House characteristics

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 150682

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > <snip>
> > (Mr. Gryffindor had "chivalry" added to his request for the brave
> > students, and Ms. Ravenclaw had "wit" added to her request for
> > intelligence.)

> a_svirn:
> I think the Hat uses *wit* and *intelligence* as synonyms.

Betsy Hp:
Okay, then Ms. Ravenclaw had "learning" added to her request for 
intelligence. <g>  My point being is that she's quoted as wanting 
one specific thing and the Sorting Hat shapes and refines it a bit 
over the years.  As it does with all the Houses.

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > We already know that Slytherin house is not made up of those with
> > purest blood, and we know that Hufflepuff is not a catch-all.  So
> > I think the Sorting Hat has been shifting the houses'
> > characteristics a tad as the years have gone by.

> a_svirn:
> Then why all that harping about pure blood in its song? Or does it
> shifts characteristics on a whim from year to year? Applies less
> rigid standards every other year and then goes back to the most
> stringent of principles?

Betsy Hp:
One song talked about pure-blood and Slytherin, and that was the 
song where the Sorting Hat spoke of the actual founders and their 
personal belief system at that time.  The Hat *did not* state, in 
that song, what it looked for in the students.  Instead it made a 
plea for the Houses to stop their enmity and unite.

The two songs where the Hat *does* spell out what it looks for in 
students for each house, purity of blood is never mentioned.  
Slytherin House does not have a history of being connected to blood 
purity, members of Slytherin are not all of pure blood, and not all 
pure bloods are in Slytherin.  

So, at least per the Sorting Hat, Slytherin isn't all about blood, 
despite Mr. Slytherin's initial wishes.  Just as Hufflepuff actually 
has characteristics it looks for in its students, despite Ms. 
Hufflepuff's original wishes.
 
> >>a_svirn:
> That'll be a rare example of transfiguration indeed! But then,     
> maybe he'll transfer to Gryffindor...

Betsy Hp:
One house being the "good" house and another house being the "bad" 
house goes completely against the Sorting Hat's plea of unity.  It 
also smacks of small-minded bigotry and fear of "other".  Not the 
way I see the story going, myself.

Betsy Hp