Sorting hat

[jlv230]

No: HPFGUIDX 132541

> phillippajrice
>  I read somewhere that more information about the sorting hat 
would 
> feature in the next book.
JLV:
I can't find anything mentioning book 6 specifically - could it be 
this quote you're referring to?

Boston Globe interview (1999):
The character you might be most surprised to see evolve is none 
other than the Sorting Hat. "There is more to the Sorting Hat than 
what you have read about in the first three books," Rowling 
says. "Readers will find out what the Sorting Hat becomes as they 
get into future books." 

> phillippajrice
> Does anyone have any ideas about this? 
> Obviously there's more to the hat than just putting people into 
> different houses.

JLV:
Well, the hat explains most of the stuff you mention itself. Let me 
find the quotes...

> phillippajrice
> He's given out advice in the songs, and there was 
> the whole sword thing in COS, and seemingly it can read peoples 
> minds when they're wearing it.

JLV:
It seems it can read minds - from PS:
"There's nothing hidden in your head 
The Sorting Hat can't see"

> phillippajrice
> Maybe the hat belonged to someone who used to wear it all the time 
> and all they're thoughts got stored in it?

JLV:
How it came into being is from GoF:
"Yet how to pick the worthy ones 
When they were dead and gone?

'Twas Gryffindor who found the way, 
He whipped me off his head 
The founders put some brains in me 
So I could choose instead!"

> phillippajrice
> Or maybe when you wear the hat, it can see into your future. That 
> would explain why the hat sorts people into houses they don't seem 
> to suit at the time (eg neville).

JLV:
I don't believe there is any canon for this...

> phillippajrice
> Maybe the hat can see people's family history somehow, and that's 
why 
> he gave the sword to Harry (who's going to turn out to be a 
> decendant of Godric Gryffinddor). That could be the way the hat 
sorts 
> people (the Weaslys are always in Gryffindor, and Neville could 
have 
> been put in Gryffindor based on his parents being brave).

JLV:
But this suggests that it always puts people from the same family in 
the same house. What about Sirius Back or Parvarti/Padma Patil?

> phillippajrice
> Was the hat originally designed to be a sorting hat, or was it 
made 
> for something else first?

JLV:
The hat tells us it was designed to be a sorting hat in the above 
quotation. Also consider from the World Book Day interview (2004):
Arianna: "Can we believe everything the sorting hat says?"
JK Rowling replies -> "The Sorting Hat is certainly sincere."

> phillippajrice
> I'm really looking forward to finding out 
> more about the sorting hat. I wondered if anyone else had any
> ideas.

JLV:
I definitely think the sorting hat has more to do, based on the 
first JKR quote and the trends and suggestions it makes itself in 
the books so far. I hope that having more detailed backgound 
information helps you with your ideas about what this may be! For 
comprehensive information on the sorting hat (including its songs in 
full), consult the lexicon:

http://www.hp-lexicon.org/hogwarts/sorting_hat.html

I personally think the hat will get destroyed at some point - but 
whether this is a good or bad thing, I don't know...
JLV xx