).  They all got 
their choices, but we don't know what sort of dialogue they each might 
or might not have had with the Sorting Hat.

We had some discussions on the topic of the Sorting Hat awhile back, so 
there might be some useful info in the Message Archives.

Penny