Many people seemed to be getting anxious now. He could see many of the students looking on in confusion, wariness, worry, and annoyance. Whispers had already broken out as people wondered why Harry was taking so long. Filius Flitwick watched in unmitigated anticipation. Pomona Sprout looked worried. Rubius Hagrid also appeared concerned. Severus Snape was sneering at Harry Potter. And Minerva McGonagall seemed ready to tear the hat off the boy's head and sort Harry herself.
In fact, the woman was already stepping closer to the hat and boy to ask them to hurry this along.
"Can I help you, Minerva?" the hat asked before the woman could open her mouth. Minvera seemed unsure for a moment, but quickly regained her bearings.
"I am not sure if you are aware, but it has already been forty-five minutes since you have been placed on Mr. Potter's head. Surely, you can hurry up and sort him so the rest of the students can get sorted into their house."
"I apologize, Minerva, however, I seem to be having some trouble figuring out which house Mr. Potter should be sorted into."
Dumbledore found himself intrigued by the hats answer, and carefully leaned forward to study the boy sitting under the hat some more.
There were only two reasons for the sorting hat to have trouble sorting a child into a house. Sometimes when a child possessed the traits of more than one house the sorting sat couldn't where to put them. Dumbledore himself had this problem, his sorting had taken around 10-minutes as the hat tried to determine whether he should belong in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. The hat had eventually decided on Gryffindor due to the fact that Dumbledore was braver than he was intelligent.
The other reason was that the child being sorted possessed none of the traits the Founder's wanted. In this instance, the hat would either leave that choice up to the child being sorted, or decide on the house it felt would help said child grow the most.
Dumbledore wondered which was the case here, though he suspected it was the former.
"Trouble?" Minerva raised an eyebrow. "Just what kind of trouble takes forty five minutes to fix?"
"The kind where I cannot determine which house someone should belong in."
"And just why can you not determine which house Mr. Potter should be placed?"
"Again, I apologize, Minerva, but due to the magics placed upon me, I cannot tell you why I am having trouble sorting Mr. Potter. Now, if you'd please, perhaps you could let me continue trying to divine where I should sort the young man."
Dumbledore watched as Minerva McGonagall huffed in annoyance. Harry was getting more intriguing by the second, and he couldn't help but wonder where the young man would go.
XoX
"Well, Mr. Potter, it seems we have run out of time," the Sorting hat said, amusement once more seeping into its voice. "I must admit I am surprised by how long it has been since I was placed upon your head. You are a difficult one to sort. I have only had such trouble with one other person, and even than he had one trait that stood above the rest."
"Who was that? If you don't mind my asking?"
"Not at all. The man I am talking about as long since passed from this world, so there is no point in worrying over his identity. His name was Merlin Ambrosius, a man whose incredible ambition led him to becoming the adviser of kings."
Harry raised both eyebrows in surprise, glad that no one could see him doing so. Everyone had heard of Merlin, the man hailed as the greatest wizard to ever grace this world. Even the non-magical people had legends about him. He had not realized that Merlin had been an actual historical figure and gone to Hogwarts to boot.
"So he was real then?" asked Harry, unable to contain his excitement. While he would vehemently deny it to anyone who asked, Harry's favorite stories had always been about Arturian Legend, particularly about Merlin due to how influential the man had been in his life. At least, if the stories told about him were to be believed.
"Yes, though not in the way you are thinking," the hat said. "While Merlin was indeed the adviser to Arthur during the time of Camelot, none of the stories you have read hold any truth, beyond his role as an adviser." There was a moments pause, before the Sorting hat began speaking once more. "Now then, let us continue with the Sorting," the hat started again. "As unfortunate as it is, I am unable to determine where to sort you. Unlike Merlin, you possess all the traits of the Founders in equal amounts. No one trait is anymore prevalent than another."
"So how should we proceed?" ashed Harry, worried. He wasn't sure what it meant that he could not be sorted. If the hat would not place him, how would he get into his house?
"Ah, now this is where the fun comes in," the hat said. "You see, because you possess an equal amount of traits that all four of the founders cherished most, I cannot choose where you belong. That does not, however, mean that you can't."
Harry took a moment to ponder the hat's words. "So, you are telling me I get to decide which house I go into?"
"Yes."
Closing his eyes Harry went through all the information he had on the four houses, and which one would best suit his plans.
He immediately discarded Hufflepuff. Harry had none of the prejudices against the house like other people, but due to the reputation it had of belonging to cowards and lazies it was the most ill-suited house to be in to accomplish his goals. Not even the challenge of turning Hufflepuff into a house the others respected was enough to make him see the benefit in going there.
Slytherin was equally out. While Harry would enjoy the challenge of changing the house from the inside out and showing the other houses that the house of snakes was not a den of dark wizards, it would take more time than he cared to spend on it. Time that could be better spent working towards his goals.
That left Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Both houses had their merits. Ravenclaw was generally considered a neutral house. The ones who went there preferred to observe the other houses and make their decisions based upon those observations. On the other hand, Gryffindors were known for being at the forefront of anything going on around the castle. They were the ones in the spotlight, so to speak.
Both also had their disadvantages, however. Most people in Ravenclaw were considered bookworms. This meant the people of that house had a reputation of being more than a little anti-social, and if he tried to change the status quo it might alienate him from both his house and those outside of it. Going there meant any plans he made could backfire on him. And while Gryffindor would make him seem more approachable without others being too wary, the fierce rivalry between the house of the brave and the house of the cunning would make getting an ally in that house exceedingly difficult.
In the end, it came down to a single question. Which house's pros outweighed their cons?
His eyes surveyed the many students from underneath the hat, before locking onto one person in particular, who sat nervously watching him like the others.
"It seems you have decided," the hat spoke up after a moments pause. "Are you sure this is the house you wish to be in? Once I sort you there is no going back."
"I'm sure," Harry said without hesitation.
"Very well," the hat began. "If that is where you wish to be, then let it be known by all that you are to be sorted into..."
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