Houses

There is an entire generation that can, by and large, define their personality by which house they belong to.

Of course, not everybody of my generation has read the Harry Potter books, but they are nevertheless a sort of cultural touchstone. Most pop-culture savvy millennials are at least familiar with terms like Hogwarts and Muggle, even if they haven't actually consumed any of the media in the Harry Potter franchise.

So, understandably, which of the four Hogwarts houses an individual belongs to has become something of a point of speculation for some. There are hundreds of quizzes online that attempt to solve this question, but the definitive quiz by and large seems to be the Sorting Hat quiz on Pottermore, a site moderated by JK Rowling herself.

July 31^st was Harry Potter's 35^th birthday, so the series has been on my mind recently. Earlier today I got into a conversation with some friends about which of the four Hogwarts Houses we all saw ourselves as, and several of us took (or retook) the Pottermore Sorting Hat quiz. Some of us were surprised by the results. Some of us noted that they had changed from earlier results on the same quiz. Some of us recalled relating to one house in particular when we first began to read the books, and then having our views change overtime. That makes sense, we agreed. Personalities change over time. In the decade it took for the books to be written, all of the readers evolved as individuals. What house they most resonated with as an early reader might well be completely at odds with what house they resonated with by the time the series had culminated.

Then one of us pointed out that, at Hogwarts, the same thing happens. Over the seven years a student is expected to attend Hogwarts, a lot can change. But they are permanently assigned to a house that best fit the personalities of their eleven-year-old self. Granted, this brought up several interesting considerations---for instance, Neville displays few traits of the typical Gryffindor for the majority of the series, but in the end proves himself capable of wielding the sword of Godric Gryffindor himself. Does the Sorting Hat know who a student will end up becoming? What are the greater implications of that?

Think back to your eleven-year-old selves. Who were you then? Who are you now? Do you still hold the same fundamental values? Are your principle worldviews still the same? Do you interact with people the same way?

And when it comes right down to it, how important is the Sorting Hat? How strong of an influence does a student's house have on them? After all, Hagrid asserts that "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin," though this is clearly untrue since Peter Pettigrew, who betrays his best friends for Voldemort (though ultimately sacrifices himself in a final act of redemption) was a Gryffindor, and the inverse certainly isn't true since there were countless Slytherins who never “went bad” and countless more who redeemed themselves. So, while being sorted into a particular house comes with certain stigmas and expectations, it is not enough to shape who you are or who you will become. Yet, it serves as a convenient way for Hogwarts students to label themselves and others. It becomes a part of their identity, both internally and externally, and influences both how they are viewed and how they are treated.

At eleven, human brains are still far from being fully developed. It seems absurd that so integral a part of a young witch or wizard's identity would rest on a choice made at so young an age.

Admittedly, that choice is being made by a sentient hat, so this may just have to be one of those times where logic takes a back seat to magic, and that's perfectly alright.

What house are you? Is this different from what you used to see yourself as? Tell us in the comments below!