We’ve had this blog for a little over a year now (cue freakout, also if you haven’t entered yet, two more days to enter our giveaway), so I think that it’s about time for a Harry Potter-themed post. We wouldn’t want people to start thinking that we didn’t like Harry Potter or something horrible like that.
Me realizing we do not have a singular post discussing Harry Potter on the blog
For today’s post, I’ve decided to talk about the best part of Harry Potter, the Slytherins! Or more accurately, the Hogwarts houses in general. When I first read the books I was but a child, and for me, the houses seemed to be divided into four categories, the good guys, the bad guys, the smart guys, and those other guys. After growing old, acquiring wisdom, and finishing the series, I’ve learned that it’s about a lot more than that. Especially since after taking the Pottermore house test several times I found out that I would be placed with the bad guys.
One amazing thing about Harry Potter is the fandom. There are so many headcanons and AU’s and theories out there that have fleshed out the series in ways that most people couldn’t even imagine. A way that the fandom achieved this was through the Hogwarts houses. The good guys turned into the house of people who are courageous and brave, the bad guys became ambitious and resourceful, the smart guys became creative and intelligent, and the other guys became hardworking and loyal. Obviously, a lot of the traits and characteristics of the houses come directly from the book, but the fact that people cared so much to figure out what house they would be placed into helped turn what could have been stereotypical place-tags into something that holds meaning for people all over the world.
At this point, I would say that more people take stock in what peoples Hogwarts houses are rather than their astrological sign (or that could just be me), since by finding out what house someone identifies with, you automatically know loads about them. As I mentioned, I’m a Slytherin, and as a proud Slytherin, I’ve decided to list some of my favorite things about being a Slytherin, with some book characters for reference that have these particular traits.
**Disclaimer, these are purely my interpretations of these character’s Hogwarts houses**
Resourceful
AIDAN: The Illuminae Files
Wait Chana! You say. You can’t sort an AI into a Hogwarts house! Well, actually I can. My blog, my rules. AIDAN is probably the most resourceful thing in the galaxies, solving problems like it’s nobodies business, using cold-hard logic to prioritize in tough situations, AIDAN’s an all-around cold-blooded sentient piece of hardware.
Cunning
Locke Lamora: The Lies of Locke Lamora
When I think cunning I think con-artist, and there’s no greater con-artist than Locke Lamora. Quickwitted and always ready with a comeback or a backup plan, Locke is as Slytherin as they come. He lives for the art of stealing and his elaborate plans always have him one step ahead of everybody else.
Determined
Jules: Genuine Fraud
My interpretation of this trait is someone who just keeps going for it, no matter what the stakes or costs. When most people may think it’s over, a determined Slytherin will just keep marching on forward and fighting for what they want. I believe that Jules from Genuine Fraud kind of encapsulates this trait? She’s determined, ruthless, and a bit one track minded, but there’s no denying that she’s a Slytherin.
Ambitious
Zoya: Shadow and Bone Trilogy/King of Scars
To me, someone who’s ambitious is someone who doesn’t care who they need to step on in order to get to the top. When I was brainstorming a character that could fit this trait, the first one to come to mind was Zoya. I mostly saw this in King of Scars, but it’s also pretty apparent in the Shadow and Bone Trilogy. Zoya always wants to be on top, and she’ll try her best to get as close to whichever person can put her there. From the Darkling to Nikolai, she’s always got her goals set super high, and she’s not scared to reach for them.
That’s enough Slytherin pride for today. Just kidding, there’s no such thing as enough Slytherin pride. I quite obviously love all things Harry Potter and had an absolute blast writing this post. I would love to try and do this sort of thing for other houses in the future, but I guess we’ll see where it takes us.
What are some characters you think exemplify the Slytherin house traits? What house are you and what characters would you sort there with you?
Chana I love this blog post! I also totally agree all Slytherins aren’t “bad guys” they have good traits but may at times have been misguided in the books!!
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Thank you!! 💕💕 Yeah! I love exploring more morally ambiguous characters or just characters that are just misunderstood, it’s so fun!
