Social Correlates of Hogwarts Houses

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 174954

Okay, let's try taking the energetic debate about Hogwarts Houses in
another direction.  We have had discussion about whether certain
houses line up with certain racial and ethnic stereotypes.  I'd like
to explore the idea of whether the houses line up with social groups.  I'm not saying they necessarily do, I just think it's an idea worth exploring.  After all, it works relatively well with Tolkien and his races, so lets try it with JKR and her Houses.

GRYFFINDOR:  The heros, of course.  These are brave soldiers and
police and fire fighters.  Also, however, I would guess, crusading
journalists and honest bureaucrats and noble lawyers.  These are the
people on whom society ultimately relies for leadership and, indeed,
salvation in times of great danger.  These are the people to look for
in DADA and when you are recruiting for the Aurors, and also the ones
that dominate in dangerous, flashy practices like transfiguration.
They can be stubborn, like Ron.  They can be mistaken, like Seamus.
They can fall from grace, like Pettigrew.  They can be deceptive in
appearance and manner, like Neville.  But when the great darkness is
abroad, they are the ones to whom you must turn.

HUFFLEPUFF:  These are the ordinary folks of any and all varieties --
the secretaries and clerks and factory workers and farmers and small
businessmen and schoolteachers.  They are stolid and a little dull,
and sometimes can be stupid and easily fooled.  They tend to go in for the dirty, grubby things like Herbology, or the non-glamorous fields like Muggle Studies.  They have their bullies and cowards like
Zacharias Smith.  They can occasionally produce a surprising, if
slightly shallow, prodigy like Cedric Diggory.  Overall, they are
loyal, hardworking, and kind, if not particularly bright or
accomplished.  They tend to get along very well with the heros, and
when the darkness is abroad, a large number of them will pick up their weapons and get down in the trenches.

RAVENCLAW:  The artists and intellectuals.  These folks are
intelligent and can be loyal, kind, and witty, like Flitwick.  They do have a tendency to confuse intelligence with wisdom, and deep in their hearts many would like to stay in their tower and enjoy the splendid view while events play out below.  Too often they can be shallow and histrionic, like Cho, or selfish and weak, like Marietta.  But they can also be brave like Michael Corner or display flashes of great insight, like Luna.  These folks revel in subjects like Ancient Runes or Arithmancy.  When push comes to shove, many will abandon their tower and join the heros and the ordinary guys in the trenches.

SLYTHERIN:  The politicians and power-brokers, slick media barons,
avid government drones, CEOs, and old families.  These folks are
selfish and arrogant, ultimately concerned with their own advancement
and the maintenance of their wealth, power, and the class privileges
that allow them to view everyone else with scorn.  Mostly they will
leave others to fight darkness, and of all the groups they are the
ones who provide the dark with most of its soldiers and leaders.
Their subjects are the Dark Arts, per se, and also Potions with its
overtones of poison.  Some will end up aiding the light, but usually
for supremely personal reasons, like Snape, out of fear like Slughorn, or out of cowardice and calculation, like the Malfoys.  They are an inevitable part of any society, embodying the morally sordid, hypocritical, and ignoble aspect of the human condition that comes from a fallen world.


Lupinlore