All the Harry Potter house traits explained
Warner Bros./Wizarding WorldPack your things and head for Hogwarts, here are the Harry Potter house traits explained.
Have you ever filled in a ‘What Harry Potter house would I be in quiz’? You’re not alone, and for good reason: there’s more than meets the eye with the best Harry Potter houses.
The sorting hat‘s observations in the first Harry Potter movie, and the story’s Slytherin versus Gryffindor trend, led many to think house traits are cut and dry, but that’s untrue.
Gryffindors can be slithery, and Slytherins can be heroes. So, let’s cast a clarification spell over the Harry Potter houses.
Harry Potter house traits explained
Contents:
Gryffindor house traits
The Gryffindor house traits in Harry Potter include being brave, valiant, and adventurous.
Wizarding WorldIt makes sense that Harry, Hermoine, and Ron were sorted into Gryffindor because while they have unique personalities, they all are determined and bold.
Gryffindors make good protagonists, and if you search through fantasy fiction, you’ll find many main characters from movies, books, and comics that possess Gryffindor traits.
That doesn’t mean they’re automatically good, though. While Gryffindor house values bravery, courage, and chivalry, their potential for impulsivity leads some of them to be bullies, reckless, and self-important.
For example, Peter Pettigrew, who sold out Lily and James Potter to Voldemort, was a Gryffindor.
Slytherin house traits
The Slytherin house traits in Harry Potter are ambition, resourcefulness, resolve, and cunning.
Wizarding WorldWhile Ravenclaw is often touted as the ‘smart house’, Slytherin characters rely on cleverness, too. Except, intellect found in Slytherins tends to lean towards leadership qualities and being mentally crafty.
Slytherin are often ambitious, which leads many of them to seek out positions of authority. This also creates problems, though, as it can lead them down a dark, power-hungry path.
Slytherin is a proud house, with members often possessing a sturdy ego and plenty of confidence.
The smartest Slytherins work best in the shadows, manipulating things behind the curtains. The least successful let their arrogance take the wheel or don’t have the smarts to make their other traits work for them.
Their ambitious drive can also lead to unhealthy peer dynamics, like in the movies when Draco leads a band of classmates who hang off his every word and take commands from him.
Not all Slytherins are evil: Snape, while certainly not an ethical person, wasn’t devoid of empathy.
Horace Slughorn is another notable Harry Potter character who assisted Harry in the fight against Voldemort when it counted.
Ravenclaw house traits
Ravenclaw house traits are learning, wisdom, wit, and intellect, making them the most studious.
Wizarding WorldRavenclaw is much more than just the most academic house — while many are motivated students, they also pride themselves on originality and creativity.
Ravenclaws love methodology, and figuring out the inner workings of things. While they tend to be more introverted and perhaps not the most social of the houses, they are often incredibly intuitive and make useful allies.
Their heady attitude towards life doesn’t mean they’re all boring, though; Ravenclaw also sees significance in being free-spirited, just ask the eccentric Luna Lovegood.
Their house traits are easily admirable, but intelligence without compassion can create monsters.
‘Evil’ Ravenclaws historically have put the pursuit of knowledge or bettering themselves over empathy for others.
Many of the most infamous Slytherins have some Ravenclaw tendencies, and vice versa.
Professor Quirrell is an example of Ravenclaw gone wrong. In the first film, he poses as a Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher.
While he seemed cowardly and harmless on the surface, he was quietly helping Voldemort return.
Hufflepuff house traits
Hufflepuff house traits are a strong sense of fairness, loyalty, patience, and hard work.
Wizarding WorldHufflepuffs are most associated with goodness and kindness, often to a fault.
Like Gryffindor, a lot of people assume all Hufflepuffs are moral because of that.
It makes sense, as Hufflepuffs are generally a warm bunch — inclusive, friendly, and caring.
They also embody selflessness, often driven to act by justice and working best in teams.
They’ve been painted as useless by other houses, though, as they can sometimes be too forgiving or naive.
Interestingly, there are no examples of villainous Hufflepuffs in the movies.
Instead, their mistakes stem from a lack of apparent drive or failure to recognize wickedness in others. Their beliefs can make them appear short-sighted.
That doesn’t mean they’re incapable of immorality. Think about great characters who did terrible things to help someone vulnerable (The Last of Us’ Joel Miller preventing a cure from being made), or who believe the ends justify the means (Thanos ‘saving’ the universe by killing half of its inhabitants in the MCU).
Those are the Harry Potter houses explained, but it’s crucial to remember that they are generalizations and that no personality or aptitude quiz can neatly square away a complicated character.
Now that we’ve sorted that out… find out how to watch the Harry Potter movies, everything we know about the Harry Potter TV series, or why did Snape kill Dumbledore.