Every witch or wizard knows about the Sorting Hat. The Sorting Hat decides what house you're in. Whether Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff is your calling, the hat knows it. But where did the hat come from? This chapter is going to cover the interesting history of the beloved Sorting Hat. 

Legend has it that the Sorting Hat once belonged to Godric Gryffindor, and that it was jointly enchanted by all four founders to ensure that students would be sorted into their Houses. It was Gryffindor's idea, and he even provided the hat. 

The Sorting Hat sings a new song every Sorting Ceremony, and it uses the whole year while its sitting on a shelf to create it. The song usually covers the traits of all four Houses, the founders who made the Houses, and then covers its own abilities. The Sorting Hat can see inside your head, at all your hopes and dreams, your thoughts, your dislikes and prefrences, and your personality. It uses all these things to make the decision, but the Sorting Hat does take your choices into account. For example, if the Hat wants to put you in Hufflepuff, and you don't want to be a Hufflepuff, the Hat will listen to you. 

The hat is one of the oldest things you will find in Hogwarts, a real artifact.