Sorting ceremony

> "*The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts.*"
> ― The importance of the Sorting Ceremony[source]
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The **Sorting ceremony** was a yearly ritual performed at the beginning of each school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Sorting was held in the Great Hall, before the start of term feast, after students had arrived at school, often via the Hogwarts Express.

The ceremony's purpose was to assign first years to one of the four school Houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. It was done through the use of the famous Hogwarts Sorting Hat. The Sorting Hat's decision was final.

## Background

In the early years of Hogwarts, prospective students were chosen or assigned personally by the four founders themselves. However, they realised that they would have to find an alternative once they had died and so Godric Gryffindor came up with the idea of the Sorting Hat, which he and the other three enchanted with their combined prowess to review and assign future generations long after they were dead, and thus the Sorting ceremony was born.

## Ceremony description

> "*The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school.*"
> ― Description of the Ceremony[source]
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The Sorting Hat was placed upon a stool at the head of the Great Hall, whereupon it sung a song of its own composition about the four founders of Hogwarts and the qualities sought by their respective Houses (this song was different every year). The Sorting Hat also could also give warnings to the students whenever it detected a need, likely based on information learned in the the headmaster's office, where it was kept for the remainder of the year. New students were then summoned to the stool one by one in alphabetical order by last name, where they were sat upon the stool and the Hat placed on their head. While the Hat was on the student’s head a sort of back-and-forth conversation may have gone on in their minds.

## Decision of the Hat

The decision of the Sorting Hat was generally considered to be final, although its decision can be influenced somewhat by the desires of the wearer. However, there are only two people who definitely know this. When Harry Potter was being sorted in his First year the hat told him he would do well in Slytherin, but Harry asked to be placed elsewhere.Harry later told his son Albus Potter about the hat's ability to take the wearer's request into consideration.

It is possible that Sirius Black also asked to be placed in Gryffindor, since he decided to break the tradition of his family being in Slytherin after consulting James Potter. It is also possible that Hermione Granger asked to be placed in Gryffindor. She stated that before deciding on Gryffindor, the Sorting Hat seriously considered putting her in Ravenclaw. It is known that Hermione particularly wanted to be in Gryffindor (though she wouldn't have minded Ravenclaw).

Very rarely a “Hatstall” occurs in which the Sorting Hat takes a long time to decide where to place a student. Only two true Hatstalls were known to Harry Potter. Minerva McGonagall (between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor), and once with Peter Pettigrew (between Gryffindor and Slytherin).

## Sorting Hat's song

*Main article: Sorting Hat § The Sorting Hat's Songs*
The Sorting Hat's introductory song changed every year, presumably because, according to Ron Weasley, the Hat had nothing to do between Sortings except compose a new song.