Pureblood Pretenders and Sorting Hat Was (Re: Motivations for Joining DEs )

[a_svirn]

No: HPFGUIDX 141025

> 
> 
> zgirnius:
> So do you think the Hat just basically rubber stamps the choices 
of 
> the students? They tell it which house they want, and it obliges? 
> (Or, it selects based on its stated criteria from among the houses 
a 
> student considers acceptable, as in Harry's case, since he only 
> specified "not Slytherin?)
> 
>
No, not quite. I think it *presents* them with choices. Probably 
helps them to make one, if sometimes in a rather sly fashion. 
Certainly I believe that the Sorting is not just a ceremony but a 
first serious test for the Hogwarts students – after all, your 
choice determines how you spend next seven years. And here anything 
might come into play: your character traits, your set of values, 
your phobias and idiosyncrasies. Rumours you've just heard, people 
you've just met. For instance, I think Pettigrew did not choose 
Gryffindor because he valued bravery most and certainly not because 
he was brave himself. On the contrary, he knew himself to be weak, 
and sought for protection. He probably figured that he just might 
find it in the House of the Valiant and Chivalrous. And he was not 
wrong. 

a_svirn