What the Sorting Hat REALLY Said, and The Good Slytherin.

[nibleswik]

No: HPFGUIDX 84982

> *Harry* [emphasis mine] brings up Slytherin, not the Sorting Hat, 
> and the Sorting Hat never tries to force or advocate Slytherin. It 
> simple wants to be clear why Harry doesn't want to be in Slytherin 
> and wants to make sure Harry understands that Slytherin could work 
> to his advantage. 
> 
> In the end, the Hat goes with the very first characteristic it saw 
> in Harry; plenty of courage. <snip>

You're totally right! I got it wrong. Thank you for posting that. 
You make a good point that Harry brought it up. That reinforces an 
idea present in JKR's work, along with many other authors, that you 
are most afraid of something in you. Qualities of Harry's enemy are 
manifested in him, both literally (via scar) and figuratively (via 
his personality). This Sorting Hat thing is a further reminder of 
Harry fearing something very present, though not apparent in him.

Now that I think about it, one could call Harry's potential for evil 
(no, I'm not equating evil with Slytherin. I'm talking about the 
fact that the boy has a bit of LV within him.) a 'sleeping dragon.' 
Now THAT'S interesting!
 
Cheekyweebisom