Sorting Hat (was: muggle baiting vs. muggle torture)

[triinum]

No: HPFGUIDX 155462


> Carol:
> I don't think it's that simple, or the Hat would automatically have
> placed Harry in Gryffindor, the House that both his parents had been
> sorted into. Instead, it hesitates, pointing out that he has courage,
> lots of talent, "not a bad mind," and a thirst to prove himself, and
> then it asks *itself*, not Harry, "Where shall I put you?" Even when
> Harry thinks, "Not Slytherin! Not Slytherin!" it argues that he would
> do well ther. It's only when Harry makes it clear that he doesn't want
> to go there that the Hat chooses what it appears to be the second-best
> fit, Gryffindor.

Triin:
Alright, I'm convinced. And that makes me more sure that the hat is
illogical. As I understand, courage is a Gryf trait, talent and "good
mind" are Ravenclaw traits shared by Slytherins, and a thirst to prove
oneself is a shared Gryf-Slyth trait. Then why Slyth and no Gryff
*or* 'Claw? What is it about Harry's personality that makes him so
Slytherin that the hat had to be begged not to put him there? He is
such a *straightfoward* person, with a "saving people thing", etc; to
me he sounds like an epitome of Gryffindor values.. 

> Carol: 
> I think the Hat really makes an effort to put the students where it
> thinks they belong, giving equal weight to Slytherin and with no bias
> against it (though it dislikes the idea of "quartering" in general and
> later advocates unity among the Houses). 

Triin:
If I was the hat, I'd be clever and sort all personality types to all
houses equally, different Weasleys to different houses, and so forth.
That would soften the edges down in no time!

> Carol:
> so Frank was probably a Gryffindor, too. Yet Neville's placement in
> Gryffindor is not automatic. Possibly, the Hat placed him there
> because he begged it to do so even though it thought he was better
> suited to Hufflepuff.)

Triin:
I'm puzzled why people tend to sort Neville to Hufflepuff. To me he
reads like a *natural* loner, not a *forced* one. I don't think he'd
be comfortable in Hufflepuff where you are expected to do team work
and be *social*. He seems the sort who lives in his own little
separate world and only pays little visits to the reality. I always
thought the hat took so long because there is actually *no house*
where Neville fits in perfectly. Perhaps the hat was contemplating
Ravenclaw, for that's a house for intellectual loners. Only he's not
all that intellectual (I don't mean that he's not *intelligent*; I'm
uncomfortable with the notion that "intelligent people go to
Ravenclaw". I think *intellectuals* go there, which is a different
thing). But he *is* very brave, and has a hidden pride so strong that
he'll jump to almost certain death for reasons of chivalry, nobility, 
revenge and honour. Gryffindor material alright.

Triin, 
who always feels sorry for Hufflepuffs and craves for a Big Day For
Hufflepuff to occur in Book 7, in which the Hufflepuffs save the world...