Hat trick (was: Pet peeve #293)

[Barry Arrowsmith]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "susiequsie23" <susiequsie23 at s...> wrote:

> 
This one drives me nuts whenever I see it.  I never understand 
how it gets phrased this way -- that the Sorting Hat *wanted* to 
put Harry in Slytherin.  In my reading, the SH offered up the 
information that Harry would do WELL in Slytherin.  It seemed to 
me to be more of an invitation for Harry to consider where he 
wanted to go, what mattered to him the most, perhaps even playing
devil's advocate.  But I don't see that it *wanted* to put him there.  
>

Ah, yes ...... the Hat.
Trust and truth go hand in hand in an ideal world, but nobody 
claims that the WW is an ideal world.
"Never trust anything that  can think for itself if you can't see where 
it keeps its brain." Old Ma Weasley hands us a clue there, I think. Is it 
a coincidence that there's a fair few artifacts fitting this description 
swanning round the plot?
The Diary
The Marauders Map
The Mirror of Erised
The Pensieve
The Sorting Hat

Although Molly is rightly concerned about evil influences diverting her
proto-Harpy offspring from the straight and narrow, we are in a position
to take a wider view. We can ask the question "Is this item unbiased, or 
can it be subverted?" Always accepting that the subversion may not be 
from evil intentions.

Q. So where does the Hat keep its brain?
A. Between DD's ears. 

Not all the time of course. Mostly it's in default mode, bits of the original
four cooperating in plonking grubby little tykes into Houses best suited 
to their traits or potential.
"There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be."   (PS/SS)

In this instance the Hat sounds like a Careers Advisor; it'll offer an 
opinion based on insights, but implies that the final decision is open to
discussion. This is in fact what happens with Harry, to a certain extent 
with Hermione (seriously considered as Ravenclaw) and it spent a long 
time considering what to do with Neville. The text gives the impression 
that the other sortees were pretty much cut and dried.

So why the hesitation? 
It's no secret that IMO the Sorting was fixed; DD was subverting its basic
programming. If left to its own devices it would've been Harry Slytherin; 
Hermione Ravenclaw;  Neville Hufflepuff; Ron Gryffindor. Harry is diverted
away from Slytherin (where he could have become "great" in the manner of
Voldy) after DD's gofer enlightens Harry to the fact that it was Slytherin 
Voldy who crunched James and Lily, a real "Hearts and Minds" exercise. 
The fix provides him with a diverse support group that encompasses the 
characteristics of all four Houses - and incidentally adumbrates the Hat's 
call in OoP for a joining together. Many members of the other board have 
wished for a "good" Slytherin to turn up; few consider the possibility that 
Harry might be it.

Might not be the first time, either. If (as it seems) the Marauders were all 
Gryffindors then they too show a remarkable diversity of character - again 
at a time of great danger for the WW. Makes one think.

In later books the Hat changes its tune somewhat, expressing more 
certainty in it's role and placements:
"I've never yet been wrong" (GoF)

"I sort you into Houses
Because that is what I'm for" (OoP)

Yet it *is* Dumbledore's creature:
"...you will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here 
are loyal to me. You will  also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts
to those that ask for it." (CoS)

Dunno about you, but I can't see help arriving if, for example, young Draco
was up to no good and needed a bit of a hand. No, the help is for those who
further DD's agenda. And for Harry that help consists of Fawkes, Gryffindor's
sword and Gryffindor's Hat. "..the  best weapons Dumbledore can give him" 
according to Tom. Mind you, I've never figured out why the Hat was included, 
it never speaks when Harry rams it on his  head. Couldn't Fawkes have 
carried the sword without it? Of course he could. Unless the Hat is checking,
a little judicious mind scan, making sure that Harry is worthy of receiving 
the help requested. DD wouldn't be happy if in the Chamber scuffle the 
transferred powers were showing themselves and instead of good vs evil, 
like was battling like for top dog spot. 

"Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that (the sword) out of the Hat," 
according to DD. Yet the Hat has never admitted that it was in error. 
Harry may have become what  DD wishes him to be, for the last five books 
anyway. But it'll be interesting if what the Hat saw in Harry shows itself in 
the next book, my word it will. After all, the Hat is never wrong, at least 
it isn't when it's not being nobbled.  

Kneasy