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It really is! I love thinking about what if they decided to go in another house!
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I loved this post! Especially your take on the Hogwarts houses. It’s very true that there aren’t only good people in Gryffindor *coughs* Peter Pettigrew *coughs* and only bad people in Slytherin and so on. The HP fandom is so great! I love your sorting of those characters to Slytherin btw AIDAN is totally a Slytherin haha 💚
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Thank you! 💕 Haha, yesss, everyone always seems to forget about Peter Pettigrew when talking about Gryffindors 😂
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Exactly! He’s the worst and quite the opposite of brave…
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I love this post so much! I was already entertained from the very beginning, at “we wouldn’t want anything think we don’t like Harry Potter or something horrible at that.”😂I legitimately laughed out loud! I have to agree that the fandom has made the Houses something even stronger than they were in the books, and I’m so glad that *most* Potterheads don’t classify the houses the way we probably all did as first time readers- the good guys, bad guys, etc., like you said.
THIS IS AWESOME and thank you for writing it. :))
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I’m so happy you enjoyed it!! 💕 Seriously, the Harry Potter fandom is *amazing*, sure there are some people that take some headcanons a bit too far, but overall it’s just so fun!
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I like this! Sadly, I haven’t read any of these books (Illuminae will hopefully come soon or by the end of the year). I love the categories you made! Slytherin isn’t just bad people so this is awesome!
Genesis @ Whispering Chapters
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Oooh, Illuminae is SO GOOD you should definitely read it!! Thank you so much, I’m glad you enjoyed! ❤❤
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Yess omg someone finally stopped hating on Slytherins haha, nice to meet you fellow Slytherin 🙂 I love that you decided to do some characters based on these traits! Awesome post.
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Yaaaassss! Slytherins for the win!! 🐍 Thank you, I’m so happy you enjoyed 😁
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This post is so cool and interesting! I really love the use of GIFs in this post 😂 The houses tend to have a way to either unite or set apart friends but sometiems people judge Slytherin’s just because we are associated with Tom Riddle, and Malfoy and the likes 😦
Amazing post 🙂
-Emma
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Hahaha, yeah for GIFs I realized about halfway through that I was only using A Very Potter Musical GIFs so I quickly stuck in an OG Harry Potter one 😂
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I love that you’ve written a post celebrating being Slytherin! 🙂
I always count myself as Slytherin too, even though Pottermore wanted to sort me into Gryffindor, which was really annoying (and random…I’m literally the last person anyone would call brave!). And I love your Slytherin character choices! I could definitely see Locke Lamora and Zoya being sorted into Slytherin!
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Yesss!! Slytherins are great (I am totally not biased, I promise). Yayy, I’m so happy that people are agreeing with me on some of the characters because I was totally spitballing and was a bit scared that everyone was going to be like, No way! That makes no sense! 😂
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This is a really, really neat post… I love that you realized you hadn’t been showcasing your Harry Potter Pride and celebrated being Slytherin to start it all off. I love the books you chose and how they totally embody each trait! I will admit that I identify with each one of these traits except perhaps cunning. hahaha ❤️ I’m a little scared to admit I’ve never taken the test and found out my house. I’m always curious about these house posts and the books that people chose for them.
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Thank you!! 💓 Oooh, you have to take the test!! It’s so fun!! I personally LOVE taking all kinds of personality and trait tests (you can bet that I’m always on Buzzfeed), and though I sometimes completely disagree with the results and call them BS, they’re always fun to do.
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Love this! The first Pottermore sorted me into Slytherin and then the new one said Hufflepuff, but I tend to just go with Slytherin. I think it’s rather fitting for me though it does shock people sometimes. LOL Great post!!
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
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Thank you!! 💓💓 I haven’t tried the new one yet! Now I’m scared that I’m going to go and try it and the whole post will be obsolete lol. But I think that I’m definitely a Slytherin at heart, so even if my results change, I would stick with it just like you did.
