Which House were James, Sirius, and Remus in?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 88750

> Taryn:
> I just don't see why MWPP being mean in OotP=Slytherin. The idea
that a Gryffindor couldn't be that nasty seems rather one-dimensional.
(All Gryffindors are wonderful and nice! If you're mean, that MUST
mean you're in Slytherin!) But maybe that's just me. *shrugs*

Carol:
I agree with you. I also think the advocates of MWPP being in
Slytherin are going out of their way to reject the two pieces of
canonical evidence we have: Harry's view of his father as a Gryffindor
quidditch player and JKR's answer to which position James played for
Gryffindor. Harry is often wrong, but there's no reason to assume that
he's wrong this time (he's seen photos of his parents, which probably
include photos of James in his quidditch robes), and JKR would have
corrected the person asking the question if James were not in
Gryffindor. We also know from interviews that Gryffindor is her
favorite house and that Lily was "in Gryffindor, naturally." I think
she would have given the same answer if asked about James.

We also have Lupin in POA wanting Gryffindor to win the quidditch cup
(and apologizing for favoring a particular house) and Sirius's
reference in OoP to the juvenile Snape as being part of "a gang of
Slytherins, almost all of whom became Death Eaters"--not the
way he would refer to members of his own house, IMO.

In addition, people keep referring to Sirius and James as being
"cunning and ambitious," but were they? They were both intelligent
(not the same thing as cunning, which implies craftiness and deceit),
but the only deceit they engaged in was becoming animagi to be with
Remus and sneaking around in the invisibility cloak--as Harry and Ron,
quintessential Gryffindors--also do. Nor are they ambitious. Sirius is
lazy and a bit spoiled (James caters to his whim to be entertained at
Severus's expense) and James is egotistical and rich. Neither of them
seems to take any thought for a future career, or for fame or glory or
whatever motivates the truly ambitious students (Snape's DADA exam
indicates a clear desire, to be somebody, to know as much as possible
about the Dark Arts and to be recognized for that knowledge; Percy
reads books about prefects who became famous. (Ambition is not
necessarily a bad thing though too much can be dangerous, as I'm
afraid Percy will demonstrate.) We see nothing of the sort with
Sirius and James. Yes, they are "arrogant little berks" and their
treatment of Snape in the Pensieve scene is inexcusable, as is
Sirius's attempt to lure Snape into an encounter with a werewolf, but
that has nothing to do with ambition. It's more like spite, which may
be a Slytherin trait but is not a primary one. Both boys are adamantly
opposed to the Dark Arts, which they (rightly or wrongly) associate
with Slytherin. I think the Sorting Hat put them in Gryffindor not
because they were good boys (they aren't) but because it saw their
chief trait as a reckless daring that it interpreted as courage and
therefore appropriate to Gryffindor.

Another thought--McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor House, is the only
professor to show up at 4 Privet Drive after she hears that the
Potters have been killed. (I don't know who the head of Slytherin was
at that time--certainly not Snape, who was only 22 and had only been a
teacher for about a month--but whoever it was did not show up with
McGonagall.) Her reaction when the rumor is confirmed shows a real
affection for Lily and James, which she probably would not have felt
had they not been in her own house. I very much doubt that she would
have shed tears over the death of a Slytherin, even one who died
fighting Voldemort, but she cries for James as well as Lily. 

Carol, who thinks that JKR likes Sirius and James and sees no reason
why she wouldn't have put them (along with Lily) in her favorite house