‘You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you’ve a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You’ll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don’t be afraid!
And don’t get in a flap!
You’re in safe hands (though I have none)
For I’m a Thinking Cap’ – 1991 Sorting Hat song from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Harry Potter; the children’s book series that has enchanted both children and adults now for over a decade. I’m ashamed to admit that I’m only now reading the series and only watched the films fully for the first time last year, and was instantly hooked. As a child I’m ashamed to say I was disinterested, but now the more I hear about Rowling’s wizarding world the more enchanted I become by The Boy Who Lived. Luckily for Potter fans, the wizarding world did not meet his demise with ‘The Deathly Hallows’. Queen Rowling has graced those with access to the internet with Pottermore, the website about the books, and a film due out on November 18th of this year called ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’, starring the highly talented Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander. I, for one, cannot wait and wish November would hurry up already!
So after reading ‘The Order of the Phoenix’, in anticipation of the new film, I trawled for hours on the internet to answer the age old, essential question;
Am I a brave, courageous Gryffindor?
Am I a cunning, resourceful Slytherin?
A studious, determined Ravenclaw?
Or a loyal, friendly Hufflepuff?
I took many, many quizzes. (Because I like to be certain, of course!) I spent countless hours that could have been better spent revising for my A Level exams trying to find a definite answer to this question. Every single quiz I took told me the same thing: I am a Ravenclaw.
I was thrilled, jumping up and down like those bouncy balls I used to get at the dentist as a kid. I was raving about it, telling any poor soul who would listen about how I was a proud Ravenclaw. Yeah, I have a pretty tragic (AND AWESOME) existence.
That was until I took the all-important test: Pottermore. Which told me I was a Hufflepuff.
HUFFLEPUFF?!
I was initially rather irritated by this. I had metaphorically moved all of my belongings into the Ravenclaw common room and become best friends with Luna Lovegood, but no. I was in a dilemma; after all of these tests telling me I was a Ravenclaw, how could I change to Hufflepuff? I’m not exactly a fan of yellow and black as a colour scheme, either. After some extensive research of some of the traits commonly associated with being a Hufflepuff, however, I found myself to have been placed in just the right house for me. I’m still slightly dejected about the whole black and yellow thing (Because I’m a little uncertain about roaming the streets of Cardiff looking like a can of Strongbow) but nevertheless, I am where I belong. I also took the wand test; Walnut wood with a unicorn hair core 10” and supple flexibility. Being a bit of a Potter noob, I’m not quite sure what that means, but it sounds pretty cool!
But on a point of order in regards to the housing system, why can’t you be friendly AND studious? In the real world, people rarely conform into a single group of traits.
I recently read a fantastic article while researching my house that poses the theory of being a member of two different houses. (See here: http://geekgirlcon.com/harry-potter-sorting-slytherclaw-ravenpuff-gryfferin-oh-my/)
For example, being a Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. The theory mentioned that your primary house is the one that influences your thoughts and decisions, the things you value, whereas the secondary house is how you enact those behaviours. A Hufflepuff may be influenced by kindness, and the Ravenclaw aspect would enact the behaviour through planning and organisation. I am a natural born people pleaser, so naturally I like to go out of my way to make the people I love happy. I am extremely studious and love to learn, but organisation isn’t my strong suit unless it comes to something or someone I love. For example, right now I should be studying Geoffery Chaucer and the ‘good wif’ that ‘sat biside bath’. But what am I doing? Analysing the Hogwarts housing system, which is technically still fairly studious, but definitely not what I should be doing!
Many characters in the Potter universe could also have been considered for a different house. For example, Hermione Granger is essentially the textbook definition of the studious Ravenclaw. She’s top of the class for basically all of her lessons, and yet she was sorted into Gryffindor. Why? In as much as the first book she states that friendship is more important than books sometimes. Sometimes bravery is more important than passing an exam. Ah, Hermione; my spirit animal. (Speaking of animals, did I also mention that I took a quiz on what my animagus is and got an Otter? No? Well, moving swiftly on!)
And thus was born the ‘Huffleclaw’ or ‘Ravenpuff’, whatever floats your goat. Even Buzzfeed have mentioned this dual housing phenomenon, and Rowling has acknowledged the existence of the hybrid houses. The houses into which you are placed have such a huge influence on how you are viewed in the magical world, so why not show the diversity of a person’s personality by morphing two houses? Humans are diverse and complex creatures, though I understand the need to simplify. After all, saying ‘I’m a Hufflegrifferinclaw’ doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.
Here’s my other dilemma:
People change. Very rare is it that somebody’s personality remains unchanged, especially during the adolescent years, the years where a person is most likely to change. An 11 year old child fresh into comprehensive school (Or high school for you American readers out there!) may value ambition, but by the time he hits 18 may value kindness more. Our opinions can be changed depending on external and internal factors. So why not re-house the children every few years? Would changing personalities within a group cause problems or generate understanding for different kinds of people? Is it too insular to assume that a person’s values remain the same throughout their lives? I don’t really know. All I know is that I am a huge fan. I will be buying the merchandise and wearing the Hufflepuff banner with pride (Mainly because it’s hard to find Huffleclaw merch)
My final issue is that as much as a person’s house can lead to a form of identification for a person (Heck, I was willing to shout my house from the rooftops so what does that say?), it also has the potential to lead to stereotyping and maybe even bullying. There is a huge stigma in the wizarding world that all Slytherins are selfish and evil. Many characters don’t do a great deal to defend the opposite of this view, however but nonetheless it is one that exists. From the very beginning, the main trio, Harry, Ron and Hermione are suspicious of many of the Slytherins they come across simply because they are notoriously known to be villainous people (You can kinda see why, considering Satan disguised as a pink marshmallow belonged to the aforementioned house), but not every Slytherin is evil. Hufflepuffs are sometimes viewed as unintelligent or the dregs left over from the other four houses too. Is it possible that this housing system endorses stereotypes and potentially bullying? It’s possible. However, I will continue to call myself a Hufflepuff (Or Huffleclaw) and defend the house until the very end!
Will I remain loyal to my house?
Always.
So what do you think? What house do you belong to, or do you belong to two different houses? Leave me a comment on what you think of the Hogwarts housing system!
(Featured image via thealmightyguru.com)
Emma's E-Musings 