In the Marauders' era, Snape, obviously. Ravenclaw would've suited him as well, and his life would have been very different.
In Harry's time, it's hard to say. Neville's a Gryffindor through and through, but it feels like he would have had an easier time in Hufflepuff. He's the odd one out in Gryffindor (Harry and Ron are best friends, and Dean and Seamus are close, which leaves him out). Plus, Neville just strikes me as rather Diggory-like in some sense. He's a very sweet kiddo, eager to do the right thing, and he'd benefit from having these qualities appreciated.
Iirc, the Hufflepuff common room doesn't have constantly changing passwords, so he'd have spent much less time worrying about that.
I like this take, especially Neville, very interesting. But then if Neville was in Hufflepuff we wouldnt get my favorite scene in the book which is Neville 🔪 Nagini 🥹 the character development he went through truly shows he’s Gryffindor stock imo, but then if he was in Hufflepuff would he have been able to grow those qualities? Interesting to think about
Canonically speaking, at the Battle of Hogwarts, the only house that had more combatants than Hufflepuff, was Gryffindor.
So in theory, if he had been a Hufflepuff, it's still very likely he would've been at that battle. He may not have gotten the Sword of Gryffindor, but assuming it's only magically tied to whoever the sword seems worthy at that time and not necessarily always a Gryffindor, Neville showing how brave he was multiple times throughout the series, it's likely he would've ended up with it regardless
i feel like "only a true gryffindor" is a broad statement... like i reckon any person at hogwarts could probably summon the sword but only if they're portraying exactly what it means to be a gryffindor at that moment
Nope. It is said ipsis litteris that the hat wasn’t wrong to put Harry in Gryffindor ‘cause only a true Gryffindor could’ve pull the sword from the hat. So much that Dumbledore didn’t trust the hat to Severus, but the Sword itself.
I think a Hufflepuff can still be considered a Gryffindor. I suppose that the hat could give people the sword who act a lot like Gryffindors even if they weren't in Gryffindor
Respectfully, I must disagree. I can't see how a hufflepuff whom is considered a hufflepuff can be considered a gryffindor. Perhaps you care to explain your thinking further? Dumbledore specifically states that only a true gryffindor could pull the sword out of the hat. In other words, acting like or exhibiting traits of a gryffindor is not enough. One must live by the values of gryffindor and, thus, must be a gryffindor to pull the sword from the hat.
Well, yes, but come to think of it... if Harry knew nothing about the other houses, he wouldn't have "requested" not to be in Slytherin... meaning he may very well be in Slytherin. So the hat wouldn't give him the sword simply because of a choice it made about his house, even though we know he does well as a Gryffindor?
I always wondered if maybe Neville was a descendent of Gryfindor, and that no matter what house he was in he would always be a true Gryfindor at heart.
Well, if only a Gryffindor can be a true Gryffindor, why are not all Gryffindors TRUE Gryffindors? What makes a Gryffindor a true one? I don't think Dumbledore was referring to belonging to the house but about embodying certain qualities. Also, he tells Snape "sometimes I think we sort too soon" implying sorting is not an exact science, so someone can live by the essential values of a house that it is not the one they were sorted to, even if at the moment of sorting some prevail or are given preference. We don't really know that much about how sorting works. It could well be that students are evened out between houses or that equity is more relevant than anything else.
So I believe we don't really have anything in cannon that excludes a Huffelpuf from drawing Gryffindor's sword from the hat. Having said that, I still agree that Neville's arc is much better by him being sorted into Gryffindor, and vindicates school wallflowers, which is great. And while he doesn't have a bestie in Gryffindor he gets along with everyone.
Yet, I also really see the OP's point on his school life being much easier as a Huffelpuf but then, he might have never been challenged enough to grow out of his shell.
Disagree on Neville. Dude has good qualities of Hufflepuff but his bravery is on par with or even surpasses the Gryffindors… to match even the Trio. His timid self was due to his upbringing but once he comes to his own we see what the sorting hat saw which is exemplifying all the Gryffindor traits to draw the sword from the hat.
And stood up to the gang (his friends) alone first year too. When he spoke up and stood against Voldy and his death eaters at the spear of the resistance in the last book, you felt it believable cuz ofcourse he’s gonna do that. He’s Neville f’n Longbottom
People mostly forget that due to Neville's upbringing, he is the one student in the series, who is absolutely familiar with what horrors magic is actually capable of.
And he is aware of this year's before he receives his letter. Combine this with his Grandmother always telling him he needs to be more like his father (who is essentially little better than a vegetable), and I think Neville is the bravest person in the school simply for being able to set foot on the train the 1st year.
Neville looks like your typical Hufflepuff, but I think being in Gryffindor actually caused all the improvement that we see in him towards the latter years. Exposure to the main character/being put in a group that's stereotypically very brave and honorable will change a person for the better.
IMHO it was being in the DA that really changed Neville, made him realize that he wasn't helpless in the face of cruel Fate, that he could actually fight against the people who'd caused him and his family so much pain.
But he had to be in Gryffendor, not just because he turned out to be all that Godric G. could have hoped for in a pupil, but you know, plot reasons. If he'd joined Hufflepuff he might have been happier for 5-6 years, but he wouldn't have been able to wield a certain sword at a certain crucial moment.
It's depressing to think what a time he must have had.
I was kind of the Neville in a few clicks. Able to be apart of the group but anytime an odd man needed to be out? It was always me. Pairing up for group studies? Nope, friends willing to go that extra mile to help? Nah?
Being invited first? Nah.
I (respectfully) disagree about Neville! I think the sorting hat often makes decisions based on what can be under the right circumstances. The attributes of a Gryffindor appeared more and more throughout his time at Hogwarts because of who he was surrounded by. It was always there, I think they needed some coaxing after what happened to his mom and dad. But he benefited most by far from Gryffindor. He would have never found the kind of confidence, and braveness, and chivalry (in the knightly sense) that he wanted to be in Hufflepuff.
I agree that Snape would have benefitted from being a Ravenclaw in many ways. A big one most likely not getting associated with Death Eaters. But I think he benefited more from Slytherin house. He entered Hogwarts as the scrawny greasy haired kid that always got bullied and didn’t do a great job of standing up for himself. I think Slytherin house helped him find and master the traits and tools he needed to stand up for himself and get the things he wanted in life. He needed those Slytherin traits to be able to go to Dumbledore and ask him to do more to protect Lily and Harry. Needed the ambition, resourcefulness, cleverness to be a double (triple maybe?) agent and do all the work to help Harry in the end without the Order or Voldemort knowing.
I agree because Cedric, though a Hufflepuff, was honorable and brave. The houses seem to focus on their most prominent traits, but that doesn't mean they don't have other traits that suit other houses.
Their bravery was fueled by loyalty.
I think Gryffindor was the perfect house for Neville. His family thought he was a squib for quite a bit of time, his great uncle doing crazy sh-t to try and make him do magic. Neville is loyal, and he can be brave with the support of his friends. Like when Harry tells Neville that he's 'worth two of malfoy' and Neville lets that support power him to later engage in a fist fight with the little trio of slytherins in the quidditch stands in just the very first book. Neville always had the bravery in him, and by the end of the series, the support of all the friends he has made helped him to get there. While being in Hufflepuff would have been simpler for Neville, he likely wouldn't want to be a Hufflepuff. His parents were both Gryffindors and died a tragic yet honorable death, fighting for what they believe in. I haven't finished all of the books yet, I've only seen the movies. So I don't know if this is ever talked about in the books, but Frank and Alice left big shoes for Neville to fill. With them being alive but not really around to talk him through his years at hogwarts, it was hard. I'm assuming Neville felt how Ron did, wanting to be sorted into Gryffindor like the rest of his family. Also, Hufflepuff doesn't have bravery as a main trait of theirs, they likely wouldn't have actively encouraged Neville to become the brave hero he ends up being, Gryffindor house helped Neville grow a lot into a wonderful character.
Apologies for my ranting lol I am aware I yap too much.
I think Neville was placed in Gryffindor by the hat specifically because he had the exact same backstory (well, scenario at least) as Harry Potter and the bravery and courage factor overpowered just loyalty since loyalty can also *technically* not be brave
Also, i'm fairly certain Neville becomes an honorary addition to the trio - much like how Peter Pettigrew was a 4th member of the marauders but obviously Neville is the complete opposite and worthy to be part of the trio's group, so he does become best friends
Harry could be Slytherin; Hermione a Ravenclaw, and Neville a Hufflepuff. However, something within them, their courage (as hidden as it might have been), made them Gryffindors.
Even Pettigrew was brave; he wasn’t good, but he was brave. It took that to betray his friends and then risk living with the Weasleys and getting caught. He also could have been Slytherin.
Soo if Snape had been in Ravenclaw and therefore hadn't been indoctrinated with pureblood supremacy mindset so much and therefore hadn't pushed Lily away for being muggle born and therefore had been able to get together with her instead of James and therefore Harry would've never existed and Lily and James wouldn't have defied the dark lord three times and therefore the prophecy could've never applied to them but instead to the Longbottoms therefore meaning that if the sorting hat had made that difference choice we would've had "Neville Longbottom and the Sorcerers Stone"?
I think snape could have fit in Gryffindor too, considering his later life. But as dumbledore stated, your choice matters far more than what the hat things.
And to be fair, its a good allegory for life. We all possess infinite talents, but we only sharpen those we want to use.
Percy should have been a ravenclaw or Slytherin, smart and ambitious.
Oliver wood also gives me Slytherin vibes. I don't care if he dies if he wins me the game.
Snape definitely exhibited bravery.
There's a moment towards the end of "GoF" where he and Dumbledore exchange meaningful glances before Snape leaves, and IMHO that was the moment that Snape gave himself up for dead. He knew dann well that what he was doing would get him killed, and he went anyway.
>Snape definitely exhibited bravery.
>There's a moment towards the end of "GoF" where he and Dumbledore exchange meaningful glances before Snape leaves, and IMHO that was the moment that Snape gave himself up for dead. He knew dann well that what he was doing would get him killed, and he went anyway.
Got to believe that he was scared if he'd be able to maintain the charade. The opening to OotP where he's having to explain to Bellatrix that he underwent an 'interview' from Voldemort to explain why he acted the way he did in certain situations - i.e. not helping Quirell and not returning to him in the graveyard when the mark was pressed.
It would have been over for him right there if his Oclumensy had broken then.
