The Sorting Hat Theory That Changes Everything About Harry Potter

The "Harry Potter" series focuses heavily on the power of prophecy. The seven main "Potter" books, as well as the eight film adaptations, frequently see main and supporting characters alike grappling with notions of fate and the roles they think they're meant to play in the central dramatic conflict. However, despite the impact that one prophecy in particular has on the story, "Harry Potter" is also about the role that choice can play in peoples' lives. The series' final installment, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," tackles that theme head-on, and many of the decisions that Harry Potter and the book's other characters make go on to have important consequences in its closing chapters.

"Deathly Hallows" isn't the only book in the "Harry Potter" series that highlights the importance of choice either. In fact, the theme becomes evident fairly early on in the first "Potter" book, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," which finds its titular character being saved by a decisive choice his mother made years prior. 

The theme also plays a central role in the series' first Sorting Hat scene — and one "Harry Potter" fan theory argues that Harry may not have been the only character to make a pivotal decision during the Hogwarts sorting ceremony featured in "The Sorcerer's Stone."

In "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," Harry is nearly sorted into Slytherin instead of Gryffindor. The Boy Who Lived manages to persuade the hat to sort him into the latter house, though, simply by requesting and choosing to be. It's a decision that changes the course of Harry's life forever, and in the epilogue of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," it's a moment that he specifically recalls during a conversation with his son. It's not just a formative moment in Harry's life, however. It's also one that establishes and foreshadows how important a role choice plays in the series' overall story.

Expanding on that, one fan theory posted to Reddit argues that Harry wasn't the only one who chose his house in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." The theory suggests that Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley may have chosen to be sorted into Gryffindor as well. 

It's an interesting theory, and one that makes a fair amount of sense too. On paper, Hermione and Ron seem more suited for other Hogwarts houses – Ravenclaw for Hermione and Hufflepuff for Ron — which makes it seem highly plausible that they may have silently requested to be put in Gryffindor instead. The two characters never quite confirm in the series that they did do that, which means this is simply fan speculation, but it is an idea that holds some weight given what the "Harry Potter" series ultimately says about the power of free will and choice.