“I’ll Eat Myself If You Can Find a Smarter Hat than Me”
Oh you may not think me pretty,
But don’t judge on what you see,
I’ll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I’m the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There’s nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can’t see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you’ve a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You’ll make your real friends,
Those cunning folks use any means
To achieve their ends.So put me on! Don’t be afraid!
And don’t get in a flap!
You’re in safe hands (though I have none)
For I’m a Thinking Cap!
As you can probably tell, I have a lot of Harry Potter feelings. Recently, I discovered someone ranting on a blog (how ironic, I know) about how J.K. Rowling’s Sorting Hat and the houses of Hogwarts reinforce various high-school stereotypes. Gryffindor- The popular kids, the jocks, the it-crowd; Slytherin- The punks, the bad-boys; Ravenclaw- The nerds; and Hufflepuff- the quiet kids. So I’m going to do a little ranting on my blog about how that’s not necessarily true.
While I do agree that on the surface there seems to be a lot of stereotypical issues with the idea of the sorting hat, I think that J.K. Rowling’s characterizations say far more about personality than House Pride ever could.
Not a single character, except Lord Voldemort, perhaps, can be categorized as entirely good or entirely evil. Certainly, all the characters have shades of gray and at least one tragic flaw. For Ron it was his jealousy. For Hermione it was her know-it-all tendencies. For Harry, it was being the hero.
The thing is, not all Gryffindors are brave. Peter Pettigrew, for example, sold his best friend out to the Dark Lord, blamed another best friend for the crime, and spent 12 years living as a rat. So no, not all Gryffindors are brave.
Not all Slytherins are bad. Severus Snape spent his last years trying to protect the only living piece left of the love of his life. He did this even though Harry bore the exact same resemblance to the man that tormented him every day of his teenage years. Snape played double agent with the two most powerful wizards of the time and he did it in the name of good. So no, not all Slytherins are bad.
Not all Ravenclaws are intelligent. Did you know that Gilderoy Lockhart was a Ravenclaw? He stole all of the good deeds that other people did, modified their memories, and passed the deeds off as his own. That’s not exactly the brightest thing to do, don’t you think? So no, not all Ravenclaws are smart.
Not all Hufflepuffs are pushovers. Cedric Diggory was a Hogwarts Champion. He made it past a dragon. Saved Cho from the Merpeople. And died at the hands of the Dark Lord. Not a single thing he accomplished in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire can be classified as cowardly. So no, not all Hufflepuffs are pushovers.
I’ve only provided one example for each house, but there are many more- Hermione Could have been a Ravenclaw. Draco, though making a lot of bad choices along the way, ended up turning out alright. That’s the point, though- not a single character has qualities that only represent one house.
That’s the thing- the houses represent one defining quality- but human beings are much more than one defining quality. They’re a bunch of little qualities, all sewn together with either good or bad intentions. And while there are certain stereotypes within the Hogwarts Houses, it’s not accurate to judge a character based on their association with that house. Rather, it is their choices that show who they truly are, far more than the house colors that they wear. It is not the house that counts, but what qualities of that house, or other houses, are exercised when it really counts.
Katie Bennett Writes 
I was nodding along until I saw Hermione’s know-it-all tendencies labeled as a tragic flaw. It’s sending me back in time to college applications (“What is your one weakness?” “Why, I’m a perfectionist.”) and job applications (“Tell me about some flaw you’re working to improve on?” “Why, I get really involved in the work I do, and I try too hard.“)
In-your-face intelligence as a tragic flaw? Naw.
But I wouldn’t want a child of mine to approach knowledge the way Hermione does. She tends towards arrogance, has compromised social skills, and at points in the series (especially the Prisoner of Azkaban where she’s taking more classes than there is time in the day) runs herself ragged from working too hard. Certainly not reprehensible, but also not perfect. And certainly not “popular” or a “jock” as the blogger said all Gryffindors are.
And as someone who spent most of her middle and high school school time being told to dumb herself down, hedge everything I said with, “do you think this might be…”, and apologize for actually caring about classes, I’m gonna say that given a choice between being intelligent and knowing it, and being intelligent and feeling shamed about it because it’s a “tragic flaw”, I’m gonna pick arrogance any day.
Better to achieve more than anyone thought was possible than to be taught social skills are more important. Social skills can be acquired later on–I know I’m doing fine–but you can’t make up for empty, bored classroom years.
To bring the conversation back to Hermione, as a character, she was never spiteful or vicious about her intelligence. If chiding Harry Potter when he had not done his homework or knowing the answers in class is arrogance, well, I don’t see what’s so terrible about it. When it comes to her social awkwardness, it’s the kind of awkwardness shared by all teenagers anywhere, whether they’re cringing at the idea of a pimple appearing on their nose, or trying to navigate the confusing world of friendships and relationships. By book four, she was the most emotionally balanced character of the three (a refreshing contrast to Harry Potter, who insisted on screaming at everyone in all caps as he hit a puberty bump).
I think it’s a reflection of our current social and educational environment that high-achievement and a passion for learning is seen as something that should be, at best, tempered, and at worst, smothered in our children.
While I do stand by my point that Hermione’s flaw is her know-it-all tendency, I agree with you- I’m that girl, too. I graduated second in my class from high school and maintain a 4.0 qpa in the Honors College at my University, so if anything, I’m extremely like Hermione as well. I agree that the flaw might not be “tragic,” but of her flaws, I think that it’s the greatest. I hope that kind of clears things up.
I apologize. I was certainly not trying to be sexist. I was just trying to say that one of my favorite things about the Harry Potter books is the relatable characters. None of them are “perfect.” I too would take Hermione over angsty, emo, book four Harry without a doubt.
Some great points. There are enough stereotypical fantasy books out there, we don’t need to see cliches and tropes in original work.
I have to agree with you… your points made real sense.