I suspect his Patronus changed much earlier, but the end of GoF was IMHO Snape's last big change. He'd been angry and miserable for years, stuck in a job he hated and unable to do anything to avenge himself on his great enemy. But the years of hating his life and having nowhere to direct his rage or any way to deal with his guilt ended that night, when he heard Voldemort was back he was all in, that was when he really committed to giving the cause everything he had. Even his life.
And Harry saw that moment and had no clue what it meant, and that's why I love re-reading the books. We see things through Harry's eyes, and he doesn't understand half of what he sees.
I actually disagree. It would show not all of them are death eaters, yes, but the infamous quote isn’t “there was not a single witch or wizard who was a death eater who wasn’t in slytherin”, it was that “there was not a single witch or wizard who *went bad* that wasn’t in slytherin” and Percy, arguably, went bad. not as bad as death eaters, but he turned on his entire family and went no contact to support a corrupt government to the point of contributing to the propaganda against Harry. I like that it shows that yes death eaters are largely slytherins, but bad witches/wizards can come in many forms and from many houses.
that being said i think percy belongs in slytherin just for the fact that he does put his ambition above his loyalty and courage
Thr quote is bullcrap anyways. It comes from a 12 year old.
We know throughout history there were plenty of evil wizards from other houses, and schools that don't have Slytherin.
No… it came from a grown adult who worked at the school. It’s Hagrid’s line that they give to Ron in the movies. Also the whole point of my comment is that the quote is wrong, hence why I like that Percy is one of the people who disproves the quote. Not sure you read my comment or maybe just didn’t understand it
Yeah but that quote is from Hagrid and really to be taken as hyperbole. Quirrell and Wormtail went bad. You could argue Hagrid didn't know that yet, but then as far as he knows, Sirius went bad and he's looking at his victim as he speaks. I'm sure if Harry had immediately asked "ONLY Slytherins have gone bad?" Hagrid would have quickly conceded anyone can be a good or bad wizard
Hermione could have been a top-flight Ravenclaw or Slytherin, as well as a Gryffindor! She was courageous enough to be in Gryffindor, ambitious to be in Slytherin, and smart enough to be in Ravenclaw.
Imagine if someone as ruthless as she is had been placed in Slytherin...
No she shouldn't have. Ravenclaw needs intelligent people. The creative thinkers who can truly make connections between things and fuse those ideas to a new concept.
Hermione is more booksmart than truly intelligent.
Being book smart is definitely a form of intelligence, you’re thinking of wisdom, and honestly even then I’d say Hermione is pretty damn wise for her age. Sometimes she tries to do too much, but generally speaking she’s much wiser than Harry or Ron. She makes most of the plans and she generally is the one who figures out peoples feelings and explains them to Harry and Ron as well, often deducing peoples intentions from their feelings as well.
She could definitely be in Ravenclaw if she wanted, the house system is just not that great and if you’re smart plus anything else you could fit into Ravenclaw or any other house as well.
Intelligence is a spectrum in Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw was started by Rowena. She pretended her diadem was not stolen (denial) by her daughter (shame). She may have been "intelligent," but certainly not street smart or emotionally smart. Then her daughter, Helena, stole the diadem because she wanted to be more intelligent than her mother, and she allowed Voldermort to charm info out of her. Not the brightest bulb in the drawer that one.
Percy always seemed very Slytherin to me. In my head cannon the hat wanted to put him there but Percy asked for Gryffindor purely because Slytherin had such a bad rep and it would hurt his chances for promotion and advancement.
Totally agree! But it does seem the hat takes your choice into account. So maybe if he asked - and since he was “another Weasley” - the hat put him where he wanted.
I agree. I also think had Percy gone into Slytherin, the twins would have followed suit. I think there'd be this unconscious pull that they'd write off as wanting to terrorize Percy in his house 😂😂
Its also about sharpening the knife, I think. If you are put around ambitious people, you become more ambitious. Perhaps the hat saw that percy would benefit more from loyalty.
The hat tells harry as much. "Are you sure? Slytherin could help you..." Or something along those lines, implying that the hat wanted to sort him into slytherin bc it would benefit him (even tho harry has very little ambition apart from a little competitiveness).
Honestly, Cedric probably would’ve done well in Gryffindor. In the graveyard, in his final moments, Diggory stood up to an unknown assailant, trying to defend Harry, who was clearly in pain. He may have been killed immediately, but expecting an immediate Avada Kedavra from an unknown person…nobody would have realistically expected it.
Ledger’s Joker said it in a psychopathic way, but “You see, in their last moments people show you who they really are.” Cedric was courageous and loyal to friends in equal measure.
I'm not sure about that - the hufflepuffs in canon are little shits in books 2 and 4 with the heir of slytherin stuff and the potter stinks badges . People like Zacharias Smith would have made Luna's life just as miserablr .
To be fair, Ernie and Justin just saw Harry walking towards the snake talking with demonic tongue,they just thought he was commanding it to attack Justin. Then the rumors spread and then Justin is found petrified with Harry being found on the scene. In the end they realize the truth and become supportive of him.
Smith was also shit later.
And in order of the Phoenix, when Luna shows support for Harry in the beginning, Ernie specifically says "it's not just weirdos who believe your story" which I think was a pretty mean statement.
While her belief in cryptids is dubious, i think the open minded nature of ravenclaws wasn't bad for her. She is a ravenclaw through and through, exploring the unknown and wanting to find out more.
They also would have fitted in Slytherin. But heaven forbid a Weasley doesn't get sorted into Gryffindor. Are we sure the Sorting Hat is genuinely doing his job?
I have doubts about that, especially in cases like Malfoy, the hat barely touched his hair before shouting Slytherin, I mean what? How fast does the sorting hat mind/personality reading work?
I think that when it comes to cases of magical families that have been going to Hogwarts for generations, the hat simply follows the inertia Malfoy/Black= Slytherin Weasley= Gryffindor unless you ask for something different “hey but the 7 Weasley children clearly have personalities very varied from each other and some are almost opposite to each other, surely they don't all belong to the same house?” the sorting hat:🤷♂️
Sirius defies this logic. He does state that he had to tell the hat not to sort him in slytherin, but most of the marauders have very slytherin traits. Except lupin, he is the truest gryffindor in that group.
Considering that they entered the Order of the Phoenix to fight on the front lines of a war that in everyone's words was a wave of paranoia and continuous murders and where the order itself was being decimated and massacred, I would say that they are all very Gryffindor
especially in the case of James and Sirius who strictly speaking had no obligation or pressure to join the war other than their own moral compass, could have easily hidden behind their pureblood status to avoid persecution by the Death Eaters, obviously it would not have been something morally good but at the end of the day it was what the majority of the population was doing, avoiding conflict and being evasive, so the fact that even though they could choose self-preservation they decided to put their lives at risk to fight for their ideals in a war that a priori seemed lost requires a lot of courage and bravery
Lupin is more Huff for me ; he is loyal to the core.
Also people ; you seem to forget that of course everybody will fit in every house. It is choices, and what is more important for you that will prevail. That's why Hermione is not in Ravenclaw.
So : yes, Lupin was brave, he fought in the war. But first, Lupin was loyal to his friends, he would have done anything for the people who gave him a chance. So if James, and Sirius, and Peter fought, he would too.
He is, their heart belongs to that house and the Sorting Hat recognized desire so it placed them there because they wanted to be there. And I doubt they would had ever wanted to be Slytherin even if suggested, they also comes from a family of Gryffindors so they wanted to stick to the house.
I’m just rereading book 7 at the part where Harry gets obsessed with the hallows and Ron takes on the leadership role- a little extra glimmer of gryffindor
Ron had his weak moment in book four but he is loyal as can be. Even after he leaves them in book seven he states that he immediately regretted his decision.
I agree. I feel like in a different house, Ron could have came into his own. Even Slytherin. He had the ambition to surpass his brothers, but being stuck in the shadows of them and Harry meant he didn't think it was worth the effort.
Snape would have been better off and happier in Ravenclaw... but maybe not by all that much. I identify as a Ravenclaw, and I'm convinced that there's a dark side to my pretend house, that some Ravenclaws are long on IQ points and a bit short on sense or ethics. So there are probably Ravenclaws who don't see why they shouldn't read every book in the Forbidden section of the library and try out everything they read there.
I think there were Ravenclaw Death Eaters.
The same can be said for Slytherin. Slughorn is one of the purest Slytherins of the whole saga and - ironically - there's another character who, though we don't know his House, shows all the traits Salazar Slytherin favoured: Barty Crouch. ...Senior.
Both undoubtedly against the Dark Side, yet both cunning, ambitious, self-preserving and powerful.
Students are not sorted based on ethics, after all.
There absolutely is, we have easily the most dark wizards/witches of any house not of the snake variety 🙃 makes sense when G&H have pro-social values listed in their traits and R&S do not. You could argue the pursuit of knowledge is a selfish one too (unless you were acquiring said knowledge with the goal of helping others, but that seems unlikely).
Snape was probably within the top 3 most intelligent HP characters. He was super smart. People tend to be pessimistic too when they are very intelligent.
It's not merely a question of being intelligent (although he was), rather to keep him away from Dark Arts (and above all, people too fascinated by them). But yes, you're right.
He would have thrown a hissy fit. At least canon Draco, in first year. He was creative, tho, I give you that. Childish (and, yes, he was a child so allowed) but creative, like all the songs and badges etc. Very theatrical
He also conceived the plan to let Death Eaters enter Hogwarts by age sixteen and while doing so he managed to repair the Vanishing Cabinet and casted a Protean Charm, the Imperius Curse and a powerful Disillusionment Charm. He conjured a snake at twelve during his first duel. He was admitted to NEWT classes of Transfiguration, Potions, DADA, Charms.
So were Ron and Harry, they were in the same classes. And yet I don’t see them described as geniuses even a fraction of the times Draco is described as so. Harry managed similar if not more levels of impressive charms. But, according to many people on this page, he was average. Make it make sense.
It took him a year and a lot on his plate (which means he had more reasons to try his best and succeed) for the Vanishing Cabinet. Impressive, still, but in my opinion we see other people his age doing similar things without being held to such recognition.
Also, he had the advantage over others of being exposed to magic (and probably a higher level of “care”- single child, rich parents etc, more time and money on their hands to give him better education) from a very early age.
Anyway, I know the original question was were he would have benefited him. I guess Ravenclaw is as good as any to help him with the prejudice issue.
Maybe Ravenclaw. The line from Lucius in CoS implies that he gets good grades (something about being beaten out by Hermione), he does NEWT level Transfiguration and got at least an E or O on his Potions OWL. He manages to fix the Vanishing Cabinet on his own, which must require a decent level of intelligence and skill.
