Good and bad expression of house traits (Was Nice vs. Good)

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 153024

Renee:

> I really hope you're not putting mediocrity in the 
> same compartment as nastiness and moral cowardice. 
> The vast majority of people in this world is mediocre 
> (or outstanding would cease to be outstanding).

houyhnhnm:

I am, when it is a choice.  No one is consigned to mediocrity. Just
look at Neville.  But maybe I should have found another word.  It has
a pejorative connotation in American usage (well, I guess it would
wouldn't it, in a culture that places so much strss on
individualism?), especially when applied to education. One which
doesn't match the dictionary definition now that I've finally looked
it up.

What I was thinking was that niceness (since that was the topic) would
probably be a Hufflepuffian virtue, along with fair play,
cooperativeness, and a willingness to set aside personal ambition for
the common good.  So what would the corresponding bad trait of
Hufflepuff be?  Maybe a tendency to abdicate responsibility for
thinking for oneself, to go along with the herd at all costs, not to
try to be the best what-you-are, whether or not you can be
outstanding.  That's what I meant by mediocrity.

Gryffindor has its high and low expressions--courage on the one hand,
impulsivity on the other, with numerous examples in the books. 
Harry's courage, along with that of Ron and Hermione, saves lives. 
The Marauders put lives in danger with their recklessness.  All are
motivated by a love of daring, but in the case of the former, the love
of daring serves a higher purpose, while in the latter its purpose is
only for amusement.

The bad expression of Slytherin we are well aware of.  Ruthless
ambition, clannishness, selfishness.  I would like to see an
exposition of the good expression of Slytherin traits sometime before
ther series ends, and Slughorn ain't it, as far as I am concerned.  If
the good side of the Slytherin principle is the will to transform, to
make one's desires manifest, then it could be said that without it,
there would be no magic.

Just as without Ravenclaw, there would be no theory of magic.  What
would the bad expression of Ravenclaw be?  Maybe a tendency to retreat
into the Ivory Tower and to feel no responsibility for the other houses.

I have been trying to make the traits of the four houses as I see them
conform to the characteristics of the four elements, but I can't quite
do it.  While Slytherins do display characteristics of the water signs
to a great extent, and Gryffindors those of Aries and Leo (I'm not so
sure about Sagittarius), water is supposed to be the element
associated with emotion, but I see Slytherin and Ravenclaw as the
houses of the head--Will and Intellect, respectively.  While
Gryffindor and Hufflepuff appear to me to be the houses of the
heart--Gryffindor representing the ties that bind individuals to each
other, and Hufflepuff the ties that bind communities.