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On the surface of it, this sounds like a ridiculous question. Every student in the books is described as a Slytherin, a Gryffindor, a Hufflepuff, or a Ravenclaw. There aren't even any "unaffiliated" students. However, we do have this tweet from J.K. Rowling:
She seems to confirm the existence of Slytherpuffs, apparently a hybrid of Slytherin and Hufflepuff.
Can Hogwarts students be sorted into more than one House?
She is referring to the idea of a Hatstall - where the Sorting Hat can't easily decide between students and their houses.
I had said that examples include Harry, who wasn't an easy choice between Gryffindor and Slytherin and Hermione, Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick, who were all considered for both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.
In actual fact, as the Pottermore writing explains, only McGonagall and Peter Pettigrew were true Hatstalls because they took so long (over five minutes/in Pettigrew's case the stall was obviously between Gryffindor and Slytherin). The others were 'near Hatstalls' (thank you @Janus Bahs Jacquet).
On Pottermore, in some cases, the final question is "Which House do you want to be in?" And you are presented with two choices.
I think Rowling's joke that they are incredibly rare is about the apparent contrast between Hufflepuff and Slytherin, but a couple of friends of mine had this on Pottermore. They came to find quite a strong link between the ambitious, strong-willed values of Slytherin and the truth/loyalty based strong-willed values of Hufflepuff. A Ravenclaw, in contrast, could be considered quite apathetic and remote.
JKR's tweets are usually inspired from some form of intoxication.
Her tweets are not to be considered Primary Canon especially when they seem completely facetious, and completely contradict the books. She is a real person first, and an author second or third (she is also a mother (might be 2nd who knows)) so statements that seem funny, and don’t correlate to her books in a logical sense are, more often than not, simply a joke.
We can be reasonably confident that the Sorting Hat is not capable of sorting people into 2 houses, especially after Harry's own sorting.
‘Not Slytherin, eh?’ said the small voice. ‘Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it’s all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that – no? Well, if you’re sure – better be GRYFFINDOR!’ - Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone.
I don't think it is possible to be sorted into more than one House, however, it seems possible to display traits from more than one. In the end, it appears to boil down to either which traits are strongest, or the House you choose as the one you believe to be most fitting for you.
Students cannot possibly belong to more than one house. They are placed in both their classes and assigned to a dormitory by house. In the house cup, they also earn points for or get points deducted from their house for great success or failure.
“Welcome to Hogwarts,’ said Professor McGonagall. ‘The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.”
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 7 (The Sorting Hat)
If it were possible for students to belong to multiple houses, then Hogwarts would have to find a way to determine which house they will share each class with, how often they sleep in each of their houses’ dormitories, and which of their houses should be added to or taken from in points if they earn or lose points in the House Cup. Therefore, it would be far more logical to only allow students to be sorted into and then belong to one house.
However, students may still have strong traits of other houses than their own. Hermione had sufficiently strong Ravenclaw traits that the Sorting Hat considered having her be one.
“How come you’re not in Ravenclaw?’ he demanded, staring at Hermione with something close to wonder. ‘With brains like yours?’
‘Well, the Sorting Hat did seriously consider putting me in Ravenclaw during my Sorting,’ said Hermione brightly, ‘but it decided on Gryffindor in the end.”
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 11 (The Sorting Hat’s New Song)
However, he decided on Gryffindor, so Hermione is a Gryffindor. Though she still has strong Ravenclaw traits, from the time she was sorted, her house became Gryffindor and Gryffindor alone. Her Ravenclaw traits would still be present as strongly but they would have no effect on her Hogwarts house.
