Hatstall

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.
==Known Hatstalls==
Wizard(s) 	Year 	Notes
Minerva McGonagall	Unknown	The Sorting Hat spent five-and-a-half minutes wavering between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw before deciding to place her in the former.
Peter Pettigrew 	1971 	The Sorting Hat placed him in Gryffindor after a "long deliberation" between that house and Slytherin. Even after Pettigrew betrayed the Order of the Phoenix, the Hat continued to insist that it made the right choice, citing the manner in which Pettigrew died as (what some would call dubious) evidence.
Tulip Karasu 	1984 	The Sorting Hat spent a whole five minutes to place her in Ravenclaw. Tulip thought the Hat stuck her in the same house as her parents because she was not fit for any houses. Later, the Hat revealed the hatstall was due to Tulip's stubbornness as she couldn't admit she was fitted for Ravenclaw and thought she would be a disappointment as a Ravenclaw.
==Other known students considered for more than one house==
Wizard 	Year 	Notes
Filius Flitwick 	In or before 1969	The Sorting Hat wavered between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, before choosing the latter. Flitwick was not a true Hatstall.
Gilderoy Lockhart 	1975 	The Sorting Hat fought to place him in Slytherin, but eventually agreed to place him into Ravenclaw.Audio snippets from "Celebration of Harry Potter" Revealed
Hermione Granger 	1991 	The Sorting Hat spent nearly four minutes trying to decide between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, and "seriously considered" Ravenclaw, but ultimately went with Gryffindor.
Neville Longbottom	1991 	The Sorting Hat was determined to place him in Gryffindor, but because Neville found Gryffindor's reputation for bravery intimidating, he asked to be put in Hufflepuff. The two argued silently for "a long time", before the Hat finally got its way and declared him a Gryffindor.
Harry Potter 	1991 	The Sorting Hat found he could do well in either Gryffindor or Slytherin, and also noted he had "not a bad mind", a trait associated with Ravenclaw. But because Harry was averse to Slytherin's negative reputation, and insisted against it, the hat ultimately chose Gryffindor.
==Appearances==
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==Notes and references==
Hatstalls