Wednesday, June 1, 2016

The Sorting Hat: Master Manipulator of Magic

Recently the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened up at Universal Studios Hollywood which is just up the road from me. As such I regularly see people dressed in their Hogwarts house of choice coming from or going to a day of Butter Beer and magical merriment. And of course this inspires me to think about my own Hogwarts house placement (Slytherin!) and that of my friends and family. But when I look at the books it becomes fairly obvious that not everyone who was sorted into a particular house seemed like they actually belonged there. Which leads me to believe there might be a more sinister motive behind the assigning of a house.  And since the only one with the power to assign a Hogwarts house is The Sorting Hat, that hat must be behind it.

First of all, it is obvious that the hat is capable of sentient thought that goes beyond simply assigning students where to live. It can compose poetry, be reasoned with, and give advice to the student. Each of the founding members of Hogwarts bestowed intelligence upon this piece of clothing. Which makes it far more than just a hat that tells students where they’ll be living for the next seven years. This is something that has witnessed the entirety of Hogwarts’ history. Every student has worn it on its head. Every headmaster has had it sitting on a shelf in their office. And despite the one ceremony at the beginning of every school year, it is left primarily alone with its thoughts. Something capable of thought is capable of planning. And that means it is capable of having an agenda. What that agenda might be is anyone’s guess, but it is clearly present.

Just look at one of the main characters in the books, Hermione Granger. She is a devoted student. Loves reading, loves learning, loves school. Heck, one of the major plot points of the third book is her trying to fit in such a massive class schedule. Now while she is all the things listed above, there is one thing she should not be; A Gryffindor. Hermione is the very essence of what a Ravenclaw is supposed to be. Ravenclaws are bookworms. They love to learn. They are Hermione. So why is Hermione not a Ravenclaw? Because the hat placed her in Gryffindor. And good thing it did. There are many times where Harry and Ron would have been completely stuck were it not for Hermione. She was obviously put in Gryffindor on purpose. The Hat made that happen.

Same with Neville Longbottom. Neville is a quiet and slightly weird kid who is fascinated by plants. He probably would have done much better in Hufflepuff than a tough aggressive house like Gryffindor. Granted the character of Neville ended up thriving as a Gryffindor, everything about him when we first meet the character says Hufflepuff. But the hat put him in Gryffindor. It saw something in him to make that choice. Possibly that Neville would be instrumental in the future defeat of Lord Voldemort, and would need to be close to Harry. Like a master chess player, the Hat was positioning people to be at the right place at the right time.

But just because the outcome was positive does not mean the Sorting Hat is always making choices with a positive outcome. Take Peter Petigrew. This former Grffindor ends up being the right hand man to Lord Voldemort himself. His betrayal led to the death of Harry’s parents. Judging by everything we’ve seen of the character, he should have been in Slytherin. Slytherin is where all the “evil wizards” are supposed to go. Granted the labeling of Slytherins as evil is a bit simplistic, but they are conniving. They scheme. They plot. Certainly a Slytherin would come up with the idea to be a family pet in a Wizarding family. Just like what Peter Petigrew did. But the hat put him in Gryffindor. Perhaps the Hat had the foresight to know that one day Peter would be instrumental in the creation of the Wizard that could defeat Voldemort. Therefore the Hat placed young Peter right next to James Potter, knowing one day that boy would betray his best friend.

These are just the obviously examples that anyone who reads the books can see in action. Who knows what sort of strings this hat was pulling behind the scenes.  Whispering words of influence to the students and Headmasters it encounters. But why? What benefit does a piece of felt derive from manipulating so many? Why would a piece of clothing whose only concern is assigning student housing care about the world at large? Because what happens to the world at large does affect it.


"I am Keyser Soze."
The Sorting Hat is meant to assign students to their houses. But if you look at the world that Voldemort is trying to make, there would no longer be a separate Hogwarts houses. In a world where Voldemort rules there would be Slytherin and that’s it. Everyone would fall under his regime. There would no longer be a need for a Sorting Hat. Self Interest. That is the motivation behind the Sorting Hat’s planning manipulating everyone like chess pieces. So that it can continue to exist. There is an afterlife for witches and wizards, but what happens to an enchanted piece of cloth it is destroyed? The Sorting Hat can think, and must obviously have contemplated its own existence at some point.  After such contemplations, would the Hat have come to the conclusion that it must preserve its own existence at any cost?

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