Wherefore Gryffindor? (was: On Behalf of Lavender and Parvati)

[cynthiaanncoe at home.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 27039

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., blpurdom at y... wrote:

> I'm glad you mentioned that, because I have been unable to justify 
in 
> my mind the reason for many of the other Gryffindors to BE 
> Gryffindors.  We've had the Neville apologists (and I'm one of 
> them ;) ) explaining why Neville should be a Gryffindor, and 
there's 
> still, evidently, an ongoing debate about why Hermione is not in 
> Ravenclaw (I think she's where she belongs), but I could not recall 
> something that supported Lavender or Parvati being in Gryffindor 
> until you mentioned the Blast-Ended Skrewts.  (Which is still 
> somewhat tenuous, IMHO.)
> 
> Other Gryffindors seem even less likely: Lee Jordan, Seamus 
Finnigan, 
> Dean Thomas.  

> Are there any Lee (who I think is hysterical, BTW), Seamus or Dean 
> apologists out there?  Why should they be Gryffindors?  Is there an 
> even more complelling reason than the Skrewts for Lavender and 
> Parvati being Gryffindors?  A reason for the Gryffindor Chasers to 
be 
> in this house, other than being Chasers?  And then there's the 
> Creevey brothers!  I'm willing to give most of them the benefit of 
> the doubt if they aren't in Harry's year, because we don't see as 
> much of them. But the others in Harry's year...Okay, convince me...
> 


Well, I don't know if I want to vie for the title of "apologist," 
<bg> but perhaps we are setting the bar a little too high here.  I 
don't think that the fact that a student is slotted in Gryffindor 
necessarily means that they are destined to be heroes.  It may just 
mean they have some of these tendencies, IMHO.

Indeed, why even phrase the question this way?  Why not ask, "Have 
any of the Gryffindors exhibited traits that definitively show that 
they should NOT have been placed in Gryffindor?"  That question is 
pretty easy to answer -- no, I think.  

Also, I'm not willing to dismiss Lavender and Pavarti's interest in 
Divination as evidence that they are flaky or frivolous.  Who knows 
what things Trelawney is telling them or teaching them during their 
little meetings?  Trelawney did see Sirius in the crystal ball, so 
she earned a tablespoon of respect from me.  Besides, Harry, Ron and 
Hermione spend a lot of time with Hagrid, but that is not viewed as 
frivolous.

Anyway, I will grudgingly accept the role of Seamus apologist, 
because I think he will be a Big Deal because the Sorting Hat took a 
while to figure him out.  Perhaps a Big Deal in a Pettigrew sort of 
way.

Also (and I know I'm rambling now), I expect that one of the 
Gryffindors will pull a Pettigrew in later books and betray Harry.  
Does anyone have a good candidate in mind?

Cindy (who thinks that characters with catchy names like Sirius 
Black, Remus Lupin and Lavender Brown are destined for greatness)