When the Sorting Hat was placed upon Harry Potter’s head, it was deliberating between Slytherin and Gryffindor House. While the hat thought Slytherin to be a great choice for Harry, the young spectacled boy begged not to be put in Slytherin and the rest was history! Later, when Harry’s middle child shares his fears of being sorted into Slytherin, Harry assures him that “[t]he Sorting Hat takes your choice into account."

Even though the hat is said to listen to our preferences, this isn’t always the case. Neville Longbottom, for example, was intimidated by Gryffindor’s reputation for bravery and requested a placing in Hufflepuff. The young boy and the hat silently wrangled, but the hat (determined to place him in Gryffindor) triumphed in the end.

With all of this in mind, how much influence do you really think that asking for a certain house has on the sorting? Are some requests weighed more heavily than others?