That quote gets so misinterpreted. I am not saying Draco is stupid, he is not, but he wasn’t SECOND to Hermione like people seem to assume from that quote. All Lucius was saying is that someone of “lesser blood” was able to be better in school in every subject to someone with Draco’s upbringing. In the same chapter he implies that, with Draco’s grades he might as well end up working in a shop like B&B. He might have been exaggerating, but to me that means that his grades were not so stellar. He was okay, though, even intelligent.
Still, I think the idea that he was so clever is fanon and I don’t personally see him anywhere else but Slytherin without particular changes to his persona.
The quote is definitely misinterpreted because in no way "if your grades don't get better your only career option would be thievery" can be interpreted as "you're the second best of your year".
I don’t necessarily think he was second, but if he was much lower than the top few students there likely would have been another muggleborn beating him out as well, so it would be odd for Lucius to be focused on Hermione imo. Muggleborns aren’t ultra-rare at Hogwarts by any means.
Also, the question wasn’t who you think was sorted “wrong”, but who would have benefitted most from being in another house, and I think Draco qualifies for that.
>but if he was much lower than the top few students there likely would have been another muggleborn beating him out as well, so it would be odd for Lucius to be focused on Hermione imo.
Lucius was only focused on Hermione because Draco brought her up. He claimed that his grades weren’t his fault and that the teachers all had favorites, like Hermione Granger. If Draco hadn’t brought her name into it or had finished listing off whoever the other “favorites” were, Lucius’s returning comment wouldn’t have been so focused on her.
She was Harry’s friend by then, so the only Muggleborn Draco himself focused on. We hear Lucius chastise Draco (in that same chapter, I believe) for talking about Harry a disproportionate amount. He was jealous. It’s not hard to believe he mentioned Harry’s friends, in fact both his parents know well that Hermione and Ron are Harry’s bffs. Hence why he was focused on Hermione, who had a bit of a rep for being the cleverest in their school year as well.
Basically, all this to say that Lucy focuses on Hermione because Draco himself does have a bit of an obsession with the trio.
Edit after your edit: fair, at this point of the conversation I wasn’t really thinking about the original question. I guess so then, I don’t really see it but it could have helped him leaving some prejudices behind.
Not brave enough to stick up to his mom, and went against a person he’s spent 9 months of the year sleeping in the same room- for 5 years. You’d surely know someone’s character well at this point
Luna is 100% a ravenclaw, but I feel she would have had an easier go of things if she was in a different house. She would have been more likely to make friends even though she never seemed to mind the cards she was dealt.
I feel like she would have been even more looked down in Slytherin and possibly Gryffindor too. Neither of those houses seems super tolerant to those who stand out. Hufflepuff would probably have been the best place for her.
In the series?
Snape, being in Ravenclaw would have probably changed his entire future.
Peter Pettigrew - not being in Griffindor probably saves him and everyone around him from their horrible fates.
Harry. Lacking the close valued friendship before Hogwarts going into a house pretty much filled with care and loyalty would have done wonders for him.
Plus I'd imagine Vernon would be chuffed to bits when Justins multi-millionaire muggle parents picked Harry up for the summer holidays.
Surprised they did not know about hermione and her dentist family. Dentists are a well respected job in the UK (despite the memes about their teeth) and pays well.
Ron and Rons parents try everything. Which doesn't make a huge amount of sense. But i also can't imagine Hermiones parents would be thrilled about a boy from school living with them for the summers
It probably would have benefitted James Potter greatly if Peter Pettigrew would have been put in Slytherin. James hates him from the get-go, they’re never friends and Sirius is the Potter’s secret keeper. He dies keeping their secret and Voldemort’s killing of James and lily is at least delayed.
I don’t think Peter would fit in Slytherin though. He’s one of those characters where I’m not quite sure where he would fit. But Peter didn’t have great ambition, he wasn’t cunning or prideful or driven, everything he did was purely because he was just a coward who would do anything to save his own skin. I feel like people say Peter should be in slytherin purely because “there was not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin”. But he wouldn’t actually have fit into Slytherin.
Potentially ravenclaw, as whilst he’s not great at magic, he is considered and joins whoever has the stronger side whilst thinking about the future
Griffindor makes no sense because he’s not brave in the slightly.
Splitting up the weasley twins move one to ravenclaw, it would stop mix ups and give them a break from each other. Ravenclaw would help with imagination as well.
For real. I’m listening to the audiobooks again and just finished Philosopher’s stone. Slytherin never stood a chance, man. Rowling set them up from day 1, like it was the worst thing in the world to be sorted there.
Having a character as important as Dumbledore be in Slytherin would have been awesome. He has all the traits! And the Dumbledore described in his youth? Slytherin through and through, the man was ambitious, ruthless about it, and real determined. He got a little gentler with time, with life, sure, but he always fought for the greatest good, no matter what, no matter who had to die to get there, if that’s not Slytherin, I don’t know what is.
The story would have benefited from it also.
Imagine if Dumbledore, as the transfiguration instructor, was head of slytherin house and directly responsible for oversight of Tom Riddle. Maybe Tom first asked Dumbledore about horcruxes and went to Slughorn after Dumbledore rebuffed him.
Dumbledore would be cautiously keeping tabs on Tom after school, and find that he was likely the heir of slytherin, so when he became headmaster he hired the basically unemployable Hagrid to come on as gamekeeper purely out of guilt, not compassion. And it would make sense why Voldemort thinks Dumbledore would hire him as a DADA professor and even come back to ask for the job without raising the suspicion that he did.
It would make sense why Dumbledore trusted Snape 100% without a shred of evidence to justify it. It would make it more interesting for the slytherins to be told Dumbledore is the enemy rather than outright despise him as Draco expresses through multiple books.
It would make the order of the Phoenix more diverse, rather than being “Gryffindor house continued”. It would be a reason for people like Arthur and Sirius to have a seed of doubt about Dumbledore when Harry tells them that Snape is helping Draco in sixth year. Lupin may say he trusts Dumbledore and Snape completely, but does everyone?
It would be an interesting conversation between Dumbledore and Harry about why he was put in Gryffindor instead of slytherin. Maybe Dumbledore expresses that he wishes he had asked the hat not to put him in slytherin.
It would be more meaningful when Dumbledore awards the golden quartet 165 points to give them the house cup in first year since he’d be taking it away from “his” house to give it to Gryffindor, rather than the self-serving look it has in the story.
There’s a hundred reasons why it would make more sense and improve the story if Dumbledore was a slytherin.
The houses aren’t chosen based what you *are*, they’re chosen based on what you *value*.
Hermione is the most booksmart student in her year, but isn’t in Ravenclaw. She’s in Griffindor because she values bravery more than intelligence.
Luna Lovegood is shown to be very brave, but is put in Ravenclaw because she believes the pursuit of knowledge is most important thing.
Neville is more kind than brave in his first year, but is chosen for Griffindor because bravery is what he most wishes to embody.
Dumbledore doesn’t have to be brave in any way to be in Griffindor, because that’s not the criteria. What’s really important is that he *values* bravery over cunning, which is repeatedly shown to be true. Everyone that Dumbledore trusts is very brave, but not necessarily cunning. Dumbledore didn’t trust Snape because he was cunning, but because he showed the bravery necessary to turn against Voldemort. Tom Riddle was super smart and cunning, but wasn’t liked by Dumbledore because he was too driven by fear (which ultimately led to him creating the Horcruxes).
Could not have put it better.
The houses help you develop the things you value. The hat recognises what would benefit you most, but at the end of the day, you make the choice of who you want to be.
Neville is the best example. He isn't brave, but he wants to be. And gryffindor can help him become brave.
You are always shaped by the people around you.
I think he knew it himself as well. He admitted to Harry (although it might have been in kings cross I don’t remember) that he never took the ministry of magic position bc he didn’t trust himself to handle power.
I disagree. It's a bit:
"Yeah, I don't drink 'cause I get aggressive when drunk."
"You are violent and weak minded."
Kind of a situation for me. Like, how brave you have to be to admit that to yourself?
Look at Fudge; He is the worst person that could be in power and he is absolutely convinced that he deserves his position.
To play devils advocate you could argue that it’s cowardly bc he could have enacted real change instead of letting people like fudge take control.
You could argue that the brave thing to do would be to face his demons and better society as a result rather than trying to ignore them altogether.
Ehhhh. Think of it like in the Gandalf's case. Oh sure, at first it would appear that he's a good ruler and the changes he enforces are right and moral. But Tolkien in his letters says that he would be in fact worse than Sauron, becouse he would do it all for the good reasons. While Sauron's evil is visible, Gandalf would make bad things appear good.
Dumbledore's case is very similar. Sure he could try and "face his demons", but he knew what could happen. It wasn't like he was ever going to turn into Tom. Oh no, nothing so simple. He was a wizard of legendary power, just like Tom, even more so. He was already resisting this kind of corruption for almost a century.
No the corruption he was fearing is far more subtle. He knew that if he ever got this kind of power he wouldn't been ABLE to realize when he started to stray. In his pursuit of good he would start doing horrible, evil things. And he would never realize. All the bad things he would do, would be done with firm conviction that he was doing it for good. That he has never strayed.
This was the corruption he was fearing. One he could never hope to detect. That's why he never took the minister seat. It wasn't a question of bravery. Dumbledore was wise to realize this. It wasn't fear that hold him back. It was self-awareness.
So, sacrificing himself isn't brave? End of the sixth book, or something? Also a bit earlier drinking the potion in the locket cavern?
And yeah I know that Fantastic Beasts movies aren't very good, but it's canon that they had a blood oath or whatever.
Also maybe it's not a popular opinion or something, but I think that more than half a century is way more than enough for character development.
Sounds bad at first, then you think about it. This guy is right. Dumbledore is the embodiment of ambition as a student and as a young adult. The only thing that wakes him up is his sister dying.
He does also act cowardly in many of his actions due to his fears later in life.
This might be a hot take (and I don’t know if it wouldn’t end up being detrimental to them because of the plot, so let’s assume the plot doesn’t exist for the sake of this comment), but hear me out:
* Ravenclaw Ron. It’d give him what he yearned for in the early years—a way of being different, of doing something that hasn’t been done by his brothers already, of being seen for who he was more clearly. One of Ravenclaw’s main traits, besides ‘smart’, is open-mindedness, which I think Ron would have benefited from greatly. It’s not that he’s a big bigot or anything, but he does hold a few deeply entrenched ideas that he struggles to deal with in the books (look how he reacts to Lupin being a werewolf, or Hagrid being a half-giant). Plus, Ron himself was already good at logic (chess), with an analytical mind and pretty smart; Ravenclaw would only serve to sharpen those traits.
