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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