Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide
written by Tsukkishima Kei
Presenting Remus Lupin's book for newbies at the beloved magical school: Hogwarts
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
6
Reads
42,410
The Sorting
Chapter 2
First Thing to Consider: The Sorting Hat
- The Sorting Hat is a sentient hat at Hogwarts that magically determines which of the four school Houses each new student belongs most to. These four Houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. The Sorting Hat originally belonged to Godric Gryffindor, one of the founders of Hogwarts. It normally stays in the Headmaster's office until it is needed.
- The famous Hogwarts Sorting Hat gives an account of its own genesis in a series of songs. During the opening banquet at the beginning of each school year, the first-year students are lined up and their names read aloud alphabetically. Each then takes a seat on a stool and the hat is placed on her or his head.
- The hat is battered and old; it's patched, frayed, and extremely dirty. In order to speak and sing, a tear along the brim opens like a mouth. It speaks to the wearer inside of the hat with a small, quiet voice, using Legilimency to interpret their thoughts and respond to them. After a time of consideration, the hat announces its choice aloud for all to hear, and the student joins the selected house. The moment of consideration varies in length, from over five minutes (known as "hatstall") to less than a second.
Last Thing to Consider
- A Hatstall was an archaic term for a student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry whose sorting took more than five minutes because the Sorting Hat found them to have a personality equally suited to different Hogwarts Houses. The Sorting Hat sometimes took the student's personal preference into consideration in order to break such a tie.
- True Hatstalls were rare, occurring around once every fifty years, but near Hatstalls may have been more common.
- Examples of Hatstalls are Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom
- The Sorting Hat is a sentient hat at Hogwarts that magically determines which of the four school Houses each new student belongs most to. These four Houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. The Sorting Hat originally belonged to Godric Gryffindor, one of the founders of Hogwarts. It normally stays in the Headmaster's office until it is needed.
- The famous Hogwarts Sorting Hat gives an account of its own genesis in a series of songs. During the opening banquet at the beginning of each school year, the first-year students are lined up and their names read aloud alphabetically. Each then takes a seat on a stool and the hat is placed on her or his head.
- The hat is battered and old; it's patched, frayed, and extremely dirty. In order to speak and sing, a tear along the brim opens like a mouth. It speaks to the wearer inside of the hat with a small, quiet voice, using Legilimency to interpret their thoughts and respond to them. After a time of consideration, the hat announces its choice aloud for all to hear, and the student joins the selected house. The moment of consideration varies in length, from over five minutes (known as "hatstall") to less than a second.
Last Thing to Consider
- A Hatstall was an archaic term for a student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry whose sorting took more than five minutes because the Sorting Hat found them to have a personality equally suited to different Hogwarts Houses. The Sorting Hat sometimes took the student's personal preference into consideration in order to break such a tie.
- True Hatstalls were rare, occurring around once every fifty years, but near Hatstalls may have been more common.
- Examples of Hatstalls are Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom
