Hogwarts Houses

In the Harry Potter series, the Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry is divided into four houses, each bearing the last name of its founder: Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff.

The Sorting

In the school's early days, students were handpicked by the founders. When they began to worry how students could be picked after the founders' deaths, Godric Gryffindor took his hat off and the four "put some brains" in it. Now, at the beginning of each school year, the magical Sorting Hat is placed on each new student's head, at a ceremony named the Sorting ceremony. The Sorting Hat announces the house that the student is bound to join. Before beginning the sorting, it sings a short ballad about the founding of the school and the four houses; the song is different every year, and the Hat is said to take all the year writing the next one.

Related Topics:
Godric Gryffindor - Sorting Hat

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The hat sorts by judging the qualities of the student and choosing the most appropriate house for him or her. The student's own preferences may affect the decision: The clearest example is the hat leaning towards putting Harry in Slytherin in the first book, but ultimately selecting Gryffindor after he asks it not to put him in Slytherin. Dumbledore later explains to Harry that this is how it should be, when one considers how the choices people make define them more than their abilities.

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The hat does not just consider the student's most obvious strengths; it also sees the student's potential qualities, ones that may not have developed yet. "You could be great you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness," it says to Harry when it suggests Slytherin as the best house for his future. Similarly, Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom do not immediately jump out as prime examples of Gryffindor courage in the beginning of the series, but they have both gained a tremendous amount of courage and confidence as they have grown. Hermione is even asked point-blank in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix why the hat didn't put her in Ravenclaw despite her high intelligence. Her answer is that the hat "considered it, but decided on Gryffindor in the end."

Related Topics:
Hermione Granger - Neville Longbottom - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

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