hogwarts houses
i feel like in the fandom, there’s a lot of discord about the houses. slytherin is either the worst or better than everyone, and same goes with gryffindor. hufflepuff is a bunch of morons with hardly any magic, who don’t deserve the time of day, who deserve to be ridiculed. ravenclaws are too smart, too nerdy, and are hardly talked about at all.
that’s dumb. that’s immature. not everything is black and white, and it takes a lot away from the story when it’s viewed in that way.
slytherin is the house of the cunning, the ambitious, where “you’ll make your real friends” (the sorting hats song). none of those things are bad. obviously, they can lead to being immoral or manipulative. i see a lot of fan fictions that play into that, maybe a bit too much, where the bullying is written off as “getting revenge” and spinning a narrative where slytherins are the oppressed, so much more so than muggleborns. a lot of these have the dangerous idea that blood purists are right about muggles and muggleborns, but that’s a separate argument. BUT, slytherins aren’t inherently evil; no one is. being in slytherin doesn’t make them evil. they’re not some sort of overpowered group, they’re all children. maybe they’re harder to read, but i highly doubt most of them can just push away emotions. i don’t think all of them are so cynical. i think they’re careful, they use what’s given to them, maybe they want to learn because knowledge is power. maybe they form connections, but i don’t think it’s them not having any real friends. i think the ambition they have isn’t always just used for their gain, but for the greater good too. they realize that losing a battle doesn’t mean losing the war, that sometimes, you have to surrender for survival.
gryffindor is the house of the “brave at heart” (the sorting hats song), chivalrous, the daring and people with a lot of nerve. that can lead to being brash, bullheaded, not knowing when to stop. but it’s also important to be able to face your fears. i don’t think they’re all dumb, or brash, or rude. i think they’re willing to stand up for people, even if they don’t like them. they might put others first. they aren’t fearless, but they can understand that overcoming fear is very powerful. sometimes, they can’t get over their fears. sometimes, their fears are hard to face, and maybe they don’t always face them. that is not shameful. i think that it’s a work in progress, and that’s brave too. maybe they’re rude sometimes, maybe they’re more of a small picture person. they aren’t exactly always loyal, but they stand up for what they personally believe in, whether it’s actually right or not. they want to protect not only the people they care about, but innocent people as well.
hufflepuff is the house of the “just and loyal” (the sorting hats song), the patient and the “unafraid of toil” (the sorting hats song). they’re described as hard-working. they believe in fairness, even if it hurts them. they aren’t exactly rule followers, but they have strong moral codes. i don’t think that makes them weak. i don’t think they’re leftovers, or stupid. loyalty can be dangerous, and it might cause them to not question the person they’re loyal to, or to speak up against something that rubs them the wrong way. but i also think they’re fierce protectors of the people they’re loyal to. they have good work ethics, they understand why rules might be put in place. they’re kids, so they’re not going to be without their own biases and prejudices, but they’re going to try to be fair. they might not stand in front of someone they’re loyal to, or pull strings from the sidelines, but they sure as hell will be a shoulder to cry on.
ravenclaw is the house of the wise, of the people who love to learn, the witty, “those with a ready mind” (the sorting hats song). this could lead to being snobbish, or believing they’re always right. however, i don’t think they always have their nose in a book. learning can be hands on, and i think they probably run a lot of experiments, whether social or scientific, or some sort of magical experiment. i think they’re less likely to buy into something that erases knowledge, not because knowledge is power, but because knowledge is valuable. i don’t think they’re always on top of their studies, i think they get sidetracked with their own interests. i think they stay up too late infodumping about one of their passions. i think some might be good at checking sources, and others not believing that something doesn’t have a bit of truth. they have friends, people who they care about and will stand by, but i think they also need to be able to talk about the things that keep them going, whether it be algebra or art, muggle or magical, addition or rocket science. they can be sarcastic, they have a weird amount of knowledge about obscure subjects. some of it is completely useless, like maybe they’re learning a dead language for no reason other than why not? maybe they’re mature for their age. maybe they’re hopeless at school, but have high emotional intelligence, or street smarts. learning and knowledge isn’t just limited to school or things you can learn through a book. sometimes knowledge is gained through experience, and i don’t think ravenclaws discredit that.
i think with well rounded characters, the world of harry potter is more interesting. i think motivations of each character is important. i think it would be dumb to ignore it, from a story telling perspective. i’m not sure how much this ramble made sense, but i would love to see a fic where these houses lived up to what they could be, where the people in those houses were diverse, who had flaws and tried their best to be the best person they could be, whether they go about it in the right way or not. it makes characters interesting and engaging, relatable, it makes them feel real. i’m so sick of hearing the same takes. give me people who contradict a part of what their house stands for, give me people who take their values too seriously and accidentally make it one of their faults. give me people who have traits of other houses too, because we are all spectrums.