They flocked around Draco Malfoy, who they admired and who exhibited the traits of Slytherin. Other examples include Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, who despite being stupid and rather lazy, were placed in Slytherin, the House of the cunning and ambitious. He may have been placed there because, at the time, he admired strong, brave individuals like James Potter and Sirius Black. One example of the former is Peter Pettigrew, who was sorted into Gryffindor but ultimately turned out to be quite cowardly, self-serving and corruptible. It is unclear if the Sorting Hat tended to place students based on qualities they valued or rather qualities they exhibited.

' It is our choices, Harry, that show us who we truly are, far more than our abilities.' - Albus Dumbledore The students said that it picked up tips from Dumbledore's office. Every so often it would sing of mortal peril at the school.

Before beginning the Sorting Ceremony, it sang a short song about the founding of the school and the four Houses the Sorting Hat's songs were different every year, and the Hat was said to take all year composing the next one (according to Ronald Weasley). The Sorting Hat announced the House the student was to join. At the beginning of each school year, the magical Sorting Hat was placed on each new student's head during the Sorting Ceremony. When the founders worried how students would be selected after their deaths, Godric Gryffindor took his hat off and each 'put some brains' in it, creating the Sorting Hat to choose future students for each House. In the early days of Hogwarts, the four founders handpicked students for their Houses. These two competitions bred rivalries between the Houses, the greatest of which was that between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Each House also had its own Quidditch team that competed for the Inter-House Quidditch Cup. The House with the most points won the House Cup. The houses competed throughout the school year, by earning and losing points for behaviour. Each year's group of students in the same House shared the same dormitory and many classes. Houses at Hogwarts were both the living and learning communities for its students.

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