Peter the Rat

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 167969

Bart:

> One of the themes of the HP novels is determinism vs. free choice, 
with the apparent moral of, "If you don't exercise your ability to 
choose, someone else will do the choosing for you." The Sorting Hat 
wanted to put Harry with the snakeys, but he chose the lions, and 
the Hat honored his choice.

Magpie:
Just have to point out, that Hat did *not* want to put Harry in 
Slytherin. The Hat never said that. It simply responded to 
Harry's "Not Slytherin!" by saying that he would do well there. I 
wouldn't be surprised if it would have said the same thing if Harry 
had sat down and said, "Not Hufflepuff!" Harry could have done well 
in Slytherin--that doesn't make him a Slytherin who forced himself 
into Gryffindor and is making himself into one. Harry does have 
Slytherin moments, but he's never seemed a poor fit for Gryffindor 
to me (especially not back in first year)!

That said, along with the fact that Peter could certainly have 
picked up bad habits in Gryffindor as well as out of it (Sirius' 
accusation about Peter looking for the biggest bully is ironic once 
you know James really was the biggest bully on the playground), it's 
always made sense to me that characters who seem to struggle most 
with their house trait are nevertheless in that house, because I 
assume it's more about something central to what they value. Neville 
is timid, but that just makes him more brave when he's brave, and it 
also shows that he's got issues concerning courage that form the 
basis for his personality more so than a kid who's maybe easily 
frightened but thinks he's being smart about that. 

I've also always thought of Lockhart as a Gryffindor for much the 
same reason. He aspires to be courageous even if he lies to fit the 
image.

-m