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Ahhh what a fun post, I love it so much and I adore, like you perfectly said, how the different houses grew and evolved with the fandom and aren’t just the bad and good guys and everything. This is really the power of stories 🙂 AIDAN ahh yes, what a perfect fit for this house too haha 😀 I should finish reading this series someday….. but I am terrified haha. 🙂
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Omgg, honestly the Iluminae files also kind of terrified me? I absolutely loved them, but the amount of fear I had when reading them cannot be downplayed. I *love* when you can directly see the power of fandoms, it’s just so fun and it shows how strong the community of booknerds is, I absolutely love it 😍
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Ahah I’m glad I’m not alone here. I loved the originality of it all but I was terrified reading the first two books haha.
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Ohhh I love this most so much!! Everyone always thinks Slytherins are the bad guys but they’re NOTTTTT!! x
Grace Louise || http://www.gracelouiseofficial.blogspot.co.uk/
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Aaaah, I’m so happy you like it!! Yes! Slytherins are not all bad!!! Though honestly, it is kind of fun to tell people you’re a Slytherin and see them reevaluate everything they know about you, because now you have the potential to be evil 😂
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This is an absolutely fantastic post! I’m also a Slytherin (I was sorted there on Pottermore, then spent 2 years sorting myself in Ravenclaw until I finally understood I was truly a Slytherin and it was a great moment because it is the perfect house for me) ♥ And we’re NOT bad guys! Seriously, I don’t know how many times I’ve had shocked looks when I said I was a Slytherin and people told me “BUT, you’re kind?” as if it was mutually exclusive.
Also the start of that blog post was A+ haha
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Slytherins are absolutely fantastic and I just wish that people would recognize that we’re not just “bad people”! I do love being Slytherin, especially when I get to connect with fellow Slytherins so that we can all plot the destruction of the lesser hous-I mean discuss our interests and just make friends 😜
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I love this post! I haven’t read any of the books that you listed with Slytherian characters, but I’m curious to read them now – especially The Lies of Locke Lamora since it’s high up there on my TBR list. I’d add Chade from the Realm of the Elderlings books by Robin Hobb to your list. He’s obsessed with what he views as his birthright (but which he never received the opportunity to learn), he enjoys being in control and in the spotlight, and he will do anything to achieve his goals (for the Six Duchies).
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I’ve actually had a few Robin Hobb books on my TBR for a while, so I definitely have to check that out! The Lies of Locke Lamora is SO good! It’s written so well, I can barely describe how good it is 😂 I hope you enjoy it!
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I just checked out Lies of Locke Lamora from the library. I’m looking forward to starting it ✨
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Yes, this blog post was so good! I remember that when I was first figuring out with house I was a member of, I wanted to be in Slytherin so badly! It was right around the time that Slytherins were earning their reputation for being cool and ambitious people, and I wanted to be in their house very badly! Sadly the only houses I would get were Ravenclaw and Gryffindor! Well, I’m a proud Ravenclaw now, but it doesn’t erase the fact that I still find Slytherins very cool and I don’t think that they’re the bad guys! Thanks for the recommendations too! I really really want to read Locke Lamora, but I feel like I’m just gonna blast through all the published books in the series and then I’m gonna have to wait painfully for the rest of the books. The series is at the top of my 5-star predictions list though!
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Honestly, at first, I really wanted to be a Ravenclaw! They were the smart people house that was obsessed with books and reading, I thought I would fit right in 😂 I just finished the third book last week and now I’m kind of in a limbo because I so desperately want to read the fourth one, but it’s just not out!! But you should definitely read it! It’s one of my favorite series right now, and I’m recommending it to everyone!
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I’m a Ravenclaw and I haven’t really thought about characters that would be sorted to my house. I absolutely LOVE the HP fandom, but I’m not really deep into the fandom if you know what I mean.
I definitely agree with the Slytherin house. I feel bad that they were the bad guys because really, that just isn’t right. I think anyone who is resourceful and cunning can use all those traits to do good!