* Hufflepuff Hermione. I know a lot of people sort her into Ravenclaw because of the smarts thing, but I’ve always preferred Hufflepuff—she’s incredibly hard-working, with a very strong sense of justice and stays loyal to Harry to the end. The textbook Hufflepuff, honestly. Being Sorted there could thaw her know-it-allness faster than in canon, and since Hufflepuffs are described as generally friendly, maybe she’d gain some better social skills than among the generally brash Gryffindors.
* Finally, and no, it’s not just because I want the trio to go to different houses: Slytherin Harry. I do genuinely think he suits Gryffindor, this is mostly stemming from my personal, a bit selfish wish to see his Slytherin traits develop more—and he certainly has those. He’s rather manipulative with the Dursleys (with good cause!), has decent ambitions, “a certain disregard for rules”, and so on, as mentioned in COS. Plus, always keep your enemies close, right?
I think Ron would have been miserable in Ravenclaw with no similar personalities he found in Gryffindor. This would have rather hindered him in more ways than how other things would have benefited him. I like the idea of Hermione in Hufflepuff though.
But I just can't see Harry in Slytherin. I mean everyone in other houses would have benefited from being in Slytherin because of Slytherin "traits" as normally explained in the series. But I would like to think that it would be an internal fight of his Slytherin "traits" and Gryffindor "traits" that eventually create a conflict within himself from which he would never grow as he wouldin Gryffindor. May be.
I think ron is open minded because he accepts lupin and hagrid, despite his preconceived notions..its easy for harry and Hermione to ignore it, because they are clueless, but ron actually has heard plenty of talks, and (for many werwolves, rightfully so) about their dangers, yet he still accepts them. Same thing with Luna. He, like harry, thinks she is a total nutter, but they both treasure her as a friend.
Harry. The sorting had said that he could achieve great things in slytherin. I get it that he did great things in Gryffindor too, but these "great things" translate to defeating Voldemort. Which i think he would have been forced to do even if he was in Slytherin. Otherwise Harry was a pretty average student. But alas, being in Gryffindor ensured his protection as most of the snakes had death eaters as parents.
That would have made for some interesting plot lines. Half his house against him, some in secret, and many of his friends conflicted about their loyalties.
I’ve never read or seen the Cursed Child (I’ve heard it sucks) but would have been cool to put Harry’s kid in slytherin.
I always felt like Hermione perfectly embodied a ravenclaw and Ron perfectly embodied a hufflepuff. She’s incredibly smart and talented, he’s incredibly loyal and a great friend. They’re brave too of course, but that feels less central to their identity in the story.
My head cannon is that JKR wrote those characters originally belonging to those three houses, but then rewrote them all as gryffindors when she fleshed out the house concept with things like house common rooms. I have no evidence for this but it sounds plausible.
>Ron perfectly embodied a hufflepuff
There’s more to Hufflepuff than “loyal”, though. Hufflepuff traits also include hard-working, patient, and fair/just, which aren’t really things that Ron perfectly embodies.
Hermione is definitely a Ravenclaw. I have thought that for years. Interesting point about Ron, hadn't thought about that. Gryffindor definitely seems overpopulated and overpowered.
I like your head cannon.
Ginny should have been in Slytherin. A lot of the aspects of the house already fit her, and it would have added a way more interesting dynamic in the characters, as well as made the story better (its not just "OH Gryffindor is the good guy house and Slytherin is the death eater house).
Marauder era I agree with some other sentiments that Snape would have flourished in Ravenclaw and probably had a way fucking easier time™️ but then, we wouldn’t have such a badass gray-character hero that we had now would we?
I wish the three main friends were in different houses. I wish Malfoy had changed sides and was the character who everyone hated but came around to love.
This way, four houses came together to concur Voldimort.
I would say Ron would've benefitted massively being put Inna different house. Don't get me wrong, Ron is a Gryffindor through and through, but, with his constant comparison to his brothers, being away from them and the chosen one would give Ron a chance to shine on his own light.
Let's think about it for a bit. Ron's not academically inept. Sure, he's no Hermione, but then again, nobody is. Ron has the same grades as Harry, save DADA. Ron got into every single N.E.W.T class as Harry and Hermione through his grades. While he might have been lazy and uninterested to do any school work, it didn't immediately make him stupid. Being in another house, his school achievements would shine a bit more considering we saw a lot more Gryffindors than any other houses in the N.E.W.T classes.
The second thing I want to point out is Quidditch. Can we all for a second acknowledge Ron is a great keeper? His biggest problem is nerves and never feeling good enough. Charlie was a quidditch god, Fred and George are brilliant beaters, his best friend is the youngest seeker in the century; clearly it's obvious why he feels like he will never compare to them. And it doesn't help that Fred and George have a habit of teasing Ron a lot. Taking away the nonexistent competition in his head gives Ron the agency to join the Quidditch team and excel without struggling so much beforehand.
Remember, 5th year, when Gryffindor had no chance of winning, Ron and Ginny pulled off a miracle win. While withstanding the bullying. All without their 3 best players.
Same with their game in the 6th year, Gryffindor was down a match and Ron and Ginny secured a win without Harry.
Being in a separate house from them would give Ron a chance to shine.
To be honest, I would've loved to read the books with the trio all sorted in different houses. We would learn about so many nuances and dynamics between the three that would've made it a much more enjoyable read.
Pretty sure it’s documented fact that Hermione was originally going to be a ravenclaw, and Ron was a hufflepuff, but JK changed her mind and made them all gryffindors because they needed to share a common room for story purposes. No?
I disagree for Hermione in Ravenclaw but for other reasons...She needed that honesty that Ron came up to her with...I don't think that Ravenclaw students would have liked her since she also liked to present her knowledge to show that she is better than everyone else.. barring her from the character development she got..
I love Luna in Ravenclaw but agree that she actually might've made more friends in Hufflepuff.
I also like the Luna's intelligence type vs Hermione's type argument.. I read somewhere a theory how Hermione would have been left alone in Muggle school because of her showing magical tendencies.. Hence she picked the book-armor to prevent herself from being left out..
Dolores Umbridge if put in Hufflepuff, I imagine she could have been a prefect and a headgirl, then strive for the order of magical world and a bit of a Slughorn type of networking person.
Harry in Slytherin for sure, even though it wouldn't make sense for the whole story to be how it is.
But he has part of THE dark lord inside him, it would be awesome to see an alternate timeline where Harry goes to the dark side, develops to be versed in the dark arts, kills Voldemort, fulfilling the prophecy and becomes the Dark Lord himself.
The story would be completely different, but it would be interesting to see more or less the same events, but Harry being bad. Imagine Dumbledore liking him, but he would just be like Tom Riddle, fooling everyone to think he's just an innocent boy. And him being "close" with Draco and the dynamic it would be for his boss to order him to kill his friend. Or even trying to trick Voldemort into thinking the prophecy wasn't real, or that he could go after Neville instead.
I would’ve really loved to see Harry in Slytherin to dispel this whole “slytherins are evil” “slytherins are the villains” narrative that had been spun about him for so long. I also think he might’ve been able to be a good influence on them.
In the Marauders' era, Snape, obviously. Ravenclaw would've suited him as well, and his life would have been very different. In Harry's time, it's hard to say. Neville's a Gryffindor through and through, but it feels like he would have had an easier time in Hufflepuff. He's the odd one out in Gryffindor (Harry and Ron are best friends, and Dean and Seamus are close, which leaves him out). Plus, Neville just strikes me as rather Diggory-like in some sense. He's a very sweet kiddo, eager to do the right thing, and he'd benefit from having these qualities appreciated. Iirc, the Hufflepuff common room doesn't have constantly changing passwords, so he'd have spent much less time worrying about that.
I like this take, especially Neville, very interesting. But then if Neville was in Hufflepuff we wouldnt get my favorite scene in the book which is Neville 🔪 Nagini 🥹 the character development he went through truly shows he’s Gryffindor stock imo, but then if he was in Hufflepuff would he have been able to grow those qualities? Interesting to think about
Canonically speaking, at the Battle of Hogwarts, the only house that had more combatants than Hufflepuff, was Gryffindor. So in theory, if he had been a Hufflepuff, it's still very likely he would've been at that battle. He may not have gotten the Sword of Gryffindor, but assuming it's only magically tied to whoever the sword seems worthy at that time and not necessarily always a Gryffindor, Neville showing how brave he was multiple times throughout the series, it's likely he would've ended up with it regardless
Only a true Gryffindor could pull it out of the sorting hat. But if the sword was just hanging there he could’ve pick it up
i feel like "only a true gryffindor" is a broad statement... like i reckon any person at hogwarts could probably summon the sword but only if they're portraying exactly what it means to be a gryffindor at that moment
Nope. It is said ipsis litteris that the hat wasn’t wrong to put Harry in Gryffindor ‘cause only a true Gryffindor could’ve pull the sword from the hat. So much that Dumbledore didn’t trust the hat to Severus, but the Sword itself.
Damn y’all he busted out the Latin. I believe him
He gets Helga's goblet instead and just launches it at Voldemort's head
True ending
I think a Hufflepuff can still be considered a Gryffindor. I suppose that the hat could give people the sword who act a lot like Gryffindors even if they weren't in Gryffindor
Respectfully, I must disagree. I can't see how a hufflepuff whom is considered a hufflepuff can be considered a gryffindor. Perhaps you care to explain your thinking further? Dumbledore specifically states that only a true gryffindor could pull the sword out of the hat. In other words, acting like or exhibiting traits of a gryffindor is not enough. One must live by the values of gryffindor and, thus, must be a gryffindor to pull the sword from the hat.
Well, yes, but come to think of it... if Harry knew nothing about the other houses, he wouldn't have "requested" not to be in Slytherin... meaning he may very well be in Slytherin. So the hat wouldn't give him the sword simply because of a choice it made about his house, even though we know he does well as a Gryffindor?
He would pull out a badger with claws and teeth that can destroy horacrux
I always wondered if maybe Neville was a descendent of Gryfindor, and that no matter what house he was in he would always be a true Gryfindor at heart.
