a character's character & house

[Katze]

No: HPFGUIDX 33854

m.bockermann at t-online.de wrote:

> Still, I am convinced she *could* have been in Slytherin, like Harry. I
> know, DD said that Harry "could speak parselmouth because Voldemort" could.
> But I cannot accept (unless proven wrong by JKR) that Harrys "Slytherin
> traits" are simply the result of being rubbed off on Harry. That is a nice
> and easy explanation I would give a twelve year old, too. But I suspect that
> there is a lot that DD hasnt told Harry yet, because he is too young (see
> HP1). In HP2 DD tells Harry that it is "our choices as much as our abilities
> that make us who we are". That has a double meaning, this line. It means
> that Harry is a Gryffindor by choice, but, as the hat has emphazised several
> times, Harry "would have fared well in Slytherin". And saying that Harry got
> his Slytherin abilities because of Voldemorts attack explains neither why he
> survived (certainly other parents would have sacrificed themselves), nor why
> Voldemort attacked him in the first place (Voldemort intended to kill Harry
> but his mother would not have needed to die - says Voldemort).

I've been pondering this. Yes, Harry does have qualities that Slytherin
admired: Parseltongue, resourcefulness, determination, and a reckless
disregard for rules. Hrmmm...doesn't this also sound like James,
excluding the Parseltongue?  

So while, I think D tells Harry that he has Slytherin traits, I don't
believe that they necessary come directly from Voldemort. I think the
qualities of a person that causes them to be put into a house are the
qualities that the person is choosing to emphasize. I think that if we
look at all the characters, they will have some of the qualities of each
house. 

Take for instance, our favorite person Snape. Why Snape? Because he's
probably one of the most developed older characters that we know (right
now D is just good...we have no idea what kind of wrath will come when
he's angry).

Snape is cunning, and conniving, and will do anything to achieve his
means. He is also brave and has a lot of nerve (both Gryffindor
qualities) to leave the DE's and go against Voldemort, knowing what
Voldemort might do to him. He's got a ready mind, and has some wit, both
Ravenclaw qualities. If Cleverness, as some believe, are Ravenclaw
qualities, then he has that too. He appears to be loyal to Dumbledore,
right now at least, which is a Hufflepuff trait. Another Hufflepuff
trait is "just". He's very much interested in people being rewarded or
punished for good or bad deeds (and will do almost anything to find the
trouble makers - doing anything would be a Slytherin trait). 

Hermione has *strong* Ravenclaw qualities, but she was put in
Gryffindor. I think this is because she's got to have to nerve to toodle
around with H & R, as well as have bravery to follow Harry to the stone
in SS/PS. She is also very loyal to D and Harry, and she too is much
like Snape (though slightly tempered) in being just. She is also
resourceful and determined which, according to D, are traits that
Slytherin admired.

Fred and George, I think, would also have done well in Slytherin.
Ohmygawd! Did I just say that? Yes. They are resourceful, determined,
and have an extreme disregard for Rules. I think they can be quite
cunning too, but not willing to kill anyone to meet their means (they
didn't have a problem blowing up Dudley's tongue with their toffee
though). They are also very clever (developing all sorts of good for
their shop), like Ravenclaw, and are very loyal to their family
(Hufflepuff).

Ron is probably the most Gryffindor type person that I see. He is very
brave, and has lots of nerve. He is also loyal like Hufflepuff. He's got
the celverness/strategy that I associate with Ravenclaw (the chess
game). And he has also has a disregard for Rules (Something that Snape
*hates* which is strange since Snape is a Slytherin).

Anyway...my point is simply that if we look hard enough, all of our
characters will have traits of each house. I think the sorting hat
assesses the qualities of each house in the person, and then looks deep
in their mind to see what kind of choices the person has made, and
that's what causes a house to be chosen.

-Katze