Disappointment and Responsibility

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 175148



Debbie:
I agree with at least 90% of Pippin's post, but on this  point, I think
lizzyben is right.  Too many children arrive at  Hogwarts with stereotyped
opinions of the houses and what each one stands  for.  For Harry, Slytherin
was Voldemort's house and Draco's  house.  Snape thought it was the house of
brains.  Though it's  not clear, Sirius appears to have thought it was the
pureblood pride  house.  As long as the Sorting Hat allows children to  plead
"Slytherin!" or "Not Slytherin!" on the basis of such prejudices,  the
imbalance will be perpetuated.

I once speculated that the  Sorting Hat attempted an Ignation study of each
child with the objective of  placing them, not in the house that was an
obvious match, but in the house  that would enable them to develop a hidden
talent.  The prime example  of this would be Hermione, who seemed an obvious
candidate for Ravenclaw  but would not have developed her bravery there.  I
still think this  would be a much better system, one which would promote
understanding -- and  unity -- among the houses.
 
Julie:
I agree 100%, Debbie! I've come to the conclusion that the Sorting Hat  puts
students in particular houses based on the child's *desire.* Harry,  Hermione
and Ron wanted to be in Gryffindor House, so they were put there, even  if
Hermione initially fit better in Ravenclaw. This also  explains why Percy was
in Gryffindor, even though he would seem to fit better in Ravenclaw or even 
Hufflepuff (his unswerving loyalty to authority). And why Snape was in 
Slytherin despite traits that could have put in comfortably in other  Houses,
notably Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. And also why Peter, who didn't  possess
a single apparent Gryffindor trait at all, ended up in Gryffindor (he must  
have 
requested it, perhaps because it was a family tradition, or because he  wanted
to be in the same House as James--presuming he'd met James before the
Sorting). It's certainly true in the last case that Gryffindor  should have 
brought
out the traits in short supply in Peter, like courage and a  willingness to 
take
risks for your friends. But I suppose if those traits didn't exist at all  in 
Peter,
they couldn't be brought out?
 
In any case, it seems children are almost always making the choice  rather
than the Hat. The only unclear case is Neville, where it is implied that  the
Hat suggested Gryffindor while Neville though he belonged in Hufflepuff.  
This 
may be because Neville was truly undecided, wanting Gryffindor but  thinking
he was only "good enough" for Hufflepuff, so the Hat decided for  him. And
no one else in the series experienced the growth of character that Neville  
did.
 
If the Sorting Hat always made the decision, based on what House served  the
*child* best, as it apparently did so successfully with Neville, then how  
much 
better off would these children be? It might have put Sirius in Ravenclaw  so
he could learn to make intelligent thought-based decisions, and James  in
Hufflepuff so he could learn a little humility, and Snape in Gryffindor so  he
could temper his isolationist tendencies by the bonding of real  friendship
with those around him (though being in Gryffindor didn't seem to do  much
for Dumbledore in that area!).
 
The main thing though is taking this decision out of the hands of  children,
who will so naturally reflect their parents loyalties and prejudices,  and 
cling
to the comfort of the known over taking the more character-building leap  into
the unknown. Until that is done, and the chains of multi-generational  
loyalties
to certain Houses are broken, then it's hard to see how the WW will ever  get
past the ingrained and prejudicial attitudes that so define their  society. 
IMO,
 
Julie (E)






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