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Once a first-year steps off the Hogwarts Express to board one of Hagrid's little boats,the next phase of their Hogwarts experience begins.Across the glassy lake,through a curtain of ivy and along a dark tunnel they travel.The boats land near a passageway in the rock which leads to some stone steps and,eventually,to Hogwarts'huge,oak front door.It's all very atmospheric.And that's before anyone gets to the Sorting Ceremony.
The phrase ‘Sorting Ceremony'is vague enough for older students to create fear in their first-year siblings – Fred Weasley told Ron it involved ‘wrestling a troll'.But what it actually involves is trying on the Sorting Hat and waiting for it to shout out what House you'll do best in,based on what it sees inside your head.Sounds a little less intimidating than troll-wrestling,but even if you don't become a Hatstall (and no,that's not a magic spell),having your head examined in a hall full of people you've barely met is not exactly fun,either.
Let's sort this out once and for all,then.
The Sorting Hat
So exactly how clever is the Sorting Hat?And is it always accurate in its assessment of a student's house – Gryffindor,Slytherin,Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff?It likes poking around inside first-years'brains,but now the time has come to turn this Hat on its head and really find out what it's made of.
The famous Hogwarts Sorting Hat gives an account of its own genesis in a series of songs sung at the beginning of each school year.Legend has it that the hat once belonged to one of the four founders,Godric Gryffindor,and that it was jointly enchanted by all four founders to ensure that students would be sorted into their eponymous houses,which would be selected according to each founder's particular preferences in students.
The Sorting Hat is one of the cleverest enchanted objects most witches and wizards will ever meet.It literally contains the intelligence of the four founders,can speak (through a rip near its brim) and is skilled at Legilimency,which enables it to look into the wearer's head and divine his or her capabilities or mood.It can even respond to the thoughts of the wearer.
The Sorting Hat has another ability,which has rarely been revealed to anyone at Hogwarts.It is a magical portal,by which another of Godric Gryffindor's possessions may be accessed: the sword of Gryffindor.This sword was enchanted by Godric to appear whenever a member of his house asks for help while wearing the Hat.Twice,in the course of the Harry Potter series,the sword is transported from a temporary owner to aid a Gryffindor who needs a weapon.
The Sorting Hat is notorious for refusing to admit it has made a mistake in its sorting of a student.On those occasions when Slytherins behave altruistically or selflessly,when Ravenclaws flunk all their exams,when Hufflepuffs prove lazy yet academically gifted and when Gryffindors exhibit cowardice,the Hat steadfastly backs its original decision.On balance,however,the Hat has made remarkably few errors of judgement over the many centuries it has been at work.
The Sorting Hat does not appear in my earliest plans for Hogwarts.I debated several different methods for sorting students (because I knew from early on that there would be four houses,all with very different qualities).The first was an elaborate,Heath Robinson-ish machine that did all kinds of magical things before reaching a decision,but I did not like it: it felt at once too complicated,and too easy.Next I placed four statues of the four founders in the Entrance Hall,which came alive and selected students from the throng in front of them while the school watched.This was better,but still not quite right.Finally,I wrote a list of the ways in which people can be chosen: eeny meeny miny mo,short straws,chosen by team captains,names out of a hat – names out of a talking hat – putting on a hat – the Sorting Hat.
Hatstall
Ever heard of a Hatstall?Well,it's what happens when the Sorting Hat can't make a quick decision.It is comforting to know that even an enchanted object containing the intelligence of four different people doesn't always have an immediate answer.Nothing leaves you in suspense like a Hatstall.
An archaic Hogwarts term for any new student whose Sorting takes longer than five minutes.This is an exceptionally long time for the Sorting Hat to deliberate,and occurs rarely,perhaps once every fifty years.
Of Harry Potter's contemporaries,Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom came closest to being Hatstalls.The Sorting Hat spent nearly four minutes trying to decide whether it should place Hermione in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.In Neville's case,the Hat was determined to place him in Gryffindor: Neville,intimidated by that house's reputation for bravery,requested a place in Hufflepuff.Their silent wrangling resulted in triumph for the Hat.
The only true Hatstalls known personally to Harry Potter were Minerva McGonagall and Peter Pettigrew.The former caused the hat to agonise for five and a half minutes as to whether Minerva ought to go to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor; the latter was placed in Gryffindor after a long deliberation between that house and Slytherin.The Sorting Hat,which is infamously stubborn,still refuses to accept that its decision in the case of the latter may have been erroneous,citing the manner in which Pettigrew died as (dubious) evidence.