Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Tuesday is a Tumblr Maniac

I'm getting slow, I usually write these things up on midnight of Tuesday, but today, I was like "ohdamnitstuesday". My fiance changed his work schedule - he works Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday - so I have no sense of time or space. Oh well, it's still Tuesday, so I'm not late. Oh, and on SOMEBODY's *glares* suggestion, I'm writing the rest of this post in reverse, so have fun reading that. It's far more of a burden on you than it is on me, let me tell you. Mostly because I can make Microsoft Word do this for me. *coughs*

.exciting Freaking ?houses the on information more but - about more learn we characters the of one is Ollivander unless - characters the about information useless the for much so Not .encyclopaedia the for excited obviously am I Though .couldn't forum old any just or hp-lexicon the that offer will site the what know don't I but ,nice be will ebooks The .pumped really not I'm but ,blasphemy be would join not to and ,years 12 nearly for Potter Harry with been I've because ,obviously ,join I'll .man ,problem No .books Potter Harry the of ebooks are there also and ,(forums some maybe) friends making ,wand a getting ,sorted getting we're ,tell can I what From .month past the in all at much done haven't I as ,there start will I suppose I ,Cassie ,Pottermore about talked you Since

.this with go to anywhere have really don't I because ,about post my make will I what is one last that think I ,fact In .that on am I then ,houses the about pre-conceptions silly the or ,Slytherin ,(Scorpius playing kid the) Gilbert Bertie with do to has it If .One .Single .Every .them of All .tumblogs Potter Harry Following .obsessively ,month all basically tumblr on been I've

.Slytherin a was Riddle Tom ,Gryffindor a was Percy ,Gryffindor a is Hermione ,Slytherin a presumably was .Jr Crouch Barty .top the aren't Ravenclaws where years several know we ,Hell .Ravenclaws dumb few a be must there ,honest be let's because ,'intelligent' just than house the to ascribe to things better are knowledge-seeking and ,creative ,Resourceful .means any by wise not but ,old year eleven average the than mature more be might They .wise is nobody ,old years eleven at And .there go won't we but ,honestly ,that change can that potions probably are There .that change to going is - work hard or studying of amount no - nothing and ,intelligence your with born are You .are you something is It .trait personality a not is That .intelligence not is trait main Their .Ravenclaw

...two And .them of one be to seem didn't brave but ,things many was Pettigrew Because ?Gryffindor of trait main the really bravery is :first The .points two up bring does chap last that Though .Pettigrew Peter :See .great all aren't them of some how and houses other the with blend who people the ,house Gryffindor of shades the him through see we and ,character main our Harry's .on go to need don't I .heart strong a with one resourceful and smart the ,Hermione have We .conclusions to jump to quick and arse an of bit a be can who ,Seamus have We .friend heart brave his through even timid and ,dense slightly ,forgetful the ,Neville have We .eyes Harry's from diversity their see we - them about say to much Not .Gryffindor

.much so Not .eh ...Gryffindors The .them to stuck they and traits these had have (them of ?three ?two ...all) seen we've Hufflepuffs the all that is matter the of fact the But .diversity same this see we'd ,Ravens and ,Slyths ,Huffs more say we if ;true isn't probably That .enough quite else anywhere fit don't you if into tossed get of sort just you house the likely most ,hence ,and house diverse most the like seemed always has Gryffindor but ,(Harry's ,is that) perspective our of fault a be simply may It .really ,friends close of pack a in travel to sort the Not .loner a of bit a seemed he ,book fifth the until ,honestly but ,there been have should Neville say People .mentality group a of bit a show to seems often Hufflepuff and ,seen often not are bonds and friendships Strong .traits by come to easy not are work hard and Loyalty .house seconds sloppy the not is Hufflepuff but ,same the just them teach and all them take may Hufflepuff

... oh, alright.