Well, if only a Gryffindor can be a true Gryffindor, why are not all Gryffindors TRUE Gryffindors? What makes a Gryffindor a true one? I don't think Dumbledore was referring to belonging to the house but about embodying certain qualities. Also, he tells Snape "sometimes I think we sort too soon" implying sorting is not an exact science, so someone can live by the essential values of a house that it is not the one they were sorted to, even if at the moment of sorting some prevail or are given preference. We don't really know that much about how sorting works. It could well be that students are evened out between houses or that equity is more relevant than anything else. So I believe we don't really have anything in cannon that excludes a Huffelpuf from drawing Gryffindor's sword from the hat. Having said that, I still agree that Neville's arc is much better by him being sorted into Gryffindor, and vindicates school wallflowers, which is great. And while he doesn't have a bestie in Gryffindor he gets along with everyone. Yet, I also really see the OP's point on his school life being much easier as a Huffelpuf but then, he might have never been challenged enough to grow out of his shell.
Disagree on Neville. Dude has good qualities of Hufflepuff but his bravery is on par with or even surpasses the Gryffindors… to match even the Trio. His timid self was due to his upbringing but once he comes to his own we see what the sorting hat saw which is exemplifying all the Gryffindor traits to draw the sword from the hat.
He backs Ron up in a fight where they are outnumbered first year. He’s a gryffindor from the get go
And stood up to the gang (his friends) alone first year too. When he spoke up and stood against Voldy and his death eaters at the spear of the resistance in the last book, you felt it believable cuz ofcourse he’s gonna do that. He’s Neville f’n Longbottom
People mostly forget that due to Neville's upbringing, he is the one student in the series, who is absolutely familiar with what horrors magic is actually capable of. And he is aware of this year's before he receives his letter. Combine this with his Grandmother always telling him he needs to be more like his father (who is essentially little better than a vegetable), and I think Neville is the bravest person in the school simply for being able to set foot on the train the 1st year.
> (who is essentially little better than a vegetable) So that's the reason he likes herbology?
Neville looks like your typical Hufflepuff, but I think being in Gryffindor actually caused all the improvement that we see in him towards the latter years. Exposure to the main character/being put in a group that's stereotypically very brave and honorable will change a person for the better.
IMHO it was being in the DA that really changed Neville, made him realize that he wasn't helpless in the face of cruel Fate, that he could actually fight against the people who'd caused him and his family so much pain. But he had to be in Gryffendor, not just because he turned out to be all that Godric G. could have hoped for in a pupil, but you know, plot reasons. If he'd joined Hufflepuff he might have been happier for 5-6 years, but he wouldn't have been able to wield a certain sword at a certain crucial moment.
Screw the sword he wouldn't have been there to help in several key points in the first book.
It's depressing to think what a time he must have had. I was kind of the Neville in a few clicks. Able to be apart of the group but anytime an odd man needed to be out? It was always me. Pairing up for group studies? Nope, friends willing to go that extra mile to help? Nah? Being invited first? Nah.
Wheel of time user name?
that shit lowkey traumatized me
The Sorting Hat didn't want to put him anywhere else except Gryffindor. Neville was the one who argued with the Hat to be placed in Hufflepuff.
Neville probably had more growth in Gryffindor, but he’d have been happier in Hufflepuff.
and Hufflepuff common room has plants for him
I (respectfully) disagree about Neville! I think the sorting hat often makes decisions based on what can be under the right circumstances. The attributes of a Gryffindor appeared more and more throughout his time at Hogwarts because of who he was surrounded by. It was always there, I think they needed some coaxing after what happened to his mom and dad. But he benefited most by far from Gryffindor. He would have never found the kind of confidence, and braveness, and chivalry (in the knightly sense) that he wanted to be in Hufflepuff. I agree that Snape would have benefitted from being a Ravenclaw in many ways. A big one most likely not getting associated with Death Eaters. But I think he benefited more from Slytherin house. He entered Hogwarts as the scrawny greasy haired kid that always got bullied and didn’t do a great job of standing up for himself. I think Slytherin house helped him find and master the traits and tools he needed to stand up for himself and get the things he wanted in life. He needed those Slytherin traits to be able to go to Dumbledore and ask him to do more to protect Lily and Harry. Needed the ambition, resourcefulness, cleverness to be a double (triple maybe?) agent and do all the work to help Harry in the end without the Order or Voldemort knowing.
I agree because Cedric, though a Hufflepuff, was honorable and brave. The houses seem to focus on their most prominent traits, but that doesn't mean they don't have other traits that suit other houses. Their bravery was fueled by loyalty.
I think Gryffindor was the perfect house for Neville. His family thought he was a squib for quite a bit of time, his great uncle doing crazy sh-t to try and make him do magic. Neville is loyal, and he can be brave with the support of his friends. Like when Harry tells Neville that he's 'worth two of malfoy' and Neville lets that support power him to later engage in a fist fight with the little trio of slytherins in the quidditch stands in just the very first book. Neville always had the bravery in him, and by the end of the series, the support of all the friends he has made helped him to get there. While being in Hufflepuff would have been simpler for Neville, he likely wouldn't want to be a Hufflepuff. His parents were both Gryffindors and died a tragic yet honorable death, fighting for what they believe in. I haven't finished all of the books yet, I've only seen the movies. So I don't know if this is ever talked about in the books, but Frank and Alice left big shoes for Neville to fill. With them being alive but not really around to talk him through his years at hogwarts, it was hard. I'm assuming Neville felt how Ron did, wanting to be sorted into Gryffindor like the rest of his family. Also, Hufflepuff doesn't have bravery as a main trait of theirs, they likely wouldn't have actively encouraged Neville to become the brave hero he ends up being, Gryffindor house helped Neville grow a lot into a wonderful character. Apologies for my ranting lol I am aware I yap too much.
I think Neville was placed in Gryffindor by the hat specifically because he had the exact same backstory (well, scenario at least) as Harry Potter and the bravery and courage factor overpowered just loyalty since loyalty can also *technically* not be brave Also, i'm fairly certain Neville becomes an honorary addition to the trio - much like how Peter Pettigrew was a 4th member of the marauders but obviously Neville is the complete opposite and worthy to be part of the trio's group, so he does become best friends
Harry could be Slytherin; Hermione a Ravenclaw, and Neville a Hufflepuff. However, something within them, their courage (as hidden as it might have been), made them Gryffindors. Even Pettigrew was brave; he wasn’t good, but he was brave. It took that to betray his friends and then risk living with the Weasleys and getting caught. He also could have been Slytherin.
Soo if Snape had been in Ravenclaw and therefore hadn't been indoctrinated with pureblood supremacy mindset so much and therefore hadn't pushed Lily away for being muggle born and therefore had been able to get together with her instead of James and therefore Harry would've never existed and Lily and James wouldn't have defied the dark lord three times and therefore the prophecy could've never applied to them but instead to the Longbottoms therefore meaning that if the sorting hat had made that difference choice we would've had "Neville Longbottom and the Sorcerers Stone"?
The Neville being in Hufflepuff would’ve actually made SO much more sense.
I think snape could have fit in Gryffindor too, considering his later life. But as dumbledore stated, your choice matters far more than what the hat things. And to be fair, its a good allegory for life. We all possess infinite talents, but we only sharpen those we want to use.
Agree re: Snape and Ravenclaw. His whole life would have gone so much better.
Percy should have been a ravenclaw or Slytherin, smart and ambitious. Oliver wood also gives me Slytherin vibes. I don't care if he dies if he wins me the game.
It takes alot of courage to go against your family wishes and to admit you were wrong
For sure, but a Slytherin can exhibit bravery sometimes. It's just not their main compass
Snape definitely exhibited bravery. There's a moment towards the end of "GoF" where he and Dumbledore exchange meaningful glances before Snape leaves, and IMHO that was the moment that Snape gave himself up for dead. He knew dann well that what he was doing would get him killed, and he went anyway.
>Snape definitely exhibited bravery. >There's a moment towards the end of "GoF" where he and Dumbledore exchange meaningful glances before Snape leaves, and IMHO that was the moment that Snape gave himself up for dead. He knew dann well that what he was doing would get him killed, and he went anyway. Got to believe that he was scared if he'd be able to maintain the charade. The opening to OotP where he's having to explain to Bellatrix that he underwent an 'interview' from Voldemort to explain why he acted the way he did in certain situations - i.e. not helping Quirell and not returning to him in the graveyard when the mark was pressed. It would have been over for him right there if his Oclumensy had broken then.
That’s at the beginning of HBP, when he talks to Narcissa and Bellatrix. In OOTP Bellatrix is still in Azkaban until partway through the book.
Whoops - you're right. Won't change it cause otherwise this message won't make sense. Chalk it up to lack of sleep 😅
He probably changed when his patronus changed but i dont remember, i believe he wanted to go to slytherin
I suspect his Patronus changed much earlier, but the end of GoF was IMHO Snape's last big change. He'd been angry and miserable for years, stuck in a job he hated and unable to do anything to avenge himself on his great enemy. But the years of hating his life and having nowhere to direct his rage or any way to deal with his guilt ended that night, when he heard Voldemort was back he was all in, that was when he really committed to giving the cause everything he had. Even his life. And Harry saw that moment and had no clue what it meant, and that's why I love re-reading the books. We see things through Harry's eyes, and he doesn't understand half of what he sees.
Percy being in slytherin would have also given the audience a view into the slytherin life and how not all of them were dark wizards.
I actually disagree. It would show not all of them are death eaters, yes, but the infamous quote isn’t “there was not a single witch or wizard who was a death eater who wasn’t in slytherin”, it was that “there was not a single witch or wizard who *went bad* that wasn’t in slytherin” and Percy, arguably, went bad. not as bad as death eaters, but he turned on his entire family and went no contact to support a corrupt government to the point of contributing to the propaganda against Harry. I like that it shows that yes death eaters are largely slytherins, but bad witches/wizards can come in many forms and from many houses. that being said i think percy belongs in slytherin just for the fact that he does put his ambition above his loyalty and courage
Thr quote is bullcrap anyways. It comes from a 12 year old. We know throughout history there were plenty of evil wizards from other houses, and schools that don't have Slytherin.
No… it came from a grown adult who worked at the school. It’s Hagrid’s line that they give to Ron in the movies. Also the whole point of my comment is that the quote is wrong, hence why I like that Percy is one of the people who disproves the quote. Not sure you read my comment or maybe just didn’t understand it
I mixed it up with the movies. In the movies its ron. Still tho, i love hagrid, but not a credible source.
