I agree! Then everyone could be like "I want to be in Gryffindor" or w/e house they want!! That would be really boring!

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Das Leben ist wie eine Schachtel Pralinen, man sollte ALLES ausprobieren

exactly. the hat has its magic in it to sort by the persons abilities.

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It sorts by peoples' abilities, but it also gives some of them a chance to choose if they agree with its decision.

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"'Do you feel sufficient to take up the Kingship of Narnia?'
'I-I don't think I do, Sir,' said Caspian. 'I'm only a kid.'
'Good,' said Aslan. 'If you had felt yourself sufficient, it would have been proof that you were not."
-Aslan and Prince Caspian (Prince Caspian by CS Lewis, Ch 15)

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Exactly. It would only consider your choice if it was a fairly even balance and you really, really had a strong house preference. Harry thought as forcefully as he could in an effort to stay out of Slytherin. And he was a fair spread between SL and GF, so it tilted in his favor. Also, it would make the Harry and Malfoy rivalry overwhelm everything else if he was placed in Slytherin. It would take over the plot of the book since he couldn't have been close friends with Ron, or at least Hermione (If he still stayed at the Burrow during the summers)

As for Hermione's house, it would place her in Ravenclaw only if her intelligence was her dominant trait. In her case, she was as valiant as she was sharp-minded. If she wasn't so brave, the hat might have considered Hufflepuff also, because she cared so much for those who were close to her.

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I suppose it's just a slight coincidance that everyone seemed to get into the house they wanted even though people like Peter Pettigrew had no sense of bravery, honour, or chivalry? The sorting seems to be a very attribute-sensitive.

If the hat judged people more so by abilities than preferance I would bet that Hermione would be a Ravenclaw, Pettigrew a Slytherin, Dumbledore a Ravenclaw, Slughorn a Gryffindor, and Ron a Hufflepuff. Plenty of others but that's just for starters.

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Um, back to the original.
How about this for an obvious answer.
Hermione isn't all that smart, BUT
--
She studies hard.
Kind of gives hope to lots of us, huh?

nah she has the huge skill, look at her in first year. could do the hover charm on teh first try :]

haha

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Skill doesn't equal intelligence.
Given that, Harry should be in Ravenclaw based on his inate broom ability.
Hermione reads voraciously BEFORE class. Whatever clues are to be found in the books, I'm sure she has memorized. Note the number of times she is actually put down for knowing the 'book' answer. Yes, that's usually Snape, so you have to consider the source to judge the weight of the slight.

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Alas. Not a magical bone in my body.

That's so true!! I think that it also like "runs in the family" but I still think it's a bit random just not to make one house super strong and the others are like stupid as hell....can you imagine that?
all the smart ones are in Ravenclaw, all the ones that are brave in Gryffindor and so on...that would be so boring and i think there would be a lot of "house intern fights" because if you have to many people that do and want the same, crowded like 24/7 that is so not going to work out!

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Das Leben ist wie eine Schachtel Pralinen, man sollte ALLES ausprobieren

Hence the significance of personal preference.

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