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Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smater hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me one and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart.
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
those patien Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil
Or yet in wise old Raveclaw,
It you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So Put me on! Don't be afraid!
And dont get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!
Here is where we get our first introductions to the Houses. now we know that Gryffindors are brave and Ravenclaws smart. However, notice that the Hat doesn't say the Hufflepuff is dumb, or Slytherin evil.
These stereotypes are products of other factors than what the Houses really stand for. Slytherin is seen as evil since no bad wizard came from anyother House, and Harry's enemies are all Slytherins. People seem to forget about Snape, Slughorn, Black, and even the Malfoys weren't all bad. These characters actually helped defeat Voldemort.
Hufflepuff is seen as the left overs, the not-so-special ones. But that is simply not true. They are the most loyal of all the Houses. When Hogwarts is under attack in the seventh book, the most of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs stay to fight, along with a good chunk of the Ravenclaws. According to Rowling, the Gryffindors stayed because it was a chance to prove their bravery. The Ravenclaws stayed because they were smart enough to know they had a chance to servive, and what it would mean to leave. But the Hufflepuffs stayed simply because it was the right thing to do, they were loyal to their school, and they were "true' enough to realize that they had to stand up against Voldemort's forces of evil.
So really, this song merely tells what the Houses stand for in the most simplistic form.
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Song 1 was taken from the following book:
Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. First American ed. USA: Scholastic, 1998. 117-18. Print.