…prince or potter! I’m not sure if it’s a residual effect from all the fuss about the royal wedding or the fact that I’ve just re-read the last Harry Potter book in preparation of the movie coming out in July, but I’ve been in a british sort of mood lately. my chances of marrying royalty are about the same as the probability of my going to hogwarts; nevertheless, I’ve been inserting myself into the magical world of HP and imagining what kind of character I would be if I were in it.
if I were to be sorted into a house at hogwarts, I think I would go to hufflepuff. because I don’t actually have access to a singing sorting hat, I did the next best thing and took a quiz to determine the answer.
“gryffindor values courage, bravery, loyalty, nerve and chivalry.” well isn’t that quite the description? since I’m not a fairy tale prince and my name isn’t harry potter, hermione granger or ron weasley, I am just not all that. I like to think that I’m fearless (there are so many taylor swift references in my life!) but the truth is that there are many times when I am the biggest scaredy cat on the face of the planet. I scored 11 points for this house on this quiz, but I think those questions probably had more to do with loyalty than courage.
“ravenclaw values intelligence, creativity, learning, and wit.” this is pretty much the opposite of me. although I like to think I’m witty, really I just speak ”fei wah” all the time. and any sort of puzzle with numbers or strategy makes my head hurt, so I would hate having to solve a riddle every time I wanted to get into my dorm. I think the 12 points I scored on this is an overestimate.
“slytherin house values ambition, cunning, leadership, resourcefulness, and most of all, pure wizard blood.” one of the things I loved most at UH was developing deep relationships with people from all different cultures and backgrounds, so I would have a really hard time purposely only interacting with one group of people, and clearly some members of this house took things too far when they started to treat people differently because of where they’re from, which I am not okay with. I only scored 6 points, which is the lowest total I got.
“Hufflepuff values hard work, tolerance, loyalty, and fair play.” this is one I can actually see. I am fiercely loyal – really to a fault. I’ve spent countless hours cheering for the same sports teams and athletes my whole life, I follow TV shows and books and bands for years and when I commit to something I do it with all of my heart. (the faulty part is that I tend to either commit to things 100% or not at all. I’m tend to think/act in extremes – there’s not much of a middle ground with me. I’m working on it.)
recently when a couple friends and I were flipping through the “strengths finder” book, which lists various different qualities that people are gifted with, one of them told me that she thought I characterized ”consistency,” which I took as a really high compliement. in the book, “consistency” is described as being “keenly aware of the need to treat people the same, no matter what their station in life, so you do not want to see the scales tipped too far in any one person’s favor” and a desire to ensure that “each person has an even chance to show his or her worth.” seeing the world and its people as Jesus would, with love and grace and compassion, is something I hope I get closer to doing every day.
I’m not a huge fan of the badger mascot or the black and yellow combination, but I could work with black and gold quidditch robes. plus, cedric diggory was one of my favorite characters in the books. and although the hufflepuff bedrooms are in the basement, they’re also near the kitchen, which pretty much makes up for the fact that I wouldn’t get to sleep in one of the castle towers.
also, I definitely know what my patronus (which is a magical spell that takes the form of an animal and acts to remind you of what you love and makes you happy in life – it’s used against these things called dementors that suck happiness and light out of you) would be. I asked this question out loud in a group once, and someone immediately said, ”a hello kitty,” which is pretty much the perfect answer. expecto patronum!
even if you read all this and don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, you should take the quiz and tell me what you got!
