Harry Potter Hullaballoo - The Sorting Hat

The Sorting Hat

In which Harry arrives at Hogwarts, is promptly sorted into a house and gorges himself on everything but the peppermints. No. Peppermints. Ever.

"Your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts." (114) So obviously it is very important to get sorted into a good one. That's the thing about the houses, though. Although there's a rivalry among the students in each of the four, the point isn't for there to be a "good house" or a "bad house." The point is that different houses are full of different people; therefore, different houses appeal to all types of witches and wizards. 

I was thinking about secondary houses, like, what house would so-and-so be in if they weren't in Gryffindor? I find it very interesting that Ron, Hermione, and Harry would probably be placed in three different houses. My primary house, I think, would be Ravenclaw. Secondary, Slytherin. Tertiary, Gryffindor (though I wish I was a Gryffindor). Quaternary, Hufflepuff. 

All four of the houses are very different, and this is illustrated in the Sorting Hat's song. If you didn't know, spoiler alert, the sorting hat tells the students which houses they'll be in and also sings and probably smells pretty bad after having millions of students' heads inside of it. Song time:

"You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave of heart,

Their daring nerve and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

 "You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

"Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

"Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends." (118)

The quickest and easiest rundown of the four houses and their styles. This is definitely my favorite of all the hat's songs.

Ron says, "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll" (118). Foreshadowing. Wink. Wink. Nudge. Nudge.

When Harry is called up to try on the hat, the hat spends a long time on his head. This is personal to me, but I imagine this is one of those moments that's real but happening in Harry's head, as Dumbledore puts it. Maybe the hat really is talking to him, but I don't know, I think it was always going to put Harry in Gryffindor no matter what he was thinking. The hat needs a name. My vote goes for Sputnik.

Something to mark in your brain: Harry. Scar pain. That's never something good and always has everything to do with Lord Voldemort. And then they stuff their faces, sing some songs, and go to bed—or something along those lines. There wasn't a lot to talk about this chapter, it was mostly the sorting, but a very important sorting it was. 

I guess I could tell you that when I first read the books I thought the houses were actual houses that surrounded the castle. I also thought there was a pool table in the Gryffindor common room. Screw it, I still think there's a pool table in the Gryffindor common room. 

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