Opposite of Gryffindor? - Nature of Sorting

[Hannah]

No: HPFGUIDX 125557


Hannah originally:
> > Do you think GL was a Gryffindor, Magda?  I've always seen him 
as 
> > the stereotypical Slytherin.  Ambitious, unafraid to use 
whatever 
> > means necessary to get what he wants, cunning even if he's not 
> > clever (and Crabbe and Goyle are living proof that Slytherins
> > aren't necessarily clever).  I suppose Lockhart may have *asked* 
> > to be in Gryffindor because he perceived it as having a better 
> > image, which could explain him being placed there.
> 
>Magda replied:
> Yes I do.  I don't believe you can ascribe all the Good Things to 
one
> house and all the Not As Good Or Even Bad Things to the other 
three. 
> However flattering to Gryffindors the idea might be.
> 
> And I don't believe the Sorting Hat lets you ask where you want to
> go.  What would be the point of the Sorting Hat in the first place,
> then?

Hannah:  I don't know what the point would be, the whole system 
baffles me.  I don't believe that you can ascribe all bad things to 
one house either, and that's exactly what I go on to say in the rest 
of my original post.  I'm not saying that because Gilderoy Lockhart 
isn't a very nice character, he must have been in Slytherin, 
the 'house of evil.'  I'm saying that, in my opinion, Lockhart is 
the most stereotypical Slytherin - as the sorting hat describes 
them, anyway - of anyone we encounter.  More so than Draco Malfoy, 
even.  

Slytherins are ambitious and will use any means to achieve their 
ends.  That is how the Sorting hat describes them.  And that is the 
predominant feature of Lockhart.  He has a burning desire to be 
famous, and has no qualms about permanently disabling wizards who 
have done no wrong in order to achieve it.  Lockhart is not brave, 
not in the way that Gryffindors are seen as being brave, anyway.  

So if Lockhart was placed in Gryffindor - and I agree that there is 
supporting evidence for that theory - I would assume it was because 
he valued bravery very highly, or because he wanted to be in 
Gryffindor because it would suit his brave image.  There is also 
some evidence that the Sorting hat *does* let itself be influnenced 
by people's opinions.  'It is our choices...' and all that.  
According to DD, that is why the hat put Harry in Gryffindor.  It 
does seem to rather undermine the purpose of having a hat at all, 
but perhaps choice is just one element of the process.  And of 
course the Muggle-born students who know nothing about the houses 
might not have any idea where they want to go, so would need more 
conventional sorting.

I'm not saying that you don't have a valid argument that Lockhart 
could be a Gryffindor; I also think he may have been one.  I just 
think that it's strange, given that he *appears* to be a typical 
Slytherin.  And no, not because all Slytherins are bad.  Ugh.  This 
is just what I hate about the whole Sorting system.  As soon as we 
try to discuss it logically, inconsistencies appear.  

Hannah