Wizarding Houses

Harry Potter has been an important part of my life. Though some people may think it odd for a fictional world to have such an impact on my real life, it is something that is very important to me. I am a proud Hufflepuff and as a Hufflepuff, there are quite a lot of people who look down on that house, the house with the leftovers, the scaredy cats, and the pot heads. I personally resent those descriptions, because I think those are ridiculous generalizations. I think anyone who actually believes that about people put in the Hufflepuff house are people who have never read the books and don’t fully understand all the differences between the houses.

There are four Hogwarts houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. They all have different generalizations that may or may not be true about them, so lets break it down.

Gryffindor

“You might belong in Gryffindor, Where dwell the brave at heart. Their daring nerve and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart.” For those who don’t know too much about Harry Potter, they all seem to want to be in Gryffindor, that is the house that everyone knows. Though they are know for their bravery and have the least amount of dark wizards, they are also rash and tend to not think things through. Harry is a prime example of that. This is a house that has many great wizards attached to it’s name. Side note: My big brother is a Gryffindor.

–Godric Gryffindor, the namesake, brave and bold, a very accomplished dueler.

–Albus Dumbledore, many consider him one of the greatest wizards of our time, defeated Gellert Grindelwald, discovered the twelve uses of dragons blood, and worked with Nicolas Flamel on his work in Alchemy.

I would also like you to keep in mind another wizard that came from this house, Peter Pettigrew. If you remember correctly, he was not a particularly brave individual, but one who was bold enough to betray his friends for the comfort of someone, in his eyes, more powerful.

Slytherin

“Or perhaps in Slytherin You’ll make your real friends, Those cunning folks use any means to achieve their ends.” Slytherin is the “evil” house. A very general description, that is incredibly inaccurate. Yes, they have turned out more dark wizards than any other house. But that is not the only thing that defines them. They are cunning, ambitious, and incredibly resourceful. They tend to put themselves first because they want to better themselves. For some reason, Slytherins tend to be good at potions, that may be a generalization, but both heads of houses in the books have been potion masters, I find that interesting. Side note: One of my sisters is Slytherin.

— Salazar Slytherin, the namesake, cunning, ambitious, believed that purebloods were more worthy, was a known parseltongue.

— Merlin, that’s right, that Merlin, the Merlin even muggles know about. The most famous wizard in history and has an award named after him, Order of Merlin.

— Horace Slughorn, potions master, head of the house of Slytherin, not particularly ambitious for himself, but loved to surround himself with those who could make his life better.

–Tom Riddle, of course, Lord Voldemort, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, descendant of Salazar Slytherin, Parseltongue, unlocked the chamber of secrets when he was still in school, found a way to cheat death, not a great guy, but super ambitious.

So yes, Slytherin has some evil men and women in the house, but they are not all that way. Being ambitious and cunning does not make you evil.

Ravenclaw

“Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, If you’ve a ready mind, Where those of wit and learning, Will always find their kind.” The easiest generalization, here are the nerds. The people who are incredibly smart. Most people assume its just book smarts, but that isn’t always the case. Thinking things through, not rushing, having a witty remark ready, all things that come easy to a Ravenclaw. Side Note: My other sister and one of my best friends are in Ravenclaw, both of them are smart but in completely different ways.

— Rowena Ravenclaw, the namesake, known for her intelligence and her creativity.

— Luna Lovegood, my all-time favorite character, my cat is named after her, known for her quirks and thinking outside of the box.

–Garrick Ollivander, know to most as the finest wand maker in the world.

–Filius Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw house, master of charms, and used to be a renowned dueling champion.

Also, member of Ravenclaw house Gilderoy Lockhart. Though incredibly smart, very vain. Instead of making good of his own smarts, he stole other wizards stories and made them forget all about it, making himself appear better than he actually was.

Hufflepuff

“You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal, Those patient Hufflepuff are true And unafraid of toil.” Always considered the leftovers or scaredy cats. Just reading this quote should tell you that isn’t true. They are loyal, patient, and says right there, unafraid. They are actually the house with the second most people who stayed behind to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts, behind the brave house of Gryffindor.

–Helga Hufflepuff, the namesake, caring and loved hard workers. “Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest, And taught them all she knew.” In my head, Hufflepuff was the definition of a good teacher, she didn’t have these insane expectations right off the bat. The kids didn’t have to be a certain way for her to teach them, she just wanted people willing to work hard and learn, everything else didn’t matter.

–Bridget Wenlock, known for her skill in arithmancy, she discovered the magical significance of the number seven.

— Newt Scamander, one of my favorite characters, Magizoologist, author of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a book still on the Hogwarts school list.

–Nymphadora Tonks, clumsy, metamorphmagus, and auror.

There is of course Cedric Diggory, the brave and loyal boy who died the night Voldemort came back. Good, kind, and again, brave, he was one of the winners of the Triwizard Tournament.

The Hogwarts houses are all different, but that doesn’t make one better than the other. You have to remember the book is written in the perspective of a Gryffindor student, so there are obvious biases to the Gryffindor house. As a person who comes from a family who has a sibling in every house, it is possible to get along with people who value different qualities above others. I feel like I must again say, I am aware these books and movies are a work of fiction, but I feel a strong connection to them, and I know I am not the only once who feels this way.