I am the Sorting Hat. I don't have a name, only a title. I have sorted every student to ever enter these hallowed halls. And something that I can proudly say is that by the time that these children leave Hogwarts, they have all found themselves.
But then again, what do I know. I am an immobile object. I only look into their hearts and minds once when they are eleven.
And that's the real secret behind the sorting. I don't just examine your mind I examine your heart. I plot a rough outline for your future and try to decide which house will help you to make the most out of all of the potential that I see inside every young child.
Take Mrs. Granger for example. With a mind like hers it would have been all too easy to put her in Ravenclaw and been done with it. But a look into her heart showed me that what she needed to thrive could not be found in Ravenclaw. She needed to make true friends who could show here that the world outside was even more beautiful and adventuress than the ones in her books.
Or perhaps Mr. Longbottom is a better example. He would have had a much easier time in Hufflepuff, that's for sure. He would have made good friends and could have been very happy. But then he would have never learned of the bravery that lived inside himself. He would have never learned to stand up for those friends and what he thinks is right. He would have never truly lived up to the expectations of his parents. Gryffindor helped him to do all of these things. This I know from when I looked into his mind one last time at the Battle of Hogwarts.
Lets find a non-Gryffindor example. How about…ah Mrs. Lovegood. She was particularly hard to sort you know. She could have done well in any house. But I could not see a place in which she would not be considered, well, odd. In the end I put here in Ravenclaw because it would be hardest for her to fit in there. I knew that they would see her as insane and scorn her, and sent her there anyway. I did this because I could see in her heart that she would not give up on her beliefs. And in fact the opposition by her peers would only make her and her beliefs that much stronger. And to this day I believe what I did was right.
That is not to say that I never feel that I made mistakes. I made a grave error in Peter Pettigrew. At the time of his sorting, I could see how afraid he was. And so I put him in Gryffindor with the hopes that they could teach him how to be brave and believe in himself. And for many years I believe that I was right. After all, it took a lot of courage to stand up against a man with twice your skills to try and avenge your friends. How wrong I was. I should have sent him to Hufflepuff. Maybe there he would have learned about true friendship and loyalty. Maybe there he would have learned that power wasn't everything. Maybe…maybe…to many maybes.
And so the cycle repeats, year after year, for as long as I am able to sort. For I am the Sorting Hat. And At the end of the day I still believe that I wouldn't do anything differently, that I would sort each child the same way again. But then again, what do I know.