At the beginning of each year, first year students are sorted into their houses. The brave and daring to Gryffindor, the smart and eager to ravenclaw, the cunning and deceitful to Slytherin, and all the others to Hufflepuff (or, in a non-offending way the just and loyal).But does the Sorting Hat really know what it's doing?
Peter Pettigrew for instance, was sorted into Gryffidor, yet has never show any kind of bravery whatsoever.
It also considered sorting Harry into Slytherin, which would have made no sense at all, given his personality.
J.K. says herself that the Sorting Hat is not always reliable although she did say that "The sorting hat is certainly sincere.".
The Hat
The Hat is said to have been Godric Gryffindor's and that he removed it from his own head and bewtiched it to answer the question of sorting students into their houses. The Hat is indeed old and tattered. When it is not used (only on the first day of the year) it remains in the Headmaster's Office - where it picks up on everything that happens. Each year before the Sorting it sings a song - a different one each year (as Ron points out, it has all year to make a new one up!) generally describing the founders and the houses, but as difficult times approach, it is know to become a warning.
In the Sorcerer's Stone, it sung the following song:
Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlrs black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwart's Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
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.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at 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 Ravenclaw,
If you're 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.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlrs black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwart's Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
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.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at 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 Ravenclaw,
If you're 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.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!
And in the Order of the Pheonix:
In times of old when I was new
and Hogwarts barely started
the founders of our noble school
thought never to be parted:
united by a common goal,
they had the selfsame yearning,
to make the world's best magic school
and pass along their learning.
"Together we will build and teach!"
the four good friends decided
and never did they dream that they
might someday be divided,
for were there such friends anywhere
as Slytherin and Gryffindor?
Unless it was the second pair
of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?
So how could it have gone so wrong?
How could such friendships fail?
Why, I was there and so can tell
the whole sad sorry tale.
Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those
whose ancestry is purest."
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose
intelligence is surest."
Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those
with brave deeds to their name."
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot,
and treat them just the same."
These differences caused little strife
when first they came to light,
for each of the four founders had
a House in which they might
take only those they wanted, so,
for instance, Slytherin
took only pure-blood wizards
of great cunning, just like him,
and only those of sharpest mind
were taught by Ravenclaw,
while the bravest and the boldest
went to daring Gryffindor.
Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,
and taught them all she knew,
thus the Houses and their founders
retained friendships firm and true.
So Hogwarts worked in harmony
for several happy years,
but then discord crept among us
feeding on our faults and fears.
The Houses that, like pillars four,
had once held up our school,
now turned upon each other and,
divided, sought to rule.
And for a while it seemed the school
must meet an early end,
what with dueling and with fighting
and the clash of friend on friend.
And at last there came a morning
when old Slytherin departed
and though the fighting then died out
he left us quite downhearted.
And never since the founders four
were whittled down to three
have the Houses been united
as they once were meant to be.
And now the Sorting Hat is here
and you all know the score:
I sort you into Houses
< because that is what I'm for,
but this year I'll go further,
listen closely to my song:
though condemned I am to split you
still I worry that it's wrong,
though I must fulfill my duty
and must quarter every year
still I wonder whether sorting
may not bring the end I fear.
Oh, know the perils, read the signs,
the warning history shows,
for our Hogwarts is in danger
from external, deadly foes
and we must unite inside her
or we'll crumble from within
I have told you, I have warned you...
let the Sorting now begin.
and Hogwarts barely started
the founders of our noble school
thought never to be parted:
united by a common goal,
they had the selfsame yearning,
to make the world's best magic school
and pass along their learning.
"Together we will build and teach!"
the four good friends decided
and never did they dream that they
might someday be divided,
for were there such friends anywhere
as Slytherin and Gryffindor?
Unless it was the second pair
of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?
So how could it have gone so wrong?
How could such friendships fail?
Why, I was there and so can tell
the whole sad sorry tale.
Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those
whose ancestry is purest."
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose
intelligence is surest."
Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those
with brave deeds to their name."
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot,
and treat them just the same."
These differences caused little strife
when first they came to light,
for each of the four founders had
a House in which they might
take only those they wanted, so,
for instance, Slytherin
took only pure-blood wizards
of great cunning, just like him,
and only those of sharpest mind
were taught by Ravenclaw,
while the bravest and the boldest
went to daring Gryffindor.
Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,
and taught them all she knew,
thus the Houses and their founders
retained friendships firm and true.
So Hogwarts worked in harmony
for several happy years,
but then discord crept among us
feeding on our faults and fears.
The Houses that, like pillars four,
had once held up our school,
now turned upon each other and,
divided, sought to rule.
And for a while it seemed the school
must meet an early end,
what with dueling and with fighting
and the clash of friend on friend.
And at last there came a morning
when old Slytherin departed
and though the fighting then died out
he left us quite downhearted.
And never since the founders four
were whittled down to three
have the Houses been united
as they once were meant to be.
And now the Sorting Hat is here
and you all know the score:
I sort you into Houses
< because that is what I'm for,
but this year I'll go further,
listen closely to my song:
though condemned I am to split you
still I worry that it's wrong,
though I must fulfill my duty
and must quarter every year
still I wonder whether sorting
may not bring the end I fear.
Oh, know the perils, read the signs,
the warning history shows,
for our Hogwarts is in danger
from external, deadly foes
and we must unite inside her
or we'll crumble from within
I have told you, I have warned you...
let the Sorting now begin.
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