The Sorting Hat

• Type: Sentient Magical Device
• Owners: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; formerly Godric Gryffindor
• Maker: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin

The Sorting Hat is an ancient and sentient wizard's hat, appearing conical in shape. It is described as being patched, frayed, and extremely dirty, looking as though it has not been washed in centuries. A tear along the brim of the hat functions as a mouth, allowing it to speak and sing. When not in use, it remains inanimate and is typically stored in the Headmaster's Office at Hogwarts.

The Sorting Hat possesses a number of profound magical abilities, primarily imbued by the four founders of Hogwarts.

• Sorting Ceremony: Its main purpose is to sort new students into one of the four Hogwarts Houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. During the Sorting Ceremony, the hat is placed on each student's head.
• Legilimency: The hat is a highly accomplished Legilimens, capable of delving into a student's mind to perceive their character, abilities, and potential. It uses this insight to determine the most suitable house.
• Consciousness and Speech: The hat is fully sentient, with its own personality and thoughts. It can communicate telepathically with the wearer and speaks or sings aloud to the Great Hall through the tear that serves as its mouth.
• Considering Choice: A key aspect of its function is that it takes the wearer's choice into account. This was most famously demonstrated during Harry Potter's sorting, where the hat considered Slytherin but ultimately placed him in Gryffindor because Harry strongly wished it. As Albus Dumbledore later explained, this shows that our choices, not our abilities, define who we are.
• Song Composition: At the beginning of each school year, the Sorting Hat composes and sings a new song. These songs typically describe the history of the school's founding, the qualities valued by each house, and occasionally contain warnings or advice for the student body, such as its call for unity in 1995.
• Summoning the Sword of Godric Gryffindor: The hat acts as a magical conduit for the Sword of Godric Gryffindor. Any true Gryffindor who is in need can pull the sword from within the hat. Harry Potter did this to fight the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, and Neville Longbottom did so to destroy Voldemort's final Horcrux, Nagini, during the Battle of Hogwarts.

The Sorting Hat was created approximately a thousand years ago, around the time of Hogwarts's founding. After years of sorting students themselves, the four founders grew concerned about how the task would be performed after their deaths. Godric Gryffindor offered his own hat, and all four founders enchanted it, bestowing upon it their combined intelligence and a consciousness to continue the sorting process for eternity. Throughout its long history, the hat has sorted every student to attend Hogwarts. In 1991, its sorting of Harry Potter was a pivotal moment. It recognized qualities that would make him a great Slytherin—likely due to the piece of Voldemort's soul within him—but honored his choice to be in Gryffindor. In 1995, its song was unusually long and served as a direct warning to the school about the dangers of division in the face of Lord Voldemort's return, urging the houses to unite. During the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998, Voldemort attempted to destroy the hat by placing it on Neville Longbottom's head and setting it on fire with a spell. The hat, however, proved to be indestructible. It was from this fiery hat that Neville pulled the Sword of Godric Gryffindor to slay Nagini.

The Sorting Hat is a crucial symbolic and functional object in the series. It serves as the formal introduction to the Hogwarts Houses and the core values they represent. For Harry Potter, his interaction with the hat establishes a central internal conflict about his own nature and reinforces the powerful theme that one's choices are more important than one's inherent abilities. Furthermore, it acts as a critical plot device, providing the Sword of Godric Gryffindor at two decisive moments, enabling the defeat of both the Basilisk and Voldemort's final Horcrux.

• On the Pottermore website, J.K. Rowling revealed that the Sorting Hat sometimes struggles to place a student, a rare event known as a “Hatstall.” A true Hatstall is a deliberation of more than five minutes. Famous Hatstalls include Minerva McGonagall, whom the Hat debated placing in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, and Peter Pettigrew, whom it debated placing in Slytherin or Gryffindor. (Pottermore)
• The hat is said to be notoriously stubborn and refuses to admit it has ever made a mistake in sorting a student. (Pottermore)
• Its survival after being set on fire by Voldemort is attributed to the powerful protective enchantments placed on it by all four founders, which render it impervious to most forms of destruction. (Pottermore)
• In the film adaptations of the series, the Sorting Hat is voiced by actor Leslie Phillips. (film)