Mugglenet.com's Harry Potter Should Have Died - Emerson Spartz [37]
When Dumbledore makes the statement about Hogwarts sorting children too soon, he is talking about Snape, a Slytherin who has the courage of a Gryffindor. Snape courageously refuses to run away from Hogwarts when he knows Voldemort is returning in GoF. And Dumbledore is right about Snape’s Sorting Hat experience because it ruins his whole life at eleven years old. He wants to be in the same house as his best friend Lily, but as soon as she is sorted into Gryffindor, Snape never really has a chance with her again. They are always segregated from each other with different circles of friends. She later stands in judgment of him because his housemates are Junior Death Eaters, as if he could do anything about that. And Lily loyally stands up for her friends in Gryffindor, the Marauders whom she knows are bullies and rule breakers, thinking that Snape is lying about Lupin being a werewolf. It’s as if Lily loses sight of her old friend and only sees him as a product of Slytherin house, in spite of his apologies. If Snape hadn’t been in Slytherin, he might not have been pulled to the Dark Side so easily by older students, such as the Malfoys and Blacks. But he could never change his house even if he wanted to because that is the Hogwarts tradition. Later, when Harry’s son Albus Severus is worrying over the Sorting Ceremony, Harry assures him that even though Snape was in Slytherin, he is the bravest of all the people Harry has ever known. Yeah, right—someone should explain that to the clueless Sorting Hat, which obviously made a mistake sorting Snape. See here’s the thing—people can change after age eleven. Duh!
No!
If Dumbledore really thinks the Sorting Ceremony for first years is so wrong, then why doesn’t he ever try to change it? Probably because Hogwarts does not sort too soon, and the system works just fine. The Sorting Hat does the best it can and does not judge whether a student has a good or bad character, but what their talents are. In that respect, it’s a very democratic process that looks at all the traits of someone’s character without judgment. The hat gives Peter Pettigrew a chance to be in Gryffindor, and that fits since McGonagall says in PoA that he had worshipped courageous types such as James and Sirius when he was growing up. Plus, Peter has courage himself, which he proves by running around with a werewolf. It’s not the fault of the Sorting Hat that Peter later uses what courage he has for bad causes—that is his choice. And the hat puts Severus and Regulus in the proper house, too, because obviously they both choose to become Death Eaters later on. Neither has the Gryffindor-style courage to stand up to their friends and change until it is almost too late.
But what about Harry—should he have been in Slytherin? There is no doubt he would have done well since Snape could have protected him a lot easier and might have favored him along with Draco. The other Slytherins would have looked up to Harry for the Parselmouth skills he discovers in CoS, which are shared with the founder of Slytherin house. But the Sorting Hat allows for free will, and people’s choices make them what they are, as Dumbledore famously tells Harry in CoS. Harry asks for Gryffindor and the hat goes along with him, so that turns out just fine, too. No one in the books is ever forced into a house against their will.
Even at age eleven, kids are a mixed