Since you talked about Pottermore, Cassie, I suppose I will start there, as I haven't done much at all in the past month. From what I can tell, we're getting sorted, getting a wand, making friends (maybe some forums), and also there are ebooks of the Harry Potter books. No problem, man. I'll join, obviously, because I've been with Harry Potter for nearly 12 years, and to not join would be blasphemy, but I'm not really pumped. The ebooks will be nice, but I don't know what the site will offer that the hp-lexicon or just any old forum couldn't. Though I am obviously excited for the encyclopaedia. Not so much for the useless information about the characters - unless Ollivander is one of the characters we learn more about - but more information on the houses? Freaking exciting.


I've been on tumblr basically all month, obsessively. Following Harry Potter tumblogs. All of them. Every. Single. One. If it has to do with Bertie Gilbert (the kid playing Scorpius), Slytherin, or the silly pre-conceptions about the houses, then I am on that. In fact, I think that last one is what I will make my post about, because I don't really have anywhere to go with this.

Ravenclaw. Their main trait is not intelligence. That is not a personality trait. It is something you are. You are born with your intelligence, and nothing - no amount of studying or hard work - is going to change that. There are probably potions that can change that, honestly, but we won't go there. And at eleven years old, nobody is wise. They might be more mature than the average eleven year old, but not wise by any means. Resourceful, creative, and knowledge-seeking are better things to ascribe to the house than just 'intelligent', because let's be honest, there must be a few dumb Ravenclaws. Hell, we know several years where Ravenclaws aren't the top. Barty Crouch Jr. was presumably a Slytherin, Hermione is a Gryffindor, Percy was a Gryffindor, Tom Riddle was a Slytherin.


Slytherin. Not all stupid (see: Barty Crouch Jr., Tom Riddle), not all lazy, and not all dishonest. Slytherin and Hufflepuff are often seen as polar opposites, and I think that's BS. Loyalty is a trait we see often. How many of the Death Eaters were willing to die for Lord Voldemort? And most of the ones who weren't were loyal to their families, namely the Malfoys there. Lazy? That doesn't make much sense, either. The main trait of Slytherin is ambition, what good does wanting something do you if you don't work for it? Yes, Slytherins are perhaps more underhanded in getting what they want than, say, Gryffindors or Hufflepuffs, but they are still working for it. I think any Slytherin who is willing to just take what is given to him and do nothing to earn or enhance it shouldn't be in that house. You might be willing to inherit the Malfoy (or whatever) fortune, but you have to have something you want, maybe something you gain from that fortune if nothing else, in order to be a Slytherin.

Gryffindor. Not much to say about them - we see their diversity from Harry's eyes. We have Neville, the forgetful, slightly dense, and timid even through his brave heart friend. We have Seamus, who can be a bit of an arse and quick to jump to conclusions. We have Hermione, the smart and resourceful one with a strong heart. I don't need to go on. Harry's our main character, and we see through him the shades of Gryffindor house, the people who blend with the other houses and how some of them aren't all great. See: Peter Pettigrew. Though that last chap does bring up two points. The first: is bravery really the main trait of Gryffindor? Because Pettigrew was many things, but brave didn't seem to be one of them. And two...

Hufflepuff may take them all and teach them just the same, but Hufflepuff is not the sloppy seconds house. Loyalty and hard work are not easy to come by traits. Strong friendships and bonds are not often seen, and Hufflepuff often seems to show a bit of a group mentality. People say Neville should have been there, but honestly, until the fifth book, he seemed a bit of a loner. Not the sort to travel in a pack of close friends, really. It may simply be a fault of our perspective (that is, Harry's), but Gryffindor has always seemed like the most diverse house and, hence, most likely the house you just sort of get tossed into if you don't fit anywhere else quite enough. That probably isn't true; if we say more Huffs, Slyths, and Ravens, we'd see this same diversity. But the fact of the matter is that all the Hufflepuffs we've seen (all... two? three? of them) have had these traits and they stuck to them. The Gryffindors... eh. Not so much.

1 comment:

  1. Just so you know, I totally read it backwards. Please, I study Arabic for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week; I'm used to reading backwards :)

    ReplyDelete