The Four Houses - Gryffindor

So, I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and concede that I will not manage to review Philosopher's Stone chapter-by-chapter by the end of the month. I will try, instead, to focus on over-arching themes for the remainder of the book, so there will be some skipping around between chapters.

On that note, let's have a look at the very best school of witchcraft there is.

The Four Houses

We have finally made it to Hogwarts and there is, again, so much new information to take in. We meet Professor McGonagall again as she explains to the first years about the start of term banquet and the sorting ceremony.

We are told that Hogwarts has four houses - Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin - and that the students' house will be something like their family within the school. Achievements in class will earn them points and any rule-breaking will cost them points. At the end of the academic year, whichever house has the most points will win the House Cup, a great honor indeed.

The Hogwarts crest (source)

The sorting ceremony consists of each student trying on the Sorting Hat, which decides which house they are best suited for. So, what character traits are important for each house?

Gryffindor

Looking at the crest, the emblem of Gryffindor is a lion, an animal that is often used to symbolize royalty and bravery (source). 

Gryffindor House crest (source)

Before sorting students into their individual houses, the Sorting Hat very helpfully gives a bit of an introduction to the history of the school, and the houses themselves. Here is what it had to say about Gryffindor House: 

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

Bravery - it seems - is the most important personality trait for any Gryffindor. Eight students that we know of are sorted into this house during this ceremony: 

Lavender Brown, Seamus Finnigan, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Parvati Patil, Harry Potter, Dean Thomas and Ronald Weasley.

Sticking to the confines of this book, four of the above named characters play a major role - Hermione, Neville, Harry and Ron.

Harry is, undoubtedly, a brave young boy, whose bravery, however, can sometimes be written off as being fool-hardy.We see him, for example, jump onto a broomstick without any training and face off against Draco Malfoy to retrieve Neville's Remembrall (Chapter 9), fight a troll with Ron in order to save Hermione (Chapter 10) and race to save the Philosopher's Stone from Snape's Quirrell's evil clutches (Chapters 16 and 17). Harry's unwavering courage in the face of danger, and indeed death, will become even more apparent as the series continues.

But what about the rest? Until the end of this book, I wouldn't have said that Hermione is particularly brave. The way she is portrayed would have immediately made me think of Ravenclaw (see following blog post for their character traits). Indeed, new information from Pottermore confirms that the Sorting Hat could not decide between these two houses and spent nearly four minutes making its choice.

On a similar note - Percy Weasley. I honestly cannot think of a single brave thing he does, until Book 7. As a general rule I don't like Percy, so perhaps I'm missing something, but he strikes me as being MUCH better suited for Ravenclaw.

Ron also doesn't exhibit signs of true bravery until later on in the book, when he sacrifices himself during a brutal game of wizards' chess (Chapter 16). I would say he is daring, as exhibited by him quickly accepting the challenge of a wizard's duel on Harry's behalf (Chapter 9).

And poor old Neville. Nothing about him is brave, from the moment we meet him on the train platform bemoaning the loss of his toad to his grandmother. He is picked on by his fellow classmates, as well as Snape, and is generally inept and miserable. 

Which brings me to my main conundrum - does the Sorting Hat base its decision on the lives the students have lead up until now or can it also somehow foresee their future? Those of us that have read the whole series know that Neville turns out to be an incredibly brave person, but what was it about him in this moment that convinced the Sorting Hat that he belonged in Gryffindor?

We know, from having 'heard' Harry's conversation with the Hat in Chapter 7, that it can be swayed - Harry desperately doesn't want to be placed in Slytherin, despite the Hat's assertion that he would do well there. Incidentally, a similar conversation took place between the Hat and Neville, who (according to Pottermore) would have preferred to be placed in Hufflepuff.

Speaking of Hufflepuff (in-depth post to follow), the true mark of their house is their loyalty, which is interesting, because I would say that the one quality all four of our main Gryffindors exhibit throughout this story is a fierce loyalty to each other. As soon as Harry meets Ron on the train to Hogwarts, he is loyal to him and stands up for him when Malfoy is being snide about his family.

Other Gryffindors of note in this book - Lee Jordan, the Weasley twins, Dumbledore, McGonagall (Head of House), Hagrid, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson and Nearly Headless Nick (House ghost).

Until next time,
Lucia