Among the many magical objects inHarry Potteris the baffling Sorting Hat, and it may be one of the most useless of them all. In some ways, when J.K. Rowling launchedtheHarry Potterbooksin 1997 withHarry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the Sorting Hat appeared quite the wise old owl. It was a novel concept and took the idea of academic houses and teams to its logical, magical conclusion. Of course, there would be a magical judge of character to sort students into houses based on their personality. But the hat doesn’t quite stand up to scrutiny.
TheHarry Pottermoviesbrought the Sorting Hat to life with the voice of Leslie Phillips, a renowned British actor known for theCarry Onmovies. Phillips sadly passed away in 2022, but his voice lives on in the hat, booming out across Hogwarts' Great Hall.Harry Pottercertainly wouldn’t be the same without the Sorting Hat, one of its identifying features, but the idea of it could use some refining. For starters,students have some level of input on what house they enter,which raises many questions about the Hat’s decision-making.
Just Saying Which House You Want Makes The Hat Useless
The Sorting Hat Doesn’t Always Decide For Itself In Harry Potter
It isn’t clear exactly how useful the Sorting Hat is, given that students can influence their Hogwarts House placement. The Sorting Hat was imbued with the intelligence ofHogwarts' most famous professors- Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Helga Hufflepuff. Thisenchantment allows the hat to place studentsinto the Houses that the founders would have preferred. But the hat also takes the students' choices into account. Some students have strong opinions on their chosen House. Others probably have a subconscious preference, which the hat can read. Perhaps, the hat only highlights students' decisions.
Hogwarts' Sorting Itself Is A Questionable Tactic
It Isn’t Quite Clear Whether Hogwarts Should Sort Or Not
The Sorting Hat uses Legilimency to read students and determine the right House for them, which is a questionable tactic. It could send students on the wrong path. Gryffindor worked out fortheHarry Pottermain characters, butperhaps being put in Slytherin didn’t help Severus Snape. Although Neville asked to be put in Hufflepuff, the hat put him in Gryffindor. The hat could have reflected Neville’s subconscious preference. But if not, the hat’s choice for Neville suggests that it doesn’t always take student choice into account, and therefore could provide a useful judgment. However, this judgment could be damaging.
Hogwarts Could Improve Its Sorting Technique
Bythe end ofHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it became clear that AlbusDumbledore thought that there was room for improvement in Hogwarts' sorting process. He said, “I sometimes think we Sort too soon,” regarding Severus Snape, and his bravery being on par with a Gryffindor’s. Perhaps Dumbledore was onto something, and students were better off being sorted in their second or third years at Hogwarts. This would give their brains, personalities, and friendships more time to develop. Before first year began, students would have been uncertain about a lot of things.
TheHarry Potter: Hogwarts Mysterygame raised the interesting suggestion thatthe hat sorts students into the House they will be happiest in, based on their mental reaction to a mention of the House. J.K. Rowling approved the game, but wasn’t too closely involved. So, the game’s suggestion isn’t quite canon. But it would explain how the hat factored in students' choices, whether subconscious or not. Either way, perhaps waiting a year or two, as per Dumbledore’s suggestion, would allowHarry Pottercharacters to have more confidence in their sorting.
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a multimedia franchise about an orphaned boy who enrolls at Hogwarts School of Wizardry, where he learns the truth about himself, his family, and the terrible evil that haunts the magical world. Adapted from the novels, Harry Potter is an eight-episode film saga that follows the journey of Harry Potter and his friends, Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley, as they navigate the tricky world of growing up, school life, and magic. Starting from year one and moving to their seventh year, the films chronicle the students' time at Hogwarts while unfurling a sinister plot that centers around the unsuspecting Harry. With the return of the dark wizard, Voldemort, the students and professors at Hogwarts will fight to carry on as the world around them may change forever. Harry Potter has expanded beyond the world of its films and novels with several video games, a spin-off film series titled Fantastic Beasts, and even attractions at Universal Studios.
