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Comments

Re: Harry Potter AU discussion

[anonymous]

THIS.

I think Meryl and Charlie would be Ravenclaws! Mirai seems Gryffindorish to me. I'm not sure which house Jeremy would be in, though.

And in response to the house traits discussions, I'd like to discuss some fanon myths that have made their way into the previous HP AU thread. One of these myths has been bugging me for years, so excuse me while I get this off my chest.

Fanon Myth #1 - Slytherins are bitchy and/or badass rebels and Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs are goody-goodies!

LOL, no. True, most Slytherins in canon are jerks (which I do take a bit of an issue with), but "bitchiness" isn't listed amongst the qualifications the sorting hat is looking for. As for "badass rebels", canon Slytherins come off as very conservative and old-fashioned. Gryffindors are often the reckless ones who usually act before thinking.

As for goody-goodies, do Fred and George strike anyone as perfect little angels? What about the Marauders? Hell, even the trio was known to break the rules now and then. As for Hufflepuff, a lot of them got kind of bitchy towards Harry when he got chosen as the second Hogwarts champion in GoF (though I kind of understand why), and Zacharias Smith was pretty douchey.

I think this myth is why people are often so quick to identify as Slytherin. Most people who claim that house come off as Ravenclaw or Gryffindor to me.

Which brings me to the next myth:

Fanon Myth #2 - Ravenclaws are rational. I actually haven't come across this myth too much, but as someone mentioned in the original thread that Johnny wasn't rational enough for Ravenclaw, I thought it should be discussed. Ravenclaw is the house of rational people? Really? Has anyone subscribing to this theory gotten past Goblet of Fire? Because LUNA is a Ravenclaw, and the most prominent one in the series! Luna, the girl who has all kinds of whacked-out theories and believes some pretty irrational things. "Wit and learning" doesn't always equal intelligence, and intelligence doesn't always equal being rational for that matter. Many of the greatest geniuses were known for thinking outside of the box, and some could be pretty loopy.

Re: Harry Potter AU discussion

[anonymous]

Isn't Trelawney Ravenclaw as well?

Re: Harry Potter AU discussion

[anonymous]

I don't think her house was ever mentioned, IIRC.

Re: Harry Potter AU discussion

[anonymous]

I think another mistake people often make with Slytherins is that they automatically classify them as "evil" and "villains". (At least that's how it seems to me; I have a feeling that a lot of the debate over whether Johnny or Evan is the Slytherin of the two stems from the fact that the fans of neither want to see him in the ~evil~ house. Not trying to generalize everyone who's ever had this conversation, it's just something I've been thinking about for a while, that maybe the people putting Johnny in Slytherin are more Evan fans, and the other way around.) For me, the most distinctive characteristic of a Slytherin is the will to do anything to succeed; and yes, this canonically makes a lot of them ~evil~, but we have to remember that we only follow a few out of hundreds of kids throughout the books, and every story needs its villains. Slytherin =/= automatically evil. Pettigrew was a Gryffindor, remember? And anyway, on a purely pedagogical level I find it highly objective to put all the "possibly evil" kids into one house that has the reputation of being a house of "evil kids", but that's neither here nor there.

As the anon who mentioned Johnny not being rational enough for Ravenclaw - ah, shows I haven't reread the books in a while because I managed to completely disregard the fact that Luna is a Ravenclaw, eep. XD So thanks for correcting me on that one, haha; I knew that "rational" wasn't really a good word anyway, but then again, with Luna, the "too out there" argument doesn't stand either. Also, as someone who takes great interest in gifted kids, I feel like I've failed myself right there, ugh. In my defense, it was really late and English is not my first language XD. But I've thought about it some more and actually, yeah, Johnny has shown an affinity for learning (most notably with languages and cultures) that could put him right into Ravenclaw. Though I'd still sort Stéphane there before Johnny, IDK - I don't actually have a rationale behind this, just gut feeling. (And since you've mentioned Luna ... I have a feeling that if she and Stéphane met, they'd get on like a house of fire. XD)

... wow, sorry for the tl;dr XD

Re: Harry Potter AU discussion

[anonymous]

I agree that a lot of HP fans automatically think Slytherins are the bad guys and hence would be the house of their favorite's chief rival. But I've always felt bad for the Slytherins: imagine that you are an 11 year-old kid, and three quarters of the school assume that you'll go bad and join the Death Eaters simply because of what a singing hat said. That kind of ostracism from the start would screw up any child.

Re: Harry Potter AU discussion

[anonymous]

EXACTLY! I study social pedagogy, and this discussion has got me thinking about the sorting, and it's actually exactly the kind of thing we are told every day to avoid. If you constantly expect the worst of people, especially kids, they will eventually start acting that way, even if they maybe wouldn't have, otherwise. (This whole "sorting 11-year-olds into houses based on certain personality traits" is a bit of a pedagogical clusterfuck anyway, IMO, especially considering that everyone knows what the criteria for each house is.)

lololol sorry, I know that this is very "lol you're taking HP too seriously", but I actually have an exam tomorrow and if I talk about this, I can pretend that I'm actually doing something productive instead of just avoiding studying like a pro XDDD

Re: Harry Potter AU discussion

[anonymous]

I remember how awful kids can be to each other in middle and high school, and it must be ten times worse if you're constantly told--by the TEACHERS even--that they expect the worse of you. Though I'd love to go to Hogwarts, the House system really creates a toxic environment for a child.

(Heheh, I should totally be studying too. I'm at least two weeks behind schedule. But I was so emotionally invested in Draco and Snape back in the day, LOL.)

Re: Harry Potter AU discussion

[anonymous]

Yeah, I mean obviously you can't have them all in the same class and have to sort them somehow, but I think it'd be better to do it at random. I mean, these kids are eleven years old, their personality isn't even fully developed yet, and the Hat basically tells them "this is what you are like, and how the rest of the school will see you for the next seven years". NOT COOL.

(Haha, good to know I'm not the only one XD. And I wasn't ever particularly emotionally invested in any of the Slytherins, but I am very emotionally invested in the school system and all its mistakes in general, lolol.)

Re: Harry Potter AU discussion

[anonymous]

While I do think some of those who want Evan to be in Slytherin do it for the "bad guy" factor, I do think he would fit well in there, though Hufflepuff would be an equally good fit for him. And I think a lot of the people who'd put Johnny in Slytherin ARE Johnny fans. While younger HP fans tend to favor Gryffindor, cause that's where the heroes are at, Slytherin seems to be almost, if not just as popular with teen and adult fans- most of them view Slytherins as sexy badasses. The house is often subject to what TV Tropes calls the "Draco In Leather Pants" trope. That said, while the glorification of Slytherin in fandom bugs me, I'm not cool with Slytherin being "the evil house"- it bothers me the way "Gryffindor is the house of heroes", and "Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff might as well not exist" annoy me. And then there's the overzealous Slytherin fanatics who woobify Slytherin and turn Gryffindor into the evil villains. So, yeah, as fun as the house system can be, the implications in canon kind of make me uncomfortable.

I think Johnny definitely has Ravenclaw traits. I'd probably sort him into Gryffindor, but I could definitely see him in Ravenclaw.