Comments on: The Sorting Hat’s New Song

By: John Kearns

John Kearns — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:55:37 +0000

auntypsycho: The quote you’re remembering is from the TLC/Bloomsbury interview, but it’s pretty noncommittal:

—
ES: Has the sorting hat ever been wrong?

JKR: No.

ES: Really?

JKR: Mm-mm. Do you have a theory?

ES: I have heard a lot of theories.

JKR: I bet you have. No. Sorry.

MA: That’s interesting, because that would suggest that the voice comes more from a person’s own head than the hat itself -

JKR: [makes mysterious noise]

MA: And that maybe when it talks on its own it comes from -

JKR: The founders themselves.
—

After which they change the subject. So I’m not sure what can be gleaned from that, although it’s an interesting thought….

By: John Kearns

John Kearns — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:52:01 +0000

Kim/Hayley/hpboy13: The Hat definitely seems inconsistent to me. Elsewhere it talks about Slytherin attributes of “cunning” and “ambition,” and what do those have to do with ancestry? Although I suppose the most ambitious wizards would tend to be those who grew up in the world (Muggle-borns are just excited to be there?), but it’s a stretch.

Remember also the historical context. 1000 years ago, there were presumably a lot more pure-blood wizards. The quote Hayley mentions is in Dumbledore’s comments for ‘The Fountain of Fair Fortune’ in TBB:

—
“So-called pure-blood families maintain their alleged purity by disowning, banishing, or lying about Muggles or Muggle-borns on their family trees. They then attempt to foist their hypocrisy upon the rest of us by asking us to ban works dealing with the truths they deny. There is not a witch or wizard in existence whose blood has not mingled with that of Muggles.”

By: auntypsycho

auntypsycho — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:22:03 +0000

I seem to remember reading somewhere (I THINK it was the mugglenet/Leaky interview) that JK was asked whether or not that the voice that was heard when they were sorted was their own thoughts or something like that and she said yes it was something along those lines.

If that is true then all those from pure blood families would have grown up with the Pure blood rant being shoved down their throats all their lives so they would want to be in that house anyway and the Sorting hat would grant them their wish . It certainly did with Draco . And Snape certainly got his wish to be in Slytherin and we know he wasn’t pure blood .. Maybe it is just the way they are brought up and their wishes rather than the blood status.

By: hpboy13

hpboy13 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:19:18 +0000

Jeremy, I don’t think Hufflepuff has much of a grudge against Harry at this point – notice how many of them were in the DA. Hannah, Susan, Ernie, Justin, even (ew) Zacharias.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:36:24 +0000

After reading the comments so far, no wonder Hufflepuff House turned on the Harry the previous year. Think about it, Cedric gets chosen as a Triwizard Champion bringing glory to Hufflepuff House for the first time in a long time. Then comes Harry who somehow gets chosen as fourth champion taking away Cedric’s (and by extention, Hufflepuff’s) glory. We all know that Harry did not put his name into the Goblet of Fire but how many Hufflepuffs still hold a grudge against Harry at this point in the story after all that has happened since the end of the previous school year?

By: Kit Kendrick

Kit Kendrick — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:52:15 +0000

Mickey, I presume that a muggleborn in Slytherin would quickly try to pass themselves off as quarterbloods (or halfbloods, if they can get away with it.) Anyone ambitious enough to get sorted into Slytherin would be willing to launder their origins.

Ben, I can’t speak for boarding schools in particular, but I’ve run across themed dormitories in other places, so it’s not unheard of to group people by like interests.

By: Anna

Anna — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:35:20 +0000

I also like the part about Hufflepuff taking “the lot.” It seems like Hufflepuff gets a bad break since, probably, there just isn’t space to concentrate on all four houses and Ravenclaw usually gets to be the one after Gryffindor and Slytherin.

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:02:18 +0000

I concur with what’s been said about Hufflepuff House. One more point to remember: the Sorting Hat was Gryffindor’s, so it has perhaps a small amount of bias. To someone who prizes bravery and courage, the less obvious traits of fairness and honesty may be easier to overlook.

And taking a broader view, doesn’t it seem counterproductive to segregate the student body based on their characteristics? Surely a more rounded collection of students in a House would benefit everyone in it. Is this common practice in Britain, or just at Hogwarts?

And on a slightly related note, that should perhaps be saved for the appropriate chapter post in Book 7, one of my favorite lines in the entire series is when Dumbledore tells Snape, “Sometimes I think we sort too soon”.

By: Natalia

Natalia — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:38:13 +0000

Inky Squirrel: I like your reasoning, that Helga was willing to take everyone and not just “the leftovers.” Brings that into a better perspective. :)

And poor Harry. Some people just tend to be attention-getters, whether they want it or not. And, I’ve got to admit, I don’t think I’d've handled most of his situations quite as well as he did.

By: Mickey

Mickey — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:24:04 +0000

I agree with everyone here.
Hufflepuffs need more credit for their awesomeness!

I don’t think the hat cares if you’re pureblood or not. But how would it feel to be a muggleborn in Slytherin?