jayeless | What Hogwarts house would I be in?

Recently, I've been reading the first Harry Potter book in Spanish. This year will be the tenth since I started learning Spanish, and as I'm sure many of you would know, learning a language isn't something you ever finish doing, it's just that the activities you do to work at it change. For me, I've long been at a plateau of about B2 level (slightly stronger with written communication, and weaker with spoken). My understanding is that this is more or less where you'll finish up if you're not going to move to a country where your target language is spoken, or if you can't use it extensively with loved ones or close friends or whatnot… but still, that's no reason why I can't aspire to gradually improve from where I am.

So, enthused by the new year, I've been doing two things: practising my listening comprehension with Spanish podcasts and TV shows on Netflix (La casa de papel is ♥), and slowly working my way through Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal (via Readlang, which lets me click on any unfamiliar word to get an instant translation and builds me flashcard decks out of them, with good SRS algorithms – I'm no advertiser but this site is great).

At the moment I've just read the part where Harry and Ron finally befriend Hermione (and also, ¡TROL EN LA MAZMORRA!). Nonetheless, it's also obviously the book where Harry and co. get sorted into their houses. As I was reminded today, pretty much EVERYONE who's grown up on these books has tried to work out where they'd fit, and since this journal is a bit new I figured I might as well post about it as a form of "get to know you" post.

I do think that there are some relevant things to keep in mind when trying to assign Hogwarts houses. For example: should you place yourself in the house with the traits you most exemplify, or the traits you most value, or a little bit of both? As well, obviously in the books people get Sorted at the age of 11, but I'm definitely not 11 any more (and, highly likely, neither are you reading this). So should I categorise myself based on what I'm like or value most now, or what I did when I was 11?

I think you could put an argument together that I belonged in any of the houses, except Slytherin. And not because I think Slytherins are inherently evil or anything (although it must be admitted they had a lot of people in their ranks who were prepared to back Voldemort). It's more that the traits that Slytherins are supposed to have – ambition, cunning – don't fit me at all. I've always been extremely unambitious, possibly to my own detriment: never really wanted to stand out, never thought I deserved honours or glory, never wanted to pursue a "prestigious" career like law or medicine because honestly those jobs never sounded interesting and I'm not interested in prestige.

Now, the other houses. The one I usually get on quizzes, and the one that's probably the most obvious choice, is Ravenclaw. I've always been bookish, was always "the wiz kid", excelled academically, etc.. My sense of humour has always been the dry wit kind (with a great appreciation for the absurd). It's also true that the pursuit of knowledge is something I've always found personally compelling, and probably even more so when I actually was 11. I feel like I know just enough to know I don't know much at all in basically every field… and the more I learn, the more stuff I realise exists that I don't know about. That's not to say I'm some wishy-washy person who can't make up their mind on anything: I have lots of opinions (strong ones!), but I try to speak with the appropriate level of nuance and I think it's important to be open to correcting myself if I later learn I was wrong. So anyway, I don't think you could go too wrong with placing me in Ravenclaw.

Gryffindor is the house I get on quizzes if I didn't get Ravenclaw. I do have a strong social conscience (and am a socialist!), and I certainly value the bravery required to see through a radical, progressive campaign in the face of fierce opposition and repression. Now whether I exemplify those values, that is another thing. I went to a ton of protests in my uni days, and even got my arm twisted by a cop on a picket line once, but like… depending on where you draw the line between brave and foolish, other people would certainly be more strident figures than I ever was. I also stopped going to things in the end, which was more because I was frustrated by how horrific places like Manus and Nauru were and yet every demo would be attended by the exact same 100 people on the far left and every time we leafletted we'd get people laughing and treating us like lepers… but eh. Maybe I should have persisted. Maybe a true Gryffindor would have! So overall, I feel more like I'm a Ravenclaw who can be stirred into action in the right climate, than somebody who'd be spearheading the movement.

Finally, Hufflepuff. This one has snuck up on me, and certainly when I was an 11-year-old it wouldn't have fit me well. As I've got older, I've probably gained a better appreciation for things like community, and harmony (when appropriate – I'm not about to let some racist spout bullshit at me). I'd say it's important to me to feel liked, and thus to treat people with kindness (but again, not to the point that I take bullshit where I don't have to). Hufflepuffs are also said to value loyalty (although tbh, Gryffindors at least also do) and hard work (which… I guess… if there's a damn good reason for it). I'd doubt that I'm a full-fledged Hufflepuff, but I identify with some of the traits.

Typing this up reminded me a bit of this system of categorising gamers: diamonds, spades, hearts, clubs. Trying to match them up, I'd say that Ravenclaws are spades (they dig for information), Hufflepuffs are hearts (they treasure the community), and Gryffindors and Slytherins are probably both diamonds in different ways (they want the glory for making big achievements). Some Slytherins, clearly, also embody the club player type (i.e. the griefers), although I don't think that's a core part of the house – the pursuit of power is, though, and intimidation would be a tactic used by some to get there.

If you've read all this, please feel free to tell me your own house! Or, also, if you think I've mischaracterised any of the houses (I know people have discussed them a ton over the past 20 years, and I've missed almost all of it). Or, really, if you just have anything to contribute. I don't bite, and if I did, I'm pretty sure it'd be non-lethal.