The Anguish of A Sorting Hat
By Misha

Disclaimer- Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling and is not mine, however much I might wish differently. However, I am not making any money off of this, so please do not sue me!

Author's Notes- I have no idea what possessed me to write this, it just came out of nowhere. It's told from the perspective of the sorting had and is very dark and depressing. I just wondered what the hat had to say about the people who don't listen. Well, that's all, enjoy!

Pairing- Harry/Hermione, minor Ron/Hermione.

Summery- If only they had listened, then it would have been so different...

Rating- PG-13

Spoilers- All five books.

I may only be an old, battered hat, but I know more than people ever give me credit for. I knew what would happen if people didn't follow my advice.

But I can not force people to do what they don't want to. I can only look into their minds, suggest where I think they belong and place them there.

Sometimes, though, they argue with me and they go where they shouldn't be and the road becomes much harder. The outcome more tragic.

I tried to put Tom Riddle in Gryffindor, but he would not go. I knew that the insecure half-blood boy was not suited for Slytherin, but that was where he wanted to go, so in the end, I put him there. Look what happened...

The opposite happened with Harry Potter.

I knew that the boy belonged in Slytherin, that only there could he embrace his destiny and make everything right. I knew that if he was in Slytherin he would end up befriending the Malfoy boy, which they both needed.

But, he would not go and in the end I gave in, but despaired of what was going to be.

I also knew that Ron Weasley shouldn't be the same house as Harry Potter, for it would only feed his insecurities, but did he listen? No.

Instead, he insisted on going into Gryffindor and I gave in, even though I knew that that choice would set him on the path to destruction.

And I was right. Albus keeps me updated on all that happens in the world and I know how much tragedy was caused by those who wouldn't listen.

Potter, of course, did eventually fulfil his destiny, at much more of a cost than he should have, though. I wonder what he would say if I told him that he could have prevented the deaths of some of those that he loved. That things could have been easier, if only he had listened.

What no one knows, is that my master was a Seer and that he left some of that in me. That's part of how I work. I read the mind and pick up qualities that tell which House a certain person is most suited for. But most people have dominant qualities of more than one house.

Hermione Granger for one, was both brilliant and incredibly courageous, she could have gone to either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.

That's where my other ability comes in, the ability to see how the choice would end up.

I saw the future if Granger went into Ravenclaw and knew that she would be isolated from others, scorned even by that House for her intellect and devotion to her studies, and that she would die in the war, just another faceless victim.

No, she was not meant for that House, and she actually listened to me and embraced her much happier destiny.

That's a rare success. Except of course, she got embroiled in a much darker tale than she should have.

All because other people wouldn't listen as she had. Such as the boy she was destined to love.

I saw it that day, that she and Potter were destined to be together, though it would only happen if she was in Gryffindor.

He would have loved her and ended up with her if he had been in Slytherin, it would have been a little more difficult, because of House prejudice, but they would have made it work.

True love conquers all. They still made it work, of course, but even their love bred unhappiness...

I foresaw it. That it would be the action that pushed Weasley into darkness and cause him to commit betrayal.

Love is a funny thing. It would have been different if either one of them had listened to me. But neither would. One was so afraid of being a villain that he almost destroyed his entire future and the other was so caught up in family pride that he wouldn't listen to my warning.

Potter's future should have been so simple. He should have gone to Slytherin and made that one crucial friendship that would save Draco Malfoy from darkness and give himself the ally he desperately needed to win the war.

I saw the kind of loyalty that never fades when I glimpsed into the mind of the young Malfoy. He would be a steadfast friend, never betraying. He would be the friend that Potter needed.

Except, Potter chose Weasley instead and was eventually betrayed, while Malfoy fell into the darkness that Potter could have saved him from.

It was a waste. Theirs would have been a friendship of legend, the kind that never breaks. Instead, they became enemies and the story had a much darker twist.

One of them ended up dead. I wished I was more than just a dissembled brain in an old hat the night I learnt of Mr. Malfoy's death at the hands of the one who should have been his best friend. If only he would have listened...

It was Potter's first kill and he made it out of self-defence, but that still changes you forever. To take another life. It should never happened. Stupid boys.

Potter survived and in the end, triumphed, but the scars on his soul were ones he shouldn't have had to bear.

His best friend's betrayal nearly tore him apart. He blamed himself, as well he should. If he had listened, it would never have happened. But he didn't and it did.

In the end, I could only stand by and watch as two lives were destroyed and another two damaged forever. The consequences of foolish pride.

It could have been different, if only they had listened to me.

However, unfortunately, I am only an old battered hat.

The End