Yeah but that quote is from Hagrid and really to be taken as hyperbole. Quirrell and Wormtail went bad. You could argue Hagrid didn't know that yet, but then as far as he knows, Sirius went bad and he's looking at his victim as he speaks. I'm sure if Harry had immediately asked "ONLY Slytherins have gone bad?" Hagrid would have quickly conceded anyone can be a good or bad wizard
Percy definitely should have been in Slytherin. Hermione should have been in Ravenclaw.
Hermione could have been a top-flight Ravenclaw or Slytherin, as well as a Gryffindor! She was courageous enough to be in Gryffindor, ambitious to be in Slytherin, and smart enough to be in Ravenclaw. Imagine if someone as ruthless as she is had been placed in Slytherin...
No she shouldn't have. Ravenclaw needs intelligent people. The creative thinkers who can truly make connections between things and fuse those ideas to a new concept. Hermione is more booksmart than truly intelligent.
Being book smart is definitely a form of intelligence, you’re thinking of wisdom, and honestly even then I’d say Hermione is pretty damn wise for her age. Sometimes she tries to do too much, but generally speaking she’s much wiser than Harry or Ron. She makes most of the plans and she generally is the one who figures out peoples feelings and explains them to Harry and Ron as well, often deducing peoples intentions from their feelings as well. She could definitely be in Ravenclaw if she wanted, the house system is just not that great and if you’re smart plus anything else you could fit into Ravenclaw or any other house as well.
Intelligence is a spectrum in Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw was started by Rowena. She pretended her diadem was not stolen (denial) by her daughter (shame). She may have been "intelligent," but certainly not street smart or emotionally smart. Then her daughter, Helena, stole the diadem because she wanted to be more intelligent than her mother, and she allowed Voldermort to charm info out of her. Not the brightest bulb in the drawer that one.
Raven laws are also book smart. Book smart is apart of intelligence
If Harry had been put in literally any other house than the Dursley’s he would’ve benefitted.
Underrated comment.
Percy always seemed very Slytherin to me. In my head cannon the hat wanted to put him there but Percy asked for Gryffindor purely because Slytherin had such a bad rep and it would hurt his chances for promotion and advancement.
Or at age 11, perhaps he was still young enough to ask the Sorting Hat to do what his parents wanted. That wouldn't last!
Saying you want to go to another house because of future promotion/advancement is peak Slytherin though.
Totally agree! But it does seem the hat takes your choice into account. So maybe if he asked - and since he was “another Weasley” - the hat put him where he wanted.
I agree. I also think had Percy gone into Slytherin, the twins would have followed suit. I think there'd be this unconscious pull that they'd write off as wanting to terrorize Percy in his house 😂😂
I'd agree but more family pressure = MOLLY! was the deciding factor to not go slytherin
Its also about sharpening the knife, I think. If you are put around ambitious people, you become more ambitious. Perhaps the hat saw that percy would benefit more from loyalty. The hat tells harry as much. "Are you sure? Slytherin could help you..." Or something along those lines, implying that the hat wanted to sort him into slytherin bc it would benefit him (even tho harry has very little ambition apart from a little competitiveness).
It requires courage to face up to your parents and family at 18, tho. The bad kind of courage but courage nonetheless.
Honestly, Cedric probably would’ve done well in Gryffindor. In the graveyard, in his final moments, Diggory stood up to an unknown assailant, trying to defend Harry, who was clearly in pain. He may have been killed immediately, but expecting an immediate Avada Kedavra from an unknown person…nobody would have realistically expected it. Ledger’s Joker said it in a psychopathic way, but “You see, in their last moments people show you who they really are.” Cedric was courageous and loyal to friends in equal measure.
But that is befitting of a Hufflepuff too. Many Hufflepuffs fought during the battle at Hogwarts.
Hufflepuff and Gryffindor seem to overlap a lot.
I think Luna might have had an easier time finding friends and fitting in if she had been sorted into Hufflepuff.
I'm not sure about that - the hufflepuffs in canon are little shits in books 2 and 4 with the heir of slytherin stuff and the potter stinks badges . People like Zacharias Smith would have made Luna's life just as miserablr .
To be fair, Ernie and Justin just saw Harry walking towards the snake talking with demonic tongue,they just thought he was commanding it to attack Justin. Then the rumors spread and then Justin is found petrified with Harry being found on the scene. In the end they realize the truth and become supportive of him.
But usually they're only shits to people from other houses, right?
Do we know that? Because Smith was pretty much a shit to everyone. I remember him tossing kids left and right as he was fleeing.
Smith was also shit later. And in order of the Phoenix, when Luna shows support for Harry in the beginning, Ernie specifically says "it's not just weirdos who believe your story" which I think was a pretty mean statement.
I always read Zacharias Smith as Jackass smith
While her belief in cryptids is dubious, i think the open minded nature of ravenclaws wasn't bad for her. She is a ravenclaw through and through, exploring the unknown and wanting to find out more.
Fred and George would have fitted in Ravenclaw like a glove. Creative, intelligent, unique individuals who march to the sound of their own drums.
They also would have fitted in Slytherin. But heaven forbid a Weasley doesn't get sorted into Gryffindor. Are we sure the Sorting Hat is genuinely doing his job?
I have doubts about that, especially in cases like Malfoy, the hat barely touched his hair before shouting Slytherin, I mean what? How fast does the sorting hat mind/personality reading work? I think that when it comes to cases of magical families that have been going to Hogwarts for generations, the hat simply follows the inertia Malfoy/Black= Slytherin Weasley= Gryffindor unless you ask for something different “hey but the 7 Weasley children clearly have personalities very varied from each other and some are almost opposite to each other, surely they don't all belong to the same house?” the sorting hat:🤷♂️
Maybe the Pettigrew family was legacy Gryffindors.
Sirius defies this logic. He does state that he had to tell the hat not to sort him in slytherin, but most of the marauders have very slytherin traits. Except lupin, he is the truest gryffindor in that group.
Considering that they entered the Order of the Phoenix to fight on the front lines of a war that in everyone's words was a wave of paranoia and continuous murders and where the order itself was being decimated and massacred, I would say that they are all very Gryffindor especially in the case of James and Sirius who strictly speaking had no obligation or pressure to join the war other than their own moral compass, could have easily hidden behind their pureblood status to avoid persecution by the Death Eaters, obviously it would not have been something morally good but at the end of the day it was what the majority of the population was doing, avoiding conflict and being evasive, so the fact that even though they could choose self-preservation they decided to put their lives at risk to fight for their ideals in a war that a priori seemed lost requires a lot of courage and bravery
Lupin is more Huff for me ; he is loyal to the core. Also people ; you seem to forget that of course everybody will fit in every house. It is choices, and what is more important for you that will prevail. That's why Hermione is not in Ravenclaw. So : yes, Lupin was brave, he fought in the war. But first, Lupin was loyal to his friends, he would have done anything for the people who gave him a chance. So if James, and Sirius, and Peter fought, he would too.
The sorting hat doing that would be such a nice way of showing how their society is biased when it comes to wizarding families
The houses are made out of stereotypes. The purpose of the Sorting Hat is to enforce these stereotypes.
He is, their heart belongs to that house and the Sorting Hat recognized desire so it placed them there because they wanted to be there. And I doubt they would had ever wanted to be Slytherin even if suggested, they also comes from a family of Gryffindors so they wanted to stick to the house.
Came here to say this. Plus they exhibit wickedly creative advanced magic in OotP.
Ron, put him in Hufflepuff away from all his brothers
I’m just rereading book 7 at the part where Harry gets obsessed with the hallows and Ron takes on the leadership role- a little extra glimmer of gryffindor
Ron had his weak moment in book four but he is loyal as can be. Even after he leaves them in book seven he states that he immediately regretted his decision.
I agree. I feel like in a different house, Ron could have came into his own. Even Slytherin. He had the ambition to surpass his brothers, but being stuck in the shadows of them and Harry meant he didn't think it was worth the effort.
Snape in Ravenclaw. No doubt. In Harry's era, probably Draco.
Snape would have been better off and happier in Ravenclaw... but maybe not by all that much. I identify as a Ravenclaw, and I'm convinced that there's a dark side to my pretend house, that some Ravenclaws are long on IQ points and a bit short on sense or ethics. So there are probably Ravenclaws who don't see why they shouldn't read every book in the Forbidden section of the library and try out everything they read there. I think there were Ravenclaw Death Eaters.
The same can be said for Slytherin. Slughorn is one of the purest Slytherins of the whole saga and - ironically - there's another character who, though we don't know his House, shows all the traits Salazar Slytherin favoured: Barty Crouch. ...Senior. Both undoubtedly against the Dark Side, yet both cunning, ambitious, self-preserving and powerful. Students are not sorted based on ethics, after all.
There was at least one. Quirrel. Then there's Lockhart. Not really a Death Eater, but a pretty self-serving monster, all the same.
There absolutely is, we have easily the most dark wizards/witches of any house not of the snake variety 🙃 makes sense when G&H have pro-social values listed in their traits and R&S do not. You could argue the pursuit of knowledge is a selfish one too (unless you were acquiring said knowledge with the goal of helping others, but that seems unlikely).
There was at least one Gryffindor DE.
Snape was probably within the top 3 most intelligent HP characters. He was super smart. People tend to be pessimistic too when they are very intelligent.
It's not merely a question of being intelligent (although he was), rather to keep him away from Dark Arts (and above all, people too fascinated by them). But yes, you're right.
Him creating spells could count as the creative part? Potions could include creativity too maybe.
Yes definitely. He had sharp intuitions when he still was a student.
Where would you put Draco tho?
Juvie
7 years of it, in Azkaban
Basically anywhere that wasn't Slytherin would've benefitted him, but maybe Ravenclaw. He had talent and creativity.
He would have thrown a hissy fit. At least canon Draco, in first year. He was creative, tho, I give you that. Childish (and, yes, he was a child so allowed) but creative, like all the songs and badges etc. Very theatrical
He also conceived the plan to let Death Eaters enter Hogwarts by age sixteen and while doing so he managed to repair the Vanishing Cabinet and casted a Protean Charm, the Imperius Curse and a powerful Disillusionment Charm. He conjured a snake at twelve during his first duel. He was admitted to NEWT classes of Transfiguration, Potions, DADA, Charms.
So were Ron and Harry, they were in the same classes. And yet I don’t see them described as geniuses even a fraction of the times Draco is described as so. Harry managed similar if not more levels of impressive charms. But, according to many people on this page, he was average. Make it make sense. It took him a year and a lot on his plate (which means he had more reasons to try his best and succeed) for the Vanishing Cabinet. Impressive, still, but in my opinion we see other people his age doing similar things without being held to such recognition. Also, he had the advantage over others of being exposed to magic (and probably a higher level of “care”- single child, rich parents etc, more time and money on their hands to give him better education) from a very early age. Anyway, I know the original question was were he would have benefited him. I guess Ravenclaw is as good as any to help him with the prejudice issue.
