Sorting ceremony

Sorting ceremony
Name	Sorting ceremony
Date	1 September at 7pm every year
Location	Great Hall, Hogwarts Castle, Highlands of Scotland
Purpose	Sort first year students into one of the four houses
Notable participants	Sorting Hat First year students At least one Hogwarts employee
Book Information
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Last appearance	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

"The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts."

— The importance of the ceremony

Sorting ceremony is a yearly event in performed at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry on the first day of term. The purpose of the event is to sort first-year students into one of the four Houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. The Sorting Hat is put on the head of each student in the Great Hall while the whole school watched. When they have been Sorted, the student sits at their House table.

Overview

Ceremony

Every year on the 1 September, first-year students are led into the Great Hall by a member of the staff who is performing the ceremony. A chair is put at the front of the High Table. Before starting the Sorting, the Sorting Hat sings a song, normally about the founding of the school and how the House process began. The member of staff then calls each student by their name.

The Sorting Hat is put on the head of the student. It has the ability to read their mind and judge their character according to the traits of each House. It will eventually pick one of the four Houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. It is known to take their choice of the House into account but it doesn't always agree. Hatstalls can happen. Whatever the Sorting Hat decides is final. Even though it could be wrong on occassion, it always stands by the choices it had made.

History

At the start of Harry Potter's first year, Professor McGonagall undertook the Sorting. The Sorting Hat took Harry Potter's choice into account when he asked it not to put him in Slytherin, so it put him in Gryffindor instead. During his third year, Professor Flitwick did the Sorting because McGonagall was busy talking to Harry and Hermione Granger.