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

[Susan]

No: HPFGUIDX 101384

Mrs.) Lee Storm ( 
>  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

Not that I don't get what you're saying, but IMHO, even if Harry rode 
on the train with DM & Co, I think the first time DM made a 
snotty/hateful remark to Ron b/c he's poor would have turned Harry 
off immediately, even if he hadn't even met Ron yet.  Harry's all too 
familiar with not having anything but hand-me-downs.

Susan (Just my two knutes)