thistlechaser | A Hundred Words and a Headache

This week's HP100 challenge is about the Sorting Hat. "What is it? Where does it get the ability and authority to categorize children using the very broad criteria that we know of? What really goes on through that Hat's mind when Sorting kids? Can anyone sway its decision like Harry does? Also, where did it learn how to rhyme?"

To be honest, I only had one idea when I read the challenge, and what an odd one it was. I was thinking that maybe some person who liked child porn got turned into the hat as punishment... but that idea wasn't right (in so many ways!), so I came up with something totally different. I think it's cute:

Title: A Hogwarts History Lesson
Word Count: 100 exactly
Author notes: A nod goes to

mctabby for the mental images her latest challenge lent to me.

It wasn't always a hat that divided first years into houses...

The Sorting Cat was the first idea, but didn't last. The nurse threatened to quit over the sheer number of scratches to students' scalps.

The Sorting Mat was the next attempt, and while not a single student was injured, many felt placing a mat upon a child's head was just too undignified.

The Sorting Fat... well, the less said of that, the better.

The Sorting Rat almost worked, at least until the ex-Sorting Cat got to it.

Finally a Sorting Hat was tried, and no more complaints were heard.

On a totally unrelated note, I have a headache. I've been grumpy and headachey and down all day. I can live with the headache, but hopefully the grumpiness will go away soon.

Talk about jumping back into things, I'm GMing tomorrow (the start of a little TP). It should be amusing, I hope. Heh heh heh.