Does the sorting hat sort?

[nibleswik]

No: HPFGUIDX 84839

<snip>
>Afterall if [the Sorting Hat] sorted people into their houses by 
their 
> qualities then Harry would have been a Slytherin, Hermione a 
> Ravenclaw and Neville a Hufflepuff.

I disagree. Harry /might/ have been a Slytherin. I think we can't 
say for sure that based on qualities alone, he'd have been put in 
Slytherin. I believe the purpose of the Hat going on about his 
potential in Slytherin was to find his choice. "Not Slytherin . . . 
anything but Slytherin" is a very Gryffindor thing to say (or 
think). If it were going strictly on qualities, there would have 
been no point to saying that. I don't think it's necessarily 
evidence that he would have been in Slytherin, just that he could 
have been and that the Hat itself is a Slytherin -- very cunning. 
Based on qualities alone, I think Harry would still have been a 
Gryffindor. Yes, he's ambitious, but he isn't particularly cunning, 
and he is very, very brave. And he isn't TRULY ambitious. Someone 
truly ambitious wouldn't have wanted to be anyone else, even after 
the death of their godfather.

And why does everyone think Neville would be a Hufflepuff? I think 
he's one of the bravest characters in the books. Yes, he's loyal, 
but I think he's brave first and loyal second. Furthermore, if 
there's an instance where the Hat was sorting based on qualities, I 
think Neville was probably it. Why? Because it's sort of like a line 
from The Perks of Being a Wallflower -- "We accept the love we think 
we deserve." Similarly, I don't think Neville really aspired to be a 
Gryffindor, because he didn't think he deserved it. He thought he 
should have been a Hufflepuff. Hope that made sense.

Cheekyweebisom