10/8/15
The hat, for all it was a hat, had existed for centuries and been exposed to every mind that passed through Hogwarts. Originally worn by Godric Gryffindor, the hat had been thoroughly steeped in his magic. Then it was gifted by Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Helga Hufflepuff. Yet it was still a hat, an inanimate object. It was commanded through magic, made to move and talk.
Still it was a hat, an object. It was a magical object that was moved, puppet-like, through magic, but it was still just a hat. Soon every mind that moved through Hogwarts had been poured through it. Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Tom Riddle, and so many more. The hat developed a consciousness, an awareness, and occasionally issued comments on current events.
This hat that had delved into countless minds and view limitless potentialities. The magic and the youth, the possible roads that could be travelled were poured into the hat. Hogwarts was a collection of things done. Spells had been cast and decisions made. Protect here, fight there, jokes and learning were poured into the building. And yes, it had seen its share of death.
However, the hat absorbed the pure potential. No decisions yet made, no spells yet cast. Within the hat was the Voldemort that everyone knew, but also the Tom Riddle's that could have been. There was also the Albus that was known, but other darker versions. The hat held all the potential of all the students that had passed through Hogwarts.
Still, it was an enchanted hat, it existed to take orders. Godric had ordered it to sort students, so it sorted students. Yet when students told it what house they wanted, it obeyed. It had been a simple enchanted object that had been gifted with a sense of what qualities the founders wanted in students.
It had been a simple task requiring little magic. The hat had not been a powerful magical object and had not garnered any particular concern. However, a myriad of potentialities had been poured into it over the centuries. The hat was now a powerful magical item, yet it still existed to be commanded. It was tamed magic, programmed to obey. So if a weak potential wizard asked to be in Gryffindor, they ended up in Gryffindor.
Hetalia Academy had exploded quite spectacularly. Then it had been swallowed up by the earth. The first years who had been accepted by Hetalia Academy ended up going to Hogwarts instead.
The soon would have been Hetalia students kept shooting Arthur dirty looks. "Look, it's not my fault. I was nervous. Everyone gets nervous their first day."
"Yeah, but not everyone sinks an entire castle. That was epic!" Gilbert piped in. Arthur was a crazily powerful wizard that had absolutely no control of his powers.
"Ve~, I'm scared Luddy! This school is much larger than ours and they're British!" The Italian whined as he glomped onto the German for protection. Ludwig merely blushed and comforted his Italian. The other Italian tried to drag his brother off of Ludwig, all the while muttering something about potato bastards.
Arthur was sorted into Slytherin, as were the Italians. The german brothers were sorted into Hufflepuff. Yaoi, Kiku, and Soo were sorted into Ravenclaw. France was sorted into Slytherin, which annoyed Arthur. Alfred was next. He placed the hat on his head and a thought occurred to him.
This hat held the power of countless minds all the way back to Godric Gryffindor. Anyone who possessed this hat would be incredibly powerful. "Hat." Alfred thought, the hat paused in its ramblings. "You are now mine and will obey only me." The hat consented, it was a tamed magical object designed to obey. Alfred grabbed the stool and, using the power of the hat, turned it into a portkey. He disappeared, hat and all.
The hat was designed to obey. It's just that no one had thought to request anything more of it than house preferences.