Neville, Seamus, and the Sorting Hat

[gelite67]

No: HPFGUIDX 132504

In PS, the Sorting Hat took "a long time" to decide which house to 
put Neville in.  I'm curious as to which other house or houses the SH 
was considering putting Neville in.  Was the SH only considering 
Gryffindor and one other house, as with Harry?  If so, which one? Or 
was it an even tougher choice between two or three other houses? 

Unless there are character traits about Neville that have not been 
revealed, my guess is that the other house would be Hufflepuff House, 
for those who are "patient," "just," "loyal," and "true".  Neville 
does not appear to be "cunning" as the SH described Slytherins, or 
of "a ready mind" or "of wit and learning" as the SH described 
Ravenclaws.

Of course, at the beginning, Neville did not seem to be brave and 
daring either, and those are traits the SH used to describe 
Gryffindors which he seemed to take on in OOP (which shows that the 
SH was right).

The same question could also be asked regarding Seamus, since JKR 
made it a point to explain that the SH took a whole minute before it 
sorted him into Gryffindor.   

Angie