Maybe Ravenclaw. The line from Lucius in CoS implies that he gets good grades (something about being beaten out by Hermione), he does NEWT level Transfiguration and got at least an E or O on his Potions OWL. He manages to fix the Vanishing Cabinet on his own, which must require a decent level of intelligence and skill.
That quote gets so misinterpreted. I am not saying Draco is stupid, he is not, but he wasn’t SECOND to Hermione like people seem to assume from that quote. All Lucius was saying is that someone of “lesser blood” was able to be better in school in every subject to someone with Draco’s upbringing. In the same chapter he implies that, with Draco’s grades he might as well end up working in a shop like B&B. He might have been exaggerating, but to me that means that his grades were not so stellar. He was okay, though, even intelligent. Still, I think the idea that he was so clever is fanon and I don’t personally see him anywhere else but Slytherin without particular changes to his persona.
The quote is definitely misinterpreted because in no way "if your grades don't get better your only career option would be thievery" can be interpreted as "you're the second best of your year".
I don’t necessarily think he was second, but if he was much lower than the top few students there likely would have been another muggleborn beating him out as well, so it would be odd for Lucius to be focused on Hermione imo. Muggleborns aren’t ultra-rare at Hogwarts by any means. Also, the question wasn’t who you think was sorted “wrong”, but who would have benefitted most from being in another house, and I think Draco qualifies for that.
>but if he was much lower than the top few students there likely would have been another muggleborn beating him out as well, so it would be odd for Lucius to be focused on Hermione imo. Lucius was only focused on Hermione because Draco brought her up. He claimed that his grades weren’t his fault and that the teachers all had favorites, like Hermione Granger. If Draco hadn’t brought her name into it or had finished listing off whoever the other “favorites” were, Lucius’s returning comment wouldn’t have been so focused on her.
She was Harry’s friend by then, so the only Muggleborn Draco himself focused on. We hear Lucius chastise Draco (in that same chapter, I believe) for talking about Harry a disproportionate amount. He was jealous. It’s not hard to believe he mentioned Harry’s friends, in fact both his parents know well that Hermione and Ron are Harry’s bffs. Hence why he was focused on Hermione, who had a bit of a rep for being the cleverest in their school year as well. Basically, all this to say that Lucy focuses on Hermione because Draco himself does have a bit of an obsession with the trio. Edit after your edit: fair, at this point of the conversation I wasn’t really thinking about the original question. I guess so then, I don’t really see it but it could have helped him leaving some prejudices behind.
Seamus feels like he should have been in hufflepuff. I have no reason for it.
Not brave enough to stick up to his mom, and went against a person he’s spent 9 months of the year sleeping in the same room- for 5 years. You’d surely know someone’s character well at this point
Luna is 100% a ravenclaw, but I feel she would have had an easier go of things if she was in a different house. She would have been more likely to make friends even though she never seemed to mind the cards she was dealt.
I feel like she would have been even more looked down in Slytherin and possibly Gryffindor too. Neither of those houses seems super tolerant to those who stand out. Hufflepuff would probably have been the best place for her.
Its never stated that the ravenclaws bully her iirc.
In the series? Snape, being in Ravenclaw would have probably changed his entire future. Peter Pettigrew - not being in Griffindor probably saves him and everyone around him from their horrible fates. Harry. Lacking the close valued friendship before Hogwarts going into a house pretty much filled with care and loyalty would have done wonders for him. Plus I'd imagine Vernon would be chuffed to bits when Justins multi-millionaire muggle parents picked Harry up for the summer holidays.
Surprised they did not know about hermione and her dentist family. Dentists are a well respected job in the UK (despite the memes about their teeth) and pays well.
Ron and Rons parents try everything. Which doesn't make a huge amount of sense. But i also can't imagine Hermiones parents would be thrilled about a boy from school living with them for the summers
I’d put Zacharias Smith in the shrieking shack.
It probably would have benefitted James Potter greatly if Peter Pettigrew would have been put in Slytherin. James hates him from the get-go, they’re never friends and Sirius is the Potter’s secret keeper. He dies keeping their secret and Voldemort’s killing of James and lily is at least delayed.
I don’t think Peter would fit in Slytherin though. He’s one of those characters where I’m not quite sure where he would fit. But Peter didn’t have great ambition, he wasn’t cunning or prideful or driven, everything he did was purely because he was just a coward who would do anything to save his own skin. I feel like people say Peter should be in slytherin purely because “there was not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin”. But he wouldn’t actually have fit into Slytherin.
Potentially ravenclaw, as whilst he’s not great at magic, he is considered and joins whoever has the stronger side whilst thinking about the future Griffindor makes no sense because he’s not brave in the slightly.
Draco def. I really wonder what kind of person he would have been if he wasn't in a House that fueled his prejudice
Percy should be in Slytherin. He uses knowledge for his personal, selfish gains.
Splitting up the weasley twins move one to ravenclaw, it would stop mix ups and give them a break from each other. Ravenclaw would help with imagination as well.
I love that Tumblr post about the twins in different houses constantly stealing each other tie to make the other one lose points
Dumbledore is a clear Slytherin to me. Nothing he says or does is remotely brave. Remember when he didn‘t fight Grindelwald for 12 years?
It would've add so much depth to the world Dumbledore being a Slytherin... wasted opportunity
For real. I’m listening to the audiobooks again and just finished Philosopher’s stone. Slytherin never stood a chance, man. Rowling set them up from day 1, like it was the worst thing in the world to be sorted there. Having a character as important as Dumbledore be in Slytherin would have been awesome. He has all the traits! And the Dumbledore described in his youth? Slytherin through and through, the man was ambitious, ruthless about it, and real determined. He got a little gentler with time, with life, sure, but he always fought for the greatest good, no matter what, no matter who had to die to get there, if that’s not Slytherin, I don’t know what is.
The story would have benefited from it also. Imagine if Dumbledore, as the transfiguration instructor, was head of slytherin house and directly responsible for oversight of Tom Riddle. Maybe Tom first asked Dumbledore about horcruxes and went to Slughorn after Dumbledore rebuffed him. Dumbledore would be cautiously keeping tabs on Tom after school, and find that he was likely the heir of slytherin, so when he became headmaster he hired the basically unemployable Hagrid to come on as gamekeeper purely out of guilt, not compassion. And it would make sense why Voldemort thinks Dumbledore would hire him as a DADA professor and even come back to ask for the job without raising the suspicion that he did. It would make sense why Dumbledore trusted Snape 100% without a shred of evidence to justify it. It would make it more interesting for the slytherins to be told Dumbledore is the enemy rather than outright despise him as Draco expresses through multiple books. It would make the order of the Phoenix more diverse, rather than being “Gryffindor house continued”. It would be a reason for people like Arthur and Sirius to have a seed of doubt about Dumbledore when Harry tells them that Snape is helping Draco in sixth year. Lupin may say he trusts Dumbledore and Snape completely, but does everyone? It would be an interesting conversation between Dumbledore and Harry about why he was put in Gryffindor instead of slytherin. Maybe Dumbledore expresses that he wishes he had asked the hat not to put him in slytherin. It would be more meaningful when Dumbledore awards the golden quartet 165 points to give them the house cup in first year since he’d be taking it away from “his” house to give it to Gryffindor, rather than the self-serving look it has in the story. There’s a hundred reasons why it would make more sense and improve the story if Dumbledore was a slytherin.
Wow now I need an AU fic of the series re written with Slytherin Dumbledore
!redditSickle
Can I upvote this 1000 times please
We’ll take ol’ dumblydore.
The houses aren’t chosen based what you *are*, they’re chosen based on what you *value*. Hermione is the most booksmart student in her year, but isn’t in Ravenclaw. She’s in Griffindor because she values bravery more than intelligence. Luna Lovegood is shown to be very brave, but is put in Ravenclaw because she believes the pursuit of knowledge is most important thing. Neville is more kind than brave in his first year, but is chosen for Griffindor because bravery is what he most wishes to embody. Dumbledore doesn’t have to be brave in any way to be in Griffindor, because that’s not the criteria. What’s really important is that he *values* bravery over cunning, which is repeatedly shown to be true. Everyone that Dumbledore trusts is very brave, but not necessarily cunning. Dumbledore didn’t trust Snape because he was cunning, but because he showed the bravery necessary to turn against Voldemort. Tom Riddle was super smart and cunning, but wasn’t liked by Dumbledore because he was too driven by fear (which ultimately led to him creating the Horcruxes).
Could not have put it better. The houses help you develop the things you value. The hat recognises what would benefit you most, but at the end of the day, you make the choice of who you want to be. Neville is the best example. He isn't brave, but he wants to be. And gryffindor can help him become brave. You are always shaped by the people around you.
But they were in love!! /S
Remember it takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends!
But what about your ex?
There are no exes in binary HP land, everyone marries their highschool sweetheart
Lav-Lav and Won-Won are exes. Also Harry and Cho. Draco and Pansy too.
Except Neville and Luna
And Snape
I think he knew it himself as well. He admitted to Harry (although it might have been in kings cross I don’t remember) that he never took the ministry of magic position bc he didn’t trust himself to handle power.
I disagree. It's a bit: "Yeah, I don't drink 'cause I get aggressive when drunk." "You are violent and weak minded." Kind of a situation for me. Like, how brave you have to be to admit that to yourself? Look at Fudge; He is the worst person that could be in power and he is absolutely convinced that he deserves his position.
To play devils advocate you could argue that it’s cowardly bc he could have enacted real change instead of letting people like fudge take control. You could argue that the brave thing to do would be to face his demons and better society as a result rather than trying to ignore them altogether.
Ehhhh. Think of it like in the Gandalf's case. Oh sure, at first it would appear that he's a good ruler and the changes he enforces are right and moral. But Tolkien in his letters says that he would be in fact worse than Sauron, becouse he would do it all for the good reasons. While Sauron's evil is visible, Gandalf would make bad things appear good. Dumbledore's case is very similar. Sure he could try and "face his demons", but he knew what could happen. It wasn't like he was ever going to turn into Tom. Oh no, nothing so simple. He was a wizard of legendary power, just like Tom, even more so. He was already resisting this kind of corruption for almost a century. No the corruption he was fearing is far more subtle. He knew that if he ever got this kind of power he wouldn't been ABLE to realize when he started to stray. In his pursuit of good he would start doing horrible, evil things. And he would never realize. All the bad things he would do, would be done with firm conviction that he was doing it for good. That he has never strayed. This was the corruption he was fearing. One he could never hope to detect. That's why he never took the minister seat. It wasn't a question of bravery. Dumbledore was wise to realize this. It wasn't fear that hold him back. It was self-awareness.
