Jeremy C Kester

Let’s get it straight out in the open: I am an American, so I know if this were a real scenario, I wouldn’t be going to Hogwarts anyway. I’d be going to Ilvermorny. That’s beside the point.

Back to the fictional world.

I love Harry Potter. My wife loves Harry Potter. My son loves Harry Potter. We love Harry Potter enough that both our cars have license plates (mine Expecto Petronum, my wife the Marauder’s Map). We play Hogwarts Battle a lot. We have HP PJ’s, shirts, posters, POP vinyls, and even this on our toilet:

We just finished reading book 4 to our son. But before we did that, we took the comprehensive test to see which house our son would fall into. Before I go into the test, I’ll give a little backstory.

When the house test was first out, I found it and took it. I was fairly certain where I would end up, and of course I did. I was sorted into Ravenclaw. Go me. Makes sense my penchant for writing and my desire for knowledge. Some other attributes didn’t fit as well, but that will come in later. Later, I revisited Pottermore and realized that I didn’t have a login any longer. (I forgot I signed up with an old email that I no longer carried and couldn’t even remember… so much for being a Ravenclaw with that spotty memory!) Logged in with a new email, I ended up having to take the test again.

Slytherin.

Also makes sense. I like power, being in charge. I also have a good dark streak in me. But I knew I was first sorted into Ravenclaw, so I just ignored it. I also knew that the questions were randomized, so based on that it was possible the questions I was levied were just the right questions where I leaned more towards the Slytherin house.

Then I heard about the full test.

Someone had taken all of the questions that are normally randomly selected on Pottermore and combined them all with the analysis to figure out the leanings to each house. This was the test my wife and I agreed to have our son take.

For added clarification:

I do argue with the choices JK Rowling made for some of the wizards. I mean, it worked in the story, OK. But Neville seemed more Hufflepuff and Hermoine ABSOLUTELY fits better as a Ravenclaw. But I am not the writer, meaning that my opinion isn’t worth [insert expletive here].

I cannot argue with her wanting to keep the plot moving forward. Particularly given a few of the plot scenarios: Slytherin and Gryffindor both having classes together for example. Neither character mentioned above would have joined Ron and Harry in class if that were the case. And both Neville and Hermoine did provide examples why they were well suited for the house they were placed… which further proves the points I am going to make in this article.

So my wife first took the test: Hufflepuff.

Then my son: Gryffindor (we thought he was a shoe-in for Hufflepuff, but heck.

I hesitated in taking the full test because I had already made my choice: I was a Ravenclaw. But I took it anyway.

Gryffindor.

REALLY?!

What do I believe? Which house do I choose now?

Based on 3 separate tests, I was placed into 3 separate houses. But I can only be in 1. Hmmmm…

My wife argues that since it was the comprehensive test, I should relent and accept Gryffindor. In many ways, I would agree. But I also disagree. Why? Well, a few of the questions I couldn’t decide between two or more answers, so I picked one at random. Based on this, there’s a strong possibility had I randomly picked some of the other answers that I would have come up with different houses.

Within the mythos of Hogwarts, the first example that comes to mind of someone being suited for multiple houses is Harry himself. I am not comparing myself to Harry. Rather, he is an illustration of my points. In Hogwarts, the sorting hat chooses. While we don’t know the internal dialogue of the hat, we can infer that when it takes a little while to choose, it is because it is having difficulty placing… meaning that said wizard is well suited in multiple houses. In Harry’s case, we know it was first Slytherin that the hat proposed. It was Gryffindor that was chosen in the end (with Harry insisting “not Slytherin”).

A further example of this is with the American school (I have not taken the exam for this one). Ilvermorny has a different method, almost like the judges of The Voice. The student in question stands in the center and the totems for each house turns if they want said student. Often, multiple houses will turn and then the student must choose between them. In a manner of speaking, I believe that this is where I have landed.

My choice? I am going to remain a Ravenclaw. That was after all where I believed I belonged. Even with my leanings towards the other two houses I tested into, I value the pursuit of knowledge above other values (most times).