Hogwarts Houses

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Nishani Haripersadh

@Nishani

Inactive

Posted: 20 years ago

The Sorting

In the school's early days, students were handpicked by the founders. When they began to worry how students could be picked after the founders' deaths, Godric Gryffindor took his hat off and the four "put some brains" in it. Now, at the beginning of each school year, the magical Sorting Hat is placed on each new student's head, at a ceremony named the Sorting ceremony. The Sorting Hat announces the house that the student is bound to join. Before beginning the sorting, it sings a short ballad about the founding of the school and the four houses; the song is different every year, and the Hat is said to take all the year writing the next one.

The hat sorts by judging the qualities of the student and choosing the most appropriate house for him or her. The student's own preferences may affect the decision: The clearest example is the hat leaning towards putting Harry in Slytherin in the first book, but ultimately selecting Gryffindor after he asks it not to put him in Slytherin. Dumbledore later explains to Harry that this is how it should be, when one considers how the choices people make define them more than their abilities.

The hat does not just consider the student's most obvious strengths; it also sees the student's potential qualities, ones that may not have developed yet. "You could be great you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness," it says to Harry when it suggests Slytherin as the best house for his future. Similarly, Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom do not immediately jump out as prime examples of Gryffindor courage in the beginning of the series, but they have both gained a tremendous amount of courage and confidence as they have grown. Hermione is even asked point-blank in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix why the hat didn't put her in Ravenclaw despite her high intelligence. Her answer is that the hat "considered it, but decided on Gryffindor in the end."

House dynamics

The four houses are rather separate entities. Each has its own common room and dormitory, its own table at the Great Hall, and students mostly share lessons with classmates of their same house. There is no rule against students from different houses mingling, but in practice, a good majority of social interactions occur within the same house. Each house has one teacher who acts as its Head of House. Each house also has a house ghost. The function they serve (if any) is unknown, although they might be house mascots. Each Head of House and house ghost was previously a pupil within that house.

A great deal of rivalry exists between the houses, not always friendly, especially when Slytherin is involved. This rivalry is demonstrated in the Quidditch matches and the annual school competition for the House Cup which is determined by the amount of points earned or lost by each member of the rival houses. These points are awarded or taken based on students' conduct throughout the school year. All members of the faculty, prefects, and the Head Boy and Girl have the authority to grant and deduct points as they see fit in each instance. (See this FAQ on Rowling's site.) Some, like Severus Snape, the former Potions master, tend to favour their own house, but that does not seem to be against the rules. He is despised by many students, other than those in Slytherin, where he is very popular.

House rivalry is most seen between Slytherin and Gryffindor ("Gryffindor and Slytherin students loathed each other on principle"^[HP6]). This rivalry likely to goes back to the days of Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin after they founded Hogwarts, because the Sorting Hat said that they were the best of friends before they founded the school.^[HP5]

Usually, though not always, the other two houses support Gryffindor in its rivalry with Slytherin, which again is reminiscent of how Slytherin was in the end opposed by all three other Founders. One exception to this occurred when Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin all supported Hufflepuff's Cedric Diggory instead of Gryffindor's Harry Potter in the Triwizard Tournament.^[HP4]

The four houses

Gryffindor

Gryffindor values courage and chivalry. Its emblematic animal is the lion and its colours are red and gold. Minerva McGonagall is the most recent Head of House. Nearly Headless Nick is the house ghost.

As this is the house to which Harry Potter belongs, its private quarters are the only ones that have been described in any detail, and its members tend to get the most attention. These are located in one of the castle's towers, the entrance to which is located on the seventh floor and is guarded by a painting of a fat lady in pink. She permits entry only after being given the correct (regularly changing) password. Behind her is a large common room, with a fireplace, and two staircases leading up to the boys' and girls' dormitories.

According to J. K. Rowling, Gryffindor corresponds roughly to the element of fire, which may partly be the reason for its colours.

A few notable Gryffindors (for a complete list, see List of characters in the Harry Potter books):

The rest of the Weasley family

Slytherin

Slytherin values ambition and cunning. Its emblematic animal is the serpent and its colours are green and silver. The temporary Slytherin head is Horace Slughorn, a former head; previously it was Severus Snape. The Bloody Baron is the house ghost. According to J. K. Rowling, Slytherin corresponds roughly to the element of water. The Slytherin common room and dormitories are located underneath the Hogwarts lake, and are reached through a bare stone wall in the dungeons. The Slytherin common room is a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and round, greenish lamps hanging from the ceiling.

Contrary to the beliefs of his peers, Salazar Slytherin wanted a stricter policy of admittance—one limited to pureblood students. The controversy this created eventually led to Salazar leaving the school, leaving the Chamber of Secrets behind. A millennium later, the house's students are still considered affiliated with Salazar's views (though some half-bloods, most notably Tom Riddle and Snape, have been in Slytherin); sometimes undeservedly, sometimes not. Blood purity is certainly one of the things in Lord Voldemort's agenda. It is often mentioned in the novels (especially in PS and CoS) that most of the dark wizards were in Slytherin.

A few notable Slytherins (for a complete list, see List of characters in the Harry Potter books. Also see Minor Slytherins):

Rodolphus Lestrange

Ravenclaw

Ravenclaw values intelligence, knowledge, and wit. Its emblematic animal is the eagle, and its colours are blue and bronze (silver in the films). The Ravenclaw head is Filius Flitwick. The house ghost is the Grey Lady. According to J. K. Rowling, Ravenclaw corresponds roughly to the element of air. The Ravenclaw common room and dormitories are located in a tower on the west side of the school.

Ravenclaw seems to have been second-best preference (behind Gryffindor) for Hermione Granger.

A few notable Ravenclaws (for a complete list, see List of characters in the Harry Potter books. Also see Minor Ravenclaws):

Penelope Clearwater

Marietta Edgecombe

Luna Lovegood

Terry Boot

Hufflepuff

Hufflepuff is the most inclusive among the four houses, valuing hard work and patience, loyalty and friendship, and justice and fair play rather than a particular aptitude in its members. Its emblematic animal is the badger, and yellow and black are its colours. Professor Pomona Sprout is the head of Hufflepuff. The Fat Friar its ghost. According to J. K. Rowling, Hufflepuff corresponds roughly to the element of earth. The Hufflepuff common room and dormitories are located somewhere in the basement, near the castle's kitchens.

Perhaps as a consequence of the broad principles of acceptance upon which it is founded, Hufflepuff has been stereotyped as the house of the unexceptional (or, more unkindly, as "a lot o' duffers"). One of the few Hufflepuffs of note is Cedric Diggory, who brought his house rare glory as its Quidditch captain and Seeker, and later as Hogwarts' champion in the Triwizard Tournament in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Hannah Abbott

Ernie Macmillan

Zacharias Smith

Pomona Sprout

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