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Could the Sorting Hat Have Told Dumbledore That Harry Was a Horcrux?


The Sorting Hat is a sentient magical artifact that has the ability to initiate communication and have conversations with the person wearing it. There's two things that make me wonder if it would have been possible for the Sorting Hat to have told Dumbledore which student was a Horcrux:


First, the nature of the Sorting Hat itself:




There's nothing hidden in your head,
The Sorting Hat can't see.
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be . . .

Sorcerer's Stone - Page 117 - US Hardcover



Second, we know Harry is definitely a Horcrux:



"You were the seventh Horcrux, Harry, the Horcrux he never meant to make."

Albus Dumbledore - Deathly Hallows - Page 709 - US Hardcover




If Dumbledore had put on the Sorting Hat and had a conversation with it about Harry Potter, would the hat have been able to tell Dumbledore that Harry was a Horcrux?



Answer



ETA 02.13.12: According to JK Rowling, the Sorting Hat did indeed detect the portion of Voldemort's soul within Harry:



"I always imagine that the Sorting Hat detected the presence of that piece of soul when Harry first tried it on, because it's strongly tempted to put him in Slytherin. So that's how I see it." JK Rowling - Pottercast 12.23.07 - The Leaky Cauldron



As well, JKR addresses whether or not Harry is a proper Horcrux:



"Here is the thing: for convenience, I had Dumbledore say to Harry, "You were the Horcrux he never meant to make," but I think, by definition, a Horcrux has to be made intentionally. So because Voldemort never went through the grotesque process that I imagine creates a Horcrux with Harry, (SU: Mm-hm.) it was just that he had destabilized his soul so much that it split when he was hit by the backfiring curse. And so this part of it flies off, and attaches to the only living thing in the room. A part of it flees in the very-close-to-death limbo state that Voldemort then goes on and exists in. I suppose it's very close to being a Horcrux, but Harry did not become an evil object. He didn't have curses upon him that the other Horcruxes had. He himself was not contaminated by carrying this bit of parasitic soul."

[SNIP]

"I do think that the strict definition of "Horcrux," once I write the [Harry Potter Encyclopedia], will have to be given, and that the definition will be that a receptacle is prepared by Dark Magic to become the receptacle of a fragmented piece of soul, and that that piece of soul was deliberately detached from the master soul to act as a future safeguard, or anchor, to life, and a safeguard against death." JK Rowling - Pottercast 12.23.07 - The Leaky Cauldron




So, yes, the hat detected the portion of Voldemort's soul within Harry. But, no, Harry was not an official Horcrux. I've never done this before, but I'm going to pick my own answer because it's directly from J.K. Rowling, and I took time to actually research the question beyond my personal opinion/interpretation of the text and the HP Wiki.


I conclude that the Sorting Hat was able to detect the portion of Voldemort's soul in Harry. Harry was not an official Horcrux. It is not established in canon whether or not the Sorting Hat can hold cogent conversations about one person with another.


And I sincerely apologize to JackBNimble :/


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