The Hat Sorts, The Wand Choses

[four4furies]

No: HPFGUIDX 32042

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Aja <aromano at i...> wrote:
> 

> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., Aja <aromano at i...> wrote:

>>If personalities alone determined the makeup of all the houses, 
>>then each of the houses really *would* be a flat stereotype of the 
>>qualities they have been chosen to represent, and we would have 
>>missed all these delightful arguments about what makes a Slytherin 
>>a *true* Slytherin, etc. :)


I most respectfully disagree.  It is the variation within the general 
trend associated with each house that gives rise to the questions of 
what makes one a This as opposed to a That.  The "choices" one make 
are a reflection of the personality, itself an invisible thing, that 
is in part a function of nature and in part a function of nurture.  
That is why two very different seeming people can be of the same 
personality type.  Though driven by amition, one may feel free to 
break laws while another has been raised to play within the rules 
(e.g., compare Malfoy and Snape - one has limits, the other doesn't, 
yet they are both Slytherin).

>>Aja (amazed at JKR's existentialist tendencies--viva the power of 
choice!)

If by "existentialist" you mean a believer in free will, yes, but 
then so is every Buddhist and Christian.  Free will is the primary 
attribute of Mankind, so recognition of its existence does not a 
philosophy make.  But if you mean by "existentialist" that there is 
no independent measure of right and wrong, I think you have miss read 
the author.  JKR is no Nietsche-ist (can't spell his name).  JKR very 
clearly postulates that choices matter because some are right and 
some are wrong. 

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "ftah3" <ftah3 at y...> wrote:
 
> Does anyone disagree that the house each student ended up in suits 
> their personalities?  Does anyone really think that any student 
other 
> than Harry really had much at stake in their choice other 
> than "Slytherin's/Hufflepuffs are icky, I don't wanna be with 
them?"  
> JKR has said in interviews that the easy choices are not always the 
> right ones, and I imagine that Dumbledore knows this distinction as 
> well.  
> 
> Yes, Harry made a choice, and the Hat used his choice to determine 
> Harry's house, but look at what was offered to him  {snip} 
> In fact, I think that the fact that the Hat went to the effort of 
> tempting Harry indicates that it will not Sort based on simple 
> preference.  Rather, for the student's preference to make a 
> difference, it has to be proved that it highlights the student's 
> personality.
> 
> As for what Dumbledore said ~ he is *right*.  It *is* the choice 
that 
> matters.  If Harry had allowed himself to be even the slightest bit 
> tempted by the Hat's promise of power and glory, I have no doubt 
that 
> he'd have been put in Slytherin, and that that momentary allowance 
of 
> hunger for power, having been given a bit of free reign during the 
> sorting, would have been encouraged, cultivated, and Harry's future 
> would have been unimaginably altered.  
> 
> Mahoney


Amen, Brother!  You have made yourself very clear.

4FR