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Sorting characters is so fun! I honestly haven’t really thought of it so much before writing this post, but when I did I had to buckle down and brainstorm for some Slytherin book characters 😂
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Ugh I hate how JK Rowling bashes Slytherin and most people who aren’t huge fans just assume they’re the “evil house” or whatever -.- Slytherins have amazing traits! I’m Ravenclaw but very closely followed by Slytherin 🙂
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Exactly!! There are so many great Slytherins out there, it seems like a crime to just constantly accuse them of being evil. I’m Slytherin closely followed by Ravenclaw 😂
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The best two houses lol
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What a great idea for a post! I loved how you took Slytherin traits and found characters who represent them well. And, good for you for being a proud Slytherin! 🙂
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Thank you!! 💕💕 It was so fun thinking of characters that would fit!
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Fantastic post ☺️ I love all things HP and agree with you about how great all of the AUs and theories for it can be. I love reading peoples posts about the series. And I adore this one although I still need to read all of these books. If they contain characters with Slytherin traits they should be fascinating though… Plus they’re already all on my TBR.
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I know! It’s amazing how even after so many years the fandom never runs out of content to create an discuss. Yayy! All of the books I listed were highly rated reads for me, so I hope you enjoy them!
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That’s so true. I’m pretty sure it’s a series and world that’s never going to get old. Once Fantastic Beasts finishes I’d be surprised if something else doesn’t pop up within the same world again.
Thank you, I’m hoping I will as I’m looking forward to them all immensely. And who doesn’t love characters with Slytherin traits in their books?
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Oh my goodness I LOVE THIS SO MUCH! Fellow Slytherin here *hiss and high five* We have the best house, no questions asked. 💚💚
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Aaah, I’m so happy you like it!! 🐍🐍 YAASS SLYTHERINS 4EVER!! 😂😂
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P.S. What house is Malka in?
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I just retook the Pottermore test to give you the most accurate answer. It appears I am a Hufflepuff. Which honestly fits me pretty well.
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okay, but how you initially saw the hogwarts houses as “the good guys, the bad guys, the smart guys, and those other guys” is SUCH A MOOD. i still remember being around six or seven and asking my sister: “okay, so you have slytherins who are the bad ones; gryffindor, the good ones; ravenclaw, the smart ones, and hufflepuff are just… the ones?” obviously, having met cedric diggory CHANGED me as a person and i’d never make such a statement again, but i thought it was hilarious that we shared the same thoughts in the beginning.
i feel like knowing a person hogwart’s house definitely says a lot more than their astrological signs. i do love all personality tests, though, so myers briggs and enneagram numbers are super fascinating for me as well, but those are a little bit more in depth. knowing a hogwarts house, though, is simple and already tells a lot about a person.
i am a fellow slytherin and have also done my fair share of sorting fictional characters in hogwarts houses, so i completely relate to most of what you mentioned. but i also do see myself in other slytherin traits, like the leader-like side of the personality, as well as a loyalty that can go through some dark places sometimes, in the sense that you’re so loyal you don’t care if anyone else may get hurt, but the one person you’re attached to.
so, yeah, slytherin pride for sure! this post was a lot of fun to read! 💚💚💚
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Omgg, yes!! Cedric Diggory literally changed my entire viewpoint of Hufflepuffs! First him, and then Newt Scamander. I was kind of like, damn. I want to be a Hufflepuff. Yaaay, I’m so happy you enjoyed!! 💕💕
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Love this post! I am also a Slytherin (at least, according to Pottermore) and I think we get a bad rep. I do love a good character sorting from books and TV shows because there is nothing more fun than trying to guess who belongs where. I don’t know if I care more about a person’s Hogwarts house that their star sign because I love me a good horoscope, but if someone doesn’t know what their Hogwarts house is then it definitely helps me form an opinion of them. Who doesn’t know their Hogwarts house?
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Right?? It’s so fun to look at different characters and try to sort them. I actually found out recently that one of my cousins didn’t know her Hogwarts house, so I immediately made her create a Pottermore account to find out 😂
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Slytherin is awesome and I have a crush on Draco Malfoy.
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