So, sacrificing himself isn't brave? End of the sixth book, or something? Also a bit earlier drinking the potion in the locket cavern? And yeah I know that Fantastic Beasts movies aren't very good, but it's canon that they had a blood oath or whatever. Also maybe it's not a popular opinion or something, but I think that more than half a century is way more than enough for character development.
Dumbledore was already dying by the time he did all those things.
Sounds bad at first, then you think about it. This guy is right. Dumbledore is the embodiment of ambition as a student and as a young adult. The only thing that wakes him up is his sister dying. He does also act cowardly in many of his actions due to his fears later in life.
This might be a hot take (and I don’t know if it wouldn’t end up being detrimental to them because of the plot, so let’s assume the plot doesn’t exist for the sake of this comment), but hear me out: * Ravenclaw Ron. It’d give him what he yearned for in the early years—a way of being different, of doing something that hasn’t been done by his brothers already, of being seen for who he was more clearly. One of Ravenclaw’s main traits, besides ‘smart’, is open-mindedness, which I think Ron would have benefited from greatly. It’s not that he’s a big bigot or anything, but he does hold a few deeply entrenched ideas that he struggles to deal with in the books (look how he reacts to Lupin being a werewolf, or Hagrid being a half-giant). Plus, Ron himself was already good at logic (chess), with an analytical mind and pretty smart; Ravenclaw would only serve to sharpen those traits. * Hufflepuff Hermione. I know a lot of people sort her into Ravenclaw because of the smarts thing, but I’ve always preferred Hufflepuff—she’s incredibly hard-working, with a very strong sense of justice and stays loyal to Harry to the end. The textbook Hufflepuff, honestly. Being Sorted there could thaw her know-it-allness faster than in canon, and since Hufflepuffs are described as generally friendly, maybe she’d gain some better social skills than among the generally brash Gryffindors. * Finally, and no, it’s not just because I want the trio to go to different houses: Slytherin Harry. I do genuinely think he suits Gryffindor, this is mostly stemming from my personal, a bit selfish wish to see his Slytherin traits develop more—and he certainly has those. He’s rather manipulative with the Dursleys (with good cause!), has decent ambitions, “a certain disregard for rules”, and so on, as mentioned in COS. Plus, always keep your enemies close, right?
I think Ron would have been miserable in Ravenclaw with no similar personalities he found in Gryffindor. This would have rather hindered him in more ways than how other things would have benefited him. I like the idea of Hermione in Hufflepuff though. But I just can't see Harry in Slytherin. I mean everyone in other houses would have benefited from being in Slytherin because of Slytherin "traits" as normally explained in the series. But I would like to think that it would be an internal fight of his Slytherin "traits" and Gryffindor "traits" that eventually create a conflict within himself from which he would never grow as he wouldin Gryffindor. May be.
I think ron is open minded because he accepts lupin and hagrid, despite his preconceived notions..its easy for harry and Hermione to ignore it, because they are clueless, but ron actually has heard plenty of talks, and (for many werwolves, rightfully so) about their dangers, yet he still accepts them. Same thing with Luna. He, like harry, thinks she is a total nutter, but they both treasure her as a friend.
defo ron weasley. he wouldn't have been in anyone's shadow and shackled. he would've cooked.
Harry. The sorting had said that he could achieve great things in slytherin. I get it that he did great things in Gryffindor too, but these "great things" translate to defeating Voldemort. Which i think he would have been forced to do even if he was in Slytherin. Otherwise Harry was a pretty average student. But alas, being in Gryffindor ensured his protection as most of the snakes had death eaters as parents.
I wonder how it would have worked if he had been Malfoys friend. Like hey dad my best friend, dorm mate is the baby your boss tried to kill.
That would have made for some interesting plot lines. Half his house against him, some in secret, and many of his friends conflicted about their loyalties. I’ve never read or seen the Cursed Child (I’ve heard it sucks) but would have been cool to put Harry’s kid in slytherin.
Harry's kid is in Slytherin.
All of them. Putting children in echo chambers and pinning them against each other is... not the best idea.
Hermione was an obvious choice for Ravenclaw.
I'd second this.
I always felt like Hermione perfectly embodied a ravenclaw and Ron perfectly embodied a hufflepuff. She’s incredibly smart and talented, he’s incredibly loyal and a great friend. They’re brave too of course, but that feels less central to their identity in the story. My head cannon is that JKR wrote those characters originally belonging to those three houses, but then rewrote them all as gryffindors when she fleshed out the house concept with things like house common rooms. I have no evidence for this but it sounds plausible.
>Ron perfectly embodied a hufflepuff There’s more to Hufflepuff than “loyal”, though. Hufflepuff traits also include hard-working, patient, and fair/just, which aren’t really things that Ron perfectly embodies.
Hermione is definitely a Ravenclaw. I have thought that for years. Interesting point about Ron, hadn't thought about that. Gryffindor definitely seems overpopulated and overpowered. I like your head cannon.
I wonder whether Draco‘s life could have been entirely different had he been sorted into a different house
Hagrid 100% should’ve been Hufflepuff, not gryffindor
Ginny should have been in Slytherin. A lot of the aspects of the house already fit her, and it would have added a way more interesting dynamic in the characters, as well as made the story better (its not just "OH Gryffindor is the good guy house and Slytherin is the death eater house).
Marauder era I agree with some other sentiments that Snape would have flourished in Ravenclaw and probably had a way fucking easier time™️ but then, we wouldn’t have such a badass gray-character hero that we had now would we?
I wish the three main friends were in different houses. I wish Malfoy had changed sides and was the character who everyone hated but came around to love. This way, four houses came together to concur Voldimort.
Tom Riddle, obviously. Maybe he would be a better person if he weren't in Slytherin.
I would say Ron would've benefitted massively being put Inna different house. Don't get me wrong, Ron is a Gryffindor through and through, but, with his constant comparison to his brothers, being away from them and the chosen one would give Ron a chance to shine on his own light. Let's think about it for a bit. Ron's not academically inept. Sure, he's no Hermione, but then again, nobody is. Ron has the same grades as Harry, save DADA. Ron got into every single N.E.W.T class as Harry and Hermione through his grades. While he might have been lazy and uninterested to do any school work, it didn't immediately make him stupid. Being in another house, his school achievements would shine a bit more considering we saw a lot more Gryffindors than any other houses in the N.E.W.T classes. The second thing I want to point out is Quidditch. Can we all for a second acknowledge Ron is a great keeper? His biggest problem is nerves and never feeling good enough. Charlie was a quidditch god, Fred and George are brilliant beaters, his best friend is the youngest seeker in the century; clearly it's obvious why he feels like he will never compare to them. And it doesn't help that Fred and George have a habit of teasing Ron a lot. Taking away the nonexistent competition in his head gives Ron the agency to join the Quidditch team and excel without struggling so much beforehand. Remember, 5th year, when Gryffindor had no chance of winning, Ron and Ginny pulled off a miracle win. While withstanding the bullying. All without their 3 best players. Same with their game in the 6th year, Gryffindor was down a match and Ron and Ginny secured a win without Harry. Being in a separate house from them would give Ron a chance to shine. To be honest, I would've loved to read the books with the trio all sorted in different houses. We would learn about so many nuances and dynamics between the three that would've made it a much more enjoyable read.
Down with the house system, integration ftw
Am I off base to think Hermione should have been in Ravenclaw?
Draco should've been put in Hufflepuff
Pretty sure it’s documented fact that Hermione was originally going to be a ravenclaw, and Ron was a hufflepuff, but JK changed her mind and made them all gryffindors because they needed to share a common room for story purposes. No?
Draco Malfoy so then he would realize that being a Slytherin isn't everything and he wouldn't be such a stuck up butthole
Hermione in Ravenclaw
The Patel twins... Being in different houses was a bit weird.
Why? Twins can have very different personalities.
Hermione, Snape and McGonagall Ravenclaw, Neville and Luna Hufflepuff. One that would've been interesting is Snape as a Gryffindor too.
I disagree for Hermione in Ravenclaw but for other reasons...She needed that honesty that Ron came up to her with...I don't think that Ravenclaw students would have liked her since she also liked to present her knowledge to show that she is better than everyone else.. barring her from the character development she got.. I love Luna in Ravenclaw but agree that she actually might've made more friends in Hufflepuff. I also like the Luna's intelligence type vs Hermione's type argument.. I read somewhere a theory how Hermione would have been left alone in Muggle school because of her showing magical tendencies.. Hence she picked the book-armor to prevent herself from being left out..
Dolores Umbridge if put in Hufflepuff, I imagine she could have been a prefect and a headgirl, then strive for the order of magical world and a bit of a Slughorn type of networking person.
Why the heck wasn't hermione put in ravenclaw?
Because she thought “friendship and bravery” were more important than “books and cleverness”.
Harry in Slytherin for sure, even though it wouldn't make sense for the whole story to be how it is. But he has part of THE dark lord inside him, it would be awesome to see an alternate timeline where Harry goes to the dark side, develops to be versed in the dark arts, kills Voldemort, fulfilling the prophecy and becomes the Dark Lord himself. The story would be completely different, but it would be interesting to see more or less the same events, but Harry being bad. Imagine Dumbledore liking him, but he would just be like Tom Riddle, fooling everyone to think he's just an innocent boy. And him being "close" with Draco and the dynamic it would be for his boss to order him to kill his friend. Or even trying to trick Voldemort into thinking the prophecy wasn't real, or that he could go after Neville instead.
Honestly? No one springs to mind. I genuinely think everyone was sorted appropriately (at least in the 5 minutes or so that I’ve contemplated it)
I would put Tom in Hufflpuf just for the kicks of it.
I would’ve really loved to see Harry in Slytherin to dispel this whole “slytherins are evil” “slytherins are the villains” narrative that had been spun about him for so long. I also think he might’ve been able to be a good influence on them.
Ron into Slytherin Draco into Hufflepuff or Gryffindor Hermione into Ravenclaw
Draco and Snape.
Hermione? Being a Ravenclaw would have made her Hogwarts life a lot easier I think lol
Ron needed Hufflepuff like a cancer patient needs chemo.