marauders: most likely to be sorted in ravenclaw
when asked this question, most people would say ‘lupin’ in a heartbeat. but i think its james, and its mostly because of this headcanon (i came up with this myself so correct me if im not accurate in my facts / details).
james potter was not a jock as a little kid, was not obsessed with quidditch like everybody else. he wasn’t a nerd either, not the kind you read about- the kind that sits inside and reads all day, always has their hands up in class
he started out with fascination & curiosity, of the constellations, of the spells he saw his parents do
imagine six-year-old james trying to use his toy wand to unlock the door for hours, but it doesn’t work
“alohomara? alo- alohimara? almora?”
as he grows up, he’s not the typical nerd you might see in your classes, but he is fascinated by magic & its origins in a way that most kids of his age didn’t seem to be, not taking it for granted.
he makes friends who tell him that “at hogwarts, the only thing that really matters is quidditch, so he should get his head of a book and onto a broom” - so he keeps his fascinations and geekiness to himself
by the time he gets on his first hogwarts express, he is convinced that gryffindor is the best house, doesn’t even consider ravenclaw as a possibility - but the sorting hat does. we all know the drill: please be gryffindor please be gryffindor please be gryffindor
he is amazed by how big of a role choice plays in the sorting ceremony, was never told that he could plead for a house - and tells himself that he will tell his children like he wasn’t told, before their first hogwarts express
the first few weeks, he goes to the quidditch pitch to read- no one will see him, and besides, it was empty most of the time. the quidditch teams hadn’t even formed yet
but one day, he’s carrying his book to the pitch and it’s tryouts and oh how could he have missed the notice in the common room
he heard marlene and sarah giggling about some boy who was reading in the common room the other day, the gryffindor common room
and in order to make sure they don’t find out that a gryffindor has spent his free time reading, he pretends he is there for the quidditch, borrows a broom & starts flying
its easier than he expected, and there’s a thrill that comes every time he jolts his broom upwards. a rush of adrenaline he doesn’t ever want to lose
maybe it was a mistake that he had come across that pitch and missed the notice in the common room, but those boys were right- he should have gotten on a broom sooner. but in between all of the quidditch tryouts, he did his homework, writing an extra foot of parchment for an essay, or practicing spells in the common room after dark. in some subjects, he was a good student, but only in the subjects he cared about, the subjects he was fascinated by as a kid.
and as james potter grew older, he went back into the ways of his childhood. as he came across this group of friends who he knew would last for life, he became truly comfortable with being himself and not having to worry about not being a true gryffindor.
as he grew older, he revealed more of his identity- but he wasn’t just the dork he used to be, he was this combination of the fake identity he tried to display in his childhood and the person he truly was, at heart.
i honestly have no idea what happened to this idk if im even talking about james anymore SORRY FOR WASTING UR TIME GOOD NIGHT
(mine)
