Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory.
In today’s video, we’re going to be discussing Hogwarts school, its founders, the sorting
system, and- most closely- the sorting hat.
As we know, Hogwarts school was founded when four 10th century witches and wizards realized
that they had the same yearning to creating the worlds best magic school.
Their names were Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw.
Once these four powerful witches and wizards had created the school- they decided that
they would create some kind of system for dividing the schools students.
Thus, the house system was born.
This was because, despite being very much on the same page in terms of building a school,
the founders were also wise enough to realize that they were very different people who valued
very different things.
This meant that dividing their teaching ideologies was of utmost importance.
“Gryffindor students embodied bravery and chivalry; Ravenclaw, intelligence and wit;
Hufflepuff, loyalty and fair play; and Slytherin, the values of being sly and cunning.”
After these houses were established the Hogwarts founders served as head of these houses for
many years, sorting students in to their houses manually.
However, when it occurred to them that they wouldn’t be around forever-they needed to
come up with some sort of way that they could continue to sort students when they were no
longer around.
Thus, the sorting hat was born.
Godric Gryffindor pulled his completely normal hat off of his head and made the suggestion
to the other founders that, using their collective magic, they enchant the hat and turn it in
to a sentient being.
It was important to the founders that the houses they formed would continue to follow
by the beliefs from which they were based.
These virtues or inherent characteristics are best summed up in the Sorting Hat’s
own words:
“By Gryffindor, the bravest were Prized far beyond the rest;
For Ravenclaw, the cleverest Would always be the best;
For Hufflepuff, hard workers were Most worthy of admission;
And power-hungry Slytherin Loved those of great ambition.“
After placing the sorting hat on your head, the hat analyzes your mind (using legilimency)
and places you in a house based on how closely you resemble one of the four founders.
If the hat senses great bravery, Gryffindor is the likely choice.
If the hat senses great intelligence, Ravenclaw is the likely choice, if the hat senses that
someone is a hard worker, Hufflepuff is the likely choice, and finally, if the hat senses
that someone is hungry for power, then Slytherin is the likely choice.
However, there are of course other factors that come in to play when determining a students
house- this 1 primary characteristic isn’t all there is to it.
The hat made things much easier for the 4 founders, and it couldn’t have come at a
better time- as they were beginning to have a bit of a falling out.
The 10th century was a tough time for witches and wizards, as they were subject to all sorts
of persecution from muggles in the forms of witch hunts etc.
And so, Salazar Slytherin- who vehemently hated muggles for what they had done to his
kind, proclaimed that he would never accommodate muggle born students at his school.
The other founders didn’t share this belief, and eventually things hit a tipping point
with Slytherin leaving the school altogether.
In the end, Gryfindor, along with the other founding members of Hogwarts, decided that
enough was enough… and Slytherin left the school.
However, what I want to highlight today is that the sorting hat had more than just one
purpose.
It wasn’t JUST a means of sorting students- it also had another function.
You see, Godric Gryffindor laid another, SECRET enchantment on the hat, and it had to do with
his sword.
Sometime just before, or sometime during, his time at Hogwarts, Godric Gryffindor had
commissioned the creation of a silver sword.
In later years, it would become known simply as the Sword of Gryffindor.
But during that time, the goblins, who had created the blade, might have known it as
Ragnuk’s sword.
After all, Ragnuk the First, one of the greatest silversmiths of the age, had spread a rumor
amongst the goblin community that the sword was actually his… and Gryffindor had stolen
it.
The goblins had been so angered by the news, that a group of easily manipulated, goblin
thugs tried to knock Godric unconscious, and rip the sword from him.
Gryffindor famously withdrew his wand in response, and cast a spell on the woefully outmatched
goblins, sending them back to Ragnuk with a threat of their own: If the goblin ever
tried to steal the sword again, Godric would drag its blade through the lot of them, and
leave them lifeless on their dust-covered foundry floor.
When Gryffindor joined the other three founders in enchanting the Sorting Hat, he also added
an additional bit of magic… whenever a true gryffindor was in need of help, they could
reach their hand into the hat to withdraw Ragnuk’s sword.
In May of 1993 we see Harry Potter reach in to the Sorting Hat and pull the sword when
his and Ginny Weasley’s lives were in danger as a result of Salazar Slytherin’s basilisk.
Oh yeah, I didn’t mention the basilisk yet.
Before leaving the school for good, Salazar Slytherin wanted to leave a lasting impression-
and so he built a secret chamber within the school that housed a giant basilisk intended
to rid the school of any non pure-bloods.
We know that Harry eventually uses the sword to kill the basilisk, so what we can infer
here is that Godric Gryffindor knew about the chamber, and wanted to put some sort of
defence in the hands of his future students.
Alternatively, Godric Gryffindor simply put the powerful weapon there for general use-
as he was a combat obsessed wizard from the dark ages.
Whatever the reason, Gryffindor had the best intentions in mind- hoping to help future
generations of students that came from his house.
But my question is- what about the other houses?
What would happen if a true and worthy Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin reached in to the Sorting
Hat during THEIR time of need?
Would anything appear?
I’ve got a few theories.
All of them enchanted the hat after all.
Okay- so first of all let me address WHY I think it’s plausible that the other founders
would have also stored a hidden item only revealed by the hat.
Yes the hat was Godric’s, but that doesn’t mean that he would have excluded the other
founders from utilizing it in a similar way.
If he did indeed store the sword there to protect his future students from Salazar Slytherin’s
basilisk- and he was fully aware of the basilisk- why would Godric, being the good and brave
man he was, leave Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students defenseless?
Why wouldn’t he allow Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw to store similar artifacts
in the hat?
If we go by this logic, then that would of course mean that Slytherin students would
be the only ones to NOT pull anything from the hat, as the core purpose of storing these
items inside of the hat was to combat Salazar.
So- what would Helga and Rowena pull out of it?
If we look at the significance of Godric Gryffindor’s sword, we know from canon that it was a possession
of particular importance to him.
It makes perfect sense that Godric, a fighter- would place a sword there that could fight
off a basilisk- an item that one could use to defend themselves.
So, what items were similarly important to Helga and Rowena?
Well, if you’re any sort of Harry Potter fan at all then you’ll know that two defining
items associated with these witches were Helga Hufflepuff’s Cup and Rowena Ravenclaw’s
diadem.
HOWEVER, these can’t have been the items drawn from the hat for a few reasons.
First of all, both of them were turned in to Horcruxes, and their prior ocations were
known
Second of all, these items would not have been practical at all in a fighting scenario.
So, what did they leave?
Well, I’m of the impression that both witches left their wands in the hat.
If we go by canon, we don’t know much about the details pertaining to the wands of these
witches, what they were made of, or where they are, but we do know that they were likely
powerful magic instruments- as they were suited to some of the most powerful witches to have
ever existed.
I know what you’re thinking now- aren’t wands EXTREMELY personalized?
What about wandlore?
What about the wands allegiance?
Why would the wands of such powerful witches work for young students?
Well, that comes back to the function of the hat.
For a Gryffindor student to pull the sword of Gryffindor from the hat, they have to be
a true, worthy Gryffindor.
We also know from wandlore that if a wand, which is a quasi-sentient item, deems someone
worthy, it will change allegiance and work for them.
Therefore, in order for the wand to come in to their possession in the first place they
will have needed to have proved their worthiness.
What do you guys think about this?
Do you believe that there lies the possibility of other items being drawn from the sorting
hat?
Do you have a theory of your own?
Comment down below.
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Until next time
Remember
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.