Sorting Ceremony
The Sorting Ceremony begins the start-of-year feast. A teacher
leads the new students into the Great Hall, where the rest of the school has
assembled. The Sorting Hat, which sits on a stool, is carried in and placed
at the front of the Great Hall. The Sorting Hat then sings a song describing
school history, the sorting process, and perhaps even its view of the current
challenges facing the school. The Sorting Hat sings a different song every year [GOF12]
and gives warnings whenever it feels the school is in danger [OOTP11].
The first-year students are called up in alphabetical order, one by one, to
sit on the stool. A teacher places the Sorting Hat on the student's head. Because
the hat is very large, it often slips down over the student's eyes. The Sorting
Hat then reads the minds of the new pupils and occasionally holds a private
conversation with them before assessing which house to place them in. Finally,
the Sorting Hat, using a tear near its brim for a mouth, announces its decision
to the entire school [PS/SS7].
Sorting Hat Song: 1991/1992 (Harry’s
first year)
Sorting Hat Song: 1992/1993 (Harry’s second year)
Harry missed this song because he and Ron were late arriving at Hogwarts (they
flew the enchanted Ford Anglia instead of taking the Hogwarts Express) [COS5].
Sorting Hat Song: 1993/1994 (Harry’s third year)
A dementor had caused Harry to faint on the Hogwarts Express. When the students
arrived at the castle, Professor McGonagall pulled Harry and Hermione into her
office and insisted that Madam Pomfrey examine Harry. So yet again, Harry missed
the Sorting Hat’s song [POA5].
Sorting Hat Song: 1994/1995 (Harry’s
fourth year)
Sorting Hat Song: 1995/1996 (Harry’s fifth year)
Sorting Hat Song (Harry's sixth year)
Harry missed the Sorting because he had been spying on Draco Malfoy on the
Hogwarts Express; Draco discovered Harry, hit with Petrificus Totalus, and then
covered him with the Invisibility Cloak so no one would see him. Fortunately
Tonks was on the lookout for Harry and discovered him before the train left.
Harry learned that the song advised "us all to unite in the face of our
enemies" [HBP8].
Sorting Hat Song (Harry's seventh year)
Since Harry did not attend Hogwarts for what would have been his seventh year, he was not present at the Sorting. It is unclear whether a Sorting did indeed take place during this year under the Death Eaters' regime at Hogwarts, since at the end of that year Voldemort announced that he planned to end the Sorting and use the emblem and colors of Salazar Slytherin to represent the entire school [DH36].
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