Opposite of Gryffindor? - Nature of Sorting

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 125493


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "vmonte" <vmonte at y...> wrote:
> 
> Arynn Octavia wrote:
> 
> I am extremely loyal, ... I'm no Hufflepuff
> 
> I am brave ... I'm no Gryffindor.
> 
> I am intellegent and studious. I am a Ravenclaw.
> 
> I am ambitious ... I am a Slytherin.
> 
> So where would I go?
 

> vmonte responds:
> ... the most important key to sorting I believe is where you think
> you should be. After all, isn't it our choices that make us who we 
> are?"  
> 
> Also ask yourself these questions: 
> What is important to you?  Who are your role models? ...
> 
> ...edited...
> 
> Vivian

bboyminn:

Well, we can all speculate about how the Sorting Hat works, and I
guess short of a detailed explanation from JKR, your guess is as good
as mine. However, my guess is not the same as your.

I have to believe that the Sorting Hat looks beyond superficial
things. I think it looks deep inside a person and sees what is at
their very core, their very essense, their true potential. It sees
things far beyond what anyone can know or understand about themselves
at the tender age of 11, and make decisions on deeper criteria than
personal preference, parental wishes, family history, or your deepest
most secret 11-year-old ambitions to be either a superhero or drive an
ice cream truck (...still undecided).

How else can you explain Neville being a Gryffindor? 

Neville is as Hufflepuff as they come, and most likely that is how he
saw himself before, during, and after the Sorting. So, his opinion of
himself and his view of his place in the world certainly couldn't have
influenced the Sorting Hat. I have vision of Neville and the Sorting
Hat arguing over Gryffindor, the Hat being /for/, and Neville being
/against/.

How else can you explain Hermione being a Gryffindor?

Hermione is about as /Ravenclaw/ as they come, and certainly given her
attitudes towards 'book learn'n' and academics, I'm sure that's where
she felt she belonged (felt she /belonged/, not wanted to be). Yes, I
am aware that Hermione herself said she thought Gryffindor was the
best, but that's weighed and measured in the mind of an overly
ambitious 11 year old. I'm guessing her 11-year-old desire for
Gryffindor was based on the fame and reputation of its members. So,
her desire is a desire based on status, a desire to be grouped with
the people she thought were best, but I don't think the Sorting Hat
gives you a house because you think it is the /best/ house. So, we
need to make a distinction between where she wanted to be and where
she thought she belonged. 

So, the Sorting Hat sees your true inner potential, and saw
unmanifested courage in both Neville and Hermione. But one could
assume that the Hat also saw unmanifested courage in Peter Pettigrew.
So what's up with that??

Well, the key isn't potential, it's /unmanifested/. I once knew
someone who was a member of Mensa, a society of geniuses. She pointed
out that raw intelligence, or potential, was no guarantee of success.
One of the members with an extremely high I.Q. spend his life
collecting comic books, and working as a dishwasher in a local bar. 

The obvious point is, of course, that potential isn't always realized
or fulfilled. You can have the raw courage that places you in
Gryffindor, but that doesn't mean you will be able to summon that
courage when the time comes. In Peter Pettigrew's case, his
insecurities and fears prevented him from accessing his courageous
potential. In addition, in some ways, Peter does have courage. We fall
into the belief that grand sounding words like 'courage' always
manifest themselves in good ways. 

But as Phineas Nigellus pointed out, Slytherins have plenty of
courage, but in the thick of things, Slytherins will courageously save
themselve and their own, rather than jump in and selflessly save
others. In this illustration, it is not the presents or absents of
courage, but the quality of character and selflessness that are the
determining factors. So the presents of courage doesn't alway manifest
itself in couragious (read - heroic) ways.

In summary, having the inner potential that gets you sorted into a
particular house doesn't guarantee that that potential will be
realized in positive and/or productive ways.

On one last tangental point, I can't bring myself to believe that
Slytherins are universally evil, or if evil is too strong a word, then
universally bad. Ambitious people have a valid place in life.
Ambitious people have courage, the courage to take the risks necessary
to do great things. They also have the intellect to figure out how to
accomplich great things, and the principle of hard work necessary to
make those great things happen. 

They can be ruthless because they are single minded and driven to
achieve their goals. You do not step beyond the crowd and achieve
stunning success by politely yielding to every person you meet along
the way. Sometimes you have to force the world around you into the
direction is must go if success is to be realized.  Sometimes when the
crowd of mundane around you is blocking your way, you simply have to
push your way through the crowd. Those people who strive to greatness
and success are almost univerally preceive by the people they leave
behind as being a -- (rhymes with witch and starts with 'B'). But
being a b-b-b-(w)itch doesn't make you evil.

Just one man's opinion.

Steve/bboyminn