The Hat Test (was Re: Slytherin House : evil ? (was : Cheering on Harry ))

[Wanda Sherratt]

No: HPFGUIDX 101268

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "(Mrs.) Lee Storm (God Is The 
Healing Force)" <n2fgc at a...> wrote:
> 
> Hat is testing Harry; Hat is giving Harry his first choice to 
make.  Hat
> goes on to needle Harry in COS about him going to Slytherin; Harry 
flatly
> rejects the idea and puts Hat back on Dumbledore's shelf.
> 
> Then, in COS, what comes to Harry's aid along with Fawks? Our 
friendly
> Hat...which gives him the Gryffindor Sword.
> 
> So, methinks Hat is sincere, but it's also doing its part as a 
guardian and
> giving whatever testing is necessary to prove a student's true 
nature...or
> disprove it.
> 
I never thought that Harry going to Gryffindor was such a sure bet - 
it seems to me there was a decent chance he could have gone into 
Slytherin.  Remember, Draco approaches him respectfully when they 
first arrive at Hogwarts; he doesn't realize that he's already shown 
his true colours by his snotty behaviour when talking to Harry in 
the robe shop in Diagon Alley.  And it's just chance that Harry met 
Ron first, so that he was immunized against Draco's insults.  What 
if things had been a little different?  If he'd arrived a few 
minutes earlier at King's Cross, and sat in a different carriage, 
his first welcome into the wizarding world might have been by a 
group of Slytherins, who would have been honoured and flattered to 
count him as one of 'theirs'.  Then Harry's response to the Hat 
would have been quite different - he started off as a bit of a blank 
slate, and I think could have gone in quite a different direction if 
circumstances had been just a